Higgs again turns to outside consultants to reshape government

Premier Blaine Higgs is defending his recruitment of a small number of outside consultants that he calls "subject matter experts" but the Opposition Liberals describe as "shadow deputy ministers."

Higgs confirmed in the legislature last month that he had hired the three consultants to help with "setting up a different model" of how government should work.

Two of the consultants are former senior managers with Irving-owned companies.

John Logan, who worked with the premier at Irving Oil, is working inside the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, while Bob Youden, a former J.D. Irving executive with a broad business background, is in Higgs's office providing strategic advice.

The third consultant is Yennah Hurley, who founded an outdoor adventure company and wrote a travel blog about New Brunswick that caught Higgs's eye. She's working at the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture.

Higgs said in an interview Monday they will provide "a different view, a different attitude, a different perspective" on what government can do. All three report directly to him.

Hurley and Logan are on two-year contracts and will be paid the equivalent of deputy minister salaries, while Youden will be paid "by the job," Higgs said.

The Progressive Conservative premier first confirmed the consultants' presence when he was asked about it by Liberal Leader Denis Landry on March 27 in question period.

Landry didn't criticize the move but referred to the trio as "shadow deputy ministers" and asked Higgs to explain how they were chosen.

Youden was on Higgs's transition after the previous Liberal government lost power. His consulting firm, Savarin Consulting, billed the previous PC government of David Alward $139,000 when Higgs was finance minister, according to public accounts documents.

Asked by Landry about Logan's time at Irving Oil, Higgs confirmed that he had worked with Logan at the company "for many years."

"Do you know what he was focused on doing, as I was? Getting better value for money."

'Sense of urgency'

The consultants were put in place despite Higgs's frequent tributes to the province's existing permanent, non-partisan civil service.

"I am so proud to be working with a workforce of over 50,000 — 50,000 strong — that want a better New Brunswick," he said in the legislature March 29.

"I am excited about the potential that is being unleashed within the workforce across this province to help fix the parts they are involved with each and every day."

Higgs repeated that praise Monday but said he needed the three consultants to transmit his "sense of urgency" for change into the bureaucracy.

"I can have a sense of urgency and I do have a sense of urgency, but I can't do that alone," he said.

"There's wonderful people in the system but they've been accustomed to what I would call political abuse for years. They've been accustomed to not leading because they've been waiting to follow the political will of a government."

Higgs said he doesn't plan to add any more consultants "at this point, though I don't know that there won't be more."

In at least one department where a consultant has been installed, there's been a change at the top. Hurley started work at Tourism in February, and Higgs confirmed on March 22 that Francoise Roy, the deputy minister at the department, had been fired.

That was less than a month after Higgs shuffled some deputy ministers, the normal time to remove someone. He said when he confirmed Roy's departure that he was not running "a government of normal practices."

He wouldn't say why she was let go.

Not the first time

Higgs has shown a liking for outside consultants before. As finance minister in the David Alward government, he led a "process improvement" initiative that saw consultants scour departments for ways to save money.

During last year's election campaign, the Liberals released a 2013 report by consultants at Ernst & Young that proposed to Higgs the elimination of 545 teaching positions and the closure of up to 79 schools.

Another contract awarded by the previous PC government to Ernst & Young was later criticized by Auditor General Kim MacPherson for several reasons.

In a 2017 audit, MacPherson said under the contract with the Department of Social Development, consultants were allowed to evaluate their own performance and were paid millions of dollars based on "anticipated" savings, not real savings.

While the goal was to save $47 million, only $10 million had been saved by June 2016, she said, adding the actual benefit of the hiring "remains unclear."

Earlier this year, the deputy minister of social development told a committee of MLAs that the savings have now added up to $45 million.

Higgs said he has no plans for a similar "broad, sweeping" initiative now that he's premier. He said there have been enough studies and, with a minority government that may not last four years, he wants to make changes quickly.