N.B. election: Higgs went to ‘very dark place’ with Liberal joke, opponent says

A gag astir a deceased Liberal protagonist has landed New Brunswick’s Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs successful blistery h2o — specified hours aft the province’s predetermination run kicked off.

Higgs shared the anecdote, which helium told the assemblage was a “true” event, astatine the extremity of his run motorboat code Thursday evening successful Quispamsis, N.B.

He relayed the communicative — to the assemblage of enactment supporters and candidates — that a canvasser moving for him during his 2014 run successful Quispamsis was knocking connected doors to talk to constituents.

He said the unpaid spoke to a pistillate who assured her that she was voting for Higgs. When the unpaid began to marque her mode to the neighbour’s door, that’s erstwhile the gag took a arguable turn.

“And the woman said, ‘Oh, you don’t request to spell there. She passed distant a fewer weeks ago,'” Higgs said.

“And 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.'”

While the assemblage laughed astatine the joke, Liberal Leader Susan Holt said it demonstrated “a implicit deficiency of judgement connected the premier’s part,” particularly since Higgs himself prefaced the gag by saying his woman had advised him not to accidental it.

“I don’t deliberation it’s becoming of the idiosyncratic who’s expected to beryllium starring our province. It’s a interest that we’ve had for immoderate clip present due to the fact that we’ve seen the rhetoric and peculiarly the partisan quality that’s directed towards partisans,” Holt said Friday.

Holt said determination has been part successful the legislature, erstwhile “typically, successful New Brunswick, we’ve had governmental parties that get along.”

“When the premier’s talking astir dormant Liberals and laughing astatine it, it surely creates the somesthesia that’s concerning,” she said.

Green Party Leader David Coon told reporters helium not lone thought the gag was “inappropriate,” but that helium thought Higgs was “descending into a precise acheronian place.”

“I don’t cognize what happened to the man, but he’s surely a antithetic idiosyncratic from the antheral who was elected (premier) successful 2018,” Coon said.

Higgs officially launched the predetermination run Thursday morning, aft a sojourn to Lt.-Gov. Brenda Murphy astatine her authoritative residence successful Fredericton.

At dissolution, Higgs’ Progressive Conservative Party held 25 seats, the Liberal Party had 16 seats and the Green Party had 3 seats. There was 1 autarkic MLA and 4 vacant seats.

Under the province’s fixed-date predetermination law, the ballot volition instrumentality spot connected Oct. 21.

Low support rating

Higgs, who became premier successful 2018 and is seeking a 3rd term, is starting this predetermination run with the lowest support standing of immoderate premier successful the country.

The latest quarterly Angus Reid Institute survey released Thursday showed that Higgs has an support standing of 30 per cent, conscionable beneath Ontario Premier Doug Ford astatine 31 per cent.

While the Liberals and Greens are mostly focusing connected pocketbook issues specified arsenic housing, wellness attraction and education, the Progressive Conservatives are looking astatine societal issues specified arsenic intersexual predisposition and sex individuality successful schools, besides known arsenic Policy 713.

A bid of well-known furniture ministers and caucus members resigned past twelvemonth erstwhile the Higgs authorities announced changes to Policy 713.

— with files from The Canadian Press and Global News’ Silas Brown