Another cabinet minister in New Brunswick has recently resigned, adding to the calls for a leadership review of Premier Blaine Higgs. Trevor Holder, who represented the Portland-Simonds district and served as the minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour, announced his resignation in a letter. In the letter, Holder expressed the need for personal reflection after a lengthy legislative career and mentioned his disappointment with the current state of affairs under Premier Higgs. He criticized the lack of consensus within the caucus and accused Higgs of prioritizing his own agenda over cooperation.
The Higgs government has faced controversy for its changes to Policy 713, which no longer require teachers to use preferred pronouns and names for transgender or non-binary students under the age of 16. As of July 1, students under 16 will need parental consent to change their names and pronouns at school. These changes have drawn criticism from the LGBTQ2+ community and New Brunswick’s youth and child advocate, who called the province’s rationale for the changes incoherent. Eight members of the Tory caucus, including Holder, staged a protest earlier this month by sitting out question period. Additionally, a group of New Brunswick Progressive Constituency presidents are pushing for Higgs to be removed from office.
Though Holder did not explicitly mention Policy 713 in his resignation letter, he stated that it is no longer possible to maintain the integrity of the caucus system under Higgs. He had previously tried to work with Higgs and emphasized the importance of collaborative decision-making within the caucus, but his efforts were met with frequent meetings where Higgs imposed his own position without considering dissenting voices.
Holder concluded his letter by stating that he can no longer serve in Higgs’ Cabinet, but he will continue serving as the MLA for Portland-Simonds. He called for the development of a thoughtful, conservative movement in the province that brings people together instead of dividing them.
In response to the dissent within his party, Higgs dismissed the dissidents as a specific group seeking a leadership review. He acknowledged that interest in the review has increased due to the recent changes to Policy 713. According to Higgs’ statement, the majority of the caucus supports the involvement of parents in raising their children and believes in creating safe spaces for all students while respecting parental roles.
Holder’s resignation comes after former social development minister Dorothy Shephard resigned from cabinet last week. Shephard cited various reasons for her resignation, including dissatisfaction with the lack of process in decision-making and the dismissal of the cabinet and caucus. Shephard’s concerns echoed those of former education minister Dominic Cardy and former deputy premier Robert Gauvin, who also resigned from cabinet in 2022 and 2020, respectively. They expressed disagreements with Premier Higgs’ management style and values.
The string of resignations and calls for a leadership review continue to create uncertainty around the future of the Higgs government, particularly in light of the Policy 713 controversy.
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