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The Higgs government has reversed itself on a decision to exclude former cabinet ministers from a large number of legislative committees.
In October, the Progressive Conservative majority in the legislature overhauled the membership of committees to reflect a major caucus revolt and cabinet shuffle in June.
Two ministers quit in June and two others were shuffled out of their jobs. They were among six PC MLAs who voted against the government on a motion about the province’s policy on pronouns and gender identity in schools.
Some of the so-called “rebellious” MLAs found themselves with few committee assignments.
Opposition MLAs said that Premier Blaine Higgs was trying to prevent them from bringing their experience to the committees, review legislation, study issues and hold departments to account for their spending.
But in a motion this week, the government reversed some of the changes.
Dorothy Shephard, the Saint John Lancaster MLA and former health minister who was excluded from the public accounts committee is now a member.
That means she’ll be in a position to question Auditor-General Paul Martin next month when he releases the second part of his audit on the province’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
New Maryland-Sunbury MLA Jeff Carr, who was placed on only three committees in October, has now been given four more committee assignments.
And Andrea Anderson-Mason, the Fundy-The Isles-Saint John West MLA who was shuffled out of cabinet in 2020 and removed from five of her seven committee positions in October, has been put back in two of them.
MLAs get an additional $125 for each committee day, but the role means extra work and additional travel to Fredericton.
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