This article was updated at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022 to include new information.
Election Day is scheduled for November 28 across the province in communities affected by local governance reform, including the Town of Tantramar.
Also known as Entity 40, the newly-created municipality will mash together Sackville, Dorchester and other nearby communities.
Nominations opened last Saturday, and so far only one candidate for mayor has come forward, according to unofficial records from Elections NB.
Shawn Mesheau, currently mayor of Sackville, is running for the top job in Tantramar.
One eagle-eyed resident spotted Dorchester Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell on the list of mayoral candidates, but her name was later removed.
Josh Goguen, an admin for the Facebook group Sackville NB Community Chatter, posted a screenshot online showing her listed her as a candidate.
Two candidates in Ward 1
Two members of the Village of Dorchester council, including the mayor herself, are vying for a seat. Mayor Wiggins-Colwell and Councillor Robert Corkerton are both running for the Ward 1 council seat, according to an updated list of candidates.
Ward 1 is a large area hemmed by the Memramcook River on the west and a section of Highway 2 in the north. To the south, it includes a chunk of land around Johnson’s Mills Shorebird Interpretive Centre and it extends past Cherry Burton Road to the east. You can check out a detailed ward map here.
By Sunday afternoon, no other candidates were listed for mayor or any of the other seven ward councillor jobs that are up for grabs.
Elections NB ‘mix-up’
The election cycle got off to a bad start when Elections NB issued notices with false information to more than a quarter of a million households.
The provincial government agency said in a statement last week that, because of a “mix-up,” local residents may receive a notice in the mail stating incorrectly that no election is taking place.
And in parts of the province where, in fact, no election is planned, residents may receive the opposite information.
Sure enough, bright yellow envelopes containing the erroneous info have appeared in mailboxes. Local officials hope to help clear up the confusion, according to Mesheau.
“We’re looking to issue something locally to ensure that the public is well aware” that an election is taking place, he said in an interview.
