Blaine Higgs asked to apologize for ‘joke’ about dead N.B. Liberal supporter

New Brunswick’s Progressive Conservative person disrespected the province’s residents by presenting the death of a Liberal protagonist arsenic funny, the enactment said arsenic it called for Blaine Higgs to apologize.

Higgs drew the party’s ire during remarks made astatine his Thursday run kickoff lawsuit successful Quispamsis, N.B., held hours aft helium dissolved the legislature and officially triggered the run starring up to the Oct. 21 provincial election.

His code to enactment faithful included a second-hand anecdote of a speech that purportedly took spot successful 2014 betwixt a enactment unpaid canvassing for votes and a recently minted supporter. At the time, Higgs was seeking re-election arsenic the legislature subordinate for the Quispamsis riding, which helium has represented since 2010.

The conversation, the communicative went, began erstwhile the canvasser was leaving the location of a pistillate who had conscionable voiced her volition to ballot for Higgs.

“(The volunteer) said: ‘Thank you precise much. That’s great.’ Then she started walking adjacent door, and the woman said: ‘Oh, you don’t request to spell there. She passed distant a fewer weeks ago,'” Higgs said successful his retelling of the story. “This campaigner —  you know, precise passionate idiosyncratic — said: ‘I’m truthful sorry. Was she sick long? Or what happened? And the woman conscionable said, ‘Oh, don’t consciousness excessively bad. She was a Liberal.'”

“I cognize that’s not an due joke, but it was comic and it is true,” Higgs concluded.

Hannah Fulton Johnston, enforcement manager of the New Brunswick Liberal Association, condemned Higgs’s anecdote successful a connection issued connected Friday successful which she called the gag distasteful.

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

“Making airy of the decease of immoderate New Brunswicker is highly inappropriate for anyone and wholly unacceptable for the premier of the province.”

Green Party Leader David Coon described the anecdote arsenic disgusting and questioned whether the remark could beryllium passed disconnected arsenic a joke.

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“It’s a precise acheronian comment,” helium said connected Friday.

Higgs, 70, has truthful acold stuck to broadly populist messages arsenic helium seeks a 3rd word arsenic New Brunswick’s premier. His cardinal issues truthful acold person included bringing down the harmonized income taxation from 15 to 13 per cent and requiring teachers to get parental consent earlier they tin usage the preferred names and pronouns of young students successful class.

When asked astir the Liberals’ petition for an apology, Progressive Conservative Party Executive Director Doug Williams shifted the absorption backmost to past remarks from Liberal Leader Susan Holt and tried to gully a parallel betwixt her and her unpopular national counterpart.

“If Susan Holt is genuinely acrophobic astir violative comments, volition she apologize for saying that concerns of parents astir their children are ‘BS’? … Will she apologize for saying the Premier acts similar a fascist?” the connection reads.

“The media person not paid immoderate attraction to these remarks, contempt Progressive Conservatives raising them publicly. Just similar Justin Trudeau, Susan Holt wants apologies for things that different radical person done, and ne'er wants to apologize for her ain actions.”