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Candidate, Blaine Higgs

Progressive Conservative Party | Quispamsis, NB

CLC rating: Pro-life, pro-parental rights

SupportableLight Rating

Supportable
Supportable
Rating Comments: While in opposition, Blaine Higgs was outspoken in his pro-life views (see Quotes tab). Higgs attended the March For Life and publicly said that he shares the values and aspirations of the marchers (see Video tab), In addition, he led a fight to stop the provincial Liberal government of Brian Gallant from overturning the so-called "two-doctor rule", which required a sign-off by two doctors prior to an abortion being considered medically necessary and therefore eligible for tax-payers funding - a bare modicum of protection for the preborn that still existed at the time; Higgs even demanded a free vote on the issue (see Quotes tab).

Currently, as Premier, Higgs has taken a stand of principled opposition to funding abortions at private clinics (see Quotes tab).

Position: PC Party Leader; Premier of New Brunswick (60th & 59th Legislatures)
First elected (yyyy.mm.dd): 2010.09.27
Previous Occupation: engineering and transporation industries executive
Birthdate (yyyy.mm.dd): 1954.03.01
Percentage in last election: 68.1% (2020)
Victory margin last election: 53.5% (2020)
Religion / Faith: Baptist
Constituency Offices Quispamsis, New Brunswick
E2E 0A2
Parliamentary Office
New Brunswick
Life & family issues voting score: 66%

Note: The voting score calculation is not weighted to account for relative differences in importance of various bills or issues. Here is Blaine Higgs's voting record relating to life and family issues:

Votes, Surveys and Policy Decision Vote Score
March for Life Attendance
Yes ok
Bill 11, An Act Respecting Proof of Immunization
Introduced by former provincial NDP leader turned PC Minister of Education, Domenic Cardy, this authoritarian bill would require all students to provide proof of immunization in order to attend any of the province’s early learning and childcare facilities or public schools and would not allow any conscientious or religious-based exemptions – only medical ones. That means, for example, that if parents object to certain vaccines on the basis of their unethical development or implications, those objections would be ignored. It would be a disastrous precedent given the bill’s failure to recognize the morally dubious nature of a great number of vaccines. Thankfully, even amidst the panic associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, this enforced-injection bill was wisely, if narrowly, defeated by a vote of 22 to 20 on June 18, 2020.
Supported bad
Motion 50 - Liberal opposition's attempt to undermine the minimal parental rights established in the PC government's revision to Policy 713
This Motion, made by pro-LGBT Liberal Party leader Susan Holt, sought to delegitimize the minimal protections implemented under the PC government's Policy 713, which required parental consent before children under the age of 16 could insist that gender-ideological names and pronouns be applied to themselves in schools. Disgracefully, the Motion asserted that children's rights were somehow thwarted by the guidance of their own parents. The Motion's resolution requested that Policy 713 be subjected to further scrutiny by the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate, which was to "conduct full consultations with relevant stakeholders on any changes to Policy 713 and the impact of such changes..." The resolution passed by a vote of 26 in favour to 20 opposed on June 15, 2023.
Opposed ok

Here are quotes from Blaine Higgs on various life and family issues:

Explaining his PC government's opposition to the taxpayer funding of private, for-profit abortion killing centres in New Brunswick:  "Private clinic support is something we don't do in Canada. There are procedures that are accepted under the Canada Health Act that doctors can perform and ones that can't. I am not, as a politician, going to say, 'OK I'll do that." [CBC News, 'Higgs steers clear of abortion debate during campaign, despite strong personal views', September 8, 2020]

Stating, with ironic emphasis, his opposition to using taxpayer dollars to kill unborn children in the womb:  "I do not believe that the definition of pro-life is unrestricted and taxpayer-funded abortion." [CBC News, 'Higgs steers clear of abortion debate during campaign, despite strong personal views', September 8, 2020]

Calling for a free vote in the Legislature to reverse the pro-abortion Liberal government's 2014 decision to abolish the "two-doctor rule", which preserved a modicum of protection for the unborn:  "We will all go home at night, thinking: I did my part in representing life in this province and in representing my constituents by stating what I believe in and what I believe they believe in. I will not go home at night feeling that there has been another degradation to our society in New Brunswick." [CBC News, 'Higgs steers clear of abortion debate during campaign, despite strong personal views', September 8, 2020]

Defending the right of parents to protect their children from state-sponsored transgender indoctrination:  "Susan Holt & Justin Trudeau don't believe parents need be involved in such critical discussions as gender identity, even in children as young as 4." [CBC News: 'Higgs attack on Trudeau and Holt bears hallmark of N.B. premier's new social media guru', June 12, 2023]

Here are the answers for the questionnaire as provided by Blaine Higgs on 2024.

Question Response
We do not have any questionnaire answers for Blaine Higgs at this time.

Here are the videos available for Blaine Higgs.

Blaine Higgs addresses the 2017 March for Life in Fredericton

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