Blaine Higgs using outsider status in PC leadership bid

Blaine Higgs launched his campaign for the Progressive Conservative Party leadership Thursday by casting himself as a political outsider, a strategy that brings with it both opportunities and potential pitfalls.

Higgs told about 200 people in his southern riding of Quispamsis that he wants to be premier so he can change how politics workin New Brunswick, without beingbeholden to the old ways of politics.

"I'm running because I have the independence of thinking this province so desperately needs,"he said.

"I did not grow up in a political family. I did not come from deep roots politically."

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It's a message consistent with Higgs' reputation as someone who chafes at the conventional ways of practising politics.

In 2012, he pointedly avoided endorsing then-premier David Alward's decision to appoint fellow PC cabinet minister Margaret-Ann Blaney to a patronage position.

He said in 2015 he could "absolutely" support the closure of rural schools if the current Liberal government uses fair criteria, and he has disavowed traditional roadconstruction promises, saying he would not twin Route 11.

On Thursday, Higgsrepeated a theme he has evoked beforethat parties too readily make spending promises during election campaigns, including his own party in 2010.

"We buy elections," he said.

"We promise everything to everybody."

And he lamented that when a party takes power, it throws out all of the previous government's initiatives, something he said is unheard of in the private sector.

"I never was used to such a system and I will never get used to such a system," he said.

That heretical streak has enhanced hisprofile, according toJ.P. Lewis, a political scientist at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John.

"Higgs somehow seems like,not an anti-establishment candidate, but someone who doesn't fit that [partisan] mould," he said.

I want people who don't typically get involved to get involved.- BlaineHiggs, PC Party leadership hopeful

Lewis says Higgs should benefit from his willingness to cast aside political tropes, and his age.

At 62, Higgs is far older than the young, ambitious politicians who tend to run for party leaderships.

"He can create this narrative that he doesn't need to be doing this, but he's worried about the province."

Higgs spoke on Thursday about the ordinary New Brunswickers he used to meet when he was holding budget consultations as finance minister.

After the usual interest groups had made their predictable demands that he not cut services, others would quietly stand up or meet him afterwards to discreetly offer commonsense ideas for making government run more efficiently.

"Those are the people that I'm hoping to capture in this race," he told the crowd.

"I want people who don't typically get involved, to get involved."

Level of party support unclear

But hisrole as an outsider also carries a downside. His lack of deep roots in the party may make it harder for him to build a broad base of support.

Even in his own backyard, Saint John, several PC MLAs did not attend his announcement Thursday.

Some of them are believed to be waiting to see if Saint John Mayor Mel Norton will also run for leader now that he has announced he won't re-offer as mayor.

And some of the MLAs who did show up, such as Bruce Northrup, of Sussex-Fundy-St. Martins, said it was too early to commit to Higgs.

"I'm going to wait and see who all is in the race first, and make my decision then," Northrup said.

"I'm going to take my time."

Higgs said he had "several supporters" from the PC caucus, though "I didn't identify them here today."

N.B. 'isn't just a balance sheet'

Rothesay MLA Ted Flemming, widely seen as a political ally of Higgs, even dropped hints on Thursday that he is looking for a different kind of leader.

Flemming, who has considered running himself, said he's looking for someone familiar with the PC Party's moderate traditions "who can appeal to all New Brunswickers."

Higgs acknowledged Thursday he's not bilingual and says he's working on his French.

Without mentioning Higgs by name, Flemming also suggested a leader preoccupied with streamlining spending and eliminating budget deficit may have too narrow a focus.

"You know, government also has to do more than just have a fiscal issue," he said.

"New Brunswick isn't just a balance sheet."

"People say, 'You're from the Conservative Party,' and I say, `No, no, I'm not. I'm from the Progressive Conservative party,'" Flemming said.

"That word means something to me. That word has history."

Even Higgs himself acknowledged in 2013 that the top job requires a broader perspective than thatof afinance minister, who tends to push for more spending restraint than is politically palatable.

"Any finance minister will likely have different views on how aggressive we can be," Higgshadsaid at the time.

"The premier, on the other hand, has to balance not only that aspect of our priorities, but all the other priorities that are in the system, and all the other demands he has across the province. So his challenge is much greater than mine."

Whether Higgs can show he would be able tostrike that balance, while maintaining his reputation for fiscal prudence and independence, could be the key to his leadership chances.