Holt's 'rookie cabinet' comes with pros and cons, UNB prof says
Only 2 of the 19 new ministers have experience in cabinet, says political scientist J.P. Lewis
There are lots of new faces at the New Brunswick legislature, and first-time ministers make up the majority of the newly sworn-in Susan Holt cabinet.
J.P. Lewis, a professor of political science at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, said this is a typical outcome when a party hasn't been in power for some time.
He said the real measure of a good minister, aside from experience, is how well they work with the permanent public service, which underpins each department, and how well they're able to communicate with the public and advocate for their portfolios.
"Are you a good communicator? [Are] you able to defend your department or portfolio area when it comes under some heat? Are you able to sell the government line on things?" he said. "You could come from a different background, and not have ever been in cabinet, and just be good at those things."
Lewis said there are only two former ministers in the 19-person cabinet — Robert Gauvin and Gilles LePage. The rest are either first-time ministers, or both first-time MLAs and first-time ministers.
He said the fact that so many of the Liberals were elected for the first time contributed to this outcome.
"If you're drawing from a caucus that has that many rookies, you're going to have a lot of rookies in cabinet, as well," he said.
There are three former veteran Liberal MLAs who did not get a seat in cabinet. Holt said she supports Francine Landry for speaker of the Legislative Assembly and Guy Arseneault and Benoît Bourque for deputy speakers.
Speak to permanent public servants
Some appointments just make sense, said Lewis, such as Dr. John Dornan being chosen as minister of health. Dornan, elected in Saint John Portland-Simonds, previously ran Horizon Health Network before he was fired by former premier Blaine Higgs.
Lewis said that even though Dornan has experience with the health-care system, his portfolio will likely be the most challenging one. He will have a lot to contend with, including difficulty in recruiting health-care providers, long wait times in emergency rooms, thousands without a primary care provider and challenges to mental health-care access.
Executive
council members are pictured here, from left, clockwise, John Dornan,
Claire Johnson, Keith Chiasson, Cindy Miles, Isabelle Thériault, Aaron
Kennedy, Gilles LePage, Chuck Chiasson, Robert Gauvin, Alyson Townsend,
John Herron, Pat Finnigan, Luke Randall, David Hickey, Jean-Claude
D’Amours and Lyne Chantal Boudreau. (CBC)
In an interview with Information Morning Saint John, Dornan said his first point of action will be to connect with the deputy minister and get up to speed. He said the people who've spent their lives working in the system would likely have the best ideas.
"There's lots of good deputies and members of our department that have ideas that I will capitalize on," he said. "In my experience, I found that if you listen to people that have sound ideas, and put your shoulders behind it, you often bear fruit."
He said he would start working on three collaborative-care clinics, expected to be open by 2025. The Holt government has said it plans to have 30 of those clinics in the province eventually.
"What we want to do is blanket New Brunswick in collaborative primary care so that nobody has a place they can't call home," Dornan said.
A Saint John-heavy cabinet
Lewis said Liberals have historically found it difficult to break into southern ridings in the Saint John area. But this election, they won almost every riding in the area, with Aaron Kennedy unseating former premier Blaine Higgs in Quispamsis.
The cabinet includes four people from the Saint John area, including Saint John Harbour MLA David Hickey as housing minister and Rothesay MLA Alyson Townsend as minister of post-secondary education, training and labour.
"Winning the Valley was a big deal, and she rewarded most of those folks," Lewis said.
J.P.
Lewis, a political scientist at the University of New Brunswick Saint
John, says a cabinet of first-timers is not uncommon, but could present
some challenges if they depend too much on leader to make decisions. (Graham Thompson/CBC)
Kennedy is now minister of local government and minister responsible for Service New Brunswick. He's served as a chief administrative officer for the town of Quispamsis since 2021, but has never been elected provincially.
Kennedy said he plans to listen to the municipalities when discussing any reform. He said he also plans on making property tax increases more fair.
"You need to have some balance that people can predict that and budget appropriately," he said.
He also said he plans to communicate with the federal government to advocate for his riding.
Possible pitfall
Lewis said one possible drawback of a rookie cabinet is when new ministers are learning the ropes, power could get centralized.
"Because there's so much reliance on the centre," he said. "If everyone's kind of learning, then they don't have their own ways of doing things."
He said that's not a guaranteed outcome, especially since Holt has criticized the former premier for top-down leadership, but is a risk.
Corrections
- An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated there are three former Liberal ministers who did not get seats in cabinet. In fact, it was three veteran Liberal MLAs who did not get seats.Nov 04, 2024 8:16 PM AT
- An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Francine Landry was appointed Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and Guy Arseneault and Benoît Bourque were appointed deputy speakers. In fact, Premier Susan Holt said she supports them for those positions, but they have not been appointed.Nov 04, 2024 8:25 PM AT
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Information Morning Saint John
David Amos
I wonder if the political prof read my assessment of who is who in the latest circus
David Amos
Reply to David Amos
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/cabinet-picks-holt-new-brunswick-1.7370979
Allan Marven
Reply to David Amos
John Dutton
I'm sure this outfit will be there to sugar coat everything they do.
David Amos
Reply to John Dutton
Me too
Gilles Vienneau
Reply to John Dutton
Here we go… Because she’s a woman, some people just can’t see past a dress. So so backwards, unbelievable.
The new minister of health won’t be here next election if he pulls off opening and staffing all those clinics and fulfilling all the healthcare promises on budget. He will be in high demand from recruiters across North America.
David Amos
Reply to Samual Johnston
C'est Vrai
Jonathan Martin
mostly cons and out of control taxation and spending. literally a disaster in the waiting.
Bob Smith
Reply to Jonathan Martin
How's things going for the Conservatives? Found a new leader yet?
Jim Lake
Reply to Jonathan Martin
So very glad that the majority of New Brunswickers don’t share your pessimism and disagree with you … we’ve been saved from the disaster that another Higgs government would have delivered New Brunswickers.
Andrew Clarkson
Reply to Jim Lake
You just have to love those tax and spend liberals! Look out oblivion, here we come!
Douglas James
Reply to Andrew Clarkson
If oblivion were the outcome, we'd have hit it numerous times in the past when Liberals were in power previously. We didn't then. We won't now. What we, hopefully, will have is fair taxation, less corporate welcome, a better functioning health system, more affordable housing (and an increase in social payments), and just more sanity overall.
Douglas James
Reply to Douglas James
LOL, make that less corporate welfare.
Andrew Clarkson
Reply to Douglas James
Ha, ha, ha, good one, you make me laugh!
Rosco holt
Reply to Andrew Clarkson
Higgs did raise taxes on fuel and properties.
David Amos
Reply to Douglas James
Dream on
David Amos
Reply to Rosco holt
True
Reply to Bob Smith
AGM is this weekend.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Jim Lake
Being among the top provinces in the country in many of the metrics that matter has certainly been a disaster. You obviously do not know what the word means.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Rosco holt
Care to share the documents, articles, and or news releases that detail Higgs affecting our property or fuel taxes to the high side. Remember now, any tax that is associated with the carbon tax is a federal tax, not provincial. OK, now prove your post, good luck.
Jim Lake
Reply to Ronald Miller
It really all depends on what one’s definition of “top province” is … mine includes many more metrics than simply budget-related ones … “Top” ranked governments balance governing by being both fiscally and socially responsible, something Blaine Higgs never grasped or learned to do.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Jim Lake
We were among the top 5 in doctor wait list stats, salary wage increases, inflation numbers, employment numbers, anything else?
Jim Lake
Reply to Ronald Miller
Yeah, lots else … but it’s lost on u … some will just never get it.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Jim Lake
I didn't think you would have much of a comeback, always so easy to win these arguments when facts are on my side.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Ronald Miller
Then what happened my shadow?
Jim Lake
Reply to Ronald Miller
In your mind only. So I’ve much better things to do with my time.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Jim Lake
In tennis it is game, set, and match. Come to the table with facts on your side, for once, and you might have a better chance.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Jim Lake
The NB healthcare system has not fully leveraged clinical data to improve health outcomes. Impediments to full use of the data include limited data access, a problem that is exacerbated by inadequate adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and lack of data standards.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Jim Lake
Refer to my comment about data above.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Ronald Miller
In psychology, the shadow is a concept that refers to the parts of a person's unconscious mind that they refuse to acknowledge, either consciously or unconsciously.
Bobby Richards
Reply to Ronald Miller
The independent report by Energy Super Modelers and International Analysts found that the Higgs gas tax should not have exceeded 0.2 cents per liter this year, yet New Brunswickers were initially charged eight cents per liter, then 6.17 cents per liter.
Higgs' gas tax is just another example of him putting his corporate friends ahead of the wellbeing of New Brunswickers.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Bobby Richards
I knew I would bring you out by simply bringing up your name, this is just too easy sometimes.
Hopefully we see KH victorious, it would be a bad couple of weeks for democracy to see supporters of a party who spread misinformation and falsehoods win the last 2 elections.
Ronald Miller
We have a dietician running our Education system instead of a former teacher/principal, what could go wrong.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Ronald Miller
Then what happened my shadow?
Louis Léger
Reply to Ronald Miller
Right, because nothing wrong happened with the former.
Cecile Smith
Reply to Ronald Miller
She grew up in a household where both of her parents were teachers. She, herself, is educated. You should be asking, what could go right? Better outcomes?
Ronald Miller
Reply to Cecile Smith
I have a third cousin who is a nuclear engineer, maybe I will apply to be one.
Ronald Miller
Hogan would make a great leader. He has strong Christian values.
Ronald Miller
Dornan was a poor choice for healthcare. He's been out of it way too long.
Jim Lake
Reply to Ronald Miller
Hmmm, an actual physician versus Fitch (or really Higgs, as his ministers only followed his orders) who had no real grasp of what good healthcare is. Experts agree Dr Dornan was the logical choice.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Jim Lake
Higgs was not a fan of Dornan and neither am I.
Ronald Miller
Reply to Ronald Miller
In psychology, the shadow is a concept that refers to the parts of a person's unconscious mind that they refuse to acknowledge, either consciously or unconsciously.
Cecile Smith
Reply to Ronald Miller
A doctor is never *not* a doctor,.
Allan Marven
Anything is better than the last squad. At least for now. Probably be looking for change in less than a year, as usual.
Gary Webber
Some people just want to cry wolf.
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