Chris Tibbs for PC Party leader? Incumbent muses about it in video, then quickly deletes it

·3 min read
Chris Tibbs, the incumbent PC candidate for Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans, posted a video to social media earlier this month indicating he had aspirations to one day become PC Party leader, but quickly deleted the post. (Heather Gillis/CBC - image credit)
Chris Tibbs, the incumbent PC candidate for Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans, posted a video to social media earlier this month indicating he had aspirations to one day become PC Party leader, but quickly deleted the post. (Heather Gillis/CBC - image credit)

Incumbent PC candidate Chris Tibbs says he agreed to quickly delete a social media video earlier this month in which he revealed his desire to one day become party leader after a friend told him it might be taken out of context.

His friend may have had a point, because Tibbs found himself on the defensive over the video Thursday.

"There was a 10-second blurp taken out of context of a two-minute video," said Tibbs, who was first elected as the MHA for Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans in the 2019 election, and is being challenged in the current election by Liberal Deborah Ball and the NDP's Holly Pike.

In the video, Tibbs says he has been asked if he would ever consider seeking the party's leadership.

"After much deliberation, talking to my wife and two sons, absolutely I would when my time is right," he says.

In explaining the video, Tibbs said he was motivated by his frustrations with the Liberal party. He said he wrote Liberal Leader Andrew Furey on Dec. 21 to express concerns about some issues in the Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans district.

After weeks passed without a response, Tibbs said, he recorded the video in order to talk about leadership, and how political stripe should not get in the way of getting things done.

After posting the video, he was cautioned by a friend about the reference to seeking the PC leadership, and decided to remove the post.

"The second reason I took it down was later on that day, the premier's office did get back to me with a response after over two months. And I guess the video did work because it did get a response from the premier's office," said Tibbs.

Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie would not comment directly Thursday on the video.
Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie would not comment directly Thursday on the video.(Patrick Butler/Radio-Canada)

But the optics, and timing, are hard to ignore.

Voters are still casting their ballots in what's been a chaotic and drawn-out pandemic election.

Ches Crosbie is still very much the PC Party leader, and has been campaigning hard to become premier, despite public opinion polls that suggest his own popularity is in unflattering territory.

But unlike the Liberals, who boldly plaster the "Team Furey" slogan over campaign signs, there's hardly a mention of the Crosbie name on the ubiquitous lawn signs that Tibbs and other PC candidates have spread throughout the province.

That's in stark contrast to the last provincial election, when the "Crosbie 2019" slogan was prominently displayed on signs.

These campaign signs in St. John's East-Quidi Vidi offer some insight into how the two main political parties in Newfoundland and Labrador are promoting their leaders. The Liberals prominently display the slogan 'Team Furey' on campaign signs, while there's no mention of PC Party Leader Ches Crosbie on this sign promoting candidate Vaughn Hammond.
These campaign signs in St. John's East-Quidi Vidi offer some insight into how the two main political parties in Newfoundland and Labrador are promoting their leaders. The Liberals prominently display the slogan 'Team Furey' on campaign signs, while there's no mention of PC Party Leader Ches Crosbie on this sign promoting candidate Vaughn Hammond.(Terry Roberts/CBC)

Tibbs said he did not intend to undermine or embarrass Crosbie, and appeared to walk back his leadership ambitions when questioned Thursday.

"There's no way I'll be seeking this leadership until I learn so much more. And I have so much more to learn off of great leaders such as Ches Crosbie. And I support Ches Crosbie 100 per cent," said Tibbs.

So how does Crosbie feel about Tibbs's video?

The PC leader would not do an interview, but the party issued the following statement on his behalf:

"Chris Tibbs is a valued member of the PC caucus and has my full confidence and support. I look forward to working with him in the new PC government that I intend to lead."

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

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    BRUSSELS (Reuters) -More than 100,000 Russian troops have massed on Ukraine's border and in annexed Crimea, the office of the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said after EU foreign ministers were briefed by Ukraine's foreign minister. In a press conference on Monday, Borrell had originally spoken of more than 150,000 troops, and declined to give a source for the figure. Borrell said no new economic sanctions or expulsions of Russian diplomats were planned for the time being, despite saying that the military build-up on Ukraine's borders was the largest ever.

  • An infectious disease specialist answers your COVID-19 vaccination questions

    Dr. Lisa Barrett is an infectious disease researcher and clinician at Halifax's Dalhousie University.(CBC) The COVID-19 vaccine situation in North America seems to be changing by the day. The United States recently recommended the suspending the use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine to investigate blood clots experienced by a handful of people after receiving the inoculation, while public health officials in Newfoundland and Labrador recently stopped vaccinating people under 55 with the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine until more is known about the risk — but that was before Sunday, when the federal government announced provinces are free to expand eligibility to any adult over the age of 18. We know you may have questions, and we hope to give you answers. The CBC's Peter Cowan spoke with Dr. Lisa Barrett, an infectious disease researcher and clinician at Halifax's Dalhousie University, asking vaccine questions sent in by Here & Now viewers. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Q: A lot of people have questions about the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine. Right now it's only being used for people aged 55-64. What makes the vaccine safe for that age group? A: The information that came out from the European areas that have been using a lot of AstraZeneca in the early parts of their vaccine rollout found very rare, and I mean very rare, maybe one in a million people.… Between 18 and say 46 or 48, there was a risk of a very rare kind of immune-related blood clot that could happen. Because of that risk, albeit very, very low, there was a further investigation that did lead to the European group saying, "This may be related to the vaccine. However, it's still very safe." The reason that people above the age of … 55 are still eligible to get it, in particular in Canada, is because of two things. No. 1, the risk is very low and the incidents were found almost exclusively under the age of 65.… No. 2, and very importantly, your risk of getting COVID and having a very bad outcome like hospitalization and death are far higher if you're above 55 than they are of getting a blood clot and having a similarly bad impact. Because of those reasons, it was decided that the benefit of the vaccine far exceeded, at least to our knowledge at the moment, the risk.… This was very much based on information data and risk benefit. Q: How does this compare to other risk factors for blood clots? A: Your risk factor for a blood clot as a general Canadian may be somewhere around a thousand in a million as compared with one in a million or one in 250,000. Four in a million. So still lower than your regular risk of what we call a deep-vein blood clot in a big vessel like the vein or the arm or within the lung. They are still very rare, as everyone knows. Most of us walk around all of our lives without ever getting a blood clot in our lung or our leg. But that's still around a thousand in a million versus four in a million, which is probably around the rate that we're thinking might exist for this particular rare type of blood clot with AstraZeneca. So to be clear, the risk is very low compared to your usual risk even of getting blood clots. It really goes back to what your risk is of running into COVID." A dose of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine is prepared at a clinic in St. John's on March 19. The vaccine has been proven to protect against serious illness and hospitalizations due to COVID-19.(Patrick Butler/CBC) Q: If officials are telling us about the risk so we can make an informed decision, why can't people under 55 decide they want to take the risk of AstraZeneca? Can we only make some informed decisions related to our health? A: It kind of comes into this realm of public health. I mean, we're all told, whether we like it or not, that we're going to wear a helmet on a bicycle. We're going to wear a seatbelt in a car. Those are things where we get told a little bit what's good for us. The difference with this particular situation right now, that makes it a little bit of a pause for the people making the rules, if you will … is that if we give people the choice, they also have the responsibility of making sure there's a reasonable option for people to have a different vaccine if they say yes or no. But also, a reasonable chance that they're going to get all the right information at the right time. That means there has to be enough providers out there who know about this, who can help them assess their risk of both COVID and blood clots.… This is a pause, not a "you're never ever gonna be able to take it," while we gather up a little bit more information to add a little bit more knowledge and then put it out to people. Q: Should I avoid getting the AstraZeneca vaccine if I've had a blood clot in the last year or a genetic predisposition to a blood clot? Does that change the risk equation for people? A: That is an answer that is somewhat evolving at the moment. For the most part, those "usual-type clots," we call them, provoked blood clots.… In general that's a very different mechanism than this specific mechanism associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, and it is unlikely that the two overlap. However, some people may not be comfortable if they've had a blood clot in the past for various reasons just like people are uncomfortable about many things when they're making health decisions. It is worth a conversation with your health provider, and also keeping an eye on the information as we go forward. But right now, they are very separate mechanisms for causing blood clots. Q: With more and more people being vaccinated Canada-wide, why are we seeing such a spike in cases? Shouldn't it be going the other way? A: The answer to this one is that we don't have enough people vaccinated yet to prevent that chain of transmission, especially without symptoms, for one person another in densely populated areas in particular in order for it to make a difference. You have to vaccinate enough people to break the chain of transmission, especially when people don't know they're infected in densely populated areas, before we're really going to see the case numbers go down. So hold on to our horses a little bit. it's going to take a couple of months for sure, and maybe a few months before we see the full effects. Q: What does N.L. society look like as we near 100 per cent of the population getting our first shot? A: We do want as many people as we can vaccinated, but does that mean we get back to immediately normal?… We do need to be careful, I think, as we open things up, and I would love to see that happen in stages. Every couple of months we see a little bit more restrictions go away after everyone is fully vaccinated. If I were a betting person, it's going to take the better part of a year. Let's hope we keep all those variants under control and that doesn't set our timeline. Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

  • Manitoba enacts more COVID-19 restrictions to try to contain coronavirus spread

    WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government is tightening some of its COVID-19 restrictions due to rising case numbers.Starting Tuesday, weddings, funerals and outdoor public gatherings will be capped at 10 people — down from 25. People will no longer be allowed to designate another entire household to be in their bubble. Instead, they will only be allowed to designate two people to be permitted guests inside their homes. Capacity at religious services will drop to 25 per cent and a maximum of 50 people, down from 25 per cent and a cap of 100.Another change will take effect Wednesday morning. Retail stores will have to drop the number of shoppers allowed inside to one-third capacity from half."We see that our (case) numbers are climbing, so we needed to do more," Dr. Brent Roussin, chief public health officer, said Monday."I do think, from a public-health perspective, this really is our last shot at reducing our numbers before we do need to move into more of a lockdown scenario. We cannot overwhelm our health-care system."Health officials reported 108 new COVID-19 cases Monday and no additional deaths. Manitoba has had lower infection rates in recent months than other provinces west of the Maritimes, but daily case counts have risen in recent weeks.The rise has been noticeable in younger age groups. Some cases among students and staff at schools in Gimli, a town of 2,000 people an hour's drive north of Winnipeg, prompted the regional school division to close three schools for the day Monday."We're definitely seeing increasing growth in those younger cohorts," Roussin said."There certainly is transmission that occurs there, but most of the transmission in that cohort is occurring outside of school — gatherings with friends, sleepovers, house parties, these types of things."The province also expanded its vaccine eligibility Monday. The minimum age for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, distributed through channels including mass vaccination centres, dropped by two years to 34 for First Nations people and 54 for others. The eligibility for Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, administered through pharmacies and medical clinics, was reduced to anyone 40 years of age and older following similar moves on the weekend by Ontario and Alberta. Previously, it was only available to Manitobans 65 and over and people 55 to 64 with certain underlying medical conditions.Health Canada has approved the vaccine for people under 55. But the National Advisory Committee on Immunization has recommended it only be offered to those 55 and older due to a potential slightly elevated risk of an extremely rare blood clot disorder in younger people receiving the shot.NACI recommends the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine should not be used in adults under 55 years of age at this time while the safety signal of Vaccine-Induced Prothrombotic Immune Thrombocytopenia (VIPIT) following vaccination with AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is investigated further.There have been two cases of blood clots in Canada out of more than 700,000 doses of AstraZeneca given so far. Premier Brian Pallister said the expanded vaccine eligibility and tightened restrictions will help Manitoba avoid the kind of surge in cases it saw in the fall, when it led all other provinces in daily infections per capita."We know that the days of COVID beating us were hard days for all of us and most certainly, we don't want to go back to COVID beating us," Pallister said.This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2021. Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press

  • Newsroom Ready: Opposition leaders share mixed reaction to budget

    Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole says the Liberal government's budget is a "letdown" and Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet expressed dismay over a lack of investments for seniors and no mention of increased health transfers to the provinces. But any suggestion the minority government might immediately fall over this budget has been quashed, with NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh saying he won't be responsible for triggering an election during a pandemic.

  • Fredericton psychologist suspended for professional misconduct

    Joan Wright, a well-known psychologist in Fredericton, has been suspended by the College of Psychologists of New Brunswick for professional misconduct, incompetence and violating the boundaries of the psychologist-client relationship, according to a recent decision by the college. Wright is disputing the decision. Wright is a senior psychologist and owner of MindShift Clinic in Lincoln and Joan Wright & Associates in downtown Fredericton, where nine other therapists work, according to her LinkedIn page. In its decision released Friday, the college's hearing committee ordered the immediate suspension of Wright's registration and said she was "prohibited from engaging in the practice of psychology while her registration is suspended." Wright has also been ordered to pay a $2,000 fine before the suspension is lifted and $134,510.63 to the college within a year for costs related to the complaint. Wright's lawyer, Kelly Lamrock, said he will file an application for judicial review, which will challenge the college's decision, and will also request an injunction to stop the suspension until the review can take place. "I think as the court documents come out, it will be clear they've reached some conclusions the facts cannot support, and they've followed a process that is unreasonable in law," Lamrock said. Lamrock said he will file with the court Tuesday morning. Hearings of the complaint against Wright took place over several days last September. The decision outlined a list of several failings on Wright's part, including "using experimental and non-evidence-based interventions" without presenting the risks or benefits of the treatment to her client. The decision also said that Wright "failed to use evidence-based treatments" for post-traumatic stress disorder in treating her client and did use experimental techniques without the informed consent of the client. It also said Wright administered therapy she was not trained to provide. Wright was also found to have "failed to provide the client with a copy of the clinical file when requested" and "to keep adequate records and notes of her sessions with the client." More specific transgressions cited by the board include asking her client to "remove articles of clothing in order to take photographs of the Client's naked body parts without the Client's informed consent, touching various parts of the Client's body, including massaging the Client's neck and asking the Client to get into various positions such as bending over on a ball." Wright also "showed a gross lack of judgment" by requesting the client purchase and use an "anal device at home." Wright "had no expertise to recommend such a device —the device being outside her scope of practice as a psychologist," the decision said. Wright was also found to have committed boundary violations by borrowing a sleeping bag from the client, soliciting the client to participate in a promotional video, and eating a "cannabis-laced" cookie given to her by the client, even though it was illegal at the time. The college didn't give a specific duration of the suspension but said Wright would have to do several things to qualify for a conditional registration. She would have to complete and pass post-secondary-level educational courses on cognitive behavioural therapy for the treatment of PTSD, on the ethics in psychological treatment of clients, and on psychometrics. She would also have to pass an examination for the professional practice of psychology and pay the $2,000 fine. The College of Psychologists of New Brunswick declined to comment.

  • Federal Budget 2021: Liberals pledge $18 billion for Indigenous communities

    OTTAWA — The federal Liberal government plans to spend more than $18 billion over the next five years to try to narrow the socio-economic gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and to help these communities fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said in her budget speech the government has made progress in righting the historic wrongs in Canada’s relationship with Indigenous Peoples, but a lot of work remains to be done. "It's important to note that Indigenous Peoples have led the way in battling COVID," Freeland said. "Their success is a credit to Indigenous leadership and self-governance." National Chief Perry Bellegarde of the Assembly of First Nations said the new budget is a move in the right direction but progress doesn't mean parity. "We need to maintain momentum to close the socio-economic gap that exists between First Nations and the rest of the Canadian society," Bellegarde said in an interview with The Canadian Press. In its 2021 budget blueprint, the government says the new funding for Indigenous Peoples will address inequalities they continue to face in Canada and advance reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit and the Métis. The government says Indigenous communities have faced extraordinary health challenges since the start of the pandemic and continue to be vulnerable to the novel coronavirus and its variants. The budget pledges to provide Indigenous communities with an additional $1.2 billion this fiscal year to support their response to the COVID-19 pandemic including money to hire nurses, provide mental health assistance, address food insecurity and support children. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has announced more than $4 billion in COVID-19 funding for Indigenous communities and organizations supporting them since the beginning of the pandemic. Part of Monday's budget pledge is $1.4 billion over five years to maintain essential health-care services for First Nations and Inuit, to continue work to transform First Nations health systems and to respond to the health impacts of climate change. The government promises to provide $1 billion over five years to increase funding under the First Nations child and family services program. The budget also promises to invest an additional $2.2 billion over five years to address the roots of the tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The government proposes to spend more than $6 billion for infrastructure in Indigenous communities including funding for clean water projects, housing and other projects. Trudeau’s government has failed to deliver on its 2015 promise to end all drinking water advisories in First Nations communities by March 2021. As of April 9, 52 long-term drinking water advisories remain in effect in 33 First Nation communities across the country. The government says it’s still committed to ending all remaining advisories, without providing a new deadline. Bellegarde said Parliament has not yet passed Bill C-14 to implement the government's fall economic statement, which included about $1.5 billion in funding to end drinking water advisories in First Nations. "I would encourage all the MPs to get that bill passed as soon as possible. So that First Nations can have access to those resources to keep moving towards ending those 50-plus boil water advisories." Bellegarde also called on all parties to support the 2021 budget. "If they don't support it, there's gonna be a (federal) election. I don't think anybody is ready for (an election)." Bellegarde said the government should maintain a strategy of investing in First Nations communities over the coming 10 to 15 years because First Nations are the fastest-growing segment of Canada's population. "You have an aging workforce in Canada, and you have to make sure that First Nations will have the skills and the training and education so that they can get good employment opportunities. And then that'll help Canada's overall economic growth." This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2021. ------ This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship. Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press

  • Nevada inmate fighting execution seeks firing-squad option

    LAS VEGAS — A convicted killer who is fighting a possible June execution date that would make him the first person put to death in Nevada in 15 years is calling for the state to consider the firing squad as an option, a rare method in the United States. Attorneys for Zane Michael Floyd say he does not want to die and are challenging the state plan to use a proposed three-drug method, which led to court challenges that twice delayed the execution of another convicted killer who later took his own life in prison. “This is not a delaying tactic,” Brad Levenson, a federal public defender representing Floyd, said Monday. But a challenge of the state execution protocol requires the defence to provide an alternative method, and Levenson said gunshots to the brain stem would be “the most humane way.” “Execution by firing squad ... causes a faster and less painful death than lethal injection,” the attorneys said in a court filing Friday. Three U.S. states — Mississippi, Oklahoma and Utah — and the U.S. military allow capital punishment by gunfire. The last time that method was used in the United States was in Utah in 2010. Floyd's attorneys are asking a federal judge in Las Vegas to stop Floyd from being executed until prison officials “devise a new procedure or procedures to carry out a lawful execution.” Levenson said he and attorney David Anthony are fighting multiple issues in state and federal courts, with the possibility that Floyd’s death could be set for the week of June 7. Prosecutors will seek an execution warrant at a state court hearing next month. The 45-year-old was convicted in 2000 of killing four people with a shotgun in a Las Vegas supermarket in 1999 and badly wounding a fifth person. Floyd appeared to exhaust his federal appeals last November, and the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear his case. Floyd wants a chance to seek clemency at a June 22 meeting of the Nevada State Pardons Board, Levenson said. Floyd's attorneys argue that a three-drug combination the state wants to use — the sedative diazepam, the powerful synthetic painkiller fentanyl and a paralytic, cisatracurium — would amount to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of his constitutional rights. Anthony made similar arguments on behalf of Scott Raymond Dozier before Nevada's last scheduled execution was called off in 2017 and 2018. Dozier killed himself in prison in January 2019. A judge blocked the first date after deciding that use of the paralytic might cause painful suffocation while Dozier was aware but unable to move. Pharmaceutical companies that made the three drugs stopped the second date with arguments against using their products in an execution, an issue several states are facing. Floyd would be the first person executed in Nevada since 2006, when Daryl Mack asked to be put to death for his conviction in a 1988 rape and murder in Reno. Nevada has 72 men awaiting execution, a state Department of Corrections spokeswoman said. Ken Ritter, The Associated Press

  • Ontario complains of more vaccine delays as premier under fire for third COVID wave

    Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Monday the province expects to face a delay in the supply of AstraZeneca Plc COVID-19 vaccine, as he faces significant blowback for his handling of the pandemic in Ontario. "The Premier was notified today by our officials to be prepared for delays to two shipments of AstraZeneca expected from the federal government later this month and next," a statement from Ford's office said. Ford has faced widespread criticism in recent days as Ontario's pandemic spirals out of control, and he has sought to shift the blame to the sluggish supply of vaccines coming from the federal government.