Blaine Myron Higgs (born March 1, 1954) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 34th premier of New Brunswick from 2018 to 2024 and leader of the New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party) from 2016 to 2024.
Higgs graduated from the University of New Brunswick as an engineer, going on to spend 33 years working for Irving Oil. In his early political journey, he joined New Brunswick Confederation of Regions Party, of which he ran for leadership in 1989, and left the party in 2002. As a Progressive Conservative, Higgs was first elected to the legislature in the 2010 provincial election and served as the Minister of Finance from 2010 to 2014 under the leadership of David Alward. In the 2018 provincial election, Higgs narrowly carried the PCs to a minority government, despite losing the popular vote. Higgs and the PC's were re-elected in the 2020 provincial election, though this time with a majority government.
In the 2024 New Brunswick general election, Higgs and the Progressive Conservatives lost their bid for a third term to the Liberals of Susan Holt, which won a majority government. Higgs lost his seat in the riding of Quispamsis to Aaron Kennedy of the Liberal Party, the first time since 1987 that a sitting New Brunswick Premier lost in their own riding. Higgs resigned as leader of the Progressive Conservative party a week after the election.
Early life and education Blaine Myron Higgs was born on March 1, 1954, in Woodstock, New Brunswick. The son of Carl, a customs officer, and Bertha, who taught in Fosterville, Higgs grew up in Forest City, a rural community in York County which sits along the Canada–United States border. His family was politically Liberal. Higgs was educated at a small elementary school, being taught by his mother and his aunt, later attending Canterbury High School. After graduating from high school, Higgs pursued mechanical engineering at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Fredericton.
Irving Oil career Higgs graduated from UNB in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering; he started working for Irving Oil the following week, and spent the next 33 years working for the company and climbing the corporate ladder. He finished Queen's University's executive management training program in 1993, and further took Babson Executive Training and Education finance and leadership courses. Higgs retired from Irving Oil in 2010; by this time, he had been the director of logistics and distribution.
Early political activities Higgs initially supported the Liberal Association but later left for reasons he cited as the party having lacked "common-sense democracy". While still working for Irving Oil, Higgs, a unilingual, opposed the province's Official Languages Act, and proclaimed that an "inevitable association dedicated exclusively to the preservation of English Canadians" was needed. Upon its formation, Higgs became involved with New Brunswick's right-wing, anti-bilingual Confederation of Regions Party (CoR). In 1985, Higgs handwrote a brief and presented it to the Guérette-Smith Commission, starting it by praising the United States for being "united under one flag, one government, and one language," adding that "we will never achieve such a level of loyalty and unity when at the same time we embark on a process supporting two different cultures." In 1989, Higgs ran for the leadership of the CoR Party. In his bid for the COR leadership, Higgs "complained about francophones 'who can speak the common language, but refuse to'". He also supported an elected Senate, opposed the Meech Lake Accord, favoured fixed terms for government, and stated "We do not have an obligation to cater to those people who can speak the common language, English, and refuse to do so".
MLA for Quispamsis On May 6, 2010, Higgs launched his campaign for his debut candidacy in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick during the 2010 provincial elections shortly after retiring from Irving Oil. Representing the Progressive Conservative Party in the provincial electoral district of Quispamsis, Higgs cited property taxes as being one of the Kennebecasis Valley's largest issues during the election. During his campaign, he addressed his previous affiliation with the CoR Party, stating that he was against "forced bilingualism ... as a legislated thing, quickly, overnight" at the time, adding that he had a change of views since then.
Finance minister On October 12, 2010, Higgs was sworn-in as Minister of Finance, Minister responsible for the New Brunswick Liquor Corporation, Minister responsible for the New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation, Minister responsible for the New Brunswick Lotteries and Gaming Corporation, and Chair of the Board of Management. He also served as Minister of Human Resources until October 9, 2012. While Higgs was Minister of Finance, the decision was made to stop making regular payments to pension plans, later causing pension issues for Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) members leading to the strike in 2021.
Progressive Conservative Party leadership Higgs represented the electoral district of Quispamsis as a Member of the Legislative Assembly,New Brunswick Votes 2010: Quispamsis. cbc.ca, September 27, 2010. and, since October 22, 2016, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick. On that date the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick leadership election was held and on the third ballot he defeated former Saint John Mayor Mel Norton, 1,563 to 1,169.
2018 provincial election
In the 2018 provincial election, Higgs and his party won the largest share of seats in the legislature, 22, compared to 21 for the governing Liberal Party of New Brunswick. The Liberals opted to attempt to remain in power as a minority government by presenting a Throne Speech, in hopes of retaining the confidence of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick.
On November 2, 2018, the Progressive Conservatives and the People's Alliance voted to defeat Premier Brian Gallant's Liberal minority government via a non-confidence motion in the legislature. The non-confidence motion passed 25-23, with 22 Progressive Conservative MLAs and 3 People's Alliance members voting to defeat the government. 20 Liberal and 3 Green members voted against the motion. The Progressive Conservatives subsequently formed government, with the support of the People's Alliance.
Premier of New Brunswick (2018–2024)
Higgs was appointed Premier on November 9, 2018. At 64 years of age at the time of swearing-in, Higgs is the oldest person to be sworn in as Premier in New Brunswick history, and in April 2019 became the oldest ever Premier in New Brunswick history, surpassing Leonard Percy de Wolfe Tilley in both records.
Economic policy
In 2019, Higgs began repealing several financial assistance programs for New Brunswick students attending post-secondary institutions. His party deemed programs such as the Timely Completion Benefit, established in May 2009,Timely Completion Benefit now available. gnb.ca, May 13, 2009. to be "very costly".Province Makes Changes To Tuition Bursary Program. thewave.ca, April 9, 2019. The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick believed redistributing the funds allocated to this program through a tuition tax credit was a "better" way to reach more students.Changes to tuition bursary program mean more students will get less money. cbc.ca, April 9, 2019. This move, along with the removal of the Free Tuition Program, were highly criticized by students across the province, with some emphasizing that there is no longer any incentive to remain in New Brunswick to work or study.University students face 'lose-lose' scenario after free tuition program scuppered. cbc.ca, April 13, 2019.
In 2020, Higgs opted out of a federal program to fund public transit in New Brunswick, as he "misunderstood details" of the federal program designed to rescue municipal transit services. Higgs claimed multiple times that the funding was for capital projects, but according to a government backgrounder on the agreement, that specific program was meant to address the operating deficits and revenue shortfalls caused by the pandemic. Higgs also claimed that the program was only for larger provinces, stating, "that was a specific request for infrastructure funding for subways and for systems in Toronto and Montreal and BC — for the big cities." Documents later showed that Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nova Scotia have received a combined $57.1 million from Ottawa's "Safe Restart" public transit aid program. New Brunswick asked for and received $0.
In 2022, CBC News and Radio-Canada published an article described how J. D. Irving used a captive insurance company based in Bermuda to insure its vessels, which allowed it to accrue $13.4 million in untaxed profits over a thirty-year period from 1973 to 2001. Use of captive insurance strategies is legal and common among multinational companies. Higgs responded to the news at the legislature by stating that he would not make modifications to provincial policies, stating that "because the tax strategies used by the companies were legal, there are no grounds for banning them from receiving government grants, loans or other subsidies."
Equalization
Higgs raised the idea of cutting equalization payments made to 'have-not provinces', including New Brunswick during a First Ministers' meeting in Montreal in 2018. The New Brunswick government budgeted for $1.8-billion worth of equalization transfers in 2018-19. Without 30 per cent of the budget coming through federal transfer payments, Higgs suggested attitudes might change about resource development.
Labour
Higgs's government oversaw the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) strike in October and November 2021. About 20,000 workers in the education, health, transportation and infrastructure sectors went on strike for 16 days. On November 14, Higgs's government reached a deal with CUPE. The agreement included raising wages for the workers.
First Nations In 2020, some First Nations chiefs urged the provincial government to call an inquiry into systemic racism following the separate police-involved shootings of Chantel Moore and Rodney Levi. The chiefs later walked out on a meeting with Higgs following his refusal to commit to an independent inquiry, stating that they were 'losing faith' in him. In 2021, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Arlene Dunn announced that the provincial government would hire an independent commissioner to examine systemic racism, rather than call a public inquiry. Indigenous leaders called the provincial government's plan a "profound disappointment."
In 2021, the provincial government pulled out of tax-sharing agreements with 13 Mi'kmaq and Wolastoqey First Nations without consultation.
In 2021, following a major land title claim filed by Wolastoqey Chiefs, Higgs alleged that title claim "impacts every single land owner" in the province by claiming title to "private lands of any kind" with "no limits". Higgs further stated that the lawsuit might lead to Indigenous people winning control of 60 per cent of the province's land, including private homes and businesses. However, the chief's statement of claims filed with the court only listed five forestry companies, NB Power, and the federal and provincial governments.