On today’s CHMA daily news:
- Last call for a new Sackville senior manager;
- Canada Day goes online;
- Mount Allison theatre to put on online productions this fall;
- Examining RCMP’s role in contract policing;
- Man charged with May murder had been released from care;
- Amherst’s foray into solar energy production;
- And the COVID numbers update.
TRANSCRIPT
The province reported no new cases of COVID-19 again on Monday, marking six days with no new cases.
There are just 5 remaining active cases in New Brunswick.
Two people are still in hospital, with one in intensive care.
Testing has fallen fell below the minimum of 2300 per week set by Chief Medical Officer of Health Jennifer Russell in May.
The province conducted 2262 tests over the past 7 days.
People are still being asked to get tested if they have just one symptom of COVID-19.
Recruitment for new senior manager closes Friday
The call for applications for a new Senior Manager of Corporate Project for the Town of Sackville is closing this Friday at 4:30pm.
Jamie Burke, who held the role until he was appointed CAO by town council in April, says the position is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades role.
Click to listen:
“I guess the best way to describe it is anything that’s not finance or engineering kind of falls into this corner of the shop. And it’s anything from, you know, corporate strategy to working with Mr. Kelly Spurles or Mr. Pryde on tourism and business development or recreation programs and events.“
The Senior Manager is also responsible for town communications,
including working with the Engineering Department on the third phase of the flood control project.
Burke was responsible for the controversial land assembly for the project, which is now completed.
The newly hired senior manager will focus more on communications for the project, says Burke.
The Senior manager also shares responsibility for economic development with the CAO.
In the most recent Sackville residents’ survey, fewer people said they were satisfied with economic development than most other aspects of the town.
Burke says the town’s approach to economic development has been to serve as a connector between businesses and federal and provincial agencies with bigger budgets at their disposal.
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“We do have a business retention and expansion program, which is mainly run through our tourism business development department. But then the investment attraction is really what the senior manager and Chief Administrative Officer do in cooperation with the province and federal government. So the new role… We have a business development strategy that was recently adopted by Council, and the new position will kind of assist me in implementing the overall strategy.”
Burke says he is currently trying to fill both his new and old job, and he will be delighted when the senior manager post is filled.
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“It’s a fun, dynamic, challenging role… It requires someone to be able to project manage, juggle, you know, and be strategic. And, there’s going to be some… like all large projects that we’re trying to move through the corporation, there’s some bumps in the road. So you need to have a thick skin. But you’ve really got to love what you do and believe in the benefit of community development. No matter what the naysayers say, we’ve got a plan. We’ve got good plans and we’ve got really good people here as part of our team, so, you know, I would encourage anyone who thinks they have those qualifications to submit a resume and look to join us and help out the entire town.”
That was CAO Jamie Burke, talking about the role of Senior Manager of Corporate Projects for Sackville.
The town is currently accepting applications for the job until this Friday at 4:30pm.
Canada Day goes online
The Town of Sackville is hosting Canada Day festivities online this year, including:
- a morning walk-run event for all-ages,
- an online craft workshop for kids,
- a virtual Mayor’s speech and flag raising,
- a performance by local fiddlers
- a virtual Teddy Bear’s picnic
- and a baking lesson on gourmet Canada Day cupcakes.
Not to be outdone, Amherst will also be hosting online Canada Day events including a Zumba workout, an interactive magician show, an Atlantic Cirque performance, and a variety of live, online musical performances throughout the evening.
Mount A’s fall theatre season to go ahead, virtually
The Mount Allison Drama Studies program has announced it will go ahead with fall productions by holding both rehearsals and performances entirely online.
Neil Silcox will direct the October production of “Everybody” by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.
In November, Cordial Quint will direct “rihannaboi96” by Jorden Tannahill.
Mount A’s bilingual theatre troupe, Tintammare, will create and produce its 49th show.
Students will be able to take part in the productions from any location, as will their audiences.
Director of Drama Sarah Fanning says she is looking for adventurous actors, designers, and crew to help prove that, “no matter what happens in the world, art will get us through.”
Examining the RCMP’s role in contract policing
The federal government is reviewing the RCMP’s role in regional and municipal policing.
The review comes as the RCMP faces renewed allegations of racism and the use of excessive force in the shooting death of Rodney Levi in northern New Brunswick and the beating of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam in Fort McMurray, Alberta.
The Mounties have also come under fire for their handling of April’s 13-hour shooting rampage in rural Nova Scotia that left 22 people dead including an RCMP officer.
Last month, Jim Bronskill of the Canadian Press reported on a government memo warning that the RCMP’s contract policing obligations were sapping the force’s effectiveness in fighting organized crime and protecting national security.
Bronskill obtained the confidential memo through an Access to Information request.
The document warned about “growing dissatisfaction” over the costs of local policing as well as officer vacancies raising concerns about community safety.
Bronskill reported that “over 60 per cent of RCMP’s multibillion-dollar budget and over 70 per cent of the force’s officers are assigned to contract policing in 153 municipalities, the three territories, and all provinces but Ontario and Quebec.”
In 2002, Sackville Town Council voted to disband its 100-year-old municipal police force, amidst local opposition.
The Moncton Times & Transcript reported that the decision was taken “before a crowd of hundreds of community residents who booed the eight councillors.”
Then-mayor Jamie Smith, who did not have a vote, stepped away from his position chairing the meeting “to tell residents he believed taxpayers couldn’t bear the burden of higher policing costs of the RCMP.”
At the time, Sackville was required to pay 100% of RCMP policing costs which meant a substantial increase over the costs of the municipal force.
The Moncton paper reported that policing costs went from less than $1 million per year, to a total of $1.3 million.
When the contract was renewed in 2012, the federal government agreed to pay 30% of RCMP policing costs, with the town covering the rest.
The new agreement runs until 2032.
This year, Sackville plans to spend nearly $1.9 million for police services, the largest, single expenditure in its $11.4 million operating budget.
Man charged with May murder recently released from care
The young man charged with the murder of Josh Daley in Moncton on May 21st had been recently released from hospital care, after a board review.
The CBC obtained the review board report, which says Jake Mischiek has been in and out of the Restigouche Hospital Centre in recent years.
He was deemed not criminally responsible for 2017 charges that included possessing a weapon contrary to a judge’s order, possessing brass knuckles and failing to comply with a probation order.
The 21-year-old was diagnosed with schizophrenia and substance use disorder.
A psychiatrist told his review panel that if using methamphetamine, the chances of Mischiek re-offending were high.
But his treatment team were unanimous in recommending he be released, under conditions.
The report said programs that could help Mischiek were not available at the treatment centre, but would be more accessible in the community.
How Amherst is getting into the electricity business
The town of Amherst is on its way to becoming an electricity producer.
Last month, workers installed an array of solar panels on the roof of the Amherst Stadium.
About one third of the roof is now covered, and the panels will generate an estimated 123,000 kilowatt hours each year.
Nova Scotia Power would normally generate about 77 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent to make that much power.
Mayor David Kogon says the move is part of a larger set of green initiatives being taken on by the town of Amherst.
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“We’re trying to be more climate friendly. We in Amherst declared a climate emergency this past year. Well, in 2019. And so this is a step in that direction.“
The energy generated from the array, along with two others to be installed on the fire and police stations, will be sold to Nova Scotia Power under 20 year power purchase agreements.
The project is part of a pilot created by the Nova Scotia department of energy, which required the privatized Nova Scotia Power to sign power purchase agreements with First Nations communities, municipalities and not-for-profit groups.
The power purchasing agreements guarantee a price for electricity for 20 years, making it possible for groups to raise the capital to install solar panels on their buildings, even on a very small scale.
Nova Scotia Power will pay Amherst between 22 and 25 cents per kilowatt hour generated at three different solar panel arrays.
That’s higher than the going rate for electricity in Nova Scotia, about 15 cents per kilowatt hour for residential customers.
Mayor David Kogon says that the project will not just pay for itself, but provide a small amount of revenue to Amherst.
Click to listen:
“A more immediate, almost, benefit is there’s going to be a financial gain. Because of the support for the project, we get the solar energy capability installed with some cost, but because of our high energy utilization, Amherst spends approximately $860,000 a year on energy. So if we can initiate some solar production, we’re looking at, it’s a 20 year project, we’re looking at a savings in the neighbourhood of $118,000. So we’re doing something that’s environmentally friendly, but also going to save us money. It’s kind of a kind of a win win.”
Over 200 applications came in for the program, but only about 80 building projects were approved, with three in Amherst.
The Amherst stadium is the first project to be installed, and is expected to start generating power by October.
CHMA Daily News is hosted Mahalia Thompson-Onichino, and produced by Erica Butler, with contributions from Bruce Wark, Geoff de Gannes, and James Anderson.
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