Meet the candidates: Robert Corkerton, running in Ward 1 (Dorchester)

Village of Dorchester councillor and Tantramar Ward 1 candidate, Robert Corkerton. Photo: submitted

Robert Corkerton has been serving as a councillor for the Village of Dorchester for going on 16 years now, and is currently Deputy Mayor for the village. Corkerton says he has the experience to help steer Tantramar into the first few years of amalgamation, and that he’s not running on specific issues, but rather on his record as a Village councillor so far. In an interview with CHMA, Corkerton talks about his work on the amalgamation advisory committee, the future of services like fire and police, taxes, and recreation.

Listen to CHMA’s Meet The Candidates interview with Robert Corkerton, which took place November 1, 2022, at CHMA studios:

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: First of all, welcome, Robert, thanks for coming.

Robert Corkerton: Well, thank you for having me here. It’s great to be here.

CHMA: Just to start off, tell me a bit about yourself.

RC: I’m a resident of Dorchester and have been for the past 20 years. I moved to Dorchester from Montreal. I’m originally from England. I live in Dorchester with my wife and I have four kids, three who attend Tantramar at the moment, and one who’s still in Dorchester.

CHMA: And you have some experience on the [Dorchester] Village Council.… Continue

New Tantramar CAO could be hired by end of month, says province

A committee has been struck to give a recommendation on the hiring of the new town of Tantramar’s Chief Administrative Officer. Sackville Deputy Mayor Andrew Black, Dorchester Deputy Mayor Robert Corkerton and local service district resident Chris Milner have been selected to sit on the committee.

The province has also hired HR consultant Jennifer Murray Consulting to oversee the hiring process and assess candidates across the province.

Based on feedback from Jennifer Murray Consulting and the hiring committee, amalgamation facilitator Chad Peters will submit a recommendation to the provincial department of local government. Department spokesperson Anne Mooers says the process is underway and should be completed by the end of the month.

Elected councils typically head up the hiring of a CAO, and the CAO then handles hiring of all other municipal staff. But there won’t be an elected council for the town of Tantramar until the municipal election on November 28, so the provincial department of local government will make the final decision on who will head up the town of Tantramar, along with all other amalgamated municipalities in the province.

Both Sackville and Dorchester have existing CAOs, with Jamie Burke in the top job for Sackville, and Jennifer Borne heading up the village of Dorchester.… Continue

Welcome to the Town of Tantramar

A new, amalgamated Entity 40 will be known as Tantramar, if the province approves a decision by a committee of local elected and appointed officials.

Dorchester Deputy Mayor Robert Corkerton shared the following statement Thursday morning:

“The Elected Officials Advisory Committee has reached a consensus decision on the name for Entity 40. The new community will be known as Tantramar. As per the process, the name has been submitted to the provincial government and will become official once regulations are adopted over the summer.”

Corkerton also stated the decision was based on feedback the committee received on two name choices: Beauséjour Township and Tantramar Township. “The overwhelming majority was for Tantramar,” writes Corkerton. “We as the committee backed their choice and choose Tantramar as the name.”

Corkerton says the committee also decided to drop “township” from the name. Formally, Tantramar will be a town, due to its population size. “Legally we will be known as the Town of Tantramar,” writes Corkerton, “locally it will be Tantramar.”… Continue