Over half of Conservative members have voted for new leader one week before deadline

FREDERICTON – New Brunswick‘s Progressive Conservative leader disrespected the province’s residents by presenting the death of a Liberal supporter as funny, the party said as it called for Blaine Higgs to apologize.

Higgs drew the party’s ire during remarks made at his Thursday campaign kickoff event in Quispamsis, N.B., held hours after he dissolved the legislature and officially triggered the campaign leading up to the Oct. 21 provincial election.

His speech to party faithful included a second-hand anecdote of a conversation that purportedly took place in 2014 between a party volunteer canvassing for votes and a newly minted supporter. At the time, Higgs was seeking re-election as the legislature member for the Quispamsis riding, which he has represented since 2010.

The conversation, the story went, began when the canvasser was leaving the home of a woman who had just voiced her intention to vote for Higgs.

“(The volunteer) said: ‘Thank you very much. That’s great.’ Then she started walking next door, and the lady said: ‘Oh, you don’t need to go there. She passed away a few weeks ago,'” Higgs said in his retelling of the story. “This campaigner — you know, very passionate individual — said: ‘I’m so sorry. Was she sick long? Or what happened? And the lady just said, ‘Oh, don’t feel too bad. She was a Liberal.'”

“I know that’s not an appropriate joke, but it was funny and it is true,” Higgs concluded.

Hannah Fulton Johnston, executive director of the New Brunswick Liberal Association, condemned Higgs’s anecdote in a statement issued on Friday in which she called the joke distasteful.

“The New Brunswick Liberal Association is calling on Blaine Higgs to apologize for this comment,” it reads.

“Making light of the death of any New Brunswicker is highly inappropriate for anyone and completely unacceptable for the premier of the province.”

Green Party Leader David Coon described the anecdote as disgusting and questioned whether the comment could be passed off as a joke.

“It’s a very dark comment,” he said on Friday.

Higgs, 70, has so far stuck to broadly populist messages as he seeks a third term as New Brunswick’s premier. His key issues so far have included bringing down the harmonized sales tax from 15 to 13 per cent and requiring teachers to get parental consent before they can use the preferred names and pronouns of young students in class.

When asked about the Liberals’ request for an apology, Progressive Conservative Party Executive Director Doug Williams shifted the focus back to past remarks from Liberal Leader Susan Holt and tried to draw a parallel between her and her unpopular federal counterpart.

“If Susan Holt is truly concerned about offensive comments, will she apologize for saying that concerns of parents about their children are ‘BS’? … Will she apologize for saying the Premier acts like a fascist?” the statement reads.

“The media have not paid any attention to these remarks, despite Progressive Conservatives raising them publicly. Just like Justin Trudeau, Susan Holt wants apologies for things that other people have done, and never wants to apologize for her own actions.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

VANCOUVER – A look at British Columbia NDP Leader David Eby.

British Columbia NDP Leader David Eby is in his first election campaign as party leader and is looking to capture the NDP’s second consecutive majority victory on Oct. 19. Here are some highlights from his life and career.

Age: 48. Born July 21, 1976, in Kitchener, Ont.

Pre-politics: An award-winning human rights lawyer, who was the B.C. Civil Liberties Association executive director, an adjunct professor of law at the University of British Columbia, president of the HIV/AIDS Legal Network and served on the Vancouver Foundation’s Health and Social Development Committee.

Politics: Eby, the MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey, was first elected in 2013, defeating then-premier Christy Clark in the riding, forcing her to run in a byelection in Kelowna. He became leader of the party and premier in 2022, replacing former premier John Horgan who left office due to health issues.

Personal: Married to family physician Dr. Cailey Lynch. The family recently welcomed a third child, daughter Gwen.

Quote: “For me, I feel the extra weight of the significance of the election in terms of can we preserve what’s made us successful over the years of working together as a province.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

VICTORIA – British Columbia Green Leader Sonia Furstenau is running in the Victoria-Beacon Hill riding in the Oct. 19 election, returning to the capital after representing the Cowichan Valley riding since 2017.

Age: 54. Born June 8, 1970.

Pre-Politics: Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history as well as abachelor’s degree in education from the University of Victoria. Furstenau has worked as a high school teacher in Victoria and Shawnigan Lake and served as a director with the Cowichan Valley Regional District for three years prior to entering provincial politics.

Politics: Elected to the B.C. legislature in 2017 for the Cowichan Valley riding and re-elected in 2020, shortly after winning the BC Greens leadership contest that year.

Personal: Furstenau recently moved back to Victoria, where she lives with her husband. The couple shares two sons, and Furstenau told The Canadian Press she is looking forward to becoming a grandmother for the first time in November.

Quote: “When we have a right-wing party pandering to these kind of culture war issues, and then we have the NDP that has abandoned so many of (its) progressive values … more than ever, we need BC Greens in the legislature to keep the focus on the health and well-being of people, communities, the environment and our economy.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.