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CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
'Leading and dividing New Brunswick': New book explores Blaine Higgs's legacy
Blaine Higgs "broke an all-time record" for low levels of support in New Brunswick's francophone ridings in both 2020 and 2024, says Gabriel Arsenault, a Université de Moncton political science professor. Though it may have worked in the short term — Higgs was re-elected premier in 2020 — "in the long term that's not a winnable strategy," said Arsenault, editor of a new book of scholarship on Higgs's legacy. Higgs led the Progressive Conservatives to defeat and lost his own seat in October 2024, when Susan Holt and the Liberals won a majority in the legislature. Arsenault is the editor of The Higgs Years: Leading and Dividing New Brunswick, a collection of 15 essays by academics across Canada who looked back at Higgs's time as premier and his leadership. Arsenault said that the book can also shed light on the most recent federal election because many of the things that led to Higgs downfall were paralleled federally. The book is not only important to New Brunswickers but also to people across the country, Arsenault said, since "New Brunswick is in many ways a microcosm of Canada." New Brunswick is in many ways a microcosm of Canada. - Gabriel Arsenault In the most recent federal election, the Conservative Party would also have won "if it weren't for Quebec," according to Arsenault, because "Quebecers massively voted for the Liberal Party and that really cost him the election." When he was first elected premier, in 2019, Higgs's main promise was to balance the books, Arsenault said: "He was very motivated about that issue and he arguably won the election in 2018 because of that issue." On this front, Higgs was successful every year, even during the pandemic. "It was the only jurisdiction in Canada to do so and, even abroad, I would be hard-pressed to find another jurisdiction who managed to do a surplus during the COVID years." One of Higgs's biggest problems, Arsenault said, was that he tried to appease both sides of a coin but actually remained highly divisive. To manage the province's response to the pandemic, Higgs put together a committee that included the leaders of all parties in the legislature, including those with political views quite different from his own. At the time, Higgs's approval rating "was around 90 per cent," Arsenault said, "which is absolutely phenomenal in a democracy.", This flipped entirely in his second term, when Higgs began to face opposition from his own caucus, and eight of his cabinet ministers stepped down. Arsenault also said that the financial surplus during COVID was not completely due to policy decisions because huge numbers of people were immigrating to New Brunswick from urban centres at the time. "Housing is cheaper in New Brunswick and a lot of people from Ontario moved to New Brunswick, bringing with them their income, their money," Arsenault said. But even if he could claim progress with the province's finances and economy, Higgs was divisive in many ways, said Arsenault, pointing to a French-English divide, the government's relationship with Indigenous peoples, and Policy 713, the province's gender-identity policy for schools. This divisiveness was one of Higgs's biggest problems, and it even caused instability within his own party. Higgs underestimated the number of party members who "are 'small c' conservatives," and "think they have a responsibility to defend minorities." Arsenault said the book is a balanced look at Higgs's legacy. He also said that to form a majority government, the Progressive Conservative Party usually needs to be more moderate or centrist than the Higgs government was.
CBC
17-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Some proposals to change N.B. PC Party rules won't go forward
New Brunswick Progressive Conservatives won't be tackling thorny changes to their party constitution next weekend after all. Several potentially contentious changes to their rules will not be put to a vote after they failed to get enough support at local PC riding meetings, according to a package sent to some PC members Friday afternoon and obtained by CBC News. A motion to put a cap on out-of-province donations — an issue that generated controversy when then-premier Blaine Higgs went on fundraising trips to Western Canada last year — is now off the table. So is a motion that would give local riding associations more control over the selection of candidates and the timing of nominating meetings. A proposal to give a three-person committee the power to expel any party member who "publicly brings the party into disrepute" also did not advance. This will continue to require an 80 per cent vote by the party's large governing body, the provincial council. Another motion that won't go forward would have required party staff to be bilingual and party meetings to provide simultaneous interpretation between English and French. Under the party's rules, motions had to be endorsed by a net five local riding association votes to be debated at the May 24 provincial party meeting in Moncton. That meant there would have to be five more associations endorsing a motion than opposing it. The party circulated a total of 47 motions to local riding associations for consideration. Only 20 got enough support to be debated at the provincial meeting. Most of the motions that survived are housekeeping or procedural changes. The only major proposed change that will be up for debate would create a ranked-ballot system for choosing the next party leader. That would let members rank their choices for leader in a single ballot, with lower-ranked choices dropping off in each round of counting until someone gets more than 50 per cent of the vote. Another proposal to give each of the 49 ridings in the province equal weight in a leadership vote was vetoed by party staff, former party president Don Moore told CBC News.
CBC
15-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
PC members set to vote on rule changes in wake of election defeat
Members of New Brunswick's Progressive Conservative Party are facing major decisions on the future of their battered and divided organization. They will gather in Moncton on May 24 to debate and vote on a series of motions that could change the rules for choosing a new leader and give more power to grassroots members over nominating candidates. Another motion would give the party the authority to expel members who dissent. If adopted, a three-person committee of the party could revoke the membership of someone who "publicly brings the party into disrepute," a phrase that could apply to any number of situations. In 2023, six PC MLAs voted in the legislature against then-premier Blaine Higgs. Instead, they supported a Liberal opposition motion calling for further study of his proposed changes to the province's gender identity and sexual orientation policy for schools. One of those former MLAs, Jeff Carr, told CBC News that internal disagreements should not get to that point. "There are different opinions on how we got where we are and why we're at where we are as a party," he said. "I always believe a strong leadership contender or a stronger leader can settle those differences within the party before they get to be a public spectacle." The package of 47 motions obtained by CBC News does not indicate which riding association or party member authored the motion on expelling members. There are also questions about the process being used to decide which motions will go to a vote at the May 24 meeting. Each motion must win the support of a threshold number of local riding associations to advance to the full provincial meeting. Former president finds process 'strange' But former party president Don Moore of Moncton says a resolution he drafted, to give all 49 ridings in the province equal voting weight in the choice of a new party leader, was quashed before it could go through that process. "It was disqualified, and the only reason I was given was it was considered 'undemocratic,' and that doesn't make sense to me," said Moore, who was party president in 2017. "There seems to be sort of a strange process that's been brewed up lately that is not part of the party constitution," he said. "I think there's some people who are trying to control the future of the party based on some criteria of what they want. That to me is not what should be important in a grassroots party affair." PC Party president Erika Hachey did not respond to an interview request about the process. WATCH | 'Trying to control the future of the party': PCs consider rule changes: PC members set to vote on party rule changes 1 hour ago Duration 2:05 Glen Savoie, the interim leader, said he wouldn't discuss the motions yet, and staffers at the legislature did not make other PC MLAs available in response to a request from CBC News. "I'm not going to comment on anything that our membership hasn't had a chance to look at," Savoie said. The proposed changes to the leadership vote would adopt a ranked ballot system. That would let members rank their choices for leader in a single ballot, with lower-ranked choices dropping off in each round of counting until someone gets more than 50 per cent of the vote. It would avert situations such as happened in 2016, when it took four rounds of voting over a 10-hour period for Higgs to win the leadership. The motion on expelling party members would centralize that power among a smaller group of people. It would give the power to a three-person committee chosen by the party executive. The existing PC constitution requires an 80 per cent vote by the provincial council, a body made up of 49 riding presidents and several dozen other party officials. The wording of the motion allows them to be kicked out for specific actions, such as crossing the floor to another party in the legislature, or campaigning for a candidate from another party during an election. But the reference to revoking the membership of someone who "brings the party into disrepute" could apply to any number of situations. Some of the six MLAs who voted with the Liberals in 2023 on the gender-identity policy criticized Higgs's leadership. Some other PC MLAs were critical of Higgs or the party in other ways. Moore said "it does look a little bit" like some of the motions were drafted in response to recent party controversies. He said "different groups" within the party were trying to "move things forward, or actually specifically not move things forward. … I wonder, does this involve some of those groups?" One motion would give local party riding associations more power over the recruitment of candidates and the scheduling of nomination meetings. The riding executive in Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins feuded with the party office in 2023 over the selection of candidate Faytene Grasseschi — whom Higgs endorsed — and the timing of her nomination. Another would cap how much money the PC Party could raise from outside the province. Higgs's aggressive fundraising in Western Canada last year led the Liberals and Greens to promise a ban on out-of-province donations. Another motion would require the party to hire bilingual staff and ensure its own meetings use simultaneous translation. Higgs's inability to speak French was seen as an obstacle to winning support among francophones. Carr said party members should hesitate to make major changes to party rules before the leadership race expected next year, because some changes could lead good candidates to opt out. "It could turn them off," he said.
CBC
21-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Liberal government moves to repeal PC legislation forcing unions into new pension plan
Social Sharing The New Brunswick government is ending a two-year fight with CUPE and repealing legislation that would have forced five unions into a shared-risk pension plan. The Pension Plan Sustainability and Transfer Act was passed in late 2023, after Blaine Higgs, the Progressive Conservative premier, failed to get the unions to sign on to the shared-risk idea. The new act established a process to transfer designated pension plans to shared-risk plans already registered under the provincial Pension Benefits Act. It sparked debate and protests and led three unions to challenge the legislation in court, arguing it interfered with their right to free bargaining under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. WATCH | 'The place to negotiate is at the table, not in the legislature': N.B. government introduces bill to repeal controversial pension legislation 45 minutes ago Duration 1:27 Susan Holt's Liberals are repealing legislation brought in by the former Blaine Higgs government that would have pushed five public-sector unions into a shared-risk pension plan. Higgs touted the legislation as necessary to fix a $265-million shortfall in the pension fund. René Legacy, who became finance minister after Susan Holt and the Liberals were elected last fall, says introduction of a bill Friday to repeal the shared-risk legislation is a campaign promise met. "We want to bring back respect with our workers, with our government employees," Legacy told reporters at the legislature. "We had a pretty healthy debate when this was brought in, and we've always said the place to negotiate is at the table, not in the legislature." Legacy said the transition to transfer pensions hadn't started yet, so it's now a matter of going back to the negotiating table. "To the best of my knowledge, I'm not in the depths of those Treasury actions, but I've been told that nothing has been moved over," he said. "It was still being litigated as far as I know." Locals 2745 and 1253 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions filed a legal challenge to the Higgs legislation last February. Legacy said even with the repeal, the government can't go back to the unions' earlier pension plans, which had problems. The goal is to find a plan that's sustainable for workers, government and taxpayers. Union presidents present at the legislature Friday praised the decision to repeal the controversial act and said it was a sign the new government is willing to collaborate with its workers. "This government is willing to work with labour and identify that (the Hilggs legislation) actually stripped and violated our rights as a union, and we're pleased to see this come forward today," said Sharon Teare, president of the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions. Sandy Harding, CUPE's regional director for the Maritimes, said the repeal goes deeper than pensions for three union groups. "This is a big day for us in this province and this is a big day across Canada that a government will respect the rights of free collective bargaining," she said. Harding said legal action taken against the New Brunswick government will be withdrawn once the repeal process is complete. Iris Lloyd, president of CUPE Local 1253 representing the New Brunswick Council of School District Unions, said she is ready to negotiate now that some trust in the provincial government has been restored.
CBC
20-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
PC party ponders a new direction — and a new leader — in wake of defeat
Social Sharing As Premier Susan Holt prepared to deliver her State of the Province speech last month, a handful of Progressive Conservatives were two blocks away, pondering the state of their political party. Daniel Allain, a former PC minister dumped from cabinet in 2023 by then-premier Blaine Higgs, had invited what he called "like-minded New Brunswickers" to a reception at a Fredericton bar. The "like-minded" people who responded were Tory stalwarts mulling over the direction of their party in the wake of October's election defeat. Among them was Jeff Carr, another former PC minister dropped by Higgs in the same cabinet shuffle as Allain in June 2023. The Fredericton gathering was the second Allain organized, after a "Blue Christmas" reception in Moncton in December. "I like talking to people. I'm in the people business. I miss politics a little bit, so I want to be part of the renewal process," he said. Allain acknowledged being part of that renewal may include running for the PC leadership. "We'll see in the future but it's definitely something I'm interested in," he said. The party hasn't set a date to choose its next leader. A PC member in Saint John has proposed changing the leadership race voting system to give all 49 ridings in the province equal weight, as New Brunswick Liberals do. Party president Erika Hachey has not responded to questions from CBC News about when that will be decided. 'It wasn't all Blaine Higgs's fault' The party has other issues to resolve, including what direction it should take in the post-Blaine Higgs era. "We've got to get some things straightened out," said Miramichi West MLA Mike Dawson, who believes the 16-member PC caucus he is part of at the legislature needs to pay more attention to grassroots members. Dawson complained last fall when many members weren't notified in time to attend an annual general meeting held just after the election. The PCs did not hold a policy convention during Higgs's eight-year tenure as leader, and some caucus members complained he didn't consult them on major decisions. Dawson blamed issues like health care and inflation — not Higgs — for last fall's defeat. "I know everybody wants to point and say Blaine Higgs was the problem and Blaine Higgs was the reason we didn't get elected. It wasn't all Blaine Higgs's fault." Higgs himself said during a recent online interview with one of his former candidates that voters upset about rising prices weren't won over by his government's effort to balance the budget and reduce the province's accumulated debt. "People just react to their local challenge, and not the bigger picture," he said. WATCH | New Brunswick's PCs have decisions to make: After last year's defeat, PCs ponder what's next 38 minutes ago Duration 2:25 While Dawson considers Higgs one of the best premiers in the province's history — and sided with him when others tries to remove him as leader in 2023 — the MLA said it's time for the PCs to consider "a more proactive direction." "We've got to keep the conservative values that we have as a conservative party, but we've got to be more progressive with, maybe, some issues," he said. Public reaction to changes to Policy 713, which added a parental consent requirement if students younger than 16 wanted to adopt new names and pronouns at school to reflect their gender identity, rocked the Higgs government. Six MLAs, including four ministers, voted with the opposition on a motion calling for more study before the changes were adopted. Two of the ministers quit, complaining that Higgs didn't listen to his caucus, and two others — Allain and Carr — were shuffled out of cabinet. Policy 713 also galvanized social conservatives, including Christian activist and broadcaster Faytene Grasseschi, who signed up followers to support Higgs and who became the PC candidate in Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins. Higgs said she represented a "revolution" within the party, but her nomination led many PC members to support Liberal candidate John Herron, who defeated Grasseschi. A poll by Mainstreet Research during last year's election showed that 50 per cent of respondents supported Higgs's changes to Policy 713 while only 35 per cent opposed them. Even so, Liberal pollster Dan Arnold said his data showed voters believed that Higgs was distracted by Policy 713 at the expense of issues like affordability and health care — and that the party split showed he wasn't a good leader. 'What do they represent?' Political scientist J.P. Lewis of the University of New Brunswick in Saint John said the party now needs to decide whether to stick with social conservative issues. "I think the biggest issue is: what do they represent? I think the last couple of years of the Higgs government, for all to see, represented an existential crisis within the party," he said. "I think they know there's a base for what Higgs focused on at the end, but I think there's a ceiling for that." Grasseschi would not do an interview with CBC News but said in an email she has not decided whether to run again, or seek the party leadership herself. "I have not put any thought into this and am quite occupied in other directions at the moment. I am not aware of anyone else who is tire-kicking, so I have not thought about endorsements," she said. "Everyone should stay involved in the party that most represents their views and values. I will do that." A longtime PC supporter in Hampton who supported the Liberals over Grasseschi, Al Walker, said he'll wait until the leadership race to decide whether to return to the Tory fold. Dawson says he believes "it would be best for the party" to chose a francophone leader to lead it into the next election. Over three elections, the Higgs team never elected more than a single francophone MLA at a time. Other potential leadership candidates include current interim leader Glen Savoie, who in an email statement did not rule out running. "My only focus is on the task before me, which is being an effective opposition for the people of this province and leading the rebuilding of our party for the next election," he said. Allain wouldn't stake out a position on the party's future direction. "There's a lot of things we can change, but I think New Brunswickers want an alternative. They want a solid alternative… and the PC party has that institutional knowledge, that organizational knowledge, so we can be ready to govern." Lewis said given the party won 35 per cent of the vote last fall — better than in 2018 when they formed a minority government — a quick comeback isn't out of the question. "It's an existential crisis that, if they solve it correctly, they're not far off from taking power again," Lewis said.
