PC health minister says Higgs shouldn't call early election
Bruce Fitch says Tory caucus should try to work together before premier goes to the polls
A senior provincial cabinet minister who has remained loyal to Premier Blaine Higgs is saying there's no need for the premier to call an early election this fall.
Health Minister Bruce Fitch said he'd prefer to see Higgs work with his caucus, including six Progressive Conservative MLAs unhappy with his leadership, rather than going to the polls a year early.
"I don't think we need an election. There's another year in that mandate," Fitch told Radio-Canada, pointing out that it's up to Higgs to make the decision.
The premier has hinted he may need to call an election because of the six MLAs who voted with the opposition Liberals in June on Policy 713.
Those MLAs have committed to supporting PC legislation this fall but also say they want the caucus to have more input into decision-making.
Fitch says there should be a way to resolve that without an election.
"You know, we talked about needs and wants," he said, borrowing a phrase Higgs coined in 2010 to describe his fiscal philosophy.
"Do we need one? I think we could work in collaboration with our caucus before going into an election. But again, I will leave that up to the premier."
The six rebellious MLAs say Higgs has rebuffed their requests for a meeting of the full PC caucus since June.
Fitch, speaking after a ceremony to mark the naming of a bridge after the late MLA and minister Brenda Robertson, also hinted he won't run in the next election.
He was first elected as MLA for Riverview in 2003 and was a town councillor and mayor before that.
As an MLA he served in the cabinets of three PC premiers and was also interim leader of the party and the leader of the official opposition from 2014 to 2016.
"That's 35 years as an elected official altogether, so if I decide to take a break, I don't think anyone should fault me on that," he said.
Other ministers who attended Thursday's bridge announcement were more enthused about a snap election this fall.
"I've told him whatever he decides to do, I respect, and I'll certainly be ready to go," Public Safety Minister Kris Austin said.
"I support the premier and his vision and what he's been doing in New Brunswick."
Women's Equality Minister Sherry Wilson said she will "absolutely" run in the next election, whenever it is.
Her Moncton Southwest riding was split up in the new electoral boundaries map so Wilson plans to run in Arcadia-Butternut-Maple Hills, a riding that stretches from the outskirts of Moncton to the village of Gagetown, including the communities of Havelock and Cambridge Narrows.
Wilson and Austin backed Higgs in the spring during caucus turmoil over Policy 713, which sets out guidelines for creating safe, inclusive spaces for LGBTQ students in provincial schools.
Fitch was less vocal but he opted not to join the group of six PC MLAs who voted against Higgs on the issue.
Fitch was shuffled into the health portfolio in July 2022 at the same time Higgs suspended the boards of the two provincial health authorities and fired Horizon Health CEO Dr. John Dornan.
The premier made those moves in the wake of a high-profile death in the emergency department of the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton.
On Thursday Fitch wouldn't comment on the turmoil in the PC caucus since then.
"I think it's been described pretty well in the media and I don't think I can add anything, any more insights than have already been talked about."
The minister said he'd been suffering from a cold and said Higgs has also been ill this week.
"There's a lot of viruses going around now, at this point in time," he said.
Higgs's office did not respond immediately to a request for a comment on what Fitch said.
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With files from Michèle Brideau, Radio-Canada