Higgs losing chief of staff Louis Léger
Top adviser to premier played 'a diplomatic role' to francophone community, Acadian leader says
Louis Léger, a longtime Progressive Conservative staffer, operative and volunteer, confirmed to CBC News on Tuesday that he's leaving the position, nominally the top political adviser to a premier.
"It's time," Léger said in a text to CBC News. "I never intended on staying this long."
He would not agree to an interview.
Léger's departure coincides with several controversial moves by the government on language issues and calls for a party vote on Higgs's leadership from some francophone members of the PC party.
Moncton South PC MLA Greg Turner said those controversies, and speculation about whether Higgs will stay on as leader for the 2024 election, had no role in Léger's decision.
Moncton
South PC MLA Greg Turner said language controversies, and speculation
about whether Higgs will stay on as leader for the 2024 election, had no
role in Léger's decision. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
"I don't read anything into that at all," said Turner, the party's caucus chair. "It's a very, very amicable separation."
Turner said Léger told the PC caucus Monday night that he'd reflected on his future during a Christmas vacation.
"He found he'd contributed a lot over the time he was in that position and felt it was a good time for him to relax a bit more and take some time off."
Liaison to Acadian community
Léger was widely seen as the most influential francophone in Higgs's government and was frequently the go-between with Acadian organizations wary of the premier's approach to language issues.
"It's a big loss," said Alexandre Cedric-Doucet, president of the Acadian Society of New Brunswick.
"Mr. Léger played a diplomatic role, maintaining the relationship between the Premier's Office and the Acadian and francophone communities."
Léger advised Higgs after the party won the most seats in the 2018 election and then spent weeks jockeying with Liberal Brian Gallant over who would govern the province.
When Higgs prevailed, Léger became his chief of staff.
There was no immediate official announcement from Higgs about Léger's departure or about who would replace him. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Doucet said it was hard to assess Léger's contribution, especially on language issues, but said he had likely influenced Higgs to not make decisions that would have been even worse for francophones.
There was no immediate official announcement from Higgs about Léger's departure or about who would replace him.
Turner pointed out that chief of staff "is a high-pressure, high-intensity job," and most people in the position don't last four years.
Léger first became involved with the PC Party as as youth member during Richard Hatfield's time as premier. He is the son of Omer Léger, a Hatfield-era cabinet minister.
Léger worked as a political staffer to provincial and federal PC cabinet ministers and also worked as a communications consultant.
He was also on the board of the Conservative Fund, the fundraising arm of the federal Conservative Party.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
From: "Leger, Louis (PO/CPM)" <Louis.Leger@gnb.ca>
Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2022 07:24:02 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: The last thing Palango told Bonaparte was
that he would not waste his time listening to Lisa Banfield on Friday
No doubt a host of other snobby journalists will Correct Tristin Hopper?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Merci pour votre courriel. Je serai absent du bureau jusqu'au 14
juillet 2022. SVP contacter Laura Peasey au Laura.Peasey@gnb.ca ou au
506-230-1364 pour l’assistance.
Thank you for your email. I will be out of the office until July 14,
2022. Please contact Laura Peasey at Laura.Peasey@gnb.ca or at
506-230-1364 for assistance.
---------- Original message ----------
From: "Leger, Louis (PO/CPM)" <Louis.Leger@gnb.ca>
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 2022 17:21:56 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: Methinks the "Frank" buddies Paul Palango
and Andy Douglas should read yesterday's Telegraph Journal and their
article published on my birthday 40 years ago N'esy Pas?
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Bonjour, et merci pour votre courriel. Je consulterai ma boîte de
réception périodiquement; pour les questions urgentes, veuillez
contacter Laura Peasey au Laura.Peasey@gnb.ca ou 506-230-1364 pour
l’assistance.
Hello and thank you for your email. I will be checking my inbox only
periodically; for pressing matters please contact Laura Peasey at
Laura.Peasey@gnb.ca or 506-230-1364 for assistance.
From: "Chouinard, Craig (ECO/BCE)" <craig.chouinard@gnb.ca>
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2021 21:46:13 +0000
Subject: Automatic reply: YO Mr Jones I wonder how many LIEBranos
recall old CBC articles
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
I will be out of the office from Tuesday, 3 August, returning Monday, 9 August.
For general questions, please contact Georgia Chase, georgia.chase@gnb.ca.
For media monitoring, contact Media Monitoring at
media@gnb.ca<mailto:media@gnb.
------------------------------
Je serai absent du bureau à partir du mardi 3 aout et je reviendrai le
lundi 9 aout.
Pour des renseignements généraux, veuillez contacter Georgia Chase,
georgia.chase@gnb.ca<mailto:lu
Pour la surveillance des médias, veuillez contacter le Surveillance
des médias au media@gnb.ca<mailto:media@gnb.
---------- Original message ----------
From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2021 18:44:23 -0300
Subject: YO Mr Jones I wonder how many LIEBranos recall old CBC articles
To: "Robert. Jones" <Robert.Jones@cbc.ca>, Chuck.Chiasson@gnb.ca,
Keith.Chiasson@gnb.ca, Eric.Mallet@gnb.ca, Jacques.J.Leblanc@gnb.ca,
Robert.Gauvin@gnb.ca, Daniel.Guitard@gnb.ca, Gilles.LePage@gnb.ca,
Robert.McKee@gnb.ca, Francine.Landry@gnb.ca, Lisa.Harris@gnb.ca,
Benoit.Bourque@gnb.ca, Jean-Claude.D'Amours@gnb.ca,
Roger.L.Melanson@gnb.ca, Isabelle.Theriault@gnb.ca,
Guy.Arseneault@gnb.ca, Rene.Legacy@gnb.ca, Denis.Landry2@gnb.ca,
theresa@agelessnb.ca, "greg.byrne" <greg.byrne@gnb.ca>,
vivianne.martin@nbliberal.ca, comms@nbliberal.ca, media-medias@gnb.ca
Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, Dorothy.Shephard@gnb.ca,
"alan.roy" <alan.roy@snb.ca>, "Norman.Bosse" <Norman.Bosse@gnb.ca>,
"Mark.Blakely" <Mark.Blakely@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, "martin.gaudet"
<martin.gaudet@fredericton.ca>
<charles.murray@gnb.ca>, "Tim.RICHARDSON" <Tim.RICHARDSON@gnb.ca>
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Former MP seeks N.B. Liberal leadership
T.J. Harvey is the first to announce his bid to become leader of the
N.B. Liberal party
Gary Moore · CBC News · Posted: Jun 19, 2021 6:18 PM AT | Last Updated: June 19
T.J. Harvey was the M.P. for Tobique-Mactaquac from 2015 to 2019. (Submitted)
T.J. Harvey, the former Liberal MP for the riding of
Tobique-Mactaquac, is running to be the next leader of the New
Brunswick Liberal Party.
Harvey is expected to make a formal announcement on Tuesday in
Fredericton, but he confirmed his intentions Saturday.
"I'm very much a person of action," Harvey said. "So when I decide to
do something, I want to do it then."
Harvey was elected as MP in 2015, but didn't seek re-election in 2019.
He left federal politics to go back to work in the private sector.
But he said he's been thinking about entering provincial politics for
some time.
"I think with provincial politics it's more hands on, and you have the
ability to see the change that you are trying to affect more clearly."
The provincial Liberals confirmed Harvey is the first person to
officially enter the leadership race.
Political newcomer Kevin Vickers last held the post, taking over as
leader of the opposition in April 2019.
Kevin Vickers announced that he would step aside as Liberal leader
following the election in September 2020. (CBC/Mike Heenan )
Vickers led the party through a snap election in September 2020 that
was called by the Progressive Conservative minority government of
Blaine Higgs.
In that election, Higgs won a majority while the Liberals lost five
ridings that they won in 2018. They also lost roughly three per cent
of the popular vote.
Vickers failed to win a seat in the legislature and stepped aside as
leader of the party.
Roger Melanson, MLA for Dieppe, took over as interim leader of the
party shortly after the election.
The New Brunswick Liberal Association is still working on rules for
the leadership race.
But Harvey said he's looking forward to beginning his campaign.
"What's most important at this time is to get out and meet with as
many New Brunswickers from all different parts of the province and
have the hard conversations with them," he said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gary Moore
CBC News
Gary Moore is a video journalist based in Fredericton.
Follow Gary Moore on Twitter
with files from Radio-Canada
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
https://www.cbc.ca/news/
Liberal supporter says nomination convention left 'horrible taste'
Theresa Blackburn says she saw party members pressured into voting for
winning nominee T.J. Harvey
CBC News · Posted: Nov 11, 2014 1:41 PM AT
Theresa Blackburn says the Tobique-Mactaquac federal Liberal party
candidate nominating convention has turned her off federal politics.
(YouTube)
A woman who signed up to support the federal Liberals says she's
through with federal politics after seeing the process up close.
Theresa Blackburn, a Woodstock town councillor who attended the recent
Tobique-Mactaquac nominating convention, says that what she witnessed
was a disappointment and she wants nothing to do with party politics.
"It leaves with you with a horrible taste in your mouth."
Blackburn attended the Nov. 1 convention to pick a federal Liberal
candidate — her first-ever involvement.
She says she saw supporters of winning nominee T.J. Harvey pressure
party members into voting for him.
That echoes complaints by candidate Rick Lafrance — a school teacher
who Blackburn supported, and who lost the nomination race to Harvey.
Lafrance has filed a formal complaint with the Liberal party over
alleged paperwork improprieties and other tactics.
Defeated Liberal candidate alleges rival violated rules
"I want the good people of Tobique-Mactaquac to know what happened at
that nomination," he said.
Rick Lafrance has filed a formal complaint with the federal Liberal
party over rules being broken during a recent nomination convention.
(Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Monday was the second day Harvey didn't speak to CBC News to respond
to the accusations as he'd promised.
Blackburn says the federal Liberals need to investigate the process.
"You would think that the rules would be such that people can't in any
way shape or form get around them. But there are so many loopholes,"
she said.
At a time when parties talk about reaching out to disaffected voters
to get them more involved, this episode sends the wrong message, she
says.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Higgs, Premier Blaine (PO/CPM)" <Blaine.Higgs@gnb.ca>
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2021 20:35:33 +0000
Subject: RE: YO Higgy As I read Louis Leger email published by Mr
Jones I wonder how many of your cohorts read the emails and the note
about the Butter Tarts etc you sent me before I ran against
Tammy.Scott-Wallace's uddy Bruce Northrup
To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
Hello,
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to let you know that your email has been received and will be reviewed
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P.O Box/C. P. 6000 Fredericton New-Brunswick/Nouveau-
Tel./Tel. : (506) 453-2144
Email/Courriel:
premier@gnb.ca/premier.
YO Higgy As I read Louis Leger email published by Mr Jones I wonder how many of your cohorts read the emails and the note about the Butter Tarts etc you sent me before I ran against Tammy.Scott-Wallace's uddy Bruce Northrup
| ||||||||||||||
Higgs, Premier Blaine (PO/CPM)<Blaine.Higgs@gnb.ca> | Tue, Aug 3, 2021 at 5:35 PM |
| To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com> | |
Hello,
Thank you for taking the time to write.
Due to the volume of incoming messages, this is an automated response to let you know that your email has been received and will be reviewed at the earliest opportunity.
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'Have you heard anything from Andy C?' Hidden name in government emails about Irving Oil revealed
Newly unredacted note between civil servants suggests contact with Irving Oil executive
"Andy C" appears to be a reference to Andy Carson, a senior executive with Irving Oil.
The name was redacted in an email chain between department officials who were working on a government effort last winter to support Irving Oil Ltd.'s attempt to win higher petroleum margins from the EUB.
"Have you heard anything from Andy C?" read the original email between civil servants, which was released to the CBC in February with the last five letters blanked out.
An
email to Blaine Higgs from his chief of staff, Louis Leger, on Jan. 5
showed the premier was deeply involved in a government effort to help
with Irving Oil's request for fuel price increases. (GNB)
However, late last week the full sentence was provided following a CBC News complaint to the New Brunswick ombud's office about a number of redactions in material supplied by the department.
The full complaint has not been resolved, but in a letter last Friday the department's deputy minister Tom MacFarlane wrote to disclose that one of the redactions involved blanking out the name "Andy C."
"The Department has reviewed the previously withheld records and engaged in discussion with the Office of the Ombud," wrote MacFarlane. "Please find enclosed a revised record."
CBC's request for information from the department centred on a Jan. 5 application by Irving Oil to the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board to raise petroleum wholesale margins in New Brunswick by amounts that, if awarded, would have cost consumers about $1 million a week in increased fuel costs.
Shortly after the increase was applied for, a letter over the signature of Mike Holland, the minister of natural resources and energy development, was sent to the EUB in support of Irving Oil's request for an "expedited" review of its application.
Holland was criticized by a number of parties for contacting the independent board, but records obtained by CBC News following a right to information request showed he had little to do with writing the letter or the decision to send it.
It was produced by a team of civil servants working for days on strategies on how the government might assist Irving Oil and was submitted directly to Premier Blaine Higgs for approval.
The "Andy C" email was written late in the day Dec. 29 by assistant deputy minister Bill Breckenridge to department director Heather Quinn as senior officials scrambled to prepare for a briefing requested by Higgs on Irving Oil's plans to ask for fuel price increases a week later.
MacFarlane, the deputy minister, was notified at 7 p.m. on the 29th of the premier's desire for an update and, despite the hour and the holidays, immediately sent instructions to Breckenridge to find details.
Tom
MacFarlane, deputy minister of natural resources and energy
development, revealed last week that 'Andy C' was the name hidden in the
release of emails to CBC News last winter. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
"Can someone confirm with IOL [Irving Oil Ltd.] or EUB if the request has been made and if not when it is expected," wrote MacFarlane.
At 8:40 in the evening, Breckenridge did the same to Heather Quinn.
"I hope you had a nice Christmas," read his note "And I hate to bother you but as per the following: have you heard anything from Andy C?"
No one in the Department of Natural Resources connected to those emails was available Friday to confirm if Andy C is a reference to Irving Oil executive Andy Carson, what he was being consulted about, or why the department tried to keep the name secret.
Carson is Irving Oil's director of energy transition and a former head of the company's public affairs division.
Irving
Oil Ltd. applied to the EUB for 'urgent' wholesale price increases in
January but abandoned the application in March. Government documents
revealed the province attempted to find ways to help the company. (Devaan Ingraham/Reuters )
If the redaction was meant to dispel any impression the department was coordinating with Irving Oil about its desire for price increases, Higgs has already acknowledged the two bodies were in contact.
In a March interview he said there had been discussions with the company about its troubles and what it wanted prior to the application being made in January.
"I was aware of what they were seeking to do," Higgs told CBC News.
"They would have been presenting their case to cabinet, some members, not necessarily all members."
Initially, the Department of Natural Resources claimed it was not required to disclose "Andy C" under exceptions allowed if doing so would be "harmful to a third party's business or financial interests." However, that argument has been abandoned.
Carson did not respond to an email asking if he knows whether the reference in the government correspondence is to him.
Irving Oil eventually abandoned its application for higher wholesale prices in March.
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