PC MLA Andrea Anderson-Mason is latest Higgs caucus member to leave politics

Progressive Conservative MLA Andrea Anderson-Mason says she won't run again in this year's New Brunswick election, stepping away from politics after six years representing Fundy-The Isles-Saint John West.

The former cabinet minister says she has concluded that members of the legislature don't play a meaningful role in developing policy and legislation in the Higgs government.

"When I practised law, it was really important to me that whatever file I took, that it was a file that I firmly believed in and that I felt that I could make a difference," she told CBC News in an interview at a picnic site in her riding overlooking the Magaguadavic Basin.

"I think what I have found is that the role of the MLA may not exactly be what a lot of people think that it is, and I could probably use my skill set better in other places."

Anderson-Mason is the 12th PC MLA elected in 2020 to decide not to run again this year. 

She's also the last of the half-dozen Tories, who rebelled against Premier Blaine Higgs last year on Policy 713, to bow out.

She and five colleagues voted against the government in favour of an opposition motion that called for further study of the policy changes by Child and Youth Advocate Kelly Lamrock.

That motion passed thanks to the six PC votes, and Lamrock's subsequent report criticized the changes as unconstitutional. 

In Friday's interview Anderson-Mason shed new light on the behind-the-scenes caucus discussions that led up to that contentious vote.

At a PC caucus meeting the evening of Tuesday June 6, "we had decided on a path forward" that involved her and Attorney General Ted Flemming meeting with Lamrock to discuss possible changes to the policy, she said.

Lamrock sent his feedback to the Education Department the following night, she said. But the next morning, Education Minister Bill Hogan announced changes that didn't match the caucus position.

"Caucus was not provided with the opinion from Mr. Lamrock, and so it just seemed like the process got interrupted," Anderson-Mason said.

"We had made a path forward. There was a common agreement of how we were going to proceed. But that's not what happened on that Thursday morning."

The changes require that school staff obtain parental consent before letting a student under 16 adopt a new name or pronoun that reflects their gender identity — a violation of the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ students, according to critics.