In the end, it was Bernard Lord who made it happen in New Brunswick.

The 33-year-old Progressive Conservative leader accomplished what many thought next to impossible a month ago: yesterday evening he crushed the government of New Brunswick Premier Camille Th riault and brought to an end 12 years of Liberal rule.

Before Mr. Th riault, New Brunswick was led by Frank McKenna.

The Quebec-born Mr. Lord will now become New Brunswick's 30th premier, and the youngest in the province's history . He is the third-youngest premier in Canadian history.

The Conservatives won 44 seats yesterday , barrelling by Mr. Th riault and the Liberals, who will now form the official Opposition with 10 members - 35 fewer Liberals than when the election began.

The Liberal loss represented the second-largest electoral collapse in the province's history, second only to the Liberal sweep of 1987.

NDP party leader Elizabeth Weir won her Saint John Harbour riding but failed to win a much-sought-after second seat for the NDP.

"Welcome to the 21st century in New Brunswick, mes amis," declared a jubilant Mr. Lord from his celebratory rally at the Beaver Curling Club in Moncton, where supporters wildly cheered the end of the Liberals' 12-year rule in New Brunswick.

Mr. Lord is fluently bilingual. He was brought up speaking both languages -- his father's first language is English and his mother's first language is French.

"We will lead a government that is honest and truthful every day. We will work hard for the people of New Brunswick every single day of our mandate."

It was a far different atmosphere at the Grande Digue School in Kent South, where a solemn looking Mr. Th riault thanked his supporters and promised to work hard as their MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly).

"I wouldn't have changed a thing," said Mr. Th riault of his election campaign, which sought to establish a new direction for the Liberal party after 10 years under Frank McKenna.

"The people of New Brunswick are never wrong," he said. "Tonight the people of New Brunswick made a choice."

Joining the Liberals on the opposition side will be Ms. Weir, assuming her familiar role as the sole NDP member. Appearing upbeat, Ms. Weir said it will be important to maintain a strong opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

"I think New Brunswick needs every single opposition member it can get," said Ms. Weir from her headquarters in Saint John's. "I've lived in this province when there were no opposition members and it was not good government."

Along with bringing in a new government, New Brunswick voters also elected a set of young faces. Fourteen of the Conservatives elected last night are under 40 and of those, four are under 30.

Kirk MacDonald in Mactaquac and Jody Carr in Oromocto-Gagetown, both 23 years of age, were the youngest MLAs elected. Other Generation Xers elected were Trevor Holder, 27, in Saint John-Portland and Louis-Philippe McGraw, 27, in Centre-P ninsule.

1. What did the 33-year-old Progressive Conservative leader accomplished what many think next to impossible a month ago: yesterday he crushed the government of New Brunswick Premier Camille Th riault and brought to an end 12 years of Liberal rule?