Another Progressive Conservative MLA who clashed with Premier Blaine Higgs has decided not to be part of his campaign for re-election this year.
Four-term Saint John Lancaster member Dorothy Shephard, who was health minister during the worst part of the COVID-19 pandemic, says she will not run again.
Shephard said her public break with Higgs last year over Policy 713 and his leadership style were just the latest in a series of “challenging times” during her 14 years in politics, and this was the right time for her to look at other ways to contribute.
Shephard was one of six PC MLAs who voted with the opposition last June on a Liberal motion calling for more study of changes to Policy 713 on gender identity in schools. She resigned from cabinet the same day.
From top left to right, Andrea Anderson-Mason, Trevor Holder, Dorothy Shephard, Daniel Allain, Ross Wetmore and Jeff Carr. Shephard was one of the six PC MLAs who voted with the opposition last June on a Liberal motion calling for more study of changes to Policy 713. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
The changes included requiring parental consent before teachers and staff can use a child’s chosen pronoun in verbal or official communication.
She told CBC News that she plans to stay involved with the PC Party and defend its moderate, centrist values.
“The way it’s heading now, I think there is such a hyper-focused trend with far-right politics,” she said. “That’s my personal perspective.”
WATCH | Dorothy Shephard resigns from cabinet on June 15, 2023:
Dorothy Shephard resigns from cabinet
9 months ago
Duration 2:00
In a note addressed to the premier, the social development minister said, ‘I can no longer remain in your cabinet.’
She said the party should look back to the tenure of former prime minister Brian Mulroney to “understand the great accomplishments that come from centre-right, centre-left politics, and strongly promote that. So that’s where my efforts are going to lie.”
Higgs told reporters he wished Shephard the best in the future.
“She was dedicated to the province and dedicated to her riding, and that’s what MLAs are supposed to do,” he said.
But he pushed back at her comments about a rightward shift by the party.
“I guess we all have different interpretations of what ‘to the right’ means. If having parents involved in raising their kids and making sure that’s an accepted practice is to the right, maybe we have to evaluate society.”
Shephard said she plans to participate in PC Party annual meetings and other internal processes to try to help steer the party in a moderate, mainstream direction.
Her criticism of the party’s direction were echoed by former Fundy-Royal Progressive Conservative MP John Herron, who confirmed Thursday he plans to run for the Liberals in the provincial riding of Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins.
He’ll be taking on PC candidate Faytene Grasseschi, whose Christian conservative writings and views have generated “angst” among longtime Tory supporters, Herron said.
“It’s their perspective that that nominee doesn’t represent the progressive nature of this community,” said Herron, who was elected twice as a PC MP in 1997 and 2000.
Former Fundy-Royal Progressive Conservative MP John Herron, who confirmed Thursday he plans to run for the Liberals in the provincial riding of Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins, echoed Shephard’s criticism of the PC party’s direction. (Submitted my John Herron)
Herron refused to be part of the federal Progressive Conservatives’ merger with the Canadian Alliance in 2003 and sat as an independent in the House of Commons before running and losing as a Liberal in 2004.
Herron said “a broad and unlikely coalition” of Liberals, unhappy provincial Tories and “a touch of Green” had urged him to run against Grasseschi, whom Higgs has praised as part of a “revolution” within the provincial party.
“What we’re seeing is a party based more on ideology,” he said, adding that New Brunswickers favour “big bold policies” but “don’t necessarily want to be part of a right-wing debating society.”
Grasseschi said she would not respond to Herron’s comments.
“I look forward to a campaign at this important time in our province when the cost of living and caring for the citizens of New Brunswick is top of mind for us all,” she said in an email.
In a statement posted to social media Thursday morning, Shephard not-so-subtly rebutted comments Higgs has made about other PC MLAs who have opted out.
Carr, back left, Holder and Shephard at a committee meeting in November. Shephard and Carr have both said they won’t run again, but Holder has yet to say. (Alix Villeneuve/Radio-Canada)
“Surprisingly, politics was for me,” she wrote.
“I am a Progressive Conservative, and I will carry the experience and learnings from these four terms into whatever the future holds next.”
Earlier this year Higgs responded to other departures by saying about Jeff Carr that tough decision-making is “not for everyone” and, about Arlene Dunn, “politics turned out to not be for her.”
In her statement, Shephard pointed to several initiatives she was proud of during her time as a minister, including kinship legislation in 2019 that clarified the rules around relatives able to care for a child who needs to be removed from the family home.
Health Minister Bruce Fitch has hinted he will retire after 21 years as an MLA. (Shane Magee/CBC)
Shephard is the ninth PC MLA elected in 2020 to quit or not to run again, meaning a full one-third of Higgs’s victorious candidates from that campaign won’t be on the ballot this fall.
At least three others may also bow out.
Two more of the six who rebelled over Policy 713 and the premier’s leadership style, Trevor Holder and Andrea Anderson-Mason, have yet to say whether they’ll run.
Health Minister Bruce Fitch has also hinted he will retire after 21 years as an MLA.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
