2 PC ministers slammed Higgs's land acknowledgment policy

Two Progressive Conservative cabinet members strongly criticized the Higgs government's new policy on land acknowledgements, saying it could create a perception the government is racist.

In an internal email Oct. 15, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Jill Green and Education and Early Childhood Minister Dominic Cardy urged Premier Blaine Higgs to withdraw the policy and apologize for it.

"The memo sent to all GNB employees on Thursday, October 14, has added an unnecessary conflict that is creating confusion and justifiable anger toward our government," Green and Cardy wrote in the email obtained by CBC News.

But they backed down within hours after an urgent meeting with the premier, according to a second email.

The new policy bans government officials from acknowledging that New Brunswick sits on "unceded" and "unsurrendered" Indigenous land.

The two ministers wrote in their first email that they saw "no plan" to improve the relationship with First Nations and said the memo, and other government moves, "raise questions about our sincerity, our competence, and whether we are the racists our opponents claim."

In another passage, they said government moves like the new policy "create the impression of a government intentionally reinforcing racist behaviour."

The ministers sent the email to the premier just before 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 15. It was addressed to Higgs and was copied to his chief of staff Louis Leger, clerk of the executive council Cheryl Hansen and all PC MLAs.

The criticism prompted an immediate meeting with Higgs and his deputy minister of strategic initiatives and communications Nicolle Carlin, according to the second email.

Shortly after 6 p.m. the same day, Green and Cardy thanked Higgs "for the productive meeting … and for understanding and listening to our concerns." 

In the second email they tell Higgs they "share your commitment to build a new relationship with First Nations and the need for a strategy to broaden the conversation beyond a purely legal focus." 

They also refer twice to the need to work together, and they invited Higgs to set aside time at the next PC caucus meeting "to share your vision for a province where all citizens, no matter their backgrounds, feel a part of one New Brunswick." 

Green said the meeting with Higgs was "very heated" but satisfied her.

"We were all able to be heard and talk about our concerns, and talk about the balance between the legal suits and the human side of things, and how it's important for us to try to recognize both in our pathway forward. … It was a very good discussion."