Tantramar council to be sworn in at Dorchester community centre; and last meeting for Sackville council next week
The swearing in ceremony for the new town of Tantramar council is slated for Tuesday, December 20, at 630pm at the Veterans Community Centre in Dorchester.
Newly elected members of the council shared the news on social media, and new Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne confirmed the location. Borne says that details of the swearing-in ceremony will be posted on both the Dorchester and Sackville websites when available.
Borne also said that the first regular Tantramar council meeting in January would take place at Sackville Town Hall, as the “required technology is already in place.”
Borne said that once the new municipal council assumes office in January, they will decide on a plan regarding meeting locations, “to ensure civic inclusion for all of Tantramar.”
Borne was unable to provide updates regarding the senior management positions and structure of the new municipality, or the budget for 2023. Provincially appointed transition facilitator Chad Peters is responsible for writing Tantramar’s first budget, and for appointing officers such as Clerk and Treasurer for the new municipality.
Borne said that “over the coming weeks, an organizational structure will be communicated to both staff and the general public.”
Sackville council final meeting next week
The town of Sackville council will have its final meeting on Wednesday December 14 at 4:30pm.
The council will approve payroll for the month of November, and also be asked to approve a transfer into the town’s reserve funds.… Continue
Local residents build low-cost air purifiers amid surge in respiratory illnesses
Listen to Tantramar Report for Monday, December 5, 2022:
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
Grassroots efforts to attract nurses to Sackville Memorial Hospital got results, volunteer committee reports
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
Display of iconic Mel’s Tea Room sign quashed by planners, says Dorchester Jail B&B owner; Volunteer committee reports progress in hiring at Sackville Memorial Hospital
Listen to Tantramar Report for Friday, Nov. 11, 2022, Remembrance Day:
The Saxby Gale: Historical storm reminds Tantramar leaders of extreme weather and its devastating consequences
Listen to Tantramar Report for Tuesday, November 1, 2022 :
Rally shows ‘solidarity and compassion’ amid housing crisis, inflation; province announces $100M for public housing
Listen to Tantramar Report for Tuesday, October 18, 2022:
Conflict of interest complaints against Mesheau dismissed after confidential investigator’s report
A consultant’s report has cleared Mayor Shawn Mesheau of a conflict of interest when he chaired a series of Sackville town council meetings dealing with a matter affecting the company where his brother Peter has worked for years.
Local journalist Bruce Wark and one other unnamed person filed formal complaints in June under Sackville town council’s code of conduct policy. Wark alleged that the mayor should have recused himself from meetings dealing with zoning amendments that made way for AIL Group to build a new pipe factory on Walker Road in Sackville.
Had the mayor recused himself, the act of doing so may have called attention to the business affiliations of the applicants for the zoning amendments. According to documentation presented to council by Plan 360 planner Lori Bickford, Mike Wilson and Andrew Fraser applied for the zoning change, which is a text amendment affecting all industrial zoned land in the town. Mike Wilson is CEO of the AIL Group and Andrew Fraser is the former owner of the new pipe factory site.
Five councillors voted on Tuesday to accept an investigator’s report and dismiss the complaints against Mesheau, with one councillor opposed. (Councillors Sabine Dietz and Ken Hicks were absent.)
Councillor Bruce Phinney was the lone vote against, and told council he thought the matter was open to interpretation. “As a matter of fact, if you had another lawyer look at it,” said Phinney on Tuesday, “they may turn around and interpret in another way.”… Continue
‘What are renters supposed to do?’ MLA Mitton presses government to extend rent control
Listen to Tantramar Report for Thursday, October 13, 2022:
N.B. is changing the way it funds local government — what does it mean for Tantramar?
The provincial government says changes to local government funding will “provide financial stability to local governments and rural districts,” but changes to the law have prompted a backlash.
Bill 120 received Royal Assent on Tuesday, effectively freezing local government funding across the province at its current level of about $76 million for the next five years.
Megan Mitton, the MLA representing Memramcook-Tantramar, said municipal reform will download more responsibility from the province onto local governments without funding them adequately.
“Municipalities want there to be stability, but not stagnation,” Mitton told lawmakers in the provincial capital last week.
Liberal MLAs also criticized the law. Jacques LeBlanc, who represents Shediac-Beaubassin-Cap Pelé, said in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday it will force municipalities to raise taxes.
Opposition members also criticized the government for rushing the legislation through the Legislative Assembly.
Formula changing
The current formula has been in place since 2013, and includes so-called equalization and core funding.
The equalization system, which dates back to 1967, involves the redistribution of tax revenue across the province so that less prosperous communities can still offer a certain level of services.
Under the new system, equalization payments remain in place, but will be adjusted annually by a maximum of three per cent, through a comparison of local and provincial tax base growth. … Continue