Higgs says Christian conservative's candidacy is 'democracy in action'

Premier Blaine Higgs says the ascent of a Christian conservative activist as a Progressive Conservative election candidate for his party is "democracy in action" — despite accusations among PC members that he is stifling democratic procedures.

Higgs said in a year-end interview with CBC News that Faytene Grasseschi's nomination in Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins was an example of how the process should work. 

"We've seen a candidate that has signed up an unprecedented number of residents and new members into the party, who is showing tremendous interest to be representing the area and has got tremendous support, which is exciting in many ways."

The premier compared Grasseschi's acclamation to his own entry into politics in 2010 and his leadership victory in 2016, when he also signed up supporters who had not been PC members. 

"You could argue that I kind of did that when I started."

The nomination race in Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins was triggered by the local PC riding board, which scheduled the event on Dec. 19 and then tried to postpone it.

After the party office refused, a second candidate, Jeremy Salgado, dropped out of the race.

The local board has complained that the process was unfair and is refusing to recognize Grasseschi's nomination.

But Higgs said "every element of the process of selecting a candidate in a riding was followed to the T."

At the meeting, the premier pointed to those who joined the PCs for the first time to support Grasseschi, saying they were "part of — I'll call it a movement, I'll call it a revolution, I'll call it whatever — but a part of an opportunity to change the face of politics."

His critics, however, say the outcome was another example of Higgs imposing his will on the party, contrary to its own internal democratic processes.

"What we see here is a classic example of a leader using his executive power — as premier, in this case — to undermine the political party that he is officially leader of," said Fredericton West-Hanwell MLA Dominic Cardy, who quit Higgs's cabinet in 2022.

The PC Party hasn't had a policy convention to develop new proposals since Higgs became leader in 2016, and Cardy said Higgs used his threat of an early election this fall to avoid a party annual general meeting.

The Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins PC association scheduled the riding nomination for Dec. 19, then tried to postpone it, only to be turned down by the party's head office.