Higgs government won't push forward with bill reforming education councils

The Higgs government won't push forward this spring with a controversial bill to overhaul the governance of education.

Education Minister Bill Hogan surprised the legislature Friday morning during question period when he announced the decision.

"We will not be advancing that any further at this stage," he said.

Opposition parties, district education council members, and some Progressive Conservative government MLAs had criticized the bill for eliminating local community decision-making and centralizing power in Fredericton.

Decision-making power reduced

The bill will turn the four anglophone district education councils into advisory bodies, while the three francophone DECs will retain their decision-making power because of constitutional provisions guaranteeing minority-language school governance.

On Thursday, the government agreed to extend the sitting of the legislature into next week to allow more time for debate on the bill, including two days of committee hearings with witnesses.

But Hogan said after "reflecting" on that process, he decided even that wasn't enough.

"Having the perception that this is getting shoved through, and being done to parents and the public is just not the perception that I want to have with this, because it's far too important," he said. 

The reversal was the second time in two days the government suffered a setback on an education initiative.

On Thursday, six PC ministers and MLAs voted with the opposition to pass a motion asking for more consultations on Policy 713, which sets out standards for safe schools for LGBTQ students.

That vote, and the subsequent resignation of cabinet minister Dorothy Shephard, was still reverberating Friday morning when Hogan put his bill on hold.

'We've got some talking to do': cabinet minister

Cabinet minister Arlene Dunn, who was away Thursday but said she would have voted with the opposition, told reporters the government needs to devote its attention to issues like the economy, jobs and housing.

"I think we need to get back on track and focus on the things that are in our platform," she said.

"We've got some talking to do and I think some rebuilding, in terms of what should the future look like."

Shephard said Thursday she quit because Higgs's cabinet and caucus were "routinely dismissed" by the premier when he makes decisions.

Dunn said there's been "a lot of frustration on a number of fronts. This is not something that I think most of my colleagues wanted to delve into, this Policy 713." 

Call for leadership review 

Meanwhile, former Richard Hatfield-era PC cabinet minister Jean-Pierre Ouellet renewed his call this week for party members to launch a leadership review to remove Higgs.

The premier questioned why a leadership review would be triggered by a policy he says will give parents a greater say in their kids' education — including knowing whether their children want to use different names and pronouns at school.

"The challenge we have as party is to say, you know, are we going to implode within ourselves, or are we going to think of the bigger picture here and the bigger prize?"

He also did not rule out calling an election to put an end to the turmoil and dissent in the party.

"You kind of weigh out each day and decide what's the best approach," he said.

"Right now I'm focused on let's get back to the agenda at hand for the government." 

Among the bills getting final reading and royal assent Friday was one that fixes a loophole in the province's fixed-date election law.

The New Brunswick Court of Appeal said last year the loophole might permit a legal challenge to an early election call if it were for "purely partisan" reasons.

The change eliminates that risk.

Higgs told reporters Friday he'll appoint a new minister of social development to replace Shephard next week.

He wouldn't say if a larger cabinet shuffle is in the cards to remove the three other ministers who broke ranks: Trevor Holder, Daniel Allain and Jeff Carr.

"I don't know at this point. Obviously it's not a good situation when cabinet ministers vote against a government. I won't deny that."

Housing Minister Jill Green, who last week questioned the process on Policy 713 but missed Thursday's vote, said she still wasn't sure how she would have voted.

But she played down talk of turmoil in the party after Hogan put Bill 46 on hold.

"We were a team in there today and it was a good morning, so far."

But Opposition Liberal Leader Susan Holt said the retreat on the education governance bill was another sign Higgs had lost control of his government.

"It's a great example of the incompetence of this government. …They clearly don't listen, they don't consult, so they can't get their own legislation passed." 

Hogan said he hopes to bring a revised bill back in the fall after lengthier consultations.

The decision means the legislature won't need to sit next week.

All other remaining government bills, subject to a motion limiting debate, were passed and got royal assent Friday afternoon.

They include two other pieces of legislation that critics say will centralize power: one to set up a local government commission that lets the province intervene in municipal decisions, and another establishing new health authority boards with no elected members.

Changes to the Official Languages Act were also pushed through with no further debate on a vote of 28-19. All Liberal and Green MLAs voted no.

It's the first time in the history of the legislation that a premier has failed to win unanimous support on a vote.