Higgs defends hiring of Conservative consultants at taxpayer expense
CBC
Premier Blaine Higgs has defended his government's hiring of two well-known Conservative campaign consultants at taxpayer expense as he prepares for an election campaign this fall.
Higgs told opposition MLAs on a legislative committee that the two consultants, Derek Robinson and Steve Outhouse, would not be doing any partisan work at taxpayer expense.
Robinson is the founder of Mash Strategy, a Calgary-based consulting firm that has done work for various conservative parties and leaders.
Outhouse is the campaign manager for Higgs's Progressive Conservative re-election bid this year, but is also working in the premier's office as principal secretary, a taxpayer-funded position.
"There are no taxpayer dollars used for the political role in any of this," Higgs said, arguing that Outhouse would be doing campaign work on his own time.
"The separation between the night duties and the day duties would be very clear," he told the committee during its study of the budget estimates for his office and the executive council office that he heads.
Higgs offered a similar guarantee that Mash Strategy's work for the government would not cross over into the election campaign.
Green Leader David Coon questioned the hiring of Mash, which says on its website that its mantra is "think politically, act creatively" and claims it has gained experience "in political war rooms."
"It's not just 'thinking politically,' it's thinking politically in a certain ideological direction that's clear, that's being brought to bear on their work," Coon said.
The $72,000 paid to Mash is "a very small portion" of what the government spends on more than 80 firms providing communications services, Higgs said.
Liberal MLA René Legacy said the hiring of the Calgary-based consulting firm contradicted the government's frequent rhetoric about a "New Brunswick-first" approach to contracting.
Higgs responded that he wanted to incorporate "a look from outside" into efforts to promote New Brunswick's successes across Canada.
"I want to be sure our perspective is not limited to one region, one province," he said.
The premier said the government must communicate on issues that "seem to be rather straightforward issues to some and very controversial issues to others."
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