New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs’ leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party continues to suffer dogged opposition from what turns out to be a vocal few..Higgs came under fire by trans-activists and their supporters after revising controversial provisions of policy 713..It formerly directed school boards to facilitate ways for children to change their gender without parents knowing. It also explicitly allowed children to participate in the events and sporting activities of their declared gender..Slight changes in wording tilted towards parental authority and the integrity of biological sex in school activities. However, they prompted a backlash from members of Higgs’ caucus and party executives..Faytene Grasseschi, a mother of two from Quispamsis, NB launched dontdeleteparents.ca and a corresponding petition to defend Higgs, which has since received more than 11,000 signatures..Pro-life advocacy organization RightNow received 800 signatures on its own petition and recently told supporters Higgs opponents were more bark than bite..An email from RightNow pointed to a July 31 CBC article that said “Push to remove Blaine Higgs as PC leader suffers setback.”.Party president Erika Hachey told members in a letter July 31 that there weren’t enough letters from party members to trigger a leadership review. However, the party was extending the deadline to Aug. 19 to accommodate more members..In an email to supporters, RightNow pointed out their opponents had false claims parroted by the media..“Despite being told for months that Higgs’ opposition had already recruited 26 of 49 riding presidents to submit their letters calling for a leadership review, we now know the reality was a lower number. During this time, RightNow supported Higgs both practically by collecting names in our petition and publicly in the mainstream media.”.In her letter to PC members, Hachey said that following a review and receiving legal advice, "over 40" letters were from current party members, but just 15 were from riding association presidents..The PC provincial council will meet Sept. 9 and vote on a leadership review if the threshold to trigger one would be met. If two-thirds of the council votes to have the convention, the party would have to schedule one within three months.
