Tag: New Brunswick

Meet the candidates: Michael Tower, running in Ward 3 (Central Sackville)

Michael Tower, incumbent Sackville councillor and candidate for Ward 3 (Central Sackville), with his dog. Image: contributed

Michael Tower was born and raised in Sackville. He lived in Dorchester for seven years as he started to raise a family, before returning to his hometown. For nearly 50 years, he worked at the liquor store, seven of those years as a manager. He’s also a longtime member of Sackville town council, currently serving his fourth term 

Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Michael Tower, which took place at CHMA studios on November 9, 2022.

Tower is running for Ward 3, where residents will elect four councillors from a pool of nine candidates.

Along with Tower, those candidates include Allison Butcher, Alice Cotton, Josh Goguen, Virgil Hammock, Charles Harvey, Sana Mohamad, Saditya Pendurthi and Bruce Phinney. CHMA has interviewed all of them except for Charles Harvey, who declined an interview request, and Sana Mohamad, as we’re awaiting a response from that candidate.

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. Interview with Michael Tower, November 9, 2022.

CHMA: So for those who might not already know you, tell us a bit about yourself.

Michael Tower: Well, I was born and raised in Sackville, and lived in Dorchester for seven years as I started raising my family and moved back to Sackville. But worked at the liquor store for 47 years, seven years as a manager.… Continue

Grassroots efforts to attract nurses to Sackville Memorial Hospital got results, volunteer committee reports

Former mayor John Higham, co-chair of the Rural Health Action Group speaking to Sackville town councillors on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Screenshot: Sackville.com/YouTube

A local volunteer committee says its efforts to recruit health-care workers for the Sackville Memorial Hospital are paying off.

The Rural Health Action Group updated town councillors on a partnership with the regional health authority on Tuesday, and suggested their grassroots approach could become a model for other communities.

The hospital’s emergency department has been operating 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. following service cuts linked to widespread labour shortages in the health-care sector.

In December 2021, Horizon health authority also converted all acute-care beds at the hospital into long-term care, citing the nurse shortage. 

On Tuesday, John Higham — who co-chairs the committee with Pat Estabrooks, both of them former Sackville mayors — presented figures that showed improved staffing numbers.

Listen to highlights from the Rural Health Action Group’s Nov. 8, 2022 presentation at Sackville town council:

Higham also confirmed that a highly anticipated return of acute-care beds is happening.

“It’s important to note that the inpatient services are coming back,” Higham said. “Major investment in two operating rooms was announced last week, that’s significant.  

“It’s going to be aligned with the waiting list for the region on operations, which is what we’ve also talked to [Horizon] about for quite a while, the Brunswick beds are turning back into inpatients.”

Improved staff vacancy rates in that unit were also noted in background documents circulated among Sackville town councillors.… Continue

Meet the candidates: Andrew Black, running for mayor of Tantramar

Town of Sackville deputy mayor Andrew Black is a candidate for mayor in the new town of Tantramar. Photo: Submitted

Andrew Black was just elected for a second term on Sackville town council when the province decided to amalgamate surrounding areas and create a new town of Tantramar. After serving the past year as Deputy Mayor and taking an active role in the Union of New Brunswick Municipalities (Black was elected president of the organization last month), he decided to run for mayor of the amalgamated municipality. Black says the coming year in municipal government will be a tough one, dealing with unknowns and a new council composition.

CHMA’s David Gordon Koch has interviewed all three mayoral candidates for Tantramar. Listen to his interview with Andrew Black here:


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 thanks for taking the time today, Andrew Black. Could you start by telling me a bit about yourself and how long you’ve been involved with council?

Andrew Black: Well, I’m 47 years old. I was born in Amherst, Nova Scotia. And I think it was five months old when my parents moved out west., I lived in Calgary until I was about 10 years old and moved back to the Maritimes, to Sackville, in 1985. So I’ve lived here most of my life. Graduated from Tantramar High School, graduated from Mount Allison University and my parents are both from the area.… Continue

Meet the candidates: Shawn Mesheau, running for mayor of Tantramar

Shawn Mesheau, mayor of Sackville, is a candidate for mayor in the new town of Tantramar. Photo: Submitted

Shawn Mesheau has a long career on Sackville town council, first elected to council in 1998 and serving off and on for nearly 12 years, most recently as the mayor of Sackville, elected just 18 months ago in May 2021. Mesheau is running for mayor of Tantramar in part as a continuation of the commitment he made as mayor of Sackville, and also because he believes the coming years will involve difficult decisions for the new council which he says will require strong leadership.

CHMA’s David Gordon Koch has interviewed all three mayoral candidates for Tantramar. Listen to his interview with Shawn Mesheau here:

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: I’m speaking to Shawn Mesheau, currently the mayor of Sackville. He’s running for the position of first mayor of the new town of Tantramar. Mayor Mesheau, before you became mayor of Sackville, you served for a number of years as town councillor. For listeners who might not be familiar, can you introduce yourself and include any previous involvement on council?

Shawn Mesheau: Sure. Well, I was born and raised here in Sackville. After college, I spent about five, six years in the Fredericton area, came back to Sackville, transferred here through Atlantic Wholesalers, and worked with Atlantic Wholesalers for several years, until they left town.… Continue

Meet the candidates: Bonnie Swift, running for mayor of Tantramar

Bonnie Swift is a candidate for mayor in the new town of Tantramar. Photo: Bruce Wark

Bonnie Swift is an environmental engineer who worked for years in Alberta, moving east to Sackville in 2010 and serving as the town of Sackville business development officer for two years. Swift describes herself as a “small town girl” from Dorchester, and says she’s running for mayor of the new municipality of Tantramar after encouragement from friends. Swift became active in Sackville politics this past year, advocating for reconsideration and public consultation of a zoning change that made way for the AIL pipe plant now under construction on Walker Road.

CHMA’s David Gordon Koch has interviewed all three mayoral candidates for Tantramar. Listen to his interview with Bonnie Swift here:

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: I’m speaking with Bonnie Swift. She’s one of three candidates in the race for mayor, the first-ever mayor of the new town of Tantramar. Bonnie, thanks for speaking to CHMA today.

Bonnie Swift: Thank you. You’re welcome. Glad to do it.

CHMA: First of all, can you tell me a little bit about yourself? This is your first run for a municipal council seat, isn’t it?

Bonnie Swift: Yeah, well, as far as I go, I’m a small town girl. I grew up in Dorchester. I went to high school in Sackville.… Continue

‘Expect the previously unexpected’: Hurricane Fiona, rising sea levels show need to restore salt marshes for natural protection, says prof

A map shows critical infrastructure in the Sackville-Amherst area. Screengrab: Chignecto Isthmus Climate Change Adaptation Comprehensive Engineering and Feasibility Study, 2022/gnb.ca

With sea levels rising and weather patterns becoming more volatile, the storm that wreaked havoc in Atlantic Canada last month might be a mere sampling of things to come.

In the wake of Hurricane Fiona, Prof. Jeff Ollerhead of Mount Allison University says decision-makers can reduce the risks of catastrophic flooding in the Tantramar area by restoring salt marshes.

“Are we seeing storms? Are we seeing impacts? Yes. Fiona has just reminded us of that,” he said. “And do we have the ability or the capacity to do something about this? Yes, we do.”

Ollerhead made those comments during a recent talk with the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership, described as a “virtual Institute” open to people interested in the well-being of the bay.

CHMA tuned into the talk to bring you highlights. Ollerhead started by talking about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and how things appear to be changing faster than predicted.

… Continue