In the 2018 provincial election the party won three seats including Austin's riding of Fredericton-Grand Lake.

[5] Austin's appointment to provincial cabinet in the Higgs government was denounced by the Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick due to his opposition to Acadian rights and official bilingualism.

The provincial government was accused of failing to offer housing and social services as part of the declaration.

However, according to MacEachern, the province later deemed the selected property to be used unsuitable, resulting in a temporary halt in the project.

[8] Austin made additional comments in which he put the blame of the homeless man's death on Liberal policies, stating, "All of these issues that we're facing today is based on Trudeau policies, leftist agendas, that is degrading our society that we're seeing right across the country.