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Housing Minister calls MLA Mitton’s comments ‘inflammatory’ as province limits debate on controversial bill

*Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton is pictured in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick on Dec. 7, 2022. Screenshot: legnb.ca*

Controversial legislation affecting tenants and landlords is making its way through the Legislative Assembly, with opposition parties crying foul over time limits imposed on debate.

Discussions became heated Wednesday as Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton sparred with Jill Green, Minister of Service NB and Minister responsible for housing.

“The Minister of Housing has finally admitted that she won’t protect tenants by keeping the rent cap in place in the New Year,” Mitton said during Question Period on Wednesday. “Tenants are terrified of losing their housing if they haven’t already… how can the Minister of Housing justify denying renters the protection of a rent cap next year?”

Green, who took over the contentious housing portfolio in October, defended her government’s record and called Mitton’s remarks “inflammatory.”

“When I listen to the language that is used and the inflammatory way the question is asked, it doesn’t even make me want to answer her question,” Green said.

Mitton replied: “I do not appreciate the tone policing when I’m talking about people losing their housing.”

Last month, Green introduced Bill 25, An Act Respecting Residential Tenancies. Instead of extending rent control, the bill would create a “phase-in” mechanism for rent increases.

If a rent hike exceeded the Consumer Price Index, the Residential Tenancies Tribunal could choose to phase in the increase over the course of up to three years. … Continue

Big real estate deals will bring no immediate changes for tenants, say building owners

A number of apartment buildings in Sackville changed hands last week with multi-million dollar deals, and the new owners say no major changes are coming for tenants.

Sunset Investments purchased six buildings from Sackville landlord Charles Estabrooks for a total price of $13.3 million dollars. The purchase included four buildings on Main Street across from the Drew Nursing Home, as well as 55 Salem and 11 Lorne Street.

There’s a total of 82 rental units in all six buildings, according to investment marketing material produced by Sunset Investments before the deal was finalized.

Some residents have been concerned about the sale because of what happened to tenants in a neighbouring building at 15 King Street, which was purchased by Sunset this summer. In that case, tenants in all 16 units were evicted for the purposes of renovations, which included converting two-bedroom units to three-bedroom units by removing the living room. Months after the purchase and evictions, the units were up for rent, with converted three-bedroom units fetching $1600 per month, more than twice what some had been paying for two-bedroom units before the sale.

Sunset says it does not have a similar plan for the six Estabrooks buildings. In an emailed statement to CHMA, Sunset Investments says it, “aims to maintain the operation of these buildings as is.” The company says it has no plans to renovate the buildings, but for general maintenance and the addition of solar panels and low flow water fixtures.… Continue

A woman, child and man holding hands walking along a wooded trail.

‘It would be a game-changer’: meeting Tuesday to discuss possibilities for Trans Canada Trail, including pedway connection across highway

Hear this story on Tantramar Report:

It’s been called a ‘never-say-die’ project: a proposal for a pedestrian connection across the divided Trans Canada Highway where it bisects the Trans Canada Trail at the edge of the Sackville Waterfowl Park. The disconnect in the trail and the possible fix for it will be the topic of conversation in Sackville next week, at a meeting featuring trails coordinator for Plan 360, Marc Léger, and a group of citizens working on advancing the pedway project.

On Tuesday, December 6th, from 7pm to 9pm, Léger is inviting all possible stakeholders, including local business owners and current or would-be trail users, to the Sackville Visitor Information Centre to share and discuss ideas.

Léger works in connecting communities via greenway trails, by providing support to community groups and consulting with municipalities. He’s currently working on a 40 km trail connecting Moncton to Parlee Beach, which itself is part of the much larger Shoreline Trail, running from Alma to Shediac.

Léger says he sees lots of potential in the 66-kilometre segment of the Transcanada Trail between Sackville and Cape Tormentine.

“It goes through some really beautiful countryside,” says Léger, citing the Tintamarre National Wildlife Area. “It connects to several communities. It’s the perfect distance for cycle tourism. That 66 kilometers is a really nice sweet spot in terms of what the average cyclist might do in a day, both novice and more advanced cyclists.… Continue

NatureBus stops in Sackville Sunday to gather messages demanding action on biodiversity loss

When the NatureBus makes a stop in Sackville this Sunday, it won’t be picking up passengers bound for the woods, but it will be picking up messages from Sackville and Tantramar residents calling for protections that will put an end to biodiversity loss. After it pulls out on Sunday at about 11:30am, the Nature Bus is headed to the UN Convention of Biological Diversity COP15 in Montreal, also known as the Nature COP.

CHMA called up Claire Vezina of Nature NB to find out more about the Nature COP and what’s happening in Sackville this Sunday morning:

Every two years, the Nature COP gathers officials from around the world for discussions centred around the Convention on Biological Diversity, a 1992 international agreement accepted by 196 countries.

Like its COP counterparts focussed on managing the severity of climate change, there’s bad news to share about biodiversity at the Nature COP. “The variety and quantity of life on this planet is declining,” says Claire Vezina. “There’s more than 1 million species facing extinction. And approximately two thirds of the world’s ecosystems are degraded or unsustainably used.”

There is always, of course, hope, and especially so for this meeting in Montreal. “Those gathered there this year are expected to sign a new global agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss over the next decade,” says Vezina. “So this could mean some real action items and progress on this front, which is really exciting.”

Vezina says that over 100 countries including Canada have expressed support for an “ambitious response”, including targets such as protecting 30% of the world’s oceans and lands by 2030, reducing the rate of extinction by 90%, and stopping $500 billion in subsidies that harm nature.… Continue

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.

*The Mount Allison Students Union issued an apology on Instagram after releasing incorrect municipal election info. Screenshot: instagram.com/masuofficial*

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

Higgs’ plan to abolish French immersion prompts Sackville parents to form grassroots group

*Chris Collins, executive director of Canadian Parents for French NB, speaks to a group of concerned parents at the Sackville Commons Co-op on Nov. 29, 2022. Photo: David Gordon Koch*

The planned abolition of French immersion in New Brunswick has provoked the wrath of some local residents, and a grassroots organization appears to be taking shape in Sackville to oppose the change.

About two dozen people turned out for a public meeting Tuesday evening at the Sackville Commons Co-op.

Valmai Goggin, the parent of two young girls, lived away from New Brunswick for 15 years. Access to French immersion was among the factors attracting them back to the province.

“To be in a position now where the only bilingual province in the country is looking at having the worst French program nationwide, is mind-boggling and it cannot happen,” she said.

Listen to local residents who turned out for the meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, in Sackville:

The event featured two guest speakers: Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton and Chris Collins, executive director of Canadian Parents for French NB.

Collins, who was formerly a Liberal Party MLA who served as Minister of Local Government, encouraged parents to oppose the changes through a letter-writing campaign.

People in Sackville NB are not taking the abolition of French Immersion laying down. 30 parents at the commons on Lorne street. pic.twitter.com/LSqr8CBihX
— Chris Collins 🇨🇦 (@ChrisCollins506) November 30, 2022

He said letters should target Progressive Conservative MLAs whose seats are vulnerable in the next election, notably in Moncton and Fredericton.… 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.

Town of Sackville deputy mayor Andrew Black has won the mayoralty race for the new municipality of Tantramar. Photo: Submitted

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.

*‘LOL’:* *Mayoral candidate Bonnie Swift reacts to news that the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down Roe v. Wade, overturning abortion rights. Screengrab: twitter.com/bonnieswift10*

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.

Sackville councillors and Ward 4 candidates Sabine Dietz and Matt Estabrooks. Photo: Peter Stephenson

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

Province dumps rent cap for complaint-driven, case-by-case rent increase protection system

Service NB Minister Jill Green. Photo by: Stephen MacGillivray Photography

On Thursday at the provincial legislature, Service NB Minister Jill Green effectively ruled out an extension of the current temporary rent cap in New Brunswick, which had limited rent increases in 2022 to 3.8%. Instead, Green introduced a bill to add a phase-in mechanism that could be used by the Residential Tenancies Tribunal on a case by case basis. If landlords raise rents by more than the Consumer Price Index in a given year, and if a tenant formally complains to the tribunal about that increase, the tribunal would then have the power to require a ‘phase-in’ of the increase over two to three years.

“The rent cap is off the table right now,” Green told reporters after the law was introduced Thursday. But she also left open the possibility that the government could react later if needed. “Last year, if we needed to make a change quickly, we did it and we will do it again,” she said. “We will not hesitate to do more should we find there’s a bigger problem than we understand.”

In the meantime, the new system will “requires everybody to be working together,” said Green. “We need the landlords to step up. And we need the tenants to talk to us and tell us when they have a rent increase that they think is inappropriate.”

One housing researcher says requiring tenants to complain about rental increases is not reasonable, given the power dynamics between tenants and landlords.… Continue

Category: Community News

Three new faces, five ‘incumbents’ elected to council