PC MLA Trevor Holder is latest Tory to call it quits
Another member of New Brunswick legislature joins exodus ahead of this fall’s provincial election
The longest-serving member of the New Brunswick legislature is calling it quits, becoming the latest Progressive Conservative to opt against sticking with Premier Blaine Higgs for this year's election.
Trevor Holder, the MLA for Portland-Simonds, made the announcement in the legislature Thursday afternoon, delivering an ode to the institution he has been part of for a quarter-century.
"We may have other jobs in life. Some of them may pay more. Some of them may be be rewarding," he said.
"But I can't think of any other job, any other role, in a free and democratic society, that is a bigger honour than defending your constituents' interest in the New Brunswick legislature."
MLAs from all parties gave Holder a standing ovation, and Higgs, Liberal Leader Susan Holt and Green Leader David Coon all paid tribute to his work ethic, his integrity and his parliamentary skills.
Trevor
Holder and his Saint John colleague Dorothy Shephard quit as ministers
in June, complaining that the premier's unwillingness to involve his
cabinet and caucus in decisions was contrary to PC party values. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
Holder was first elected in 1999 and was a cabinet minister under three different PC premiers.
But he broke ranks with Higgs last June as one of six PC MLAs who voted with the opposition to pass a Liberal motion calling for more study of changes to Policy 713, which deals with sexual orientation and gender identity in provincial schools.
He quit cabinet a week later.
Holder made no reference to Policy 713 or to his concerns with Higgs's leadership in his statement Thursday, and he did not speak to reporters.
But in his June 2023 letter resigning from cabinet, he said that the PC caucus "has been less about consensus and more about [Higgs] getting his own way."
He also rapped the premier for what he called "his lack of empathy, as well as his inability to listen to valid concerns from all members of his caucus."
Last fall, Holder said he had hoped his resignation from cabinet would "start a conversation about how we could get back to a thoughtful, consensus-building style of government in this province and in our party."
He also described in emotional terms how the divide in the PC party was affecting him.
"My children have never once complained about the publicness of our lives until this June, when, the night before I resigned, my daughter said to me, 'Daddy, I want this to end,'" he said.
Holder is the 10th PC MLA elected in the 2020 provincial election to either quit or decide not to run in this year's campaign.
The election is scheduled for Oct. 21.
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