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Blaine Higgs was the premier of New Brunswick from 2018 to 2024. Leading his Progressive Conservative Party through six years of headline-making policy, in September 2024 he called an election, trying and failing to become the first premier since Liberal leader Frank McKenna to win three consecutive terms in that province.
The Higgs Years analyzes Higgs’s premiership, particularly in terms of his party’s electoral pledge fulfillment record. Contributors portray Higgs as both a unifier and a divider: he successfully reduced New Brunswick’s public debt, implemented ambitious governance reforms, and managed the province’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in a bipartisan manner. Yet he also intensified ethnic and linguistic divisions, embraced an executive style of governance, and emphasized wedge issues, such as abortion restrictions and gender identity in schools. While Higgs largely avoided divisiveness in critical areas such as housing, health care, and the environment, he was nonetheless known to alternate between being a unifying and a polarizing leader.
Drawing on original data from the Polimeter, a nonpartisan tool that measures whether politicians keep the promises they make, The Higgs Years raises vital questions about the integrity of the relationship between voters and their government in New Brunswick.
“This volume reveals a new understanding of the Higgs administration, campaign promises, governing, and New Brunswick politics more broadly. It is thorough and accessible, provides insight into the politics of an understudied province, and will be cited for years.” Mario Levesque, Mount Allison University
"The Higgs Years provides a timely analysis of Blaine Higgs’ tenure as Progressive Conservative premier of New Brunswick from 2018-2024. It advances our knowledge and understanding of the politics, culture, and society of the province. The scope of the book is impressive [and] despite the book’s exceptional scholarship, this work is accessible, and will be appreciated not only by academics, but by the general public." New Brunswick Scholarly Book Award jury
"The Higgs Years is a timely and instructive window on how the francophone side of the province reacted to Higgs. The book will be valuable as a compendium of detailed, richly-sourced studies of governance and policy issues ranging from energy and housing to Indigenous reconciliation and education, from language policy to local government reform, Scholars and general readers alike will for years have a reliable source of public policy information." Journal of New Brunswick Studies
"The Higgs Years is a timely and instructive window on how the francophone side of the province reacted to Higgs. The book will be valuable as a compendium of detailed, richly-sourced studies of governance and policy issues ranging from energy and housing to Indigenous reconciliation and education, from language policy to local government reform, Scholars and general readers alike will for years have a reliable source of public policy information." Journal of New Brunswick Studies