Robert J. Higgins (born January 13, 1934) is a supernumerary justice on the

Court of King's Bench of New Brunswick The Court of King's Bench of New Brunswick (in French: ''Cour du Banc du Roi du Nouveau-Brunswick'') is the superior trial court of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Structure The Court of King's Bench of New Brunswick consists of a ...

and a former member of the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the deliberative assembly of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The assembly's seat is located in Fredericton. It was established in Saint John ''de jure'' ...

who served as the leader of the

New Brunswick Liberal Party The New Brunswick Liberal Association (), commonly known as the New Brunswick Liberal Party, or Liberal Party of New Brunswick, is one of the two major provincial political party, political parties in New Brunswick, Canada. The party descended fro ...

from 1971 to 1978. Robert Higgins was born in Saint John in 1934. He graduated from

St. Francis Xavier University St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada. History St. Fran ...

in 1956 then earned a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

in 1960 from the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

. While practising law in the city of

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...

, Higgins turned to politics and in the 1967 provincial election was the only successful Liberal Party candidate in the seven Saint John city ridings. He served in the

46th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly The 46th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly represented New Brunswick between February 27, 1968, and September 3, 1970. Wallace Samuel Bird was Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. Robert B. McCready was chosen as speaker. The Liberal Party led ...

and on April 1, 1968, was appointed to the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Louis Robichaud Louis Joseph Robichaud (October 21, 1925 – January 6, 2005), popularly known as "Little Louis" or "P'tit-Louis", was the second (but first elected) Acadian premier of New Brunswick, serving from 1960 to 1970. With the Equal Opportunity ...

as Minister of Economic Development. On February 11, 1970, he was appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs, serving until November 12 of that year when he was personally reelected in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

but when his party lost power.

Party leader

Following the defeat of his governing Liberals under the leader and Premier

, Higgins was voted the party's leader and became Leader of the official opposition in the Legislative Assembly. He led the party to a plurality of the popular votes cast in the 1974 provincial election, but lost in total seats to the governing Progressive Conservative Party of Premier

Richard Hatfield Richard Bennett Hatfield (April 9, 1931 – April 26, 1991) was a New Brunswick politician and the longest serving premier of New Brunswick from 1970 to 1987.Richard Starr, ''Richard Hatfield, The Seventeen Year Saga,'' 1987, Early life ...

who earned strong support from the

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

community. Prior to the 1978 election, Higgins staked his reputation and his position as party leader on an assertion that Premier Hatfield was personally involved in a scandal. The accusation could not be proven and Higgins stepped down as party leader in favor of Joseph Daigle. After leaving politics, Higgins returned to the practise of law and would be appointed a justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick in Saint John. Since April 1999 he has been a justice with supernumerary status. In 2006, Robert Higgins was inducted in

Hall of Honor. Higgins was also awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of New Brunswick.

Personal life

Robert Higgins is married to Rosemary Higgins eenan former Miss Canada 1960. They have four children.

References

External links

Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Robert J. 1934 births Living people Lawyers in New Brunswick Judges in New Brunswick Politicians from Saint John, New Brunswick St. Francis Xavier University alumni University of New Brunswick alumni New Brunswick Liberal Association MLAs Members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick New Brunswick Liberal Association leaders University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law alumni 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick