Throne speech passes, but Higgs continues preparing for election
All 6 PC MLAs who defied him in June fall in line for vote endorsing speech
The Higgs government has survived a confidence vote in the New Brunswick legislature, a key moment as Premier Blaine Higgs mulls a possible early election call.
All six Progressive Conservative MLAs who broke ranks with the premier in the spring to vote with the Opposition Liberals on Policy 713 fell in line Friday morning, supporting the government.
The motion to support the Oct. 17 throne speech passed 27-19.
Just ahead of that vote, a Liberal amendment declaring no confidence in the government was defeated by the same margin, with those six PC MLAs voting against the motion.
Had either vote gone the other way, it would have triggered an election.
But Higgs retains the discretion to call one, something he again refused to rule out on Friday.
"We will continue to make preparations and be ready, because I think it's the prudent thing to do," he told reporters.
"We have activities underway in that regard, and we are just going to be election ready."
Asked if he would be at the legislature for next week's scheduled sittings, Higgs said, "At this point, I intend to be."
Of the six MLAs who voted against Higgs in the spring, only one, Daniel Allain, has agreed to meet with him one-on-one to smooth over their differences.
Higgs has said for several weeks he may need an election to give his government stability because of the five holdouts.
The premier said their vote in favour of his agenda Friday was a good sign but he doesn't want to declare every vote on every bill a confidence vote to keep them onboard.
Higgs has complained about the five MLAs' refusal to meet with him one-on-one rather than as a group and their tough questioning of government officials during public accounts committee meetings.
He also says at least one of them has posted criticism on social media, though he won't identify which one.
Opposition Liberal Leader Susan Holt, who had tried to persuade some of the five to support her non-confidence motion, said they fell in line for Friday's vote because "I think they want to keep their jobs."
Friday's vote happened in the wake of a dramatic about-face by Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the federal carbon tax — an issue Higgs has been using to hammer the provincial Liberals for months.
Trudeau announced late Thursday that the tax won't apply to home heating oil for three years, giving people time to take advantage of a new federal program to help pay for the installation of heat pumps that use less energy and reduce emissions.
He also announced that the top-up on carbon tax rebates for rural residents will increase from 10 to 20 per cent.
Higgs had been urging Holt to join him in pressuring Ottawa to scrap the tax altogether.
On Friday, Holt contrasted Trudeau's announcement to Higgs's refusal to deliver new inflation-relief measures that his government promised a month ago.
"It's encouraging to see at least one leader that's committing to affordability measures and then acting on them," she said.
But the premier said Holt's statement about Trudeau was itself a reversal.
"It's nice to see the leader of the Opposition all of a sudden think Trudeau is doing the right thing," he said. "What have we been talking about the last four months? … That should have happened long ago."
Higgs's government announced its own heat-pump program in 2022 that offers a free unit and free installation to households with baseboard electric heating and incomes below $70,000.
It was later expanded to cover homes that heat with oil.
But there have been concerns that the supply of heat pumps and the availability of trained installers hasn't been enough to keep up with demand for the program.
Higgs said it's "a serious question" whether the same challenges will affect the rollout of the federal program, which will offer its own grants.
On election timing, both Holt and Green Party Leader David Coon said there isn't much more time for Higgs to trigger a campaign without running the risk of having candidates and voters on the roads during unpredictable snowy weather.
By law an election called now would happen Nov. 27. But if there's no call by Monday it would have to be Dec. 4.
"People would be furious," Coon said.
Holt said her party was getting ready while looking at "that last possible date.… We think there's still another week of waiting until we're into really unrealistic timing from the premier."
Higgs pointedly noted to reporters that Holt has no say in when the election is held.
"That's not her call, is it?"
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
