Higgs says his government 'cannot function' with PC MLAs offside
CBC
Premier Blaine Higgs has rejected a pledge by six Progressive Conservative MLAs to support his legislation this fall so he can avoid an early election call.
The premier says in a statement to CBC News and Radio-Canada that their collective promise and their insistence that the PC caucus have more input into decisions are actually signs of potential instability.
An Aug. 10 letter from the six members "clearly signifies the intent of these six MLAs is to continue to function as an independent group deciding when and where they will be supportive of government's agenda," Higgs said.
"A government cannot function in this manner. On many topics, consensus is not always achieved, but democracy works because the majority of participants support the agenda."
That statement led one of the six PC MLAs, Trevor Holder, to make an emotional rebuttal.
"I have been a Tory my whole life. I'm a Tory now and I'll always be a Tory. That is never going to change," he told CBC and Radio-Canada.
"The way caucus is supposed to function is you stay in the room until you build consensus on any issue or you park the issue until you find consensus. That is all the six of us were trying to say in that letter this summer."
Holder, the MLA for Portland-Simonds, said there is no reason for Higgs to call an election this fall.
"We can all get back in the room and continue out the last year of our mandate and stick to our promises of fiscal accountability, economic expansion and population growth," he said.
"That's what I ran on in the last election. I made a commitment to the people of my riding I'd be here for four years to fight for those things."
Higgs said last month the defiance of the six Tories in June "remains a big concern" and could lead him to call an election before the scheduled date of Oct. 21, 2024, to avoid "12 months of political drama causing instability and stagnation in government."
The PCs have 29 seats in the 49-member legislature, so the six MLAs have the votes to stall or block government legislation.
In June, they voted with the opposition Liberals for a motion calling for further consultations on Policy 713, which sets out guidelines for safe and inclusive spaces for LGBTQ students in provincial schools.
Holder, the longest-serving MLA in the legislature, resigned as a minister in Higgs's cabinet a few days later, in the wake of his colleague Dorothy Shephard's resignation.
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