Students’ union apologizes after issuing ‘misinformation,’ the latest in an election cycle marked by mix-ups
The Mount Allison Students Union has issued an apology after releasing incorrect municipal election information on social media.
It was the latest in a series of mix-ups during the municipal election cycle, which was also marked by erroneous mailouts from Elections NB and a mysterious flyer that appears to have violated the Municipal Elections Act.
The mistake meant that some students were unable to vote, according to MASU. It’s unclear how many people were actually affected.
Municipal elections took place on Monday, forming the first-ever council for the new town of Tantramar.
But some would-be student voters were led astray by “Municipal Election GOVT [get out the vote] posts on Instagram” that contained “misinformation” about election times, according to a statement from MASU.
Opening and closing times for the local polling site were essentially reversed, a MASU official said in an email.
“The substance of the error was quite basic, it seems that the time was posted was “7 [a.m.]-10 p.m.” rather than “10 [a.m.]-7:30pm” (which was the accurate time),” said Suchet Mittal, VP Communications and Marketing.
“As far as I am aware, we only received one official complaint which was received over Instagram. However, we are aware that other students were also affected by the issue, although the actual numbers we have only reach 3-5 students. We predict the actual impact was closer to 10-12 students being impacted, as best we can estimate without any real data.”… Continue
The results are in: Mayor-elect Andrew Black heads up new Tantramar council
About 2500 residents of Tantramar voted in the first mayor and council for the new municipality, with six of the new slate coming from existing council positions in Sackville and Dorchester, and another three new to local politics.
Current Sackville Deputy Mayor Andrew Black will steer the ship as mayor of the new municipality, winning by a margin of about 10% over his next closest competitor, current Sackville mayor Shawn Mesheau.
Black won the mayoral contest with 1164 votes, about 46% of the ballots cast. Shawn Mesheau garnered about 36% of the vote, with 922 votes cast. And Bonnie Swift took 17% of the vote with 432 ballots cast in her favour.
In a post on social media, Mesheau congratulated the winning candidates, and thanked his campaign team. He also had thanks for the current and outgoing council. “As the last Mayor of Town of Sackville I wish to recognize and thank the current Council and staff for their efforts over the past 18 months. As Mayor I also want to thank Sackvillians for entrusting us to serve their interests. I have had a wonderful experience in my 14 years as an elected official,” wrote Mesheau.
Three new faces, five ‘incumbents’ elected to council
In Ward 1, current Dorchester Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell beat out her colleague Robert Corkerton with 176 out of 258 votes cast.… Continue
Mayoral candidate Bonnie Swift responds to criticism after far-right tweets vanish
Tantramar mayoral candidate Bonnie Swift has responded to criticism after a slew of controversial posts disappeared from her public Twitter account.
Listen to the report that aired on CHMA’s Tantramar Report on Thursday, November 24, 2002.
The social media posts suggested her politics are heavily influenced by the far-right on issues such as anti-racism, abortion and health-care privatization.
When local residents and journalists raised questions about her stated views this week, hundreds of tweets suddenly vanished. The first-time politician had previously campaigned on transparency in local government.
Swift says her tweets are being taken out of context, and that her husband deactivated the account without her knowledge because of online harassment.
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Swift told CHMA she “could care less” if residents decided not to vote for her over the deleted tweets.
“I’m not desperate to win this race… I’d be happy just leaving it, not talking to anybody,” she said. She added that she stands by a statement issued to local reporter Bruce Wark, who first reported about the missing tweets.
CHMA collected screengrabs of her Twitter feed before they disappeared. Some of her controversial takes included commentary on reproductive rights.
When one media organization reported that the U.S. Supreme Court was set to overturn Roe. v Wade, striking down abortion rights, she responded: ‘LOL.’ … Continue
Third time’s a charm for Sackville’s new fast EV charger, even with Ward 4 candidates opposed on issue
Earlier this month, in one of its final votes ever, Sackville Town Council approved a project that will see electrical upgrades and the installation of an EV charger in its downtown parking lot between Goya’s Pizza and the post office. In the process, two candidates for a seat in the new town of Tantramar’s Ward 4 faced off with opposing views on the town’s EV infrastructure strategy.
This is actually the third time Sackville Town Council has approved the EV charger project. It first came up a year ago in budget deliberations when councillors agreed to set aside $108,000 for the project. Then this summer, council approved three motions that authorized staff to purchase the EV charger, to hire Tantramar Electric to do about $100,000 in upgrades, and to pursue funding to help pay for the project. At the time, three councillors voted against the project, Ken Hicks, Bruce Phinney, and Matt Estabrooks.
The project came back to council this month due to cost increases that came about in the six months it took to get outside grants approved. As treasurer Mike Beal explained to councillors, when the contractor, Tantramar Electric, took a fresh look at the parts cost for the project, they found significant increases. “We all know what inflation has done,” said Beal. “The contractor of course could not hold his price for the nearly six months it took [for grant approvals].”… Continue
Hear what Ward 3 candidates had to say at the Mount Allison Students Union forum
Tantramar residents have one more weekend to consider their options for the first ever Tantramar town council.
On November 14, the Mount Allison Students’ Union hosted a candidates forum featuring mayoral candidates, as well as those running for seats in Ward 3, Central Sackville.
Due to audio issues with our broadcast, we can’t bring you the full recording, but thanks to local journalist Bruce Wark, we have been able to share the mayoral candidates part of the forum, as well as part of the Ward 3 candidates section.
Here’s MASU moderators Aidan Tomalty and Beth McNeil asking questions of the Ward 3 candidates, Alice Cotton, Allison Butcher, Josh Goguen, Virgil Hammock, Bruce Phinney, Michael Tower, and Sahitya Pendurthi:
Please note: candidates Sana Mohammed and Charles Harvey were invited but did not attend the MASU forum.
For more local elections coverage, check out our Local Elections 2022 page.… Continue
Mayoral candidates on housing, transparency, salary bumps and more at MASU forum
Last week, the Mount Allison Students’ Union hosted a candidates forum featuring mayoral candidates, as well as those running for seats in Ward 3, Central Sackville. Due to audio issues with our broadcast, we can’t bring you the full recording, but thanks to local journalist Bruce Wark, we are able to share the mayoral candidates part of the forum.
Here’s MASU moderators Aidan Tomalty and Beth McNeil asking questions of the mayoral candidates, Shawn Mesheau, Bonnie Swift, and Andrew Black:
For more local elections coverage, check out our Local Elections 2022 page.… Continue
What you need to know about voting in Tantramar elections
The first votes in the first-ever election for a new town of Tantramar council will be cast this Saturday at the Middle Sackville Baptist Church.
There are two advanced polling days before election day on November 28, both at the Middle Sackville Baptist Church, which also goes by Church by the Lake, at 14 Church Street.
Advanced polling days
- Saturday, November 19, 10am to 8pm, Middle Sackville Baptist Church, 14 Church St
- Monday, November 21, 10am to 8pm, Middle Sackville Baptist Church, 14 Church St
Election day on Monday November 28 will mean a second polling station is open in Dorchester, at the Dorchester Veterans Community Centre. Elections NB has also arranged for a shuttle to take people from the Tantramar Civic Centre on Main Street in Sackville, over to the Middle Sackville polling station. That shuttle will run every half hour, and will also bring voters back to the Tantramar Civic Center after they vote.
Election day polling
- Monday, November 28, 10am to 8pm, Middle Sackville Baptist Church, 14 Church St
- Monday, November 28, 10am to 8pm, Dorchester Veterans Community Centre, 4955 Main St
What to bring
Elections NB says that everyone who is already on the voters list should have received a Voter Information Card by mail, with all the details for advanced and regular polling days.
Voters are not required to show ID to vote, unless they are NOT on the voters list. To get added at the polling station, you will need one or more pieces of ID to shows your name, address, and signature. … Continue
Meet the candidates: Sahitya Pendurthi, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)
Sahitya Pendurthi is a project manager for an IT distribution company working remotely from Sackville. Pendurthi came to Canada from India as an international student ten years ago, chose to become a citizen, got married and settled in Sackville. Pendurthi says she fell in love with the town after her husband, an Amherst native, first brought her here.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Sahitya Pendurthi, which took place at CHMA on November 9, 2022.
Pendurthi is running for Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates, including Pendurthi, Josh Goguen, Alice Cotton, Virgil Hammock, Bruce Phinney, Michael Tower, Allison Butcher, Charles Harvey, and Sana Mohammed. All candidates have interviews on CHMA, except for Charles Harvey who declined our request, and Sana Mohammed, who has yet to respond.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT Sahitya Pendurthi at CHMA, November 9, 2022
CHMA: Sahitya Pendurthi, thanks for joining us.
Sahitya Pendurthi: Thank you for having me here.
CHMA: So for those who may not already know, do you tell us a bit about yourself?
Sahitya Pendurthi: I am 37 years old. I was born and raised in India in a middle class family. My parents had to do two or three jobs to go up in their status to be able to afford to send their kid to Canada to study.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Alice Cotton, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)
Alice Cotton is a long time Sackville resident and avid volunteer, having worked with EOS Eco Energy, the Sackville Music Festival, and the Community Food Smart program. She has diverse work experience in teaching, gardening and food preparation, and is a local entrepreneur, running the Deus Ex Machina coffee truck at the Sackville Farmers Market.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Alice Cotton, which took place by phone on November 9, 2022.
Cotton is running for Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates, including Cotton, Sahitya Pendurthi, Josh Goguen, Virgil Hammock, Bruce Phinney, Michael Tower, Allison Butcher, Charles Harvey, and Sana Mohammed. All candidates have interviews on CHMA, except for Charles Harvey who declined our request, and Sana Mohammed, who has yet to respond.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT
CHMA: So Alice cotton, thanks for joining us. Thank you. For those who might not already know you tell us a bit about yourself.
Alice Cotton: Sure. Well, I have lived in Sackville for close to 30 years. I have raised my two sons here, they both went to Mount Allison, one is still going to Mount Allison. And I have worked at various jobs here in town and gotten to know you know, different groups of people through those those jobs and also through volunteer work that I’ve done, and board work that I’ve done, as well, I’ve been on a couple of boards for EOS Eco Energy and the Sackville Music Festival.… Continue
Meet the candidates: Josh Goguen, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)
Josh Goguen is originally from Moncton, and has been living in Sackville with his family for the past 16 years. He’s fluently bilingual, works for Moneris in technology operations analysis, and runs one of Sackville’s community Facebook groups.
Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Josh Goguen, which took place at CHMA on November 9, 2022.
Goguen is running for Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates, including Goguen, Alice Cotton, Sahitya Pendurthi, Virgil Hammock, Bruce Phinney, Michael Tower, Allison Butcher, Charles Harvey, and Sana Mohammed. All candidates have interviews on CHMA, except for Charles Harvey who declined our request, and Sana Mohammed, who has yet to respond.
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT:
CHMA: All right, Josh, thanks so much for coming in today. Really appreciate it.
Josh Goguen: Thank you for having me, Erica. It’s a pleasure.
CHMA: For those who might not already know you, tell us a bit about yourself.
Josh Goguen: So, my name is Josh Goguen. I am a resident of Sackville, obviously, for the last 16 years. I am married to my wonderful wife, Sarah, who works at Jean Coutu. And my son Ben is 13 years old now and he goes to Marshfield.… Continue