N.B. premier defends sta er’s paycheque
$20K A MONTH
FREDERICTON • New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs defended paying his principal secretary — who is also his party’s campaign manager — $20,776 a month, saying Steve Outhouse has “extensive credentials.”
Green party Leader David Coon, questioning Higgs in the legislature this week about his office spending, said the pay band he’d seen for the principal secretary’s job was typically between $150,000 and $175,000 a year.
He then asked Higgs how long Outhouse has been contracted for, and whether his role as principal secretary will expire when this year’s election is called.
Higgs confirmed that Outhouse’s contract runs for six months.
That equates to $20,776 a month. If his contract were at that rate for a year, it would cost taxpayers $249,312.
“The nuance here is in the relation to the experience that Mr. Outhouse brings to this role,” Higgs said, reeling off Outhouse’s resumé and “extensive credentials.”
“Of course it’s of value to us as we define what objectives we have going forth, but also what objectives we want to meet before the election,” Higgs said.
Coon also asked how Outhouse is being expected to split his roles as principal secretary and campaign manager, given that one is purely political and the other isn’t.
“In that dual role, is the expectation for this contracted amount of money that he puts in full work days in the premier’s office as principal secretary and, I don’t know, does his other work as campaign manager work at night and on the weekends?”
Higgs replied that the expectation is “obviously, that there are no taxpayers dollars used for the political role in any of this.”
“Certainly, the separation between the night duties and the day duties would be very clear.”
Asked on Thursday for comment about Outhouse’s pay, Liberal Leader Susan Holt described it as “the worst form of political pork-barrelling that I’ve seen in a long time.”
Higgs also revealed that the Executive Council Office has about 80 consulting firms on contract, including Alberta-based firm Mash Strategy.
Mash Strategy has worked with key leaders in Canada’s conservative movement, including federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and former Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party.