Premier Proposes Deal To Avoid Pandemic Election

All of the recent speculation about a provincial election in New Brunswick may soon come to an end.

Premier Blaine Higgs has asked party leaders to sign an agreement not to trigger an election before 2022 or until the pandemic is over.

“I want stability going forward,” the premier told reporters during a news conference Monday afternoon.

“I don’t want to be in a position of always looking over my shoulder. We’ve seen that volatility over the past six, eight months that any disruption and then there would be this call for an election.”

The details were unveiled Monday in a letter sent to Liberal leader Kevin Vickers and copied to the other party leaders.

In the letter, Higgs said the thought of an election is something that has “weighed heavily” on him over the past six weeks.

“On the one hand, an election this year is not ideal and should be avoided if possible. On the other, it is far better than a surprise election at some future undetermined point over the next two years, which could be much worse given we don’t know how the pandemic might evolve,” wrote Higgs.

“I propose that, as leaders of the parties in the Legislature, we sign a formal agreement not to trigger an election before the fixed election date in 2022 and no earlier than thirty days following the declared end of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, whichever comes first.”

Any agreement would build on a supply and spending agreement to avoid instability, formalizing the all-party COVID-19 cabinet committee and a “mutually agreed-upon” agenda for the legislature, including proposals from each participating party.

Higgs said he is also open to offering cabinet positions to members of the opposition parties in order to secure stability.

Three byelections which are expected to take place in the coming weeks would go ahead as planned under the guidance of Public Health.

Higgs has invited representatives from the Liberals, the People’s Alliance and the Greens to meet with him Wednesday to establish the “common ground” needed for further negotiations Thursday and Friday.

“I think there’s been certainly an expressed interest from the other leaders about not having an election,” he said.

But the premier said he is also not ruling out the possibility of calling an election depending on the results of the discussions.