Updated: Government holiday for Queen’s funeral Monday, Mt A to remain open
NOTE: This story was update Wednesday, September 14, 2022 with further information from Mount Allison University.
The government of New Brunswick is joining the federal government in declaring a holiday for Monday, September 19, 2022.
The day is being called a National Day of Mourning in honour of the death of Queen Elizabeth last week. A government news release Tuesday afternoon says the holiday will, “honour the Queen and pay respect to her life of service to Canada and to the Commonwealth of Nations on the day of her funeral.”
Government offices and schools in New Brunswick will be closed for the day, but the provincial government did not extend the holiday across the board, leaving all other organizations and private companies to decide whether or not they remain open.
Unless specified under their contracts, workers will not be eligible for statutory holiday pay.
The holiday is a one-time event, not for annual recognition.
Mount Allison to remain open
Mount Allison will remain open on Monday, September 19, during a national day of mourning for Queen Elizabeth called by the provincial and federal governments.
University president Jean Paul Boudreau said in an email Wednesday that after “leadership discussions” on Tuesday, the school has decided to remain open, and classes and all other activities will continue as scheduled.… Continue
Councillors discuss whether or not they intended to suspend Phinney’s health benefits
There was some disagreement at Sackville Town Council on Monday as to whether the suspension of the health benefits of a councillor who was found to be in violation of town council’s code of conduct was properly approved.
Local journalist Bruce Wark reported last week on Councillor Bruce Phinney’s surprise at discovering the suspension of his health plan while visiting a pharmacy to fill some prescriptions.
During question period on Monday, Wark asked council about the specifics of the motion to suspend Phinney’s pay, and why the motion read aloud on July 12 differed from the motion as printed in the approved minutes from the same meeting.
CAO Jamie Burke told Wark that the suspension of Phinney’s benefits, though not specifically mentioned, was implied in the phrasing of the motion that was read.
“The commonly understood legal definition of remuneration income moods includes benefits,” said Burke. “So what’s happened, I guess, is that we’ve got a little error in the minutes that were approved, although the meaning of the motion doesn’t change.”
Councillor Michael Tower read Phinney’s suspension motion on July 12, and on Monday said he would not have done so had he known that the councillor’s health benefits were included.
“The benefits were mentioned during our discussion, and I didn’t agree with that part of it,” said Tower.… Continue
From the archives: Bird population decline linked to forest ‘degradation,’ but solutions exist, says N.B. researcher
Listen to Tantramar Report for Monday, August 15, 2022:
Heritage Trust hopes to commemorate Sackville foundries by turning steel press into monument
A local organization hopes to commemorate Sackville’s historical foundries by turning a 300-tonne steel press into a monument.
Susan Amos of the Tantramar Heritage Trust asked Sackville town council for support with the project on Tuesday.
She said the Heritage Trust plans to apply for federal funding to establish the monument, a 14-foot tall steel press that was formerly part of the Enterprise Foundry.
It belongs to Dan Bowser, owner of Bowers Construction, and his family, who have agreed to donate the machine, she said.
Amos asked the Town of Sackville to contribute by preparing the ground and building a pedestal for the monument.
Chief Administrative Officer Jamie Burke said town staff would look into the question ahead of next week’s regular council meeting.
The monument would be placed on the former site of Fawcett’s Foundry on Main Street, which is now a parking lot for Mount Allison University. The university has already agreed to the idea in principle, Amos said.
She told councillors the foundries were a major presence in the community for more than 150 years.
Local foundries employed thousands of people over the course of eight generations, producing items such as stoves, water heaters, pots and pans.
This year marks the 170th anniversary of Fawcett’s Foundry and the 150th anniversary for the Enterprise Foundry, according to Amos. … Continue
Allain dismisses Sackville council concerns and affirms appointment of Jennifer Borne as Tantramar CAO
Note: This story was updated at 5:45pm to include comments from Sackville councillor Michael Tower.
Local Government Minister Daniel Allain has turned down Mayor Shawn Mesheau’s request for an independent review of the process behind hiring a new Tantramar CAO. In a letter to council this week, Allain said he was sticking with his appointment of Dorchester CAO Jennifer Borne to head up the staff for the new municipality of Tantramar. The only other candidate for the job was Sackville CAO Jamie Burke.
Mesheau wrote to Allain about two weeks ago after Sackville town council asked him to do so at their regular July meeting. Mesheau called the process which resulted in Borne’s appointment “fundamentally flawed”, and asked for a meeting with Allain and a review of the whole process by an independent HR consultant.
The minister and the mayor met last week, and this week, Allain sent his reply to all councillors expressing his “confidence in the recruitment process leading to [his] decision to appoint Jennifer Borne to the role.”
Allain’s letter mentioned the province’s contract with Jennifer Murray Consulting of Moncton, whom he said were “responsible for overseeing a biased free [sic] recruitment process leading to a fair and objective evaluation of candidates.”
The letter reads, “The position advertisement, essential qualifications, competencies, and candidate evaluation grid were based on an objective assessment of the position requirements and all candidates were assessed based on the established criteria.”… Continue
‘I don’t agree with the sanction’: Fundraiser to cover lost pay following reprimand against town councillor
A fundraiser has collected more than $1,400 for a Sackville town councillor.
“I don’t agree with the sanction,” said Wendy Alder, who launched the campaign.
“I don’t know the rules… But I know, for example, in the normal workplace, you couldn’t suspend somebody and then still expect them to work, which is what they’ve done.”
Alder launched the GoFundMe after town council voted to sanction Councillor Bruce Phinney earlier this month over code of conduct violations.
The reprimand includes a two-month suspension of Phinney’s salary.
Town council hasn’t disclosed the nature of the code of conduct violation, or the identity of the complainant, but CHMA has attempted to piece together the story in this report.
Water and sewer shut-off notices sent to 100 accounts for outstanding debts
Shut-off notices for unpaid water and sewer bills have increased in 2022 compared to last year.
But the overall figure is lower now than before the pandemic, according to data from the Town of Sackville.
“In June a review of outstanding water and sewer accounts were completed, and we have begun the process of issuing shut-off notices to accounts with overdue balances,” says a staff report to council from the latest public meeting.
That includes 100 water and sewer accounts, which together owe roughly $59,260.
That’s an increase compared to last year, when the shut-off list included 92 accounts worth a total of about $54,400.
Shut-off notices are issued for any account owing at least $250 more than 90 days past due, according to town treasurer Michael Beal.
In response to queries from CHMA, he noted there were no shut-off notices issued in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit New Brunswick.
In 2019, shut-off notices were issued to 130 accounts totalling more than $69,000; the previous year there were 131 accounts that received shut-off notices for debts worth about $96,000.
Beal couldn’t immediately confirm how many water and sewer accounts have actually been shut off due to outstanding debts. However, he could only recall one recent example, which he said involved a vacant property.… Continue
Resignation and call for review after Dorchester’s Borne recommended over Sackville’s Burke
Before a three-person HR committee appointed to recommend a CAO for the soon-to-be-amalgamated town of Tantramar could complete their work, the member representing Sackville resigned over concerns that the process was unfair and rushed. Despite that resignation, consultant Chad Peters passed along a recommendation to hire Dorchester’s Jennifer Borne for the top municipal job.
This week, Sackville mayor Shawn Mesheau wrote to Peters’ boss, Minister Daniel Allain, calling for a review of what he called the “fundamentally flawed” hiring process, and a spokesperson for Allain’s department says a meeting will be scheduled.
‘It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t reasonable’: Andrew Black on why he resigned from committee to hire a new CAO
Sackville Deputy Mayor Andrew Black says that in mid-June, when it became apparent to him that his original misgivings about the CAO hiring process were well-founded, he decided he had to resign. “I felt that it was an unfair process,” says Black. “I felt that it was fairly biased. It wasn’t reasonable, which is, you know, terminology that has been used by the minister and his department for this process, that it would be ‘fair and reasonable’, and it was not,” says Black. “And so I left.”
Black’s resignation left the committee with two members, Dorchester Deputy Mayor Robert Corkerton and Sackville local service district resident Chris Milner, who remained on the committee for the rest of the process and recommended that Dorchester CAO Jennifer Borne take the top job in the new municipality.… Continue
‘We’re making decisions for the next 50 years’: Allain on reform process and ‘keeping rural, rural’
Minister Daniel Allain defended his approach to local governance reform on Friday in Sackville, shortly after a meeting with local elected officials from Sackville, Dorchester and surrounding areas. Allain spent about an hour and 45 minutes in the closed door meeting, and spoke to reporters for about 10 minutes afterwards.
Allain has been heavily criticised by some Sackville town councillors who feel he misrepresented the process of local governance reform. He surprised many by prescribing amalgamations in a number of jurisdictions, including Sackville, against the wishes of local councils. He has also been criticised for offering no further public consultations on the process after the plan for amalgamations was released.
Allain disagrees with that description of events. “I think that’s not right,” he said Friday. “We’ve consulted with New Brunswickers.”
“I go to legislative assembly on a weekly basis to talk about local governance reform. As I indicated there, nobody was forced to do anything,” said Allain. Both the town of Sackville and the village of Dorchester wrote to Allain opposing the amalgamation of Entity 40, but both are powerless to prevent it.
Allain also insisted that his department had done enough public consultation, detailing the process that happened before the plan was announced, and that fact that shortly after the plan was released, existing councils were given a tight deadline to suggest changes to proposed boundaries.… Continue
Sackville to replace another community police officer without reviewing position
Sackville’s community policing officer has left her job after one and a half years.
Lise Babineau started as Community Program Officer (CPO) at the height of the pandemic, in October 2020. According to her monthly reports to council, the CPO visited schools and delivered a substance abuse prevention program called Botvin Lifeskills Training. Though various councillors had requested that Babineau come talk about her work at council, she never appeared in a public meeting.
In presenting a public safety report to council in April, Councillor Andrew Black said that RCMP Sergeant Paul Gagne called Babineau “highly competent and committed” and said that she would be “sorely missed by the department and the town.”
Babineau’s position is not included in the RCMP union contract, but is negotiated as an additional position under the town’s Municipal Police Services Agreement (MPSA). The town of Sackville budgets $90,000 for the position, plus $3,250 for project expenses.
At April’s meeting, Councillor Sabine Dietz asked CAO Jamie Burke about whether or not the town intended to replace the departing CPO. Burke responded yes, and explained that the RCMP had already reached out to him to confirm the hiring process that would be used.
“It hasn’t been that long since we hired Lise [Babineau], so they wanted to confirm that we would use the same process as last time,” said Burke. During the last hiring process, recreation director Matt Pryde sat in to represent the town, and Burke said the intention would be to do that again.… Continue