PC official wants Blaine Higgs's leadership put to review
CBC
A Progressive Conservative party official in southeast New Brunswick is trying to trigger a review of Premier Blaine Higgs's leadership of the provincial party.
In an email to fellow party members, Maurice Arsenault, the PC regional vice-president for southeast New Brunswick, accuses Higgs of a "dictatorial approach."
He's hoping to rally enough PC members to sign letters to trigger a discussion of the premier's leadership at the party's annual general meeting Nov. 4-5 in Fredericton.
"Let me remind it was Blaine Higgs who embraced Dominic Cardy and Kris Austin without any consultation with our party," Arsenault wrote.
Cardy, a former NDP leader, joined the PCs in 2017 but resigned from Higgs's cabinet last week over the premier's leadership style.
The same day, Austin, a former leader of the People's Alliance who defected to the Tories in March, was sworn into the cabinet.
"There's a lot of people who are not satisfied, and everybody's talking about it, and nobody's doing anything about it," Arsenault told CBC News.
"Then Cardy jumped the boat, and he's not the only one who's frustrated, so I believe it was time to put my letter forward."
Moncton South PC MLA Greg Turner said he convened a meeting of the PC caucus Monday night after they "got wind" of the letter, and the support for Higgs was unanimous, with no dissent.
"Without exception, [it was] 100 per cent complete endorsement of the premier and his leadership for our province, actually," he said.
"Everybody had a chance to speak who wanted to speak on the subject, and it was very, very positive. Ministers and MLAs alike were unified in our endorsement of the premier and the work we have done and he has done in leading us."
Arsenault, who lives in the riding of Moncton Centre, writes in his letter that Austin "does not adhere to our party's constitution," a reference to the Alliance party's opposition to aspects of official bilingualism.
The PC constitution's principles include a statement that party members support official bilingualism and the protection and promotion of "the diversity of our two linguistic communities."
"It was enough to have Kris Austin" as a PC MLA, but "having him as a minister, I can't stand that," Arsenault said.
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