New Brunswick Court of Appeal says 2020 snap election call by Higgs was legal
New Brunswick's Court of Appeal has ruled that the August 2020 snap election call that won Premier Blaine Higgs a majority government was legal.
In a decision released Thursday, the court dismissed advocacy group Democracy Watch's argument that the premier's early election call was illegal because of the province's fixed-date election law.
Writing for the three-judge panel, Justice Ernest Drapeau said there is no admissible evidence that the premier's decision to call a general election at that time came from "the pursuit of purely partisan electoral advantage."
Higgs triggered the vote two years ahead of New Brunswick's fixed election date because he said the province needed stability during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The premier called the election after opposition parties refused a proposal to support his minority government until the fixed election date in 2022 or until the end of the pandemic.
In October 2021, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Thomas Christie rejected Democracy Watch's bid to have snap elections declared illegal, but for different reasons than noted in the Appeal Court decision.
The Appeal Court disagreed with Christie's determination that the case should be dismissed on the grounds that the timing of an election is not a matter to be considered by the courts. Christie wrote at the time that in his view, "the matter borders on being considered frivolous."
Drapeau wrote in the decision that "most" of Democracy Watch's grounds of appeal are "well founded." However, the Court of Appeal determined that the argument should still be dismissed due to a lack of admissible evidence that Higgs called the election for "purely partisan" electoral advantage.
Duff Conacher, co-founder of Democracy Watch, said in a statement that the ruling confirms premiers cannot disregard fixed-date election laws for purely partisan reasons.
"Democracy Watch believes there was enough evidence for the Court of Appeal to rule that Premier Higgs violated New Brunswick's fixed election date law by calling the 2020 snap election at a time that favoured his party's election chances, but the court concluded there was not enough evidence to prove that he did, or didn't, call the election to favour the PC Party," Conacher said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2022.
By Lyndsay Armstrong in Halifax
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.