PC dissidents submit letters to trigger review of Higgs leadership

Progressive Conservative party members hoping to remove Blaine Higgs as leader say they have officially submitted the required letters to the party to trigger a leadership review. 

They said in a statement that they're taking the "drastic and rarely used step" because of Higgs's approach to governing as premier.

Party president Erika Hachey confirmed in an email that staff at the party office received the letters Thursday morning.

"The premier would have you believe this is solely about one policy," the dissident group says in a statement, referring to the controversy over Policy 713. "Not true.

"This is about a pattern of autocratic leadership over the past three years that has resulted in serious missteps and the undermining of New Brunswickers' confidence in the Progressive Conservative government." 

It takes letters from 50 party members, including the presidents of 20 riding association presidents, to force the provincial council of the party to hold a vote on a review.

The statement says letters from 26 riding presidents and the "necessary documents" from other party members were submitted.

It's signed by Marc Savoie, the president of the riding association in Moncton East.

That is the riding now represented by MLA Daniel Allain, one of two ministers Higgs dropped from his cabinet in a shuffle Tuesday.

He and Jeff Carr were among the ministers who voted with opposition MLAs to pass a motion on June 15 calling for more consultations on Policy 713, which sets out protections for LGBTQ students in provincial schools.

Two other ministers who voted with the opposition, Dorothy Shephard and Trevor Holder, resigned ahead of the shuffle, citing Higgs's top-down leadership style.

The provincial council must vote at its next meeting by a two-thirds majority on holding a convention where members would vote on whether to remove Higgs.

"This will be a divisive and bruising process for our party. We still hold out hope the premier will avoid this and step down," Savoie's letter says.

It criticizes Higgs for not holding a policy convention with grassroots PCs since becoming leader in 2016.

It also cites what it calls a "stunningly ill-advised attempt" to replace French immersion, a cancelled 2020 plan for nighttime closures of emergency departments in six small hospitals, the elimination of elected spots on regional health authority boards and the neutering of decision-making powers of anglophone district education councils. 

The letter also slams Higgs for what it calls "condescension and neglect" toward francophone and Indigenous communities, which it says has led to "barely breathing" PC organizations in northern New Brunswick and a "needless" court battle with the Wolostoqey nation.

Questions premier's sincerity

Savoie said in an interview he believes those who want Higgs gone will have two-thirds support on the provincial council to hold a convention.

After Tuesday's cabinet shuffle, Higgs said he would try to mend fences with unhappy party members in the coming weeks.

"I think we have some building to do, there's no question of that. I need to play a key role in that, reaching out to the membership, the executives throughout the province, and be able to sit down and have some very good discussions." 

Savoie said in an interview he questions if that's sincere.

"He hasn't in the last six years. He hasn't done that at all. So we seriously doubt that he would start now." 

In a statement Thursday, Higgs repeated his previous assertion that the review push is tied to Policy 713.

He pointed out the process is "long and detailed" and said while it unfolds he'll focus on governing in the best interests of all New Brunswickers.