Longtime PC MLA stepping down this fall

One of the longest-serving Progressive Conservative MLAs in the New Brunswick legislature says he'll bow out of provincial politics this fall.

Bruce Northrup, who was first elected in 2006 and was minister of natural resources and later of public safety in the David Alward government, plans to resign as MLA for Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins before this fall.

Northrup spoke out publicly in February against a plan by the Higgs government, later cancelled, to close the emergency departments at night in six small hospitals, including the one in Sussex.

But Northrup told CBC News his decision was entirely about wanting more family time, including with two grandchildren one born three weeks ago he has not been able to see because of COVID-19 restrictions.

"The time just feels right. It's hard to explain anything beyond that," he said.

"What I've done the last 14 years is put politics first and family second. I want to change that around and put family first and politics down at the bottom of the agenda."

He said not being able to see his grandchildren "kind of added to things."

On Thursday, Northrup voted against proposed legislation to eliminate religious and philosophical exemptions from the policy on mandatory vaccinations for school children. Last summer, he called the issue "probably the biggest struggle I've had, personally" as an MLA.

Northrup's departure would make it even harder for the Higgs government to pass legislation in the house.

Byelections

The Progressive Conservatives have 20 MLAs, the Liberals have 19 and the People's Alliance and Greens each have three. There is one independent MLA and two vacancies.

But Northrup said he will try to time his departure so that a byelection can be held in Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins at the same time two other byelections are expected this fall.

He plans to sit on legislative committees this summer.

A bill passed in March postponed two required byelections in the Saint Croix and Shediac Bay-Dieppe ridings. The bill said they must be held at the latest 30 days before the start of a new session of the legislature this fall.

Northrup said the plan now within the government is to hold them in mid-October, and he hopes his replacement can be elected then too, but planning for that is "at the early stages."

Northrup was first elected in 2006 and was re-elected in 2010, 2014 and 2018.

He became natural resources minister in the Alward government in 2010.

While he supported shale gas development, in 2011 he alleged Windsor Energy broke the law by conducting seismic testing in Sussex withoutthe town's consent, an allegation that prompted the company to sue him for defamation.

The New Brunswick Court of Appeal eventually ruled that Northrup's comments were factual,so he could not be sued for what he said.

Northrup was later shuffled out of the natural resources portfolio. In 2018, he told CBC News he was moved after J.D. Irving Ltd. pressured then-premier Alward over Northrup's reluctance to increase the amount of Crown wood logged by industry, something Alward's advisers said was not the case.