Environment Minister Gary Crossman quits cabinet and as MLA

Environment Minister Gary Crossman is resigning as a Progressive Conservative cabinet minister and will quit as an MLA within days, citing his differences with Premier Blaine Higgs.

Crossman, who had already announced he would not run in this year's election, made the announcement in a Facebook post.

The three-term MLA for Hampton said he wanted to make his health a priority but also made it clear he's not happy with Higgs's leadership.

"My personal and political beliefs no longer align in many ways with the direction of our party and government," he said.

Crossman turned down an interview request from CBC News, but in a brief phone conversation suggested that he had been tempted to leave last fall.

"It was time," he said. "I stayed with it about six months longer than most would have."

He wouldn't elaborate, but last fall Crossman said he wasn't happy with how the nomination race to succeed him was unfolding in the new riding of Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins.

He had backed Hampton deputy mayor Jeremy Salgado to become the PC candidate, but Salgado dropped out citing what he called "the misalignment of my beliefs and values with the current structure of our party."

Instead, Christian conservative activist and broadcaster Faytene Grasseschi was acclaimed over the opposition of the local PC riding association.

Crossman told CBC News last December he wasn't sure he would vote for her.

He made his announcement just days after he spoke on his department's 2024-25 budget estimates in the legislature.

With his PC colleague and former cabinet minister Trevor Holder planning to give up his seat before the legislature returns in May, the PCs will be reduced to 26 seats in the legislature compared to 20 opposition MLAs.