Blaine Higgs hire unaware of social media ban on politically partisan posts

One of Premier Blaine Higgs's hand-picked experts appointed to shake up the civil service is apologizing for politically partisan social media posts.

Yennah Hurley says she didn't know until Friday that the terms of her appointment include a ban on publicizing political events.

She said a letter from the province's human resources department was mistakenly left out of her hiring package earlier this year.

"I apologize, because apparently in my original HR package should have been a letter that told me this information," Hurley said in an interview late Friday afternoon.

"I was not aware of that. As you know, I am very new to the government. This is my first government job ever and I was not aware of this situation."

She didn't know about the missing letter until CBC News asked Higgs's office about the posts on Friday.

"Now I am well aware and it will not happen in the future," Hurley said.

On Sept. 10, Hurley posted an invitation to a Progressive Conservative barbecue in Quispamsis, the premier's riding. She later posted photos from the event.

Hurley said she was "not at all trying to advertise for it [but was] just inviting people to come because I was also attending this barbecue in my own community."

In June, she attended a major PC fundraising dinner in Fredericton. On her public Facebook account, she posted several photos of the event and praised Higgs's speech, mentioning he got a standing ovation.

Hurley, who said she is not a PC party member, said late Friday afternoon that she still had not received the letter,so she was not sure if she is banned from attending partisan events altogether.

"All I know for now is that I'm not supposed to put anything on social media," she said.

New job

She also said she was unsure whether she would have to delete the old posts. Most of her Facebook posts are about New Brunswick tourism destinations, which falls within her job duties.

Hurleywas one of three consultantsappointedby Higgs earlier this year whose hiring wascriticized by the Opposition Liberals.

She is described on the government website as a senior adviser to the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture.

The other two consultants are John Logan, who worked with Higgs at Irving Oil and is handling special projects at the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, and Bob Youden, a former J.D. Irving executive providing strategic advice in the premier's office.

Hurley founded an outdoor adventure company and in 2012 wrote a travel blog about New Brunswick. She toured the province in an RV and was a weekly guest on CBC's afternoon radio show Shift New Brunswick, dispensing tourism tips.

Higgs said he met Hurley, who lives in his riding, in 2017 and was impressed by how "extremely passionate" she was about tourism in the province.

In the legislature, he called the consultants "subject matter experts," though the Liberal opposition called them "shadow deputy ministers."

Hiring before firing

Hurley was put in place in February, just weeks before Higgs fired Francoise Roy, who had been the deputy minister at the department.

Her appointment came as the PC government cut spending on tourism from $20.2 million last year to $12.8 million this year.

Hurley said Friday that she had not made any major changes yet but has "rejigged the strategy a little bit You'll be hearing about that very shortly."

Higgs said earlier this year that Hurley and Logan were earning deputy-minister-level salaries of $150,000 to $175,000 per year on two-year contracts, while Youden would be paid by the job.