(NB-RCMP-Officer-Assault)
A New Brunswick R-C-M-P officer in Shediac has been found guilty of assaulting a man who was in handcuffs and leg shackles.
Provincial court Judge Ronald LeBlanc told a courtroom in Moncton that some of Constable Billy Michel Parent-Roy’s actions exhibited excessive force.
Court heard that on June 29th, 2022, Parent-Roy was involved in an altercation while detaining Craig Hachey at the Shediac R-C-M-P detachment.
In court, LeBlanc said security footage shows the officer punching Hachey in the back, kneeing him in the chest and standing on his calves as four officers moved him from a police car to a holding cell.
(CBC News)
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(NB-Voter-Privacy)
New Brunswick’s chief electoral officer is calling for stronger protection of voter information.
A new document tabled in the legislative assembly outlining rules and requirements for voters concluded that the current data-handling practices and protections in the province are outdated and need to be strengthened.
Chief electoral officer Kim Poffenroth is pushing for M-L-As to improve the protections and ensure elector data is secure.
Ten of the 15 recommendations in the report require legislative changes to implement, while the remaining five would involve policy and procedural changes. (The Canadian Press)
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(NB-Arson)
R-C-M-P in New Brunswick are looking for help following an arson incident in Westmorland County.
The Mounties say emergency services were called to assist with a structure fire on March 12th in the region.
Police say they have determined the fire was set intentionally.
The office of the provincial fire marshal has been called in to investigate. (The Canadian Press)
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(NB-Road-Rage)
Police in eastern New Brunswick are investigating a case of road rage involving a firearm.
R-C-M-P say that when two vehicles stopped at the intersection in Moncton on February 27th, a passenger in one of the vehicles got out and broke the rear window of the other vehicle with a baseball bat.
Police were also told the same person pointed a firearm at one of the passengers of the damaged vehicle before fleeing the scene — but no one was injured.
One of the suspects is described as a balding, heavy-set man who is six feet tall.
(The Canadian Press)
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(NS-Tariffs-Contracts)
Nova Scotia has cancelled its first contract with an American company as part of Premier Tim Houston’s plan to push back against U-S tariffs.
Last month, Houston announced the province was reviewing all contracts with American businesses and would cut ties when possible.
C-T-V News has been told Service Nova Scotia scrapped a deal with an unnamed U-S software company to manage files for the Provincial Records Centre.
The province says no official agreement was signed, and they are inviting Canadian companies to bid on the contract believed to be worth 300-thousand dollars during the first year, and then 50-thousand dollars annually.
(CTV News)
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(NL-911-calls)
Police in Newfoundland and Labrador say people’s smart phones and watches are making too many accidental 9-1-1 calls.
R-C-M-P say many calls originate from emergency S-O-S features or from technology that automatically calls 9-1-1 if a crash is detected.
The Mounties say these features can be triggered in non-emergency situations, such as when someone is driving an off-road vehicle.
Pocket dials and children playing on deactivated phones are also common sources of accidental 9-1-1 calls.
Police are reminding residents not to hang up and stay on the line if they see their phone called 9-1-1 by accident.
(The Canadian Press)
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(NS-Legis-NDP)
Nova Scotia’s N-D-P leader is calling on the public to appear before a legislative committee on Monday to weigh in on controversial changes to several government bills.
Claudia Chender says the changes affect university governance, the powers of the province’s privacy commissioner and current mining and fracking bans.
Chender says the meeting of the public bills committee, formerly the law amendments committee, is a chance for people to “make their voices heard.”
The legislature resumes sitting next week after a week off for March break.
(The Canadian Press)
