Municipal election season is upon us. Barring any pandemic tragedies, on May 10 Sackville will be heading to the polls to cast votes for the next group of people to sit around the town council table, even if it is a virtual one for the time being. In an effort to help inform you about who your candidates are, CHMA news plans to speak with all 12 council and two mayoralty candidates in the coming weeks.
This time we speak with candidate Joshua Goguen:
Goguen has a Facebook page for his campaign, available here.
Check out all of CHMA’s local elections coverage here.
TRANSCRIPT:
CHMA: Josh, tell us a bit about yourself.
JOSH GOGUEN: So I’ve been living in Sackville since 2006. I married my wonderful wife, Sara, and she made me move to Sackville because she wanted a small town feel, instead of living in Moncton. I have an 11 year old son who goes to Marshview. And I’ve been working at Moneris ever since. I’m now in the IT department, so I help people out with their computers.
CHMA: So what made you decide to run for town council?
JG: I just felt like there’s a need for change. And obviously, in the last few years, a few issues have come up that I feel like I could do possible change, like the drive-thru issue. Obviously, everybody has different opinions, but I’m just there to be the people’s voice, and the people will let me know what they want me to deal with.
CHMA: You mentioned the drive-thru issue. Do you have a position on that issue that you’re hoping to highlight in this campaign?
JG: The drive-thru is one of my priorities. I’d like to see it come back to fruition. In the last 20 years, cars have become a lot more fuel efficient. And we now have electric vehicles and hybrids. So I mean, the point of [drive-thrus] being bad for the environment is not really that major of a point anymore.
And obviously, we need to grow our commerce in town. I think this would definitely help. One of my neighbours pointed out to me the other day that if her son puts a hole in his rubber boots, then if the Salvation Army doesn’t have anything, where do you go? And with COVID-19 closing the borders, you now have to go to Moncton. That’s a 100 kilometre drive there and back.
One of my main priorities would be to bring up the commerce in town, and try to bring more of a diverse retail landscape.
CHMA: So trying to make it possible to get more of our needs met right here in town.
JG: Absolutely, yeah. So I mean, you’ve got older people that don’t drive, and they need to find a ride to Moncton or take a cab up there. Sometimes, it’s just not feasible to be able to go all the way up there. And then you almost have to plan it if you want to make a trip to Moncton because it’s not like just going to Amherst, 15 minutes you’re there. For Moncton you’ve got to make sure you’ve got enough time to get there and back.
CHMA: Are there any other issues you’re hoping to highlight in your campaign?
JG: I’d like to try to bring more green investments in town. Obviously, we live right on marsh and it is quite windy at times. I’d like to see maybe possible windmills, or have solar panels, even. Somehow get away from our dependency on fossil fuels, and maybe create some jobs at the same time.
CHMA: What are your favourite or least favourite things about Sackville?
JG: The best thing I love about Sackville is the people. Everybody’s so friendly. You go downtown to check your mail and everybody’s saying hi to you. Or you go down to [Rose’s] Independent—I still say Save Easy and my son always corrects me—and you know you just stop and chat to people. Everybody’s just so friendly.
What I don’t like… there’s not very much that I don’t like. It’s a perfect little town and everybody has their own lifestyle and it’s great.
CHMA: So is there anything else you’d like people to know?
JG: If they have any questions or concerns, they can feel free to reach out to me. The information is on the Elections New Brunswick website and I also have a Facebook page with my information on there. They can call me anytime or message me, and I’ll definitely listen to add their concerns.
I have no agenda going into town council. It’s the people that are going to tell me what they want and would like to see brought forward.
CHMA: Sounds good, Josh, and I’m sure we’ll be speaking to you again.
JG: You bet. Thanks.
