Don Moore was named to the board of Service New Brunswick in June by the PC government of Premier Blaine Higgs — the latest in a cluster of appointments going to supporters of the party in power.

Moore would not do an interview but said in an email that he responded to an online posting. 

"I applied to an open role on the [government] website using my resumé," he said.

"A few months later I was appointed to the position. I am happy to be serving our province in this capacity." 

But Liberal MLA Chuck Chiasson, who questioned other PC appointments in the legislature in May, said he was skeptical.

Appointing PC supporters

"Surely that's what they're going to say, but I'd like to know who else applied for that job and what their qualifications were," he said.

"I would be very curious to see how many other applicants there were and I would curious to see some of the resumés of those applicants, and how they compare to his." 

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Moore, who was party president for just under a year in 2017, is the latest PC insider to be named to a provincial board since Higgs took office last November:

• In May the government appointed Mel Norton, a former Saint John mayor and 2016 PC leadership candidate, as chair of WorkSafe New Brunswick. Labour Minister Trevor Holder said Norton was chosen through an independent process.
• The same month, the PC party's official representative Marven Grant and former PC MLA Kirk MacDonald were appointed to the New Brunswick Insurance Board.
• John Correia, a former co-chair of the PC party's fundraising operation, was appointed to the board of NB Liquor in April and to the board of Cannabis NB in June.

"They're certainly having a field day appointing their friends and supporters to boards and commissions," Chiasson said on Monday.

As PC party president in 2017, Moore told CBC News it was impossible to avoid choosing acquaintances for important jobs in New Brunswick.

'A small province'

He was defending Higgs's choice of the spouse of a PC leadership candidate to review logistical problems with the party's leadership race the previous year.

"Let's not kid ourselves," Moore said at the time.

"This is a small province. We all know each other. … Are we ever going to get that 100 per cent true independence? Maybe, maybe not. There's always going to be a connection of somebody to something."

Don Moore, who was New Brunswick's Progressive Conservative party president for just under a year in 2017, is the latest PC insider to be named to a provincial board since Premier Blaine Higgs took office in November. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

A short biography with the announcement said Moore had more than 25 years of experience "in the business, information technology and academic sectors" managing development and technology projects. 

Service New Brunswick board positions are not full-time jobs.

A spokesperson for Service New Brunswick said board members are paid a per diem of $250 for meetings of four hours or less and $500 for meetings of more than four hours. They can also claim expenses.

Other board positions pay differently. NB Liquor board members get a $155 per diem, plus meals and mileage, for attending meetings. The per diem for WorkSafe board members is $200. 

Moore says he landed an appointment to a government board through a normal hiring process. (LinkedIn)

In 2012, Higgs, as finance minister, signalled his distaste for partisan patronage appointments. He refused to publicly endorse then-PC premier David Alward's appointment of cabinet minister Margaret-Ann Blaney as CEO of Efficiency New Brunswick.

Higgs said at the time the decision was Alward's and he was obliged to accept it. The Liberals couldn't "criticize things that each of us do," he said, "and none of us feel good about it."

In May this year, he defended the appointment of Correia, noting he'd been on the NB Liquor board when the PCs were in power before, only to be removed by the Liberals after they took power in 2014.

"He was removed despite the board wanting him to stay, because he was a valued member of that board," Higgs said.

"He did his homework. He studied the rules. … But you know why he couldn't stay? Because he was a friend of mine."

Higgs said Correia's background in retail business was a good fit with NB Liquor. 

"I know it might come as a novel concept to many to have someone who knows business be on a board," he said. 

Liberal supporters rewarded with appointments

He also accused the Liberals of rewarding their supporters during their four years in power, including with paving contracts and long-term leases for Cannabis NB stores. 

"If we want to open this box about a few of these positions, versus the Pandora's box we saw from the Liberal government in the past, I'm willing to take that on and lay it all out there for the world to see," the premier said.

Liberal MLA Chuck Chiasson acknowledged that Liberal supporters were rewarded with appointments when the party was in power but claimed 'it was the exception, probably, not the rule, and it seems to be the rule now.'

Higgs wasn't available to comment on Monday.

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Chiasson acknowledged that Liberal supporters were rewarded with appointments when the party was in power but claimed "it was the exception, probably, not the rule, and it seems to be the rule now." 

He said the appointments were especially galling given Higgs's previous criticism of patronage.

"If he's running the show and he feels that way, they've obviously thrown that value out the window," said the Liberal MLA. "It's not even subtle. It's blatant."