New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs kicks off provincial election

By The Canadian Press on September 19, 2024.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs makes a harmonized sales tax announcement in Moncton, N.B., on Thursday, July 18, 2024. Higgs has said he plans this morning to seek approval from Lt.-Gov. Brenda Murphy to dissolve the legislature. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ron Ward

FREDERICTON – New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has called for a provincial election.

Voters will go to the polls on Oct. 21, as prescribed by the province’s fixed-date election law.

The announcement this morning signals the beginning of a 33-day campaign expected to focus on pocketbook issues and the government’s provocative approach to gender identity policies.

The 70-year-old Progressive Conservative leader has attracted national attention by requiring teachers get parental consent before using the preferred names and pronouns of students under 16.

More recently, he has tried to win over inflation-weary voters by promising to lower the provincial harmonized sales tax by two percentage points to 13 per cent if re-elected.

Higgs’s main rivals are Liberal Leader Susan Holt and Green Party Leader David Coon, both of whom are expected to focus on economic and social issues.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.