New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said he was willing to call an election over changes to Policy 713, which was designed to protect LGBTQ students, as he faced a rebellion from several of his top cabinet ministers Thursday.
Six ministers and two backbench MLAs refused to attend the morning sitting of the legislature "as a way to express our extreme disappointment in a lack of process and transparency," they said in a statement.
But any chance of the government falling appeared to fizzle by mid-afternoon when all eight returned to the house for a key vote.
The statement was signed by ministers Dororthy Shephard, Trevor Holder, Daniel Allain, Arlene Dunn, Jeff Carr, Jill Green, and backbenchers Ross Wetmore and Andrea Anderson-Mason.
The eight Tories stayed away from question period less than an hour after Education Minister Bill Hogan announced the results of his review of Policy 713.
The policy, enacted in 2020 after consultations with stakeholders and experts, established minimum standards for schools to ensure a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for LGBTQ students.
Hogan's news conference laid out changes to three elements of the policy, including no longer making it mandatory for teachers and staff to respect the chosen names and pronouns of children under 16 without parental consent.
The PC rebellion by more than a quarter of Higgs's caucus became clear when the eight MLAs delivered a written statement to reporters shortly before noon.
Another change removes mention of gender identity when it comes to sports and other activities, saying only that students will be able to take part in safe and welcoming activities. A third change requires each school to have a general-neutral change room.
WATCH | What is Policy 713, and why does it matter? The CBC's Raechel Huizinga explains:Complaints, protests, debates, reviews: What’s it all about?In two cases, Hogan's descriptions of the changes didn't match the wording of the new document given to reporters, and the minister promised to make further changes to it.
But that wasn't enough to end the blooming PC rebellion by more than a quarter of Higgs's caucus.
"It could potentially force an election," the premier told reporters moments after the dissidents released their statement.
He'd been asked whether he might be forced to step down but instead raised the idea of triggering a campaign.
"Would I do that? It's not without the realm of possibility. I believe that strongly in the case of finding a solution here where we do not exclude parents in their child's life."
The prospect of the PCs losing a vote in the house was real for several hours.
8 PCs return to defeat Green bill to ban shale gas
A Green Party bill to ban shale gas development was due for a second reading debate and mid-afternoon vote.
The statement by the eight PC dissidents did not say if they'd take part in that vote, but the government would need them in the house to stop the Green legislation from advancing.
By the time the Green bill came up around 2:45 p.m., all eight were back in the house, giving the government enough votes to defeat the legislation.
It wasn't clear whether they'd won any further concessions in return for their presence during a noontime caucus meeting.
Asked after a noontime caucus meeting if she would be in the house to vote, Dunn replied, "I don't know."
Allain was in the house for a committee debate on one of his bills, and Anderson-Mason told reporters she planned to fill in for Speaker Bill Oliver during the afternoon.
"It's always been about the process," she said. "For me, it's always been about the process. The process is incredibly important. It's the foundation of democracy."
Green Leader David Coon said earlier in the day that the extraordinary move by those Tories means Higgs must resign.
"He clearly has lost the confidence of a sizeable part of his cabinet. He needs to go."
Liberal Leader Susan Holt said her party was ready for an election and her MLAs would support any no-confidence vote against the government.
"I think what we've seen today is this government is not up to the challenge of leading our education system, and not up to the challenge of leading a cabinet or a caucus," she said.
Another PC caucus member could take over, Cardy says
Former education minister Dominic Cardy, who resigned last October and was ejected from the PC caucus, said an election isn't necessary to remove Higgs from office.
He told reporters that if the premier visits Lt.-Gov. Brenda Murphy and asked her to dissolve the house, she should instead ask the PC caucus if another of its members could take over and lead a government with majority support in the legislature.
Cardy acknowledged that move, while possible in the parliamentary system, is rare but not out of the question.
"The lieutenant-governor's job is to ascertain whether there's anybody else who can command the majority of the house," he said.
"I'm saying there are very clearly people who could do that job. The premier has shown today he can't even command his own caucus, his own cabinet."