PC MLA Trevor Holder is latest Tory to call it quits

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 thandefending your constituents' interest in the New Brunswick legislature."

Through a spokesperson, Holder said he would resign his seat before May but had not set a specific date.

His departure will leave the government with 27 MLAs in the 49-seat legislature.

MLAs from all parties gave Holder a standing ovation after his speech, and Higgs, Liberal Leader Susan Holt and Green Leader David Coon all paid tribute to his work ethic, his integrity and his parliamentary skills.

"He's a great statesman in the legislature and in caring for his community generally," Higgs told reporters.

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.

WATCH | 'I have been a Tory my whole life': Holder on divisions in the PC Party

Trevor Holder calls for a more thoughtful, consensus-building approach

1 year ago

Duration 1:17

Longtime PC MLA Trevor Holder called for more consensus within Higgs government in an emotional statement in October 2023

"My political career has always been about trying to maintain balance, and if I daresay, Mr. Speaker, it's about trying to be progressive and conservative at the same time," Holder said during his speech Thursday.

He made no direct reference to Policy 713, however,or to his concerns with Higgs's leadership in his statement Thursday, and he did not speak to reporters.

But in his June 2023letter 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.

Higgs acknowledged to reporters that his long private-sector experience can make him impatient for decisions and results.

He also said Holder spoke to him last year about how the end of the current mandate might be the right time for him to do something else outside politics.

Holder is the 10thPC MLA elected in the 2020 provincial election to either quit or decide not to run in this year's campaign.

In Question Period, Holt asked Higgs whether he had taken the opportunity to "look in the mirror" and ask himself if the exodus was because of "a leadership model that doesn't suit them anymore."

Higgs responded, and told reporters later, that the departures represent a chance to get new people with fresh thinking into politics.

"I'm not saying it's not a loss. It is," he said. But, "who knows? Someone coming in may have some solutions that we haven't thought about."

The election is scheduled for Oct. 21.