Immersion plan stirs ghost of Blaine Higgs's COR past

Every time Premier Blaine Higgs steps into a controversy about bilingualism, a couple of three-decades-old documents appear on social media and in reporters' inboxes.

One is a leaflet from Higgs's 1989 leadership campaign with the Confederation of Regions Party, a virulently anti-bilingualism movement.

At the top of his list of promises is a vow "to establish one official language — English."

The other document is an 11-page brief Higgs submitted in 1985 to a commission looking at how to respond to a major, controversial report on bilingualism.

"We must return to a rational system and get away from the unrealistic fantasies of linguistic rights in all sectors," Higgs wrote. 

The brief makes dark allusions to "the real driving force behind the French cause" — a desire to placate Quebec, apparently. 

A report commissioned by the Hatfield government had recommended a sweeping expansion of bilingualism and duality, prompting a fierce backlash. 

The report was eventually shelved, but at the time Premier Richard Hatfield responded to public anger by naming an independent committee to look at what to do about the report. 

Higgs made his submission as a private citizen. One of his recommendations was that the education system "return to the previously higher standard than now currently being offered" with the replacement of French immersion.

In its place, Higgs suggested "a qualified level of teaching the French language be offered to all New Brunswick students equally as part of the regular school curriculum." 

That's a strikingly similar idea to what Higgs is talking about now, which is likely why the two documents made the rounds again this week. 

Two events stirred new interest in Higgs's past views: Dominic Cardy's resignation as education minister over the premier's push to replace immersion next fall, and Higgs's appointment of former People's Alliance leader Kris Austin to cabinet.

Austin, who as Alliance leader said he supported bilingualism but didn't like how it is implemented, joined the Progressive Conservatives in March. 

He has yet to renounce his calls for a merger of the two regional health authorities, the relaxing of bilingual hiring requirements in the civil service, and the elimination of the commissioner of official languages.

Maurice Arsenault, a Moncton PC supporter who is calling for party members to hold a review vote on Higgs's leadership, says Higgs's appointment of Austin revived his worries about the premier's COR past.

He was less concerned when Higgs was finance minister in the David Alward government "because Alward was a good guy," Arsenault said.

"When he became leader, I was more worried, and the proof was when he let Austin in."

For a time, it looked like Higgs had put doubts about his views on bilingualism to rest. In June, his party won a byelection in a seat previously held by the Liberals, Miramichi Bay–Neguac, a riding with a large francophone population.

And the concerns about him have been litigated politically several times. 

In 2010, as a new Progressive Conservative candidate, Higgs said he had opposed "forced bilingualism … as a legislated thing, quickly, overnight" in the 1980s, but his views had changed since then.

"The system is working," he said in 2010. "Everyone adapts to new and creative ideas as time goes on, and you become more aware of the need to make changes in how you think and what you do." 

Then, in 2018, heading into his first election campaign as PC leader, he again renounced his COR views, this time saying that transformation had happened since 2010.

"After being in politics for eight years, I've actually been visiting more and more communities and talking to more and more people who live in them," he said. 

"My appreciation, my comprehension of the province has changed, because I've seen, now, the entire province." 

Higgs won the PC leadership over several rivals who warned that his inability to speak French would be an electoral liability for the party.

He still managed to get elected — with his daughters, graduates of the immersion program, lending his campaign a hand in French.

Still, Arsenault says the government's failure to respond to a 10-year review of the Official Languages Act — a report released 10 months ago — demonstrates the premier's lack of concern for francophones.

"What kind of a premier is that?" he said.

Whether Higgs is now trying to achieve what he articulated about immersion in 1985 depends on who you listen to.

New Education Minister Bill Hogan says the replacement for immersion will be "a new program that's more comprehensive and that will meet the needs that we have."

But Cardy told Brunswick News the premier's real goal is "a massive reduction" in opportunities to learn French and "reducing the presence of French" in the English school system.

As the Progressive Conservatives gear up for the 2024 election — and weigh whether they want Blaine Higgs still leading them in that campaign — the question may be how much of the premier's past isn't actually past.