Sandpiper Shep returns to Dorchester perch amid questions & controversy
The new fibreglass Shep with epoxy finish stands almost 8 ft high and weighs nearly 300 lbs
After a three year absence, Shep, the world’s largest semipalmated sandpiper, returned to the village square in Dorchester on Saturday, even though Tantramar town council has not approved installation of the giant statue or allocated money for it.
“I’m calling it The Dirty Bird,” says Bill Steele, who operates the Dorchester Jail Bed & Breakfast, only a stone’s throw from the statue.
“I mean it’s a great tourist draw and that’s good for me, but it’s being done without following proper procedures,” he says. “The village council didn’t commission the artist and never approved the project.”
Steele points out that when Dorchester was amalgamated with Sackville and three rural local service districts, the province drafted a budget that had no money in it for the sandpiper statue and the new town of Tantramar hasn’t approved any for it either.
“The statue was municipal property taken without any permission – repaired – and reinstalled without any public money,” Steele wrote in an earlier Facebook message.
He says he has filed a formal municipal code of conduct complaint against local Councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell raising “questions behind how our public asset got in the hands of private citizens with no authority in place.”
Dorchester resident Bill Steele outside his jail bed & breakfast
When reached by telephone, Councillor Wiggins-Colwell said she hadn’t heard about Steele’s formal complaint against her and emphasized that citizens were overwhelmingly behind the effort to get the statue back in the village square.
“I can say this has been an ongoing project for two years and finally Shep is here in a bird-friendly town where tourism is so important,” she said, referring further questions to Kara Becker, a former deputy mayor in the village who has been leading efforts to reinstate the statue.
“There’s a lot of community support,” Becker said during a telephone interview. “We’ve raised enough money to pay for Shep three times over.”
She notes that she appeared before Tantramar council on March 14th asking it to collaborate with citizens so that the statue could be restored in time for this year’s Sandpiper Festival and the return of the migrating shorebirds to the Bay of Fundy in August.
Kara Becker addressing Tantramar council on March 14th
Although Mayor Andrew Black said he understood the economic importance of the statue and the desire to get it back, Becker complains that there was no follow up from the town and when she e-mailed later to ask about citizens donating to the project, she received this response from CAO Jennifer Borne:
At this time Tantramar is not able to accept financial donations or any donation that requires a tax-receipt post-reform as a result of the formation of a new entity. In addition to this, Tantramar Council has not accepted this particular project.
“So, we just went ahead and put the statue back because it’s so important to us,” Becker says. “It’s pretty much the only thing we have.”
Meanwhile a report from the Canadian Press news agency quotes an e-mailed statement from Mayor Black:
“The municipality of Tantramar and its council did not commission this work to be done nor request or approve the installation of this statue on municipally owned land.”
The news agency report, carried by Global news, adds that when Black was asked if the statue would be removed, he replied that the matter won’t be discussed until municipal offices reopen on Tuesday.
“I predict it will be taken down in the next few days,” Bill Steele tells Warktimes.
But Kara Becker warns that protesting citizens would be out in the streets waving placards to defend it.
To read the full report from the Canadian Press, click here.
For an extensive CHMA background report as well as information about Oromocto artist Robin Hanson, who created the $9300 statue of Shep, click here.
13 Responses to Sandpiper Shep returns to Dorchester perch amid questions & controversy
YO Higgy Methinks Mayor Andy Black and his buddy Billy Steele know they ain't fooling many folks in Dorchester N'esy Pas?
Mitton, Megan (LEG)<Megan.Mitton@gnb.ca> | Wed, Apr 12, 2023 at 3:00 AM |
| To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com> | |
(le français suit)
This brief message is to let you know that your email has been received. Thank you for reaching out and sharing your comments and concerns with me. If this is an urgent matter, please call my Constituency office: (506) 378-1565 or the Fredericton office: (506) 457-6842.
For media inquiries please contact (506) 429-2285. - - - Ce bref message a pour but de vous informer que votre courriel a bien été reçu. Je vous remercie de m'avoir contacté et de m'avoir fait part de vos commentaires et de vos préoccupations. S'il s'agit d'une question urgente, veuillez appeler mon bureau de circonscription : (506) 378-1565 ou le bureau de Fredericton : (506) 457-6842.
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Megan
Mitton (elle / she, her)
Députée de Memramcook-Tantramar |
Responsable en matière de la santé, le logement, le changement climatique, et les droits humains. MLA for Memramcook-Tantramar | Advocate and Critic on files including Health, Housing, Climate Change, and Human Rights. Le Nouveau-Brunswick est situé sur les territoires traditionnels, non cédés des Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik & Peskotomuhkati. | New Brunswick is situated on the unceded traditional territories of the Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik & Peskotomuhkati. | |
David Amos<david.raymond.amos333@gmail.com> | Wed, Apr 12, 2023 at 3:00 AM |
| To: "blaine.higgs" <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, Andrew.Holland@natureconservancy.ca, Daniel.J.Allain@gnb.ca, "Holland, Mike (LEG)" <mike.holland@gnb.ca>, a.black@sackville.com, dan.murphy@umnb.ca, b.phinney@sackville.com, Newsroom <Newsroom@globeandmail.com>, "Jacques.Poitras" <Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>, "David.Akin" <David.Akin@globalnews.ca>, "bruce.wark" <bruce.wark@bellaliant.net>, jean-francois.leblanc@rcmp-grc.gc.ca, bbachrach <bbachrach@bachrachlaw.net>, TheBirdist@gmail.com, macxjack@gmail.com, hansonartgallery39@gmail.com | |
| Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, megan.mitton@gnb.ca, jborne@dorchester.com, d.beal@sackville.com, b.goodwin@sackville.com, m.beal@sackville.com, Eric.Hanson@rcmp-grc.gc.ca | |
Tantramar council votes not to remove Dorchester’s sandpiper statue
Sandpiper
Shep will stay on her perch in Dorchester’s village square after
Tantramar council voted unanimously tonight not to remove her.
At the same time, council directed the town engineer to confirm that Shep was installed safely “with the understanding that the statue is not a municipally owned asset at this time.”
“I want to make it clear that leaving the statue in place increases the town’s risk,” Mayor Andrew Black told council.
“It puts the Town of Tantramar at an insurance and liability risk.”
Black said that in his opinion, protecting the public purse and lessening or mitigating risk are two of the most important roles of members of council.
He was commenting on the fact that the sandpiper statue was not commissioned either by the village of Dorchester or the town of Tantramar and was installed Saturday on municipal property by private citizens without authorization.
CHMA reports that Robin Hanson, the Oromocto artist who created the new fibreglass Shep, says he was approached by former Dorchester Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell acting on behalf of local volunteers who later raised the money to pay for the $9300 statue.
During tonight’s Tantramar council meeting, Mayor Black said “it sets a precedence of a lack of respect for the decision-making process.”
He also said it threw the process for requesting proposals and quotes for municipal projects “out the window” in violation of laws such as the provincial procurement act and the town’s procedural bylaw.
“Normally, something like this would go through a process and we would in fact own that piece of property, but we don’t, so we had to try to figure out the best way to approach that,” Black told reporters after tonight’s council meeting.
Meantime, Councillor Wiggins-Colwell said she could not comment at this time.
Dorchester resident Bill Steele told Warktimes on Saturday he has filed a formal, municipal code of conduct complaint against her.
Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black blocks a vote on who will be his deputy
Mayor Andrew Black
In a move that surprised many observers, Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black prevented council from electing a deputy mayor at its first meeting on Tuesday.
“We have just sat as the new council of the Town of Tantramar,” Black said.
“We have not had an opportunity to interact with one another. I would like us to be able to know each other and have an understanding of who we are as councillors and as council, before we make the decision of who would be the deputy mayor,” he added.
Black was responding to a motion from Councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell who sought to add the election of deputy mayor to Tuesday’s council agenda.
She pointed out that the bylaw governing council procedures requires it to elect a deputy mayor at its first meeting.
However, changing the agenda requires unanimous approval, and after all other councillors had voted to change it, Black asked clerk Donna Beal: “Do I vote as well?”
In the past, Sackville mayors have voted only to break council ties, but the new procedural bylaw imposed by the province allows the mayor to vote on every issue.
“I will vote nay,” Black declared defeating the motion to add the election of deputy mayor to council’s agenda.
However, he told reporters later, that he’s uncomfortable with the bylaw that gives the mayor a vote and would rather provide information and guidance.
“Voting on an issue I think, it’s just not me, it’s just not what I would want to do,” he said.
Black added, however, that it will be up to council to change the bylaw.
“I might have my own ideas about what I would like to see,” he said, “but if council passes the bylaw saying that the mayor should vote, then so be it.”
Black said the election of a deputy mayor could take place at council’s next meeting later this month.
7 Responses to Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black blocks a vote on who will be his deputy
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Mike Gallant says:
So, the rookie Mayor subverts the will of Council as his first act. It seems according to the Mayor, that Council will only be able to play with the toys after showing they get to know each other. Or does his preferred candidate for Dep not have the requisite votes yet? I wanted to reach out to Mayor and Council on this issue but their Town email addresses were not publicly available as of this writing. All this bravado about “ready to get to work” after the swearing in last month, was really what?
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Ralston C says:
I believe you have nailed it once again Mike. You’d have to be from another planet to not know who he will try to get the position of deputy. He knew that something had been in the works I’m sure and had put a bandage over it for a couple weeks. I sure hope these new councillors can see past this and get a deputy elected other than the one obvious pick he would make. Definitely a bad look early for those who voted for him. Maybe a look at what’s to come.
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“If I get stoned and sing all night long, it’s a family tradition” Hank Jr…,
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Shawn Mesheau says:
The Local Governance Act has always indicated that the Mayor has a vote unless otherwise determined by the local government under their procedural by-law. This, as we know, is a new Local Government which now serves a new Town so things have changed and there is a new way of conducting this local government’s business that better aligns with local governments throughout the province.
I am sure UMNB is well aware of this need to ensure more uniformity in having local governments conduct their business in order to ensure delivery of services to their residents.
Maybe the issue here is not who implemented the bylaw, or when a mayor can vote, it is the requirement for a unanimous vote by council to add an item to the agenda.
Lots of learning for this new Mayor and Council as it tries to disengage from how business used to be done in the former local governments and how it will need to be done in the new local government.
Local Governance Act
Voting
66(1) Subject to this Act, each member of council present at a meeting shall announce his or her vote openly and individually, and the clerk shall record it, and no vote shall be taken by ballot or by any other method of secret voting, and every vote taken in that manner is of no effect.
66(2) Despite subsection (1), a local government may, in a procedural by-law made under paragraph 10(2)(a) or in a municipal charter or private or special Act of the local government, provide that the mayor shall not vote except to have a casting vote in the event of a tie.BY-LAW NO. 2022-03
A BYLAW RESPECTING THE PROCEEDINGS OF TANTRAMAR MUNICIPAL COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE MEETINGSXIII. MOTIONS
11. After the Mayor has counted the vote, the Mayor shall declare whether it was “carried”, “carried unanimously” or “defeated”. Except where provided for in this bylaw or by the applicable legislation, a majority vote of the Members present who are eligible to vote, shall decide a motion or question before the Council. If the vote results in a tie, the motion will be considered defeated. -
Christian Corbet says:
And so the meek has inherited (in his mind) the earth. Let the games begin!
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Rob says:
His Worship has demonstrated himself to be a person who is perhaps a bit too picky about who he works closely with, and not picky enough about who he alienates…
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Perhaps. He spent his time as Councillor as part of a solid voting bloc and no one, including local media raised an eyebrow. Now that two of his allies are no longer there, he seems to attempt to revive that arrangement by trying to form an alliance on the new council (with those that are like minded). He gratuitously thanks the Rural Health Action Group (where his principal campaign advisor thankfully volunteers) but painfully ignores any credit whatsoever to Horizon Health. He’s called out both the NS and NB govts for remaining silent on the Chignecto Ithmus issue – these are levels of govt to work with in the future. I truly hope he grows into the job but past behaviour seems to indicate that he more interested in performative advocacy and empty gestures.
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https://warktimes.com/2023/01/
Tantramar Town Council says no to holding a public question period
Councillor Michael Tower
At its first meeting tonight, Tantramar Town Council voted against amending its agenda to allow members of the public and media to ask questions.
The agenda did not include the public question period that has been a tradition in Sackville for at least 30-years because the new council was operating under a procedural bylaw imposed by the province.
Councillor Michael Tower moved a motion, seconded by Councillor Allison Butcher, calling for a public question period to be added to the agenda.
“I would like to add at the end of the meeting a question period for the public or the press to maintain our transparency,” Tower said.
He suggested that during the recent municipal election campaign, candidates had spoken in favour of openness.
“I think losing this question period takes away transparency,” Tower added.
The motion to amend the agenda to include a public question period required unanimous consent. Councillors Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, Matt Estabrooks and Bruce Phinney voted no.
Mayor Black then explained that the new council was operating under a bylaw imposed by the province.
“I’ve heard that it’s pretty much standard across the province,” he said, adding that the new council can now look at its bylaws “and potentially change them if we need to.”
During an interview later, he said that he personally favours holding a public question period, but that council itself would have to make that decision.
Communications officer
CAO Jennifer Borne told reporters after the council meeting that Tantramar will be reviewing its bylaws.
“If there’s any potential amendments, any feedback that comes in, certainly any information will go into the files for potential amendments going forward and council can review them,” she said.
In an earlier e-mail to Warktimes, Borne wrote that Tantramar welcomes public and media interest in local government.
“Under the new organizational structure, we will have a Corporate Communications position that will be dedicated to providing information to the media and public on decisions of council,” she added.
She later assured reporters that the new communications officer would not replace the council question period, but would create opportunities for public engagement and feedback.
A step backward
Mount Allison Professor Geoff Martin, who specializes in the study of local governments, wrote in an e-mail that “it’s a real step backward not to have a question period, an outrage even.”
Martin, who served on Sackville Town council from 1998 to 2004, adds it gives citizens a chance to question the people they elected.
“This is supposed to be the order of government closest to the people, and the only one that ‘does not rule on behalf of the King,'” he added.
“This is supposed to be a democratic government, not a soulless corporation.”
7 Responses to Tantramar Town Council says no to holding a public question period
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Marika says:
Why have a question period? We’re in Sackville New Brunswick, where we don’t care what people think. We’ll tell them what they should think.
In fact, meetings shouldn’t even be open to the public.
This would eliminate the need for elections, too!
Sackville, where Council questions You!!
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Virgil Hammock says:
We are off to a flying start. So much for election promises. Of course, there should be a public question period at the beginning and end of every council meeting.
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Virgil – as a former Councillor, what are your thoughts on the Mayor delaying the vote to appoint a Deputy Mayor?
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Tantramarshire says:
Oh sure… but I still remember when you were town councillor raising some questions about the amount of smartgrowth being built in the centre of town by John Lafford and how your fellow town councillor Margo T. King “shushed” you from speaking… oh Virgil.. those were the days… early 2011 I believe… could have even been late 2010… the culture of shushing only got worse.
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Wayne Feindel Puppet of the People says:
OK folks! A little juvenile
Council is supposed to be directing the agenda not the provibce or the Mayor. In politics perception ls everything and not having a question period because the province mandated it as a starter bylaw , and besides others are doing it, sounds might mean the $1200 a day carpet bagger Chad Petersons is calling the tunes. But council gets one more chance to communicate to the provincial government that you do not plan to be mere creatures of provincial governments. Does this mean that when the actual budget that is due in March will also be shoved down your throats like your just another advisory committee? The day the finances are tabled you need to demand that the province know that it will be open to the public and not editorialized by the Mayor otherwise be prepared to either resign en mass or spend four years being part of an illusion presented to you as local governance.
Ummmm the Deputy Mayor???
In the former Village of Dorchester, the councillor with the highest number of votes is offered the position. Otherwise council elects the Deputy Mayor. The Mayor appoints portfolios but does not appoint a Deputy Mayor; but if he desires an inclusive council, the mayor might suggest council nominate a councillor from the former LSDs .The party has started. You have been elected by us to serve citizens, not bureaucrats. It is unfortunate that you are in one of the top three corrupt states in North America as mentioned at a MtA guess speaker that deals with these matters. I Think it was a Mr. Bowser who lives in Riverview. Tantramar might want to hire him just so my new identity starts with a clean slate. Get your brooms out. -
I have read the new bylaw and under presentations it is noted that an individual or group can address council. So there is an opportunity to ask questions.
IX 4 does note individuals or groups wishing to address council by appearing at the meeting with no previous registration should sign in at the door and will be called in the order they register. They will be given 2 minutes each. It does not say you can not ask questions and it appears that it would ensure that the time is well spent for questions and answers, as opposed to using question periods as soap boxes.
As for the media asking questions, not sure why continuing on with the informal media scrum that was always happening can not still take place. Maybe a more formally media scrum could be organized by media and members of council could make themselves available after the meetings.
Again this is not about what the mayor calls a provincially imposed bylaw. It is about doing business differently in order to be more effective in addressing community service needs and concerns. This is a new process and it must be given time to work and councillors and mayor must be supportive in helping it along.
Proper communication will be needed so residents understand the process and are able to address council in a public meeting.IX. PRESENTATIONS
1. The Presentations portion of a Council meeting shall provide an opportunity for individuals to appear as a formal delegation or on their own to make brief presentations to Council on matters within the subject matter jurisdiction of Council.
2. All individuals or groups wishing to address Council and wishing to be listed on the meeting agenda should register with the Clerk at least seven (7) calendar days prior to the date of the meeting, providing their name, topic of concern, and indicating whether there has been any previous contact with a member of Council or Administration regarding the matter. The Clerk will be responsible for preparation of the Council Report Form, if required, for all registered presentations from members of the public. In order to ensure system compatibility and that Members receive all required materials in advance of the meeting, any presentations requiring the use of audio/video technology must be submitted to the Clerk at least three (3) business days prior to the date of the meeting, otherwise they will not be accepted for use at the meeting.
3. Registered presentations shall be limited to five (5) minutes each, followed by questions from Members if applicable. When individuals wish to appear before Council during a Public Hearing, their presentation shall be limited to five (5) minutes.
4. Individuals or groups wishing to address Council by appearing at the meeting with no previous registration should sign in at the door and will be called in the order they register. No audio-visual presentations will be permitted for unregistered presentations. Unregistered presentations shall be limited to two (2) minutes each, followed by questions from Members if applicable.-
Susan says:
Thanks Shawn. It’s nice to have the facts laid out rather than read sensational articles that mislead the public.
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UPDATED: Goodbye Dorchester Village, Hello Ward 1: hope & dismay
Shep, the giant Dorchester sandpiper once stood tall in the village square, but alas, no more. Photo: Tourism New Brunswick
With the Village of Dorchester about to disappear, local candidates for the new Tantramar town council are talking fondly of Shep, the sandpiper statue that once stood as a symbol of village identity.
“Shep’s been gone now for a couple of years,” says Deputy Mayor Robert Corkerton, one of two candidates competing for the single seat in Ward 1 that includes Dorchester and surrounding communities.
“It got to the point where Shep was rotten right through,” he says, adding that the village council has explored various options for replacing Shep.
“People come to Dorchester to see the sandpipers when the birds are here, but also to stop and see Shep, the same as the lobster out in Shediac,” he says.
“He’s been there for 20 years and people want him back.”
Dorchester’s Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, who is also running for the Ward 1 seat on Tantramar council, says she’s been talking with the sculptor who created the original, wooden Shep as well as artists in Calgary who work with more durable materials.
“I’m looking at two options, either the Calgary group that would do it in fibreglass or we’re looking at bronze, the same as [George] Stanley is in Sackville,” she says.
“I’m hoping maybe the bronze will be our option, but that’s something we have to work towards,” Wiggins-Colwell adds.
Both candidates suggest they would take up the need for a new Shep at Tantramar town council after it takes office on January 1st.
They say the sandpiper statue is crucial not only for Dorchester’s sense of itself, but also for its ongoing appeal to tourists who flock to the Nature Conservancy’s shorebird reserve at nearby Johnson’s Mills to witness the birds’ annual August migration.
Identity loss
But even as the candidates talk about the symbolic and practical need to restore Sandpiper Shep, voters in the village and the small communities around it, worry that Dorchester is about to be lose its identity anyway as the village is swallowed up by the larger and richer town of Sackville.
“I’ve actually heard it said from people in Sackville, when the amalgamation process started, that ‘We don’t want Dorchester,'” says Neil Harris, a retired salesman who returned home to the village three years ago after a 48-year absence.
“My concern is that some people in Sackville are just going to sweep us aside,” he says.
Former Dorchester Mayor Wayne Feindel
Harris’s concern is shared by Wayne Feindel who served for more than 30 years on the village council — his last three terms as Dorchester’s mayor.
“This community will not be run and looked after the way it is now,” he says.
“Dorchester is a tightly run organization [and] with no money, they’ve done miraculous things,” Feindel says.
“There’s no way this bigger group will be able to run this community as well as it was done even with more money to the people who are running and to the mayor, a nice little bribe to try to get people involved, but you have to have something deeper than that if you’re going to run for your community,” he says.
(Feindel’s “nice little bribe” refers to the tripling of salaries for elected representatives on Tantramar’s new council.)
As Sackville becomes the “centre of gravity” in the new municipality, he says the focus will inevitably shift to it.
“A town with so many resources, with doctors and lawyers and people in every field and stores and all that, they have no sense of anything beyond Sackville and I don’t see that changing overnight.”
When combined with the growth of centralized bureaucracy in an expanded Southeast Regional Service Commission and with only one representative on council, Feindel foresees the disappearance of volunteers rooted in the local community.
“The volunteers are just not going to be here, like with the Sandpiper Festival and stuff like that,” he says.
Dorchester will become “a soulless place,” he predicts.
Hope for a bright future
Debbie Wiggins-Colwell with Preston, her canine companion
But Tantramar Ward 1 candidate Debbie Wiggins-Colwell says that Dorchester getting swallowed up by Sackville isn’t a worry for her, at least not yet.
“I don’t look at it that way, you know,” she says, adding that all parts of Tantramar can collaborate and work together.
“That’s how I’m looking at it, going into it,” she says.
“Now maybe you ask me this at the end of three years, it might be entirely different, but right now, that’s how I look at it.”
Wiggins-Colwell says she foresees a future in which natural beauty and community-run events like the Shiretown and Sandpiper Festivals combine to bring the citizens of Tantramar together.
“I mean we’re not even 13 kilometres from Sackville,” she says, adding that the round trip on Rte. 935 from Dorchester to Rockport and Wood Point is stunningly beautiful.
“That’s my happy place,” she says. “I love it.”
Cross promotion is key
Robert Corkerton descending Shep’s new stairs
Candidate Robert Corkerton is also hopeful as he points out that the village has already built a solid set of stairs and railings in anticipation of Shep’s return along with crowds of tourists eager to pose for photos on the newly built platform beside him.
He says his 16 years on the village council would help guide his efforts to help promote the many attractions in the new town including the Nature Conservancy shorebird reserve, Sackville’s Waterfowl Park and Farmers Market, Fort Beauséjour as well as the ice cream and other attractions at Trueman’s Blueberry Farm.
“We have such an opportunity to say, ‘What do we have? How can we promote this? Where are our air B&Bs, where are our hotels and motels and what can we do to cross-promote everything?’
“What can we do to bring people here to Tantramar?” he asks. “How can we make it a destination spot, so people will want to come in and spend their money here?”
‘Losing out’
With election day only three weeks away, it remains to be seen which of the two hopeful candidate messages will resonate most with voters in Dorchester and its surrounding communities.
Aaron Stright, who recently returned to the Dorchester area after 10 years away working as a welder in Alberta, says he’s not optimistic at all because Sackville will be the centre of the new town.
“Most of the people in Sackville don’t seem to have Dorchester’s interests in mind,” he says.
“We’re stuck out on the side and nobody really wants to think about us and now they’re going to be controlling more of what goes on here,” he adds.
“A lot of people are worried about losing out because Sackville’s going to get more than we do.”
All-candidates forum
Both
Robert Corkerton and Debbie Wiggins-Colwell appeared at the
all-candidates forum held on Saturday, November 12 in Middle Sackville.
Here is Robert Corkerton’s two-minute opening statement:
I’m a resident of the current Village of Dorchester and have lived there for the past 20 years. I live there with my wife Lise and our four children. I’m originally from England and moved to Montreal when I was a young child. This is where I learned French and I’m fully bilingual. For the past 16 years, I’ve had the honour of being a member of the Council of the Village of Dorchester. Over that time, I’ve worked on different portfolios, and the constant being recreation programming and playing fields. I’ve served on the the board of Recreation New Brunswick as representing the village, a provincial NGO for the recreation in the province. I’m currently in my 20th year serving as a leader in Scouts Canada having held different positions throughout the years. I’m a volunteer with the Dorchester Food Bank and new as of this year, I’m also the director for the junior programs for the Moncton Black Tide Rugby Club. I’m looking to serve because I feel the experience on council and other boards and my understanding of governance workings will be an asset to help bring Tantramar into existence and set it on a good path for the future.
Here is Debbie Wiggins-Colwell’s opening statement:
I am the last mayor for the Village of Dorchester and first female mayor also. I’ve lived in Dorchester for over 50 years, raised three of my children there, had owned my own business and my husband and I opened a second business in the village square of Dorchester. I am now retired. I have many years of volunteering under my belt, most recently, including the founding board member of the Greater Dorchester Moving Forward and in 2017 was honoured by receiving the Molly Kool Award for Outstanding Contributions by a woman in the southeast part of New Brunswick. And I am now ready to serve as first councillor for Ward 1.
To read Debbie Wiggins-Colwell’s campaign brochure, click here.
To read Robert Corkerton’s campaign brochure, click here.
To listen to Erica Butler’s CHMA interview with Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, click here.
To listen to Erica Butler’s CHMA interview with Robert Corkerton, click here.
8 Responses to UPDATED: Goodbye Dorchester Village, Hello Ward 1: hope & dismay
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Geoff Martin says:
Great article as usual Bruce. It is also worth mentioning that everyone in the new town has a vote for mayor–if you live outside the old town of Sackville boundaries, make them earn your vote. In my experience, one smart person can make a lot of difference on a council of 9. Whoever wins this ward seat, you will have your constituents behind you to make sure that all areas of the new town get their share. Use your voice and vote and deny unanimity and silence if your constituents are being ignored. Early on, like in the City of Miramichi in the 1990s, insist that municipal assets in Dorchester be used instead of being sold and centralizing everything in Sackville. Maybe a town department should be located there, for example. With technology it is even easier now…
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Bonnie says:
I agree.
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Macx MacNichol says:
It did not take long for incomplete information to get posted in the local election.
The facts about “Shep” not being replaced by the Village administration are far more than a case of “Rotten Wood.” Already the candidates failed to state the replacement process was begun by the previous Village Administration in 2019 and was not completed in a timely manner before other issues arose which ensured the demise of the 20 year old village icon.
As a member of the Sandpiper Festival’s organizing committee, I was asked in 2019 to arrange for the shipment of the statue of “Shep” to Fredericton for repairs before the winter set in.
I proceeded to follow the committee’s request and the artist was contacted and agreed the timing was right, transport was arranged and all that was needed was for the Village Administration to arrange for the equipment to lift the statue off the foundation and place it on a truck I had available, which they had agreed to do.
With my part done, I waited until January 2020, at which time I was informed by the Village Administration, not the festival organizing committee, that they were taking over the project.
The statue sat there for months before it finally was shipped for repairs. After further investigation, it was determined that, because of the delay in shipping and being outside through another winter, the statue was deemed unrepairable.
The Village Administration made the decisions behind closed doors and what we have today is a beautiful podium and a very expensive project that could have been avoided. Now the administrative and financial discussions and decision making will begin all over again. All of which could have been avoided.
On the positive side, Ward 1 now has the largest and sharpest looking outdoor, all-weather podium in the entire province of New Brunswick. It is my hope that the “Shep Podium” will attract Activists, Political and Social Speakers where they can mount and declaim their aspirations to the large crowds that will visit Ward 1 to hear them and have their pictures taken as past visitors did for 20 years of “Shep’s” existence in the community square.
This is just a small issue, but I’m wondering if more accurate and creditable information will be presented pertaining to bigger issues in the future.
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Deborah Jollimore says:
Thanks for telling the whole truth about that Max. I think often the toxic positivity spin applied by government is what puts constituents off the most. Elected officials need to tell the whole truth and take responsibility when they make mistakes.
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marilyn lerch says:
I have been very impressed by the newsletters put out by Greater Dorchester Moving Forward Co-op. The variety of endeavors undertaken is truly inspiring. I hope that the energy behind Moving Forward will make sure Dorchester is not left out in the new municipal organization.
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“Most of the people in Sackville don’t seem to have Dorchester’s interests in mind,” he says…. Not with me as Mayor, this is my home. I ran because I don’t want the smaller communities being overlooked and I thought that might end up being the case. I run the Westmorland Historical Society, in Dorchester. No one should feel like their community’s identity is going to be lost.
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The Town of Tantramar is a collective of different villages and towns to be honest… economically speaking the government just wanted a tighter control of governance so just consider this is an opportunity to co-mingle with like-minds in the area instead of feeling separate and distant you are part of a larger body of homies… I find it amusing how ‘identity’ is tied up in postal codes.. maybe its because I have lived in other places in Canada and in England.. this area is ready to bloom… just enjoy the journey together and don’t worry so much… Bonnie Swift will make a fine mayor for this new entity as I think she brings a more common sense approach to the job and I will vote for her and Bruce Phinney and Wendy Epworth and look forward to seeing how this new body of representatives takes this as an assignment to take the reigns for the region as a collective of homies… these are people with more in common than they might think and there is going to be some really good collaborations taking place. Please stay positive and don’t let the “Eeyores” out there get you down.
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Collaborations ordered from the top down in good old teutonic fashion by corporate directors is not a cooperative adventure. It is corporatism or as defined by John Ralston Saul ‘facism’. The Unconscious Society .
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Bonnie Swift promises as Tantramar mayor to end secrecy, promote citizen engagement
Tantramar mayoralty candidate Bonnie Swift
Bonnie Swift says she decided to run for mayor of the new town of Tantramar because she wants to end the secrecy that has prevailed in Sackville’s local government.
“Actually, it was the biggest thing that motivated me to run, get the information to the people,” she said yesterday during an interview with Warktimes.
“I want the public to know what their town is doing and how they’re managing everything inside that town.”
As one example of secrecy, Swift points to the $28,000 Montana report on how to end bullying, harassment and favouritism in the Sackville fire department that has never been released to the public.
“I want to see the Montana report, what I can see, what I’m allowed to legally see, I would want to see,” she says, adding that the town government has been too closed.
“I mean that report is probably under lock and key in some CAO desk somewhere,” she says.
“If something’s not functioning right or people are being harassed and abused, as a mayor, I would want to know about that.”
Swift also says firefighters need better protection as whistleblowers.
“Whistleblowers are very important to the functionality of everything,” she says, “and I really didn’t like the silencing of the fire department.”
Swift notes that under Sackville’s whistleblower policies, firefighters are expected to report their concerns to senior management even when those managers may be causing their problems.
“As Mayor no whistleblowers will ever be silenced,” Swift writes in her platform document entitled “Fighting for Open Government.”
‘Citizen engagement’
Bonnie Swift addressing Sackville council last June
Swift’s platform position on “citizen engagement” partly reflects the circumstances that led to her appearance before Sackville town council last June as a member of Concerned Citizens.
The 35-member group called unsuccessfully on council to re-open a zoning change clearing the way for the AIL plastic pipe plant on Walker Road.
Concerned Citizens pointed out that residents of the area were not notified about the development before council held a public hearing on the zoning change before finally approving it.
In her mayoralty platform, Swift writes it’s a good example of the municipality’s poor citizen engagement process.
“One of the largest developments, if not the largest development, is currently happening in our town, yet almost none of the citizens in the region knew about it until the massive 18-acre clear cut took place,” she writes.
During our interview, Swift criticized town council for failing to do any research in order to answer residents’ questions about the potential effects on groundwater, air emissions or traffic in the area.
“I think, because the council is the first line of defence, you can’t rely on other levels of government, it’s your responsibility to keep the community safe, to keep the environment safe and to take care of public welfare,” she says.
“So, if you are not doing that, you’re not representing the people.”
Swift promises that if she’s elected mayor, “these types of inadequate practices will stop” because “poor engagement creates a lot of distrust with both the Council and the developer.”
Drive-thrus
Swift points in her platform to what she calls the “double standard” on climate change.
In 2001, Sackville town council passed a bylaw banning any further fast-food drive-thrus next to the TransCanada highway, a ban that it re-affirmed in 2016.
“I
don’t think it’s fair to prevent a small business from expanding or
having a drive-thru due to idling cars if you are going to have large
manufacturing facilities go in without questioning their environmental
footprint,” she writes referring, for example, to greenhouse gas
emissions from the manufacture of plastics.
“Nobody in our council ever asked what the climate footprint of the plastics plant would be,” she says.
“We should have fair processes that evaluate everything, everything should be put under a climate lens, big business, small business, whatever comes into town; if we’re going to have a climate lens for this, let’s put everybody under it fairly or nobody under it at all.”
Fracking
Swift does not mention fracking for shale gas in her platform, but during our interview, she said that as an environmental engineer, she knows that the public has received a lot of misinformation about it over the years.
That’s why she paid for a full-page ad on fracking in the Sackville Tribune-Post in 2012.
“I believe people should know the truth,” she says. “I worked on 1,200 fracked wells in groundwater protection and so, I know the industry.”
Swift says the critics had never worked on even a single shale or natural gas well.
“So, I thought who better to get the actual good, bad and ugly out about this industry,” she explains.
“I wanted people to know what’s involved, what we do to protect the environment and what the real risks are…
“I’ve never had to remediate a site because of fracking, ever.”
Swift acknowledges that there are some risks to fracking, mostly because of surface contamination, but says industry practices have now minimized those risks.
“I certainly don’t believe you should be fracking in the middle of a town, but if there’s remote locations where they’re developing wells, you know, there’s a possibility then,” she says.
“Is fracking right for Sackville?” Swift asks. “I don’t know. If people don’t want it, they don’t want it, but they should know everything about it before they make that decision.”
Update
Bonnie
Swift visited her hometown of Dorchester on November 1st to talk to
about 25 people who attended the Tuesday Neighbour Café at the Moving
Forward Co-operative on Station Street.
“This is what a community should look like, I don’t want smaller communities like Dorchester to be ignored,” she said.
“I have an ear and as mayor, I would listen.”
Swift grew up in Dorchester, one of six children in a working class family.
To read more about her background as well as her position on issues such as the hospital and heath care crisis, affordable housing and climate change as outlined in her 10-page campaign platform document, click here.30 Responses to Bonnie Swift promises as Tantramar mayor to end secrecy, promote citizen engagement
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Excellent! Thanks Bruce and Bonnie – lovely to see a very ethical lady running!
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Thanks so much Kata.
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It’s great that we have a capable third candidate for Mayor. Recent news, reported by Erica Butler at CHMA radio, is that the advisory committee secretly recommended to the provincial “facilitator” in August that the new Tantramar mayor and councillor salaries be TRIPLED over the current Sackville rate. This recommendation has been accepted and presumably this will be inserted into the 2023 Tantramar budget by the facilitator. This is new spending of well over $100,000 per year.
One of the things that I will be looking for in candidates is for them to say “this is wrong and if I am elected we will re-examine it and hopefully a majority will agree to roll it back to something more reasonable.” In 2024 at least, if 2023 is now set in stone (thanks to Higgs and Allain).
If Bruce will indulge me ….
Hefty raises on the way for new Tantramar mayor and council » CHMA: https://www.chmafm.com/welcome/hefty-raises-on-the-way-for-new-tantramar-mayor-and-council/ -
Peter says:
Bonnie Swift’s platform for Mayor of Tantramar is a refreshing, articulate statement of principles that bespeak a candidate who will dedicate herself to transparency in all circumstances that permit it. This is clearly someone who will work with Council to restore the democratic functioning of our local government. It is time that the citizens of Tantramar have a trustworthy Mayor and Council who together will work to guarantee, to the extent possible, an honest, open and respectful environment for the difficult years ahead dealing with the downloaded financial burdens imposed by the provincial government.
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Dale says:
Wow,finally someone who is ethical and will represent what is best for the welfare of the community .Making good decisions based on doing the research and what is the right choice for the safety and health of the community is a challenging job. ..Here is a candidate that is willing to put the hard work and an honest approach into what is right and best ,not try to sneak things in that benefit certain people that have a hidden agenda that is self serving.Bonnie would be a very good asset to a step in the right direction for this community.They would be fortunate to have someone of her rare integrity and calibre as Mayor of Tantramar!
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Carolyn Boland says:
I read your article but I only see that Bonnie is running for Mayor of Sackville.There is no mention of Dorchester and the other areas that make up the new Tantramar region. She only talks about what she will do for Sackville.
We live in Middleton and if our taxes are going to increase I want some, at least a fraction of the money go to other areas besides Sackville.
Since moving here 8 years ago we are seeing a revitalization of the Dorchester area with new farming (Willow Farms, Homestead Farms, etc), B&Bs, plus Greater Dorchester Moving Forward Co-operative & Station 8 Community Fridge to name a few. Recently the Dorchester Daycare Center had to move to a new location because it had out grown it’s original space. This means there are new people moving to the area. Many older homes are being renovated for instance Lady Smith Manor and several residences in Dorchester & Middleton.
Dorchester wants to be known as a place for people to come, stay and enjoy what it has to offer and not as a Drive Thru community.
So I would like to hear what Bonnie & the other candidates are going to do for Dorchester & area and remind them that we are a part of the region as well as Sackville. We want our “share of the pie and not just the crumbs.”
We may not have the population of Sackville but we have heart and care about our community!-
I believe that the point of the newly named united “entity” of Tantramar is based on relative distribution of population, I fail to see how Bonnie Swift’s platform can be construed to be detrimental to any one of the five communities that make up the township of Tantamar. The new town councillors will need to work together to ensure the needs of the whole are equitably met in all its parts. Remember that the four units outside Sackville proper have four voices on council, equal in numbers to the four voices of the the Sackville councilors. In other words, the four outlying communities have the same weight and voice as the community of Sackville.
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You might like to know that Bonnie Swift is from Dorchester and is one of the old school women — she has common sense and wisdom and kindness on her side… I like her… I know her husband.. these are sound thinking people. We could do a lot worse on this first Tantramar mayor’s run… think hard about what you want for your area and work towards it with others — we are literally all building this new world, not the politicians… stay positive! Thanks for your comment.
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Bonnie says:
Thanks, Kata, I really don’t get Carolyn comments. I grew up in Dorchester, I am the President of the Westmorland Historical Society in Dorchester. I pour tons of volunteer hours into Dorchester every year. As President of the WHS, I manage the Keillor House and St. James Church. We also host numerous and large events in Dorchester all the time. Also manage historical properties like the Bell Inn and the Payzant Card. Our society host the public library in our Payzant card building. Currently, I am the only Mayoral Candidate who is actively engaging in Dorchester and has been for years. I work with Meriam Andrews at the Lady Smith on various town activities all the time. We are on the same board.
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I grew up in Dorchester, I am the President of the Westmorland Historical Society there. I pour tons of volunteer hours into that community as their President. I manage the Keillor House and St. James Church. We also host numerous and large events in Dorchester all the time. I also manage the Keillor House Museum and St James Museum as well as many of the historical properties like the Bell Inn and the Payzant Card. Our society hosts the public library in our Payzant card building. I am speaking at Dorchester moving forward tomorrow. It would have helped to ask me Candidates before posting something like this. I am the only Mayoral Candidate who is actively engaging in Dorchester and has been for many years. I work with Meriam Andrews at the Lady Smith on various town activities all the time, we are on the same board. Ask the Citizens like Alice Folkins about me, she was volunteer of the year there and we work together continuously. Dorchester in my hometown and I care about it deeply. Dorchester is one of reasons I ran. I don’t want smaller communities being ignored.
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brucewark says:
Thanks so much for your comment Carolyn and so nice to meet you today at the Tuesday Neighbour Cafe in Dorchester. I’ve updated the story to include Bonnie Swift’s appearance at the gathering as well as the fact that she grew up in Dorchester.
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Tim Reiffenstein says:
Interesting that Bonnie Swift is both for (pipe plant) and against (fracking) the precautionary principle. Not always possible to have it both ways in public office.
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Wrong she didn’t say that. She said she is for all industrial development when done right. She is against the lack of public engagement with the citizens and the double standards this town applies when evaluating small and large business for climate change. Since most of the citizens up there didn’t know about the plastic pipe plant, she is pretty bang on about that. If you read her platform that should have been abundantly clear.
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Tristan says:
So she’s pro fracking? Great. Just what we need…
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I worked on Nova Chemicals Polyethylene plant in Joffrey, AB. It is one of the biggest manufactures of polyethylene thermoplastics in Canada. The only difference was the town, and the developer actively engaged the citizens. Whereas the citizens of Sackville had no clue what was happening until they saw, an 18-acre clearcut and people started to ask what is happening here? After working on hundreds of industrial developments across western Canada this was one of worst examples of citizen engagement in a small town I have ever seen. It’s the town’s public engagement processes I am concerned with, not the industry. When you are an engineer consulting firm you do not pick and choose who you work for, you work for all types of industries. The town did the citizens a huge disservice and the backlash they are getting is well deserved.
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There is usually no point to trying to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their own ignorance, but I’ll give try. Hydro-fracking is a common engineering practice that environmental engineers use remediated contaminated sites when contaminants are bound to heavy soils. Water well drillers will use it to increase the flow rate of water wells. It’s used in mining as well. It’s used in numerous industries. It is a necessary engineering tool for many types projects. Look up hydrofracking for remediation.
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Wrayton says:
Wow Bonnie, that’s a pretty harsh response. I’m surprised someone who hopes to represent us all as mayor is so quick to get in a flame war with a constituent. I’m not sure I can support that kind of behaviour in a mayor. Would you?
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Susan says:
She’s just what we need. She speaks in facts and they were being rude. We have bigger issues than hydro-fracing that the town banned in 2012 anyway. It is a moot point to even talk about it. Everything else she wants to achieve is bang on.
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Ignorance? Really, Bonnie? We know (as in, that is the scientific consensus) that the industry vastly understated the amount of methane that escapes into the atmosphere from fracked wells. And how pernicious, if shorter-lived, a GHG is methane? Very. And what about the chemicals that are shot down into the earth along w sand, etc.? We can’t even learn what these are because the industry claims this info as proprietary. Sounds like a good case for the precautionary principle, as most NBers agreed when they turfed-out the Alward government.
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Tim would probably instruct his students to protest fracking and pipelines and oil sands and energy projects that aren’t solar panels and windfarms … but Tim would never mention a peep to his students about how wrong it is that so much Saudi oil flows into New Brunswick.
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Susan says:
I agree and we take more oil from Saudi Arabia every year. From a Country with no human rights, no women’s rights and no environmental rights.
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If you read my article in 2012 than you would have known that all chemicals are all pretty much food and household grade now. I posted a list of ones used and there are only about a dozen.They are only applied at 0.1%. There is nothing proprietary about them at all. Oil and gas is regulated by the province it has absolutely anything to do with municipal government. Plus, why would you assume I am for us against any industry? I am for the proper facts and information getting to the public so they can make wise decisions. I clearly said this industry is up to the people. If people don’t want it they need to speak to their MLA’s this has nothing with our municipal government the provincial government issues the licenses for this industry.
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On another note here are all the the additives.Soooo proprietary. Not!
-Calcium chloride (food preservative)
-Xamthagum polymer (food additive used in gluten free baking)
-Sodium bicarbonate (common baking soda)
-Polyamide fatty acid blend (fatty acid blend similar to linseed oil)
-Carboxymethyl cellulous (food thickener used in ice cream, also used in toothpaste)
-Bentonite (a fine clay soil used also used in kitty litter)
-Barite (used in barium drinks for X-rays of the digestive tract )
Base oils (environmentally sensitive synthetic oil)
-Calcium hydroxide (lime used in lawn fertilizer and cement)
-Sodium Hydroxide (used food curing)-
Wrayton says:
Just because something is safe as a food additive doesn’t make it safe to drink. Salt being an easy example.
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The water is not left in the ground all the water is pumped back out of the steel and concrete well casements and then taken to treatment facilities. So why would any have to drink it? That makes no sense. These casings to protect the groundwater are 4 feet of steel and concrete and pressured tested before operations to ensure they don’t leak.
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Karen says:
In reading your platform I see no mention of any other areas except Dorchester and Sackville. Living in neither of these communities can you explain what you are going to do if elected as mayor for the other communities now becoming a part of Tantramar. Midgic, Middle Sackville, Westcok, Point de Bute, Jolicure etc ?
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Thanks Karen, I am contacting the reps from these areas so I can get out to present to them. I will be in Baie very soon. I will post the date. I am speaking with other ward candidates as well. On my “Bonnie Swift for Mayor” Facebook page. I will be providing those dates. What ward are you in?
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I appreciate the response. Ward 5
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Norman Cole says:
I am very pleased to see that a third person has taken up the challenge to run for mayor this is important to all the communities involved.Im afraid for years that a lot of these issues have not been handled on a consistent basis and a lot of issues seem to be based on who wants what.One that really needs more input is our volunteer fire fighters jumping out of bed at 3 or 4 am m/f to respond to life saving calls be respected and treated in a professionally manner with respect .Thank you for your service
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I have been speaking to several firefighters and I will be fighting for them. They know I have their backs.I will be taking up this issue up. Don’t you worry they are one of my top priorities. They will not be ignored by me.
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https://www.chmafm.com/
Meet the candidates: Bonnie Swift, running for mayor of Tantramar
- November 7, 2022
- David Gordon Koch
Bonnie Swift is an environmental engineer who worked for years in Alberta, moving east to Sackville in 2010 and serving as the town of Sackville business development officer for two years. Swift describes herself as a “small town girl” from Dorchester, and says she’s running for mayor of the new municipality of Tantramar after encouragement from friends. Swift became active in Sackville politics this past year, advocating for reconsideration and public consultation of a zoning change that made way for the AIL pipe plant now under construction on Walker Road.
CHMA’s David Gordon Koch has interviewed all three mayoral candidates for Tantramar. Listen to his interview with Bonnie Swift here:
CHMA is compiling all its election coverage in one place, for your convenience. For more candidate interviews and other local elections coverage, click here.
TRANSCRIPT:
CHMA: I’m speaking with Bonnie Swift. She’s one of three candidates in the race for mayor, the first-ever mayor of the new town of Tantramar. Bonnie, thanks for speaking to CHMA today.
Bonnie Swift: Thank you. You’re welcome. Glad to do it.
CHMA: First of all, can you tell me a little bit about yourself? This is your first run for a municipal council seat, isn’t it?
Bonnie Swift: Yeah, well, as far as I go, I’m a small town girl. I grew up in Dorchester. I went to high school in Sackville. I left home at 18 to get a job in Alberta so I could pay my way through college. I had no free rides, I had to pay for my own education. So after working for a couple of years, I decided to go back to school and get my civil and environmental engineering degree. And it was not long after that I decided to start my own environmental engineering firm. And there were not very many women at that time that were starting their own engineering firms. It was kind of a unique thing. So I was told many times, I’m not going to succeed in this industry. But you know what, eight years later, I seriously did. I mean, I had built a $25-million engineering firm from a desk and a telephone. I had some partners. I had 100 staff and seven offices in Western Canada. So I think it was a success story for me. And I also obtained my MBA while I was starting my firm and later on, I went to get my Chartered Professional Accounting designation.
I’m someone who loves to volunteer in the community. I volunteered in Calgary for the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society. Now, I came back here, and I did some volunteer work for the Atlantic Wildlife Institute. I really like volunteering in the area of wildlife. I’ve also volunteered on the International Right of Way Association as their environmental chairperson. They’re a resolute group of professionals, it’s a global organization that wants to improve people’s lives through infrastructure development projects. And I’m now currently the president of the Westmorland Historical Society in Dorchester, where I manage the historical properties and the museums there. So that’s kind of me in a nutshell.
CHMA: What made you decide to run for mayor in this election?
Bonnie Swift: I didn’t really want to run for mayor, I was getting a lot of pressure from my friends that said, you know, we need more representation, we keep on getting the same cast of characters and nobody’s stepping up to the plate. And some were actually concerned of if they had the right people to take on this new amalgamation. And so I had friends that were saying, you know, Bonnie, you could do this, and we need people like you, people with business skills to be able to negotiate these things and work through these processes. And that’s why I decided finally I would cave in, because there [were] a lot of friends and people in the community asking me to run. And I actually decided the day before the election was going to close that, yes, better get my application in there and, you know, get this done, because, why not? Why not try and see if we can make things better for the community?
CHMA: Okay, and I want to get your take on some of the local issues that we’ve been watching at CHMA, starting with housing. As I’m sure you are aware, there have been a lot of issues with people being able to find affordable housing, with the market having become very, very hot in recent years. And often tenants, finding that they can’t afford rent hikes, whereas often home buyers are finding that homes are out of reach. What do you see as the town’s possible role in protecting housing affordability and availability?
Bonnie Swift: Well, you know, when I was the economic director for the town, because I did work for the town for a couple years. And I was very, very, very concerned even back then in 2010, about the availability of affordable housing. So one of my major initiatives was to bring in an affordable small-scale housing development, so these were affordable homes. So I was working on a project that was a 30-acre project on King Street that was going to be developed into affordable homes. And sadly, the demand for affordable homes wasn’t quite as high then, so the developer at the last minute didn’t think the market was out there and he eventually pulled out of the project. Which is kind of sad, because I actually acquired a million-dollar development grant to service that site. So all he had to do was kind of build and get it going. But [there] wasn’t the market for affordable homes, then. But there certainly is a market for affordable homes now. And I think there are still grants out there for this initiative. And I’d like to work on that because I hate the fact that long-term tenants, elderly tenants, are losing their apartments that they’re living in, because a lot of their apartments are being converted into university housing, and they’re asked to leave the buildings. And that’s something that I think is just terrible. And you know, these are working-class people that just want a place to live. We’ve got to offer them a place to live. And you know, they want to be in our town, let’s keep them in our town. Let’s do everything we can to keep them here.
We’ve got to find ways to — we’ve got great developers in town, and they’re concerned about it as well. And so I think working together with the developers on some initiatives and grants and stuff, we can get this affordable housing thing moving again. That would be one of my goals.
And there’s also a lot of other pressures, we have a lot of young people that want to buy homes, but you know, with the high interest rates, they’re afraid. And so it’s kind of a double edged sword, and it’s not going to be an easy fix. So for the people that actually want to buy homes, that’s going to be difficult. But in the interim, we can certainly find housing, some way for people to rent homes. And I think that’s really important.
CHMA: Now, one issue that I know that you’ve been campaigning on is transparency and openness. What’s your philosophy when it comes to municipal government, and the transparency of decision-making in those local governments?
Bonnie Swift: Well, you know, there’s an old quote that goes, ‘those who have nothing to hide, hide nothing.’ But currently, our government is hiding information from the citizens. That begs the question, what are they trying to hide? I mean, I think a transparent government is the type of government in which they give all information that they legally can give to the citizens. So one of my biggest complaints that I hear from the citizens in this community, is there is an extreme lack of transparency in our current municipal government. So the citizens are witnessing all these expensive investigations going on inside their town, payed for with their tax dollars. Yet, at the end of the day, they are given no details on why they were started, what the outcomes were, or even the final recommendation. And I’d like to know why. It can certainly be a sign of both government mismanagement and managerial dysfunction. And that’s something if it is, we have to clear up. Because why are we paying for so many investigations? It doesn’t seem right, that the citizens are paying for information that they’re never allowed to have access to. And I think good government is open government. And that’s what my campaign will be about.
CHMA: We’re seeing the amalgamation process, the municipal reform process take place. As part of this, the province has mandated the Southeast Regional Services Commission to take on economic development. In your view, should Tantramar continue to have its own business development activities, as well as the Southeast Regional Services Commission?
Bonnie Swift: Well, as far as the town having its own economic development, and the Regional Commission having its own economic development, if they do that, they have to make sure there’s no overlaps and doubling of efficiencies. We’re not going to pay for the same thing twice. So I think that it has to be really, really clear what their plan is around economic development, and what specifically Sackville wants around economic development. So if that’s going to work, I mean, one of the goals is to reduce duplication. So if there’s a strategy at a higher level that the Regional Commission will be using, that’s different from the strategy at the local level, then we wouldn’t have that duplication. But no, I do not believe in paying for the same stuff by both parties.
CHMA: And what do you see as the town’s role in terms of supporting local businesses?
Bonnie Swift: Well, I think the town’s role in supporting local businesses is making sure they have access to everything that they need. So if it’s, you know, they need help with getting certain permits, it could be somebody who advises them on what the processes are. I did that with a couple of small businesses when I was there. If it’s something like, where are the grants that you can use to start a small business, would this small business qualify for a small business grant? Those are the kind of things that we can point them to and give some direction. I mean, you can’t really do a lot. You’re the public sector and they’re the private sector. But you can guide them in the right direction. And I did that when I was the economic director there. I worked with small businesses, I would help them find grants, you know, talk to them about what their permitting issues would be and stuff like that. So you know, you’re sort of giving them direction. But I mean, and I think that should be the major goal, is helping them get what they need.
CHMA: And now, an issue that’s been on a lot of people’s minds, especially following Hurricane Fiona in September, is climate change and its impacts, notably because of the vulnerable position of Tantramar, with respect to sea level rise, flooding. People have talked about the about the historical Saxby Gale, and the… seeming inevitability of another such weather event happening at some point. With all this in mind, what actions do you think the town needs to take to protect it from flooding and the impacts of climate change?
Bonnie Swift: Well, I’ve been working on these issues for 20 years, I’ve been working on climate change issues for 20 years, because I lived in Calgary. And it’s a huge city, and it’s also in a huge floodplain. It’s built right along the bed of the Bow River. And so you know, I mean, climate change is a global issue. So until we get, you know, all the other high-emitting countries on board, locally it’s not much we can do about climate change.
But engineers have been adapting for climate change, or adapting to things in our environment forever. I mean, we’ve been building all kinds of things to work in our environment, to make us safer. And that could be from transportation to flood mitigation to stormwater management, we’ve done it. Now some of the things we can do is, we’ve been typically designing for the 100-year flood events. And so what that is, is a flood that is one per cent likely to occur in 100 years. But I think that’s too low, I think we need to step up our designs, and start designing for even more extreme flood events. Those that are bigger, that happen less frequently. But bigger floods are now happening more frequently. So we should be designing for things like the 200-year storm or the 500-year storm. So these would be massive storms, that are happening more frequently.
And engineers are really good because we can model. So you know, we understand how we design around that. For example, if you have a bridge that you designed for the 100-year storm, you can remodel that bridge and design it for a 200-year storm, or a 500-year storm. And you can do that with the storm trunks and all kinds of things that we use in our infrastructure to make it safer and better and more climate change resistant.
The other thing that you can do around flooding… You know, when I was in Calgary, we used to do these things called functional dry ponds. And what they were, these dry, sunken ponds that were dry, and inside the ponds, we would have a functional use. We would have like a baseball diamond, soccer field or something like that. Now, when there was a major flood or storm, those ponds would fill up. But they would be connected to the storm trunk. And so as flooding receded, they would drain into the storm trunk, and the pond would be dry again and it would go back to its original function. So in essence, we’re creating a storm facility to contain the flooding of these storms. But we’re also creating an asset for the community. And so if you do both things, I think that in the climate change equation, I think I think that’s the way to go.
Even bigger than this is around our climate change standards. And what I want to talk about because I think it’s important for people to know: We are not allowing small businesses to come into town or even expand because of car idling… It’s been a big issue. It’s on the mandates of the town. But we have an 18-acre development up here on Walker Road, that’s a plastic manufacturing facility. And it’s a huge facility. This is a very large company. I mean, high-density polyethylene alone, MIT did the studies on it, cradle to grave, from the time you’re pulling the hydrocarbons out of the ground, from the time you’re processing them, to the time they are sitting in some landfill as a plastic somewhere. They were releasing greenhouse gases. It’s so significant that it has now replaced the concerns over coal. So for example, climate-warming pollution from plastic by 2030 will be equivalent to 295 coal-fired power plants. That’s huge. But we’re questioning small business about idling, but we’re not questioning big businesses about their climate footprint. And that’s a double standard that needs to be fixed. There was not one question asked about this development at all from the council or even our climate change committee about what the climate change footprint would be around this plastic plant development. Not one, and I thought that was really surprising. So if we’re not going to have regular regulations that are consistent that evaluate every corporation equally, small and large businesses, then we shouldn’t have these policies at all. They have to be equitable. And this is not equitable. And so I would like to relook at some of those things.
CHMA: Any other issues that you’re hoping to highlight in your campaign?
Bonnie Swift: Yeah, I really want to highlight the hospital issue, I think it’s really very important. Because we’re losing nurses, and it’s a national issue as well as a local issue. And you know, when COVID-19 hit, there was a significant stress on the nursing community. And a lot of those nurses left. And the sad thing is, a lot of them didn’t come back. I mean, for example, 13 per cent, of our Canadian RNs 26 to 35 said they were highly likely to leave their professions after the pandemic. Now, the other issue is we have 1000s of foreign nurses and doctors moving into Canada, but are getting sidelined by these regulations. And these regulations are very comprehensive and very difficult to work through. So there needs to be a better way of assessing foreign credentials, so we can get more nurses into the community. And I think once we have more nurses, we can open up our hospital emergency room doors. So I think that’s very important to look at the nursing situation. I mean, we’re going to have to. If this is the province, and the MPs, who are who are mostly taking care of the health care situation, we’re going to have to be on top of them to make sure that they’re aware and try to find a way to get rid of some of these bottlenecks for our nursing community.
CHMA: Big issues to be sure, anything else you’d like people in Sackville and Tantramar more generally to know?
Bonnie Swift: Well, one of the biggest things this town lacks is and everybody talks about it is a citizen engagement process. I think it’s really, really important. I mean, we’ve seen things go on where the citizens haven’t been engaged at all we’ve had people had their land they bought for their residential home that they were going to build actually be rezoned without any notification at all. Everybody should be getting notifications around these zoning processes. And this has actually happened in Sackville. We’re also getting large projects, you know, I mean, for example, this project, there was no real public engagement at all on which…
CHMA: When you say this project, you mean the plastics plant.
Bonnie Swift: The plastics plant. I mean, it’s an 18-acre plant. It’s one of the largest developments the Town of Sackville has seen, if not the largest. And we never got a citizen engagement process. There was nothing. I mean, there was, on their website, there was a bylaw change that significantly changed what could happen on that site. But there was no public engagements, for the community to ask questions or feel safe. And the councillors were sitting up there saying they didn’t even want to… one of them said they didn’t even want to know what was going in there. But, you know, we are the first line of defense in protecting our citizen’s safety and welfare and the environment. So if these councillors do not care enough to find out about a project and engage the citizens, they’re not representing the people. And so I think they missed the boat. And I think that we have to improve our citizen engagement process.
Every time we asked a question about the facility, we were told all it’s a wonderful thing. It’s a state-of-the-art facility. But we were asking questions about the safety and the health of the community, and those weren’t getting answered. So in a sense, they were acting as an advertisement for the developer, but they were ignoring the concerns of the citizens. That’s not right. You should always be acting as a citizen or representative of the citizen. That’s why you’re in office. They selected you to do that. And it seems like they forgot that in this process. So I think getting back to citizen engagement, we need to improve this process. Now luckily, some of the counselors did admit, they were embarrassed by it. They feel bad about it, and they would like to improve it. So hopefully that does change.
CHMA: I’ve been speaking to Bonnie Swift, the candidate for mayor of the new town of Tantramar. She’s running against [Sackville mayor] Shawn Mesheau and current Deputy Mayor Andrew Black. Thanks for taking the time to speak to me today, Bonnie.
Bonnie Swift: Well, I really enjoyed speaking with you David. And I’m happy to get the information to the public on what my platform is going to be all about. I want open government. And that’s my major goal. So hopefully we’ll get there. Thank you.
UPDATED: Tantramar Mayoralty candidate Bonnie Swift deletes hundreds of right-wing tweets
Swift tweet endorses 2008 statement from Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre questioning compensation for residential school abuses
Sackville Mayoralty candidate Bonnie Swift has deleted hundreds of tweets from her Twitter account that express strong right-wing views including support for the continued extraction and use of fossil fuels; visceral hatred of Prime Minister Trudeau and his Liberals as well as opposition to women’s abortion rights and campaigns for racial justice.
Many of Swift’s tweets were replies to Trudeau including to his tweet on June 6th saying the prime minister was meeting with Ottawa high school students to discuss “climate change, gender equality, democracy, leadership, and other topics these young people are passionate about.”
“Topics no one cares about,” Swift replied. “Cost of living, cost of housing, inflation rates on food and gas, improving healthcare, decreased standards of living for families because they can’t afford to live here. The level of detachment this government shows for basic human needs is appalling.”
In reply to a tweet about the possible loss of abortion rights in the U.S., Swift wrote on May 5th: “And
if abortions is illegal it does not impact me in anyway….I just don’t
care…it’s not 1950 use birth control, tons of options”.
When Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland tweeted on May 3rd that Canadian women who care about “a woman’s right to choose need to be active, vigilant and speak out,” Swift replied: “As a Canadian woman I don’t care about this crap. I care that about all the women and single moms that can no longer afford to live in this country because of the inflation your irresponsible government created”.
CTV News tweeted on May 3 that Freeland was “deeply troubled” that the U.S. Supreme Court was considering overturning the abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade.
Swift replied: “”I am deeply trouble by Freeland …She’s a hideous human being,” adding later: “I can’t stand Freeland. Rather be run through a wood chipper than have her as my PM. I am women but she disgust me”.
In reply to a tweet on April 26th that the “biggest threat to Canadian healthcare is Conservative politicians who want to erode universality by introducing more privatization so they can eventually open the country to American HMOs who are slavering at Canada as a virgin market,” Swift replied: “Can’t happen soon enough. I was very ill had to fly to the US for treatment as the wait times for specialist here are way too long….Give us some other options because we need them”.
In a tweet on April 30th, Swift referred to the CBC as “Trudeau’s propaganda TV station.”
On April 25th, a tweet from American economist Robert Reich caught Swift’s attention.
Reich wrote: “A handful of billionaires now have unprecedented control over banking, the food we eat, the health care we can access and, now, the information we receive. This is what oligarchy looks like.”
Swift replied: “Shut up please…We couldn’t live without these people and the technologies and jobs that they have created. They are doing more to advance society that you ever will.”
On April 28th, a tweet from British journalist Laurie Penny provoked another acerbic reply from Swift.
Penny wrote: “Like many writers who aren’t straight, white, wealthy men, I’ve spent my whole career being trolled, threatened, flamed, defamed, iced out and lied about by EXACTLY the same people who claim to be all about ‘protecting free speech’ until a single woman actually speaks her mind.”
Swift replied: “I really think most people don’t care about what you have to say. They are just not that interested in this stuff. At least the white, wealthy men are creating technologies that are advancing society. The only reason you have these platforms to whine on is because they made them.”
On May 14th, Swift again defended the American rich against the prospect of President Biden raising their taxes.
“That rich are 70% of the tax base they are what’s holding the country up, they also create most of the jobs. Tax them anymore they’ll leave then we are screwed the jobs are gone,” Swift wrote.
Swift’s admiration for Elon Musk was a recurring theme in her tweets. His promise to reinstate Donald Trump’s Twitter account drew her praise.
Here is a statement e-mailed to Warktimes by Bonnie Swift at 4:09 p.m Wednesday, Nov. 23rd:
My husband deactivated my Twitter account when I was out today campaigning in Midgic, due to the online harassment coming from the comments on my sites and he was worried about my safety. There was lots of personal stuff on there. By the time I was contacted by Bruce Wark, I was unable to go back and see when the comments were made or confirm if the context was accurate. So when Bruce said I deleted it that was not true. He also asked me to confirm some of the stuff yet he posted it without me having a chance to respond.
My responses, such as my comment under the Poilievre meme where I was quoted as saying “everyone could learn the value of hard work” was missing. There were other lines missing, so I do believe some if these tweets are out of context, but how can I confirm this? I can’t.
Since I began running for mayor, I have received steady harassment and stalking online but it’s not going to break me. I’ve always been a strong woman and I will see this election out to the end.
If I was truly concerned about my social media, I would have deleted my accounts long before I ran for local office. I chose not to delete them because I live my life as an open book with nothing to hide.
The Twitter content posted was taken from a small window of my life. There was tons of Twitter content not included, like when I was a green party supporter for 10 years, or my animal welfare posts and my volunteering for wildlife conservation. What was posted, if even accurate, was a very limited reflection of me as a whole person.
I have views reflecting both left and right for the most part. I am a social liberal but a fiscal conservative. I am non partisan, having voted Green, Liberal and Conservative, it varies every year. I consider myself politically fluid across the political spectrum.
I have just as many left sided views as right but none of those were ever posted. I have to question why I am singled out to be investigated in the campaign. Whatever happens, I could author a book about women like me, who don’t fit into the Sackville status quo. I feel like the next Rima Azar. The poor women’s career was almost destroyed by cancel culture. I don’t care about the outcome of this campaign. I ran because many concerned citizens asked me to and they still want me to. I really don’t care if I win or lose. They think I do but I don’t, that’s what they don’t get.
50 Responses to UPDATED: Tantramar Mayoralty candidate Bonnie Swift deletes hundreds of right-wing tweets
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Bill Carroll says:
Thank you for sharing. I am a more informed voter than before.
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Well… that’s a Big Dig on a bunch of issues that aren’t directly relevant to municipal politics.
That being said, it’s always good to know more about candidates, and it makes me MORE inclined to vote for her, because she clearly isn’t a “system” candidate like the others.
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Doris says:
All very well to have strong views and all that. It’s her right to believe what she believes – but does Swift need to be so rude and aggressive? Not classy.
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Thanks Bruce for your thorough reporting. Not a “system candidate”? She is a candidate of big oil, rural sacrifice zones and the culture wars, the “system” of Canada’s conservative premiers. Her previous comments on fracking were a hint. Seems relevant to the new town of Tantramar.
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C says:
Her views on privatizing healthcare when the provincial governement is already trying to shut down our hospital and her views on First Nations when the municipality includes Fort Folly aren’t directly relevant?
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Alexandra says:
She definitely is for a different kind of system – you don’t think oil companies and oil investors aren’t part of a system?
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Frankly I don’t give a tweet: so long as the mayoral candidates engage the citizens once elected and become the voice of the citizens through the council.There is no bigger rudness than what successive proviincal governments have done to New Brunswickers. You live in a province with a disorganized government s controlled by organized crime . (UN observer Bowser at MTA) I speak from personal experience when I say not many politicans in Fredericton even know where Tantramar is unless they smash your communities and grab your taxe revenue. Our MLA can speak to that. Well, at least the run up to the election isn’t boring. Just remember that your concerns do not amount to a hill of beans as far Minister Allian that was happy do this dirty Job for Higgs. I cringe because I have been a fiscal conservative for a long time. Premier Higgs I thought we could do better.
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she already has deleted comments when folks voiced their concerns, and dismissing these concerns by labelling them as “attacks”. People have a right to know how a potential future mayor thinks about these topics – are they accepting and tolerant I think is a very important quality since a mayor or any politician will be representing multiple people. To me deleting comments and dismissing concerns does not demonstrate or show someone who is willing to engage citizens
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Jeff says:
So this is a far left rag after all .!!! Heaven forbid we objective reporting in this town
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Showing her tweets isn’t objective?
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It all really concerns me greatly
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dave epworth says:
Transparency eh?
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Theodore Trenholm-Estabrooks says:
Some parts are more or less mundane conservative factory settings, many others however are deeply troubling and wild. Good information to know. Thanks, Bruce.
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Mike Brown says:
These aren’t even the most troubling ones. Besides her open disdain for indigenous people, her love for big oil and fracking, she also openly laughed at women’s loss of reproductive rights and called people’s ability to define their own pronouns “woke lefty shit.”.
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marc says:
It will be very interesting (and instructive, perhaps?) to see whether and how Ms. Swift responds to Bruce’s information.
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Sylvia Morice says:
Thank you Bruce for your reporting…I’ve had some concerns about her as a mayoralty candidate and this article has confirmed to me that my ‘spidey senses’ were correct and I should heed them. She definitely won’t get my vote.
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Do you have ‘spidey senses’ about Shawn Mesheau and Andrew Black voting to cut the pay (and medical benefits) of Councillor Phinney because… I guess officially it wasn’t because they don’t like his views, but what was it about, again?
Do you have ‘spidey senses’ about how many of the “system” candidates are involved with EOS EcoEnergy, and how close the links between that and the municipality are?
Any ‘spidey senses’ about the AIL pipe plant approvals and Mesheau’s brother’s involvement in it?
The other thing I’d say is that most of her views are, whatever one may think of them, irrelevant to municipal politics – I imagine that that’s why she removed them. I don’t actually care what my mayor thinks about an issue of federal competence. I care what my mayor thinks about… local issues.
This whole kerfuffle detracts from that, and to me, that’s the real problem here.
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Do you not think that healthcare matters with our hospital already in dire straits?
Do you think someone that is pro-fracking cares about the quality of municipal water?
Do you think someone that is openly anti-LGBTQIA+ and racist towards indigenous people should be leading a municipality full of impressionable youth that contains an indigenous reserve?Her views are VERY linked to her ability to serve ALL people in Tantramar, it’s pretty clear she won’t.
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Merika, my ‘spidey senses” have me thinking you and Bonnie are one and the same. That aside, if these positions are at all defensible, why delete the tweets?
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Yikes. You’re joking right? They’re not irrelevant to municipal politics as this is a municipal election, and a municipal candidate. It shows what her character is. It’s sad to see someone defending her actions, let alone a woman. I would never want her in public office, let alone the mayor lol. But you do you girl.
Maybe she’ll bring fracking to tantramar? wouldn’t that be fun. I hope it doesn’t wreck her well water that she’s so concerned about.
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I now regret and recant my initial support for Ms. Swift on this blog. The person I believed to be responsible based on her issues statement for the post of Mayor of Tantramar township appeared to be articulate and sensible. Now I learn she is a potty-mouthed conspiracy theorist raging about absurdities that are the farthest things from being worth arguing about. She is clearly not a politician and knows nothing about the value of guiding any government entity through difficult times. Trumpist of the worst kind, I’d say. it will all fall out in the end: the trickster tricked is an ages old comedy.
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“I am the next Rima Azar!” Lol. Is she sending the Bat Signal to J. Peterson and the troll army? Lemme guess? Next, a Go Fund Me campaign?
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Her response is nothing but lies –
Her saying there’s a line cut off from the tweet about everyone needing hard work, that’s a lie:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220207031052/https://twitter.com/BonnieSwift10/status/1490522128881496064Her twitter is not “deactivated” or even made private, she just deleted all of her tweets.
https://twitter.com/bonnieswift10You can go here and see all of her archived tweets:
https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://twitter.com/BonnieSwift10*None of them are personal, or remotely left leaning, everything is right wing vitriol.
She has only been on twitter since 2017, her archived posts start in 2019, and during no point during the time archived was she remotely left.
She calls herself a “social liberal” but expresses open hatred/disdain for the LGBTQIA+ community and open transphobia. She laughed at Roe v Wade being overturned and says she’s not impacted by abortion rights so she doesn’t care.
She refuses to denounce any of these views.
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For the sake of transparency, I was able to locate a different tweet, made at a later time, that said “everyone can learn the value of hard work” but it was not part of this original tweet.
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Clearly, her views are a problem for you. That’s fine. You can vote for one of the other candidates, that you could consider what’s wrong with them also, and you might find that they’re worse overall – even from your point of view.
They’re not a problem for me. Most of them are irrelevant to municipal issues, but I don’t have a problem with any of them anyway.
That’s right, there are those of us out there who don’t actually have a problem with it, shocking as it might seem to many of you. Maybe we even agree with many of these statements. And we vote too.
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That’s great, I welcome you to vote, that is everyone’s right. Though it’s woefully uninformed if you think ANY of these things are irrelevant to municipal politics.
We have a hospital here that is in desperate need of advocates to help push the province to properly fund it. Someone who thinks we should just open private, for pay clinics instead won’t do that.
We have a reputation as an open and welcoming community – that goes away if your mayor is openly transphobic and says that gender identity is “woke lefty shit”.
Go vote, but maybe encourage your candidate to stop being a coward and actually acknowledge their own leanings rather than hiding behind false victimhood.
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The still born Town Tantramar the home of the tattlers. Bruce Wark has to be commended for providing a platform for fostering the free exchange of ideas. This new community if it is to survive, will need to recognize that diversity of opinion and background is one of the few fundamental strengths of any community. It is sad that an old man in his dotage should have to enunciate to the new generation that our citizens, the members of our new town have the freedom to espouse and explore a wide range of ideas. Freedom of Expression means to welcome rigorous debate, discussion, and even disagreement. Of course, from time to time, this will cause discomfort. So, use this platform to write, listen, challenge and learn, without fear of censorship.
Someone observed that this Mayoral candidate isn’t a politician. That might be a good thing. Incidentally candidate Swift failed to tell you that her siblings are multiethnic having an adopted member of colour. This one put a smile on my face. The candidate works for big oil. Last time I checked it was to conduct environmental studies that citizens claim they want.-
It’s often the case that those living the life that the commentariat promotes (i.e., having multi-ethnic siblings, doing environmental studies, etc.) have views that are at odds with the views of the commentariat.
Members of “marginalized ethnic communities” also often tend to have views that are not programmatic. Because, guess what, they’re people too…
Reality has a way of making people much more nuanced than the commentariat would have it.
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Oil and gas companies employ cronies to rubber stamp projects. Someone that comes in saying that fracking is safe despite decades of proof to the contrary loses credibility.
You are welcome to have differing views on things, I welcome open, reasonable debate. Hate speech is not an opinion, this isn’t the US where free speech has no boundaries. As Canadians we subscribe to the Charter, and the Charter does not protect hate speech.
Nobody censored Bonnie but herself. Simply showing her own words is not an attack, it is informing the public. In deleting her tweets and continually lying, saying that they’re simply being “taken out of context” she is doing herself and everyone that was considering voting for her a disservice.
The ethnicity of her family has nothing to do with her open disdain for indigenous populations in the things she says and shares, which is of even more concern given the fact that Fort Folly falls within the boundaries of the Municipality that she wishes to represent.-
Fort Folly has nothing politically to do with the rest of the Town of Tantramar because they are self-governed and probably look at us with amusement and confusion at times…. why can’t we all just get along and enjoy a collective property ownership like they do there? Don’t worry — that’s the punchline and its coming sooner than you might think Mike.
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Shaun Cunningham says:
This candidate has regularly deleted her own statements and commentary on her Facebook candidacy page, as well as the legitimate questions and comments from others. Taking regular screenshots seems the only way to keep track of what she says (and presumably believes). Although she says the term “attack mobs” was used by a supporter, she apparently endorses it to describe legitimate investigations and questions by those seeking information before voting day. In one case, she referred to someone who raised questions about her own statements and background as “an online nutcase”, using (and then deleting) his name in a public post, which seems about the most effective method I can think of to raise an actual online attack mob. Her response on the candidacy page to this article was to decry “cancel culture” and compare herself to Rima Azar and one of “women like me who don’t fit into the Sackville status quo.” Victimhood all around despite her attacks on other individuals and groups and views, all of which is very reminiscent of the tactics used by a certain presidential candidate to the south of us. In any case, it’s a bit disingenuous to declare oneself a proponent of “openness” and “transparency” and then refuse to take ownership of your own statements. Taking the step of ownership would at least signal to those voters with similar views (and there are some) where to put their X. All of that being said, the candidate declared in this morning’s CHMA interview that she really doesn’t care if people vote for her, so I’m not sure why they would. She apparently has little interest in representing anyone’s views, including her own.
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Every time I read this I want to vote for Swift. I never seen anyone attacked or online trolled like this. Why would she care? Look at how you have all treated her. It easy to criticize people at the keyboard at least she had the courage to run, regardless of the collective nastiness in this town.
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Opinionated women in their 50s are a real problem for this town of think-alikes.
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Marie says:
In the words of the great Dr. Rima Azar:
“Who are we to judge and attack any of her (past) ideas on any topic related to another level of governance (i.e. federal in this case)? She is free to have any opinion at any particular time, like all of us. As a citizen, she is also free to change her opinion or to be right or wrong. She is FREE even in a society hijacked by political correctness in collectively insane times.”
It’s no small task to put yourself out there, and then to be subjected to a lunch mob. Dr. Azar wrote a beautiful blog, defending Bonnie and advises us to readjustbour focus. It’s well worth the read. Do I agree with the tweets? Not necessarily, but that’s irrelevant. Dr. Azar expresses herself much more elegantly thank I can. Her words are healing and full of love. Well worth the read
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Imagine saying “The great Rima Azar” about a woman who was suspended without pay, in part, because of her openly racist views.
Mt. A student union was super disappointed in the lack of transparency in her settlement.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/mount-allison-rima-azar-settlement-1.6481269-
Do you have any backup for your “openly racist views” statement? That’s a pretty hefty accusation in this political climate. Surely if it’s “open”, you’ll be able to point to something. We await.
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Yes Marika, if you click the link in my previous article, that article links directly to her blog posts in which she denies the existence of systemic racism. Her blog has many posts along similar topics… That is why she was suspended without pay.
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Thanks for the explanation Mike.
I now see that according to you “denies the existence of systemic racism” = “openly racist”. That’s why I didn’t understand what you meant.I’ve never conflated the two before, and I suspect that many others don’t either, so my suggestion is that you make it clear that that’s how you define it when making such a loaded accusation in the future, because many of us view the second as a big problem, but the first as an opinion on society.
Failing to do so will result in many making assumptions based on your “openly racist” statement, with these assumptions unintentionally matching your values instead of their own.
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Louis says:
Some additional commentary on Swift can be found here:
https://bambisafkar.ca/index.php/2022/11/23/nb-municipal-politics-what-can-sackville-or-tantramar-learn-from-fifa-doha-qatar/ -
Why is Wark not trolling other people’s accounts like he did hers? This is disgustingly bias journalism. He should just come out and say I support Andrew Black and Sabine Dietz. Or see how I can interfere with this election, so my candidates win. I’ll be voting for Swift now for sure so will all my family and friends. Her account was up there the entire time before the attacks started she wasn’t hidung anything if she was concerned she would have deleted this when she entered the race she didn’t. All the stuff she spoke to, if this even this is real, is regulated at the federal level. Who cares if she is a Conservative or a Liberal. I read her platform and it what we need best one out there yet. I will not be voting for Dietz and her climate change mafia. Climate change only matters to her when she funnels money to EOS. I liked Swift’s platform on climate change much better way more practical. Maybe you should all learn how to read platforms rather than tweets.
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It’s not biased journalism – it’s just journalism. I went through the others, Shawn Meshau has no public twitter, Andrew Black’s twitter is all about local issues – no blatant racism and transphobia on either.
Bonnie’s “climate change plan” is designed for Alberta, not here. She has no plans for prevention, only remediation. Also, she thinks fracking is safe, because she’s a shill for oil and gas.
There are no “attacks” – unless you consider simply showing people how openly racist and transphobic she is using her own words an attack..
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azi says:
If someone is deleting her past comments (too bad that she is doing that by the way) it is because of how society will judge them. And who are we to judge anyone (as Rima wrote)? If one does not like someone else’s idea, they have a choice to discuss it with the other side or educate that person, or ignore them,…. I do not understand how attacking someone with a different idea is OK, but their different or radical ideas are not.
Aside from that, I personally have more respect for those who are transparent (with whatever idea they have) than backstabbers. Especially those Sackville councilors who attacked their fellow councilor and removed him from his right (health insurance benefits). Not only that, they often hide behind closed doors (as I am sure they are afraid to show their real face). And when they are exposed they come out pretending that: Oh, I didn’t mean it, where is my dictionary? oh, I didn’t think it meant that,…
What a shame!
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The difference here is that the ideas that Bonnie was putting forward are discriminatory and exclusionary. You do not need to be tolerant of intolerance.
Had Bonnie run as a PPC supporting conservative that would be one thing, one would expect these views from that person. But she painted herself as a “social liberal” and then called anyone surfacing her own words to the contrary as an attack and hid behind this false victimhood rather than ever actually addressing her views. It is the complete lack of transparency and the lies about her true nature from the candidate claiming to be running as a voice for transparency in government – it is that hypocrisy and deceit that is the problem.
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In response to the share’s of Dr. Azar’s blog post above:
“If Qatar/FIFA managed to have Palestinian and Israeli soccer fans on the same airplane, why can’t Sackville (or Tantramar now) learn to respect politicians and political candidates for Mayors of all spectrum and ideas?” asks Dr. Azar in the quoted article. Because there seems to be a great number of people the candidate doesn’t want on her airplane would be my reply. It seems more apparent by the day that her flight is fairly exclusive.“Why are we attacking Ms. Bonnie Swift like this? Why can’t we just not vote for her, period, end of the story like in any democracy?” she continues.
We can, I say. Whoever wants to do so is absolutely free to do that. But they should be clear on who and what they’re voting for. This candidate has been evasive to say the least. She describes herself as a “social liberal but fiscal conservative”, for example. Does anyone actually see a post or reference or quote in her online statements or posts that reflects something even remotely like a “social liberal?” I’d be glad to see it if anyone can provide some evidence.
“She is FREE even in a society hijacked by political correctness in collectively insane times.” says Dr. Azar.
Yes, certainly she is FREE. Although I would call the times we live in “polarized” rather than “collectively insane” since “politically correct” tends to be a red flag term from a particular side of the political spectrum. Also FREE: political discourse which questions or comments on the statements, past or present, made by a political candidate, municipal or otherwise.
“Bravo to her for using her political brain and for having a spine too.” Bravo to Ms. Swift for running, yes. Not so much “bravo” for emulating the tactics of right-wing politicians to the south of us who have turned political matters into a culture war.
“Why can’t we have healthy and inspiring public debates anymore? Why don’t we value diversity of (political or intellectual) opinions anymore, ironically in a town, province, country, and world that brags about pro-diversity?” asks Dr. Azar.
We can! And we should. At least part of the problem has been that this candidate disavows her own statements, suggests openness to opposing ideas without providing any past or present evidence of such, distorts her own contributions to issues that many care about, and often resorts to very divisive language and sometimes personal attacks herself while claiming she is only one subject to this. Is she running as a victim of this “politically correct” culture you speak of or is she running as an advocate for the very ideas she has espoused and then half-disowned? People should know who and what they’re voting for and then feel free to go right ahead and vote. In the case of this particular candidate, that vote seems so far like one in favour of the exclusion of far too many people and not something that would benefit a budding new community which will hopefully be inclusive and respectful. That way, we won’t end up living in a place where people use terms like “woke lefty shit” on our twitter feeds.
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Azar’s defense of Swift (and Swift’s enthusiastic sharing of it) is merely confirmation of Bruce’s reporting (and the other information circulating about Swift and her views elsewhere on social media).
Swift claims she ‘doesn’t care’ if she wins…well that’s good, cuz the community that elected the first-ever NDPer to the legislature and the second ever Green is not very likely to elect her…which is, I guess, likely why she was attempting to hide her ideas in the first place.
And really, the attempt to obfuscate is why this is a big deal. I don’t think anyone would be all that bothered if a conservative candidate ran for mayor as a conservative. If that person were up front and honest about their views and didn’t attempt to hide them using empty platitudes, then that person might have had a fair shot.
But, it seems Bonnie Swift is not that person.
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Allan says:
Swift was a likely a Liberal like me until you guys moved the goalpost and became the far-left extremist you are. Being politically fluid in this environment only makes sense when one side of the political spectrum has completely and collectively gone nuts. I have deep respect for that.
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Bob Ripley Ibbitson says:
Okay what was the far left extremism? What is in the spot you said the goalpost was moved for? Show your work, back your claim friend.
Because any standard observer will see her being anti-lgbt+, transphobic and shilling for the hard right wing.
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Harold Jarche says:
Bob, you may be interested in these data from the USA but I am sure they are reflective of Canada as well. — “From 2012 through 2021, right-wing extremists were responsible for an estimated 75% of all extremist-related murders, compared to 4% attributed to left-wing extremists.” & “According to an analysis of terrorism-related deaths in the United States since 9/11, just one death in that time period was attributable to far left-wing extremist terrorism.”
https://weaponizedspaces.substack.com/p/violent-extremism-in-america-is-a
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I will be voting for her. I don’t care she is Conservative or Liberal at the federal level because it has nothing to do with her platform and our local issues. I care that she has the brains to get us through this amalgamation.
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Larry Black says:
I was born and raised in Middle Sackville and graduated from Mt. A a long time ago (1958), and never heard opinions such as those expressed by Bonnie Swift and her supporters. I keep abreast of Sackville affairs even though I have lived in Quebec and Ontario for the last 60 years. Maybe I missed the influx of Donald Trumpites (Polievre et alia) to the Sackville area, and am glad I did. She is free to express her opinions; I am free to say that they disgust me.
Larry Black, Ph.D., retired
https://warktimes.com/2022/12/
Chief Electoral Officer responds to Tantramar Facebook fight
Chief Electoral Officer Kim Poffenroth
An intense, internal conflict within the Facebook group Tantramar Community Concerns boiled over during the municipal election campaign and landed on the desk of New Brunswick’s Chief Electoral Officer.
Kim Poffenroth says she has no power to investigate allegations of possible election manipulation in connection with the Facebook group.
“I…wish to ensure you are aware that as the Municipal Electoral Officer, a statutory officer of the Legislative Assembly, I only have those authorities and powers granted to me under the Municipal Elections Act, Poffenroth wrote in a letter on November 28th.
She was responding to former group moderators Jean-Pascal Lavoie and John Dale who submitted their complaint after being removed from their positions by the Facebook group’s owner, Micheal Landry who lives in northern New Brunswick.
Lavoie, Dale and other moderators had blocked Tantramar mayoralty candidate Bonnie Swift from participating in the group because they felt she had violated group rules.
The dispute reached a climax after Tantramar Community Concerns published a link to a Warktimes article that reported on Swift’s controversial tweets.
Swift herself was blocked from commenting on the article in the Facebook group and Landry eventually responded by dismissing Lavoie, Dale and several other moderators and replacing them with ones who would lift the ban on Swift’s participation.
Tantramar Community Concerns is now administered by Will Kriski, Swift’s husband.
In their complaint, Lavoie and Dale said they were concerned that Landry had claimed in online conversations with them that he had received funds in the 2021 municipal election from a mayoralty candidate in Campbellton and they worried that Landry was being influenced in the Tantramar campaign by a financial contribution, although they acknowledged they had no direct proof.
They also say they have no evidence that Swift herself was involved in any way, but were asking Elections NB to look into the matter.
Poffenroth wrote that she found nothing in the complaint or in online text conversations submitted as evidence to indicate the law had been broken.
“Although the behaviour complained of may be considered distasteful, it does not appear to give rise to a violation of the Municipal Elections Act,” she wrote.
String of local groups
Aside from Tantramar Community Concerns, Landry runs a network of more than 20 local Facebook and social media groups in the province with a potential reach of about 20-thousand members.
He says he removed Lavoie, Dale and several other moderators for pushing a pro-left wing narrative while blocking Tantramar mayoralty candidate Bonnie Swift along with many of her supporters and attempting to silence her election platform.
Landry also points to a $50 donation he received from Lavoie to help him out financially and claims the admin/moderator was trying to buy the group from him to promote his left-wing agenda.
In her letter, the Chief Electoral Officer advised the complainants to go to the police if they believed the law had been broken, or if they felt the law needed to be strengthened, they could reach out to their MLA, who is Megan Mitton.
MLA Megan Mitton addressing the NB legislature in 2020
In a statement to Warktimes, Mitton suggested that legislative changes governing the role of social media should be part of a larger package of reform:
It’s essential that we have transparency in our electoral system, and that there is confidence from the electorate that our elections are free and fair. In our municipal elections, candidates don’t need to declare who donated to their campaigns and there are no clear third-party advertising regulations. This is a serious problem. Municipal elections need to require the public reporting of expenses, like we do for provincial and federal elections.
I call on the government to introduce legislation to strengthen the Municipal Elections Act to ensure greater transparency in our elections, as Minister Allain has committed to. This needs to include measures to address the issues around financing and the role social media plays in our elections. The government also needs to implement the recommendations that the Chief Electoral Office has already presented to the legislature.
Other changes that are needed include legislation to prevent intimidation and non-physical coercion of voters, ending the practice of publicizing candidates’ home addresses, and ensuring Elections NB has adequate resources so that polling stations are located in areas that are convenient and accessible for voters.
For previous coverage of the temporary takeover of Landry’s Facebook group by an entrepreneur from Saint John in 2020, click here.
14 Responses to Chief Electoral Officer responds to Tantramar Facebook fight
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Complaining to your MLA who is part of the Climate Change Mafia is not productive… there are better ways to get your message out and Facebook is not one of them. To those people being censored know this much: you are not alone.
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Elaine says:
“Climate Change Mafia”
LOL
Wow…
Actually, Megan Mitton has been amazing as an MLA, in that at least she has spoken to and continues to interact with her constituents, unlike a lot of previous MLA’s before her.
If all you have to say about her in a negative way is that she gives a thought or two to the environment and climate of our one and only planet, then I’d say she’s doing better than even I thought.
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Mike says:
Have to say I really recommend that TantramarTimes blog – take it as over the top satire and it’ll give you a few good laughs.
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Obeying the Federak law Citicen Wayne Feindel ' Noun' says:
People,people,people! What are you thinking? You are creatures of The provincial Mandarins in Fredericton. In very tiny print on a Departments web site now removed they use ‘policy governance’ to run things. The province’s surplus only marches on paper, it is not real when under all these circumstances we are beginning to see one off atrocities in health, education and cohesiveness.of your community.. Surely someone read the book (not the Movie) The Monsters Come to Maple Street. I’ll go with the indigenous Chiefl who stated that these left wing and right wing groups belong to the same bird. Things are getting a little insane right now. HIGGS and his plutocrats are very smart, but this doesn’t mean they are not stupid. Please read or watch the five laws of stupidity that this and successive governments seem to have committed. YOU CAN NOT FIX StUPId! unless you do something right now. Together now demand your watchdogs be properly funded not befuddled. Auditor General, Youth advocate, Right to Information act and leave them little wiggle room to screw you over. To date a new blood transfusion of faux local govenment will not revive a braindead government. It hurts me because generally as a no-name politician , I wanted reform and I have traditionally, but not always been a fiscal Conservative. Premier Higgs It’s my party too so I can cry if I want to because what is happening to my community just sucks . The worst is yet to come. Label it with doublespeak ‘excessive anger’ or ‘citizens ‘your on my priority list’. When Tim Hortons is being shuttered and small family businesses closed because of rot and decay, your newly elected officials bribed with excessive salaries , when you really don’t and will not be valuing their opinions. Of course we can never pay enough to figure out how to walk through that crap that runs down hill from the capital. The new council must March on Fredericton before January while you’re still citizens and not treated like subjects .
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Wayne.. Wayne… Wayne… you’re a people, not a citizen..
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Oh no! Someone who reads!
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Someone needs to read between the lines…
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Lavoie was blocking all Bonnie’ s election post and followers. I know because I was one of those followers. Then he cries like a baby because the moderator Landry had to kick him off the site for his bad behavior. He just got was he deserved. He was the one causing the election interference.
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See my comment above about Facebook… perhaps Bonnie Swift should have a website to get her messaging across to others? She has already deleted her Facebook page but her attempts on “Tantramar Community Concerns” seem genuinely to care about helping out the people around here and although I have not met her we did speak on the phone after the election. I think her ideas are about a more unifying approach than anything I have seen Mesheau or Higham or Megan Mitton do around here… Bonnie is not part of the clique.. that’s why they wanted her muzzled so badly and to be fair to Bruce Wark there is a LOT of pressure by the Climate Change Mafia to conform or shut up/get out around here.
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For someone who wants to ‘unify’ she’s great at making “enemies”, or at least, people NOT want to unify with her, but against her.
So maybe she is a unifier, just not how she hoped.
I never heard of this woman until this election, but nothing I’ve seen about her shows she wants to “unify” people. Rather demonize those she doesn’t agree with or doesn’t like, or sic her husband after them. All I can say is thank whatever Gods there are that she is NOT the Mayor.
Also, this Climate Change Mafia you keep talking about… must be some great club you’ve got going since it’s not something I’ve heard of past you. Do you have a secret handshake? Wear dated or “cool” clothes or something? Speak in bad accents?
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Jon says:
Elaine got it right above: “Climate Change Mafia” LOL.
Except it really isn’t funny.
Human-produced climate change is a fact, demonstrated by huge amounts of objective research — ie, studying the real world, not watching Fox News and conspiracy theories. If you don’t believe it, suit yourself, but don’t demonize the people who are actually making an effort to save your grandchildren from the horrible mess we will be in if we don’t act. It’s tragic that in Sackville, with infrastructure below current high tide sea level and with nothing but some generations-old dykes that are barely maintained keeping the sea at bay, people can still pretend that sea level rise isn’t going to happen. The same thing happened with people demonizing the doctors and nurses who were saving people from Covid in hospitals a couple of years ago, when some of the public believed disinformation.
The American style of politics, of living in a fantasyland and demonizing everyone you don’t agree with, is here, even in local politics.
Given the level of imitation of US politics, it wouldn’t be surprising to see someone now claim the election was “stolen” from Bonnie Swift, when really she simply lost. Supporting fracking in a region that elected a Green MLA is not a formula for success. Neither is demonstrating narcissistic indifference towards the public by stating that you “don’t care about abortion rights because it doesn’t affect me.” And why would the electorate select a candidate who says she “doesn’t care” whether people vote for her or not? She didn’t lose because of a conspiracy, she lost because of her policies and her indifference to the people whose support she was asking for.
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“She didn’t lose because of a conspiracy, she lost because of her policies and her indifference to the people whose support she was asking for.”
Exactly. Well that, and she didn’t do the work to get her name out to be someone worth voting for. Again, never heard of her until this election; not even before it happened. Rather only after it was over and the drama started. NOT exactly something you want in a political candidate for anything.
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This is all pretty funny – well, actually not. The progressive/left won the election (partly) but they’re still not happy. Go back in time – 2018. Councillor Mitton decided to run for MLA – successful. And re-elected. It opened up an opportunity for Mesheau to come back to Council. And for the worst possible outcome, he ran and was elected Mayor. What to to do? The progressive/left was much better organized this time – so much so that their media/social media had a persuasive bent? – connect the dots among the people involved, and it’s not to difficult to see the relationships. Would a mayoral candidate have prepared answers to “questions” at a town hall gathering? Don’t know – it was reported here. Kinda like reporting on a candidate’s Twiiter posts from 4 years ago or last year (fair game)? What about another 2022 candidate’s dressing down of a citizen of this town and ridiculing and mocking his literacy? In the previous election (18 months ago) “hey Stevie, you couldn’t have possibly written this – had a little help did we?” But that’s ok – she’s a “progressive”….tells me all I need to know – but that never got reported. . I guess her voters are/were fine with that.
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Sharon Hicks says:
One thing which stands out is the fact that so many of the comments and concerns lately are based on partisan issues – left-vs-right-vs-centrist / liberal-vs-conservative-vs-green … etc etc etc.
Municipal government is designed to be NON-PARTISAN.
The purpose of local government is to ensure the community is managed in a fair and equitable manner, in order to best serve the needs of all residents and the community as a whole.
How has so-called ‘party politics’ become so enmeshed in municipal matters? This sounds more and more like our neighbours to the south, unfortunately.
It’s high time we set aside all the ‘party-related’ issues and criticisms, and focus first & foremost on what is best for our own community – instead of which party leanings we should be following. There is more than enough of that to worry about at the Provincial and Federal levels.
With the new Town of Tantramar we have been given the perfect opportunity to get back to basics, to forget about left or right or centrist leanings or influences, and focus instead on looking after the best interests of our own expanded municipality.
On 4/11/23, David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
> https://davidraymondamos3.
>
> Monday, 10 April 2023
> A giant sandpiper sculpture has returned to an N.B. town — but its
> fate is uncertain
>
>
> https://www.cbc.ca/news/
>
> A giant sandpiper sculpture has returned to an N.B. town — but its
> fate is uncertain
> A beloved local landmark has returned to Dorchester, N.B.
> Hina Alam · The Canadian Press · Posted: Apr 10, 2023 8:45 AM ADT
>
>
> A giant sandpiper statue (white bird with black and grey wings and
> black beak) sits atop a pile of large rocks. It's outside a reddish
> brown building, and a stairwell is nearby in the background. The new
> 'Shep' sandpiper statue has been returned to Dorchester, N.B., but
> municipal officials say the installation wasn't approved. (Submitted
> by Kara Feindel)
>
> A giant sculpture of a bird that long ruled the roost in a small New
> Brunswick village has been restored to its rightful perch, but it's
> not receiving a universally warm welcome home.
>
> Residents of Dorchester, N.B., said they're delighted to see the
> return of the statue, locally dubbed "Shep," in honour of nearby
> Shepody Bay. But officials with the municipality to which the village
> now belongs said Dorchester's avian avatar was reinstalled without
> permission, throwing its ultimate fate into question.
>
> For now, however, former deputy mayor Kara Becker said residents are
> glad to have a refurbished version of the semipalmated sandpiper
> statue watching over the local landscape after three years away.
>
> An eight-foot-tall statue of a sandpiper with a white body and brown
> wings stands in an artist's workshop surrounded by tools and building
> supplies. Artist Robin Hanson spent two months building an eight
> foot tall semipalmated sandpiper. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
>
> "She looks so beautiful," Becker said of Shep in a telephone
> interview. "She does look different than the last version of it. She's
> a bit more colourful, but she is just plump and ready for what's
> coming."
>
> Standing 2.4 metres high and weighing 135 kilograms, the original
> incarnation of Shep had a bird's-eye view of Dorchester for nearly 20
> years. But when the wooden statue began to rot three years ago, the
> village council commissioned New Brunswick artist Robin Hanson to
> craft a more durable version made of steel, epoxy and
> fibreglass.
>
> Shep's journey home got bogged down in what Becker described as red
> tape when the village became part of a new municipality earlier this
> year. The region of Tantramar took shape on Jan. 1 when Dorchester
> merged with Sackville and Pointe de Bute, and efforts to pay Hanson
> fell off the new council's priority list.
>
> A blond-haired woman sits on a green couch with wooden trim wearing a
> black jacket and shirt while smiling at the camera. Kara Becker,
> former deputy mayor, said residents are pleased that Shep is back.
> (Submitted by Kara Becker)
>
> Becker said media reports about efforts to reclaim Shep prompted
> several organizations to cover the costs with donations, noting one
> such group ultimately helped secure the sculpture's return.
>
> "The community support was really incredible," she said.
>
> Becker said Hanson offered to drive the statue up on Wednesday, but
> others were eager to have it back sooner.
>
> In the end, Shep rolled back into town in the back of a truck on
> Saturday. But the new municipal authorities don't appear to share
> local enthusiasm for the new sculpture.
>
> "The municipality of Tantramar and its council did not commission this
> work to be done nor request or approve the installation of this statue
> on municipally owned land," reads an emailed statement from Mayor
> Andrew Black.
>
> When asked if the statue will be removed, Black said the issue won't
> be discussed until municipal offices reopen on Tuesday.
>
> Shep will have one ally on Tantramar's Council — Debbie
> Wiggins-Colwell, who previously served as Dorchester's mayor. She said
> the town worked hard to bring the statue back, adding it's in keeping
> with the village's bird-friendly image and its location by the ocean.
>
> A large statue of a white shorebird with a black beak, black wings and
> black legs sits atop a pile of decorative rocks. There is a cement
> platform behind it with a black railing around it. The sandpiper
> statue that had sat in the community of Dorchester for years was an
> unofficial mascot of the community's annual summer sandpiper festival.
> (Submitted by Kara Feindel)
>
> About $10,000 was spent on it but the big statue of the little bird
> props up the local economy and "brings in dollars that are many, many,
> many times over," she said.
>
> Becker said she is afraid the statue might be relegated to a scrapyard
> or a storehouse.
>
> "I'm so afraid they're going to try to remove her," she said.
>
> Environmental advocates share her chagrin at the prospect, saying the
> statue could help raise awareness about a native species in decline.
>
> Andrew Holland, spokesman for the Nature Conservancy of Canada, called
> semipalmated sandpipers a symbol of the upper Bay of Fundy.
>
> About one-third of the world's semipalmated sandpiper population stops
> on the bay's mudflats for about three weeks toward the end of July
> where they get a break, rest and double their body weight before
> migrating to South America for the winter, he said.
>
> The small birds, weighing about 20 grams, are listed as "near
> threatened" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's
> red list.
>
> A tiny white and brown bird sits on a rocky beach. About 30 per cent
> of the world's semipalmated sandpipers will come to the Upper Bay of
> Fundy each year. (Jordan Myles)
>
> "(The statue) serves as a reminder of the importance of the area. That
> these shore bird populations have been in decline in Canada, and all
> around the world," Holland said. "And this is a critical home for
> migratory shorebirds.
>
> Nick Lund, a network manager for U.S.-based conservation group Maine
> Audubon, also feels the statue serves an important environmental
> purpose.
>
> "These are small birds that don't often hang out very close to people,
> and so are hard to see," he said. "Many people, if they see shorebirds
> at all, see them only as tiny specks off on the mud. I think for a lot
> of people this sandpiper statue might be the first time they can
> actually see one up close."
>
> Becker said Sandpipers are not just the subject of a local annual
> festival, but stand as an important symbol of resilience due to their
> ability to fly thousands of miles despite their diminutive size.
>
> "We didn't intend to ruffle feathers," she said with a laugh. "We just
> think we need our bird back."
> CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
>
>
>
>
>
> 78 Comments
>
>
>
> David Amos
> I wonder if Mr Holland will explain to the folks in my hometown why I
> am laughing
>
>
> Lou Bell
> Reply to David Amos
> I highly doubt he's given you any thought at all , even if he loses
> the 12 or so supporters you had the last time you ran for office
>
>
>
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Big Fake Birds aside I wonder if anyone recalls Donald the Celebrity
> cat in Sackville prompting debate and demands for animal bylaw changes
> not that long ago?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Jack Russell
> Local Officials did't get their kick back so are now opposing it.
>
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Reply toJack Russell
> Have you seen Donald the celebrity cat lately? Perhaps the local
> officials got him kicked out
>
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Reply toJack Russell
> Celebrity cat in Sackville prompting debate and demands for animal bylaw
> changes
>
> A cat named Donald has been the talk of the town ever since he was
> adopted this summer
>
> Miriam Lafontaine · CBC News · Posted: Dec 16, 2021 8:00 AM A
>
>
>
> .
> Kevin Archibald
> Sadly, this fake bird has more common sense than the town council.
> Leave the bird alone.
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Kevin Archibald
> Nobody cares
>
>
> Oscar Street
> Reply to Kevin Archibald
> Such are the ways when a council can't find real issues to spend their
> time working on. It seems like a council member has a personal dispute
> that's taking up public time now.
>
>
> Scott A.
> Reply to Kevin Archibald
> not the just the town 95% of the Human population ...
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Marcel Belanger
> Unbelievable... leave the bird where it is and please don't make a big
> thing of it just to satisfy big egos.
>
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Reply to Marcel Belanger
> Too late The big egos already made it a big thing and now even little
> Lou is involved
>
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Reply to Marcel Belanger
> Methinks the latest President of UMNB is feeling his oats N'esy Pas?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Michael Cain
> Robin Hanson has created some great pieces of art unique to New
> Brunswick. One would have thought the commissioning of the work, the
> removal of the old and the subsequent installation of the work,
> approved by previous authorities, would be respected without fanfare.
> A little paperwork is all that's required.
>
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Reply to Michael Cain
> Dream on
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Michael Cain
> Trust that your hero Higgy knows my favourite is the R.B. Bennett statue
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Lou Bell
> It's been a part of the Community for years . Can't see why it
> shouldn't still be a part of the Community . Time to put egos aside
> and promote ALL communities in the Municipality . This obviously
> didn't cost the Municipality a cent and there's not one reason it
> should be taken down . Going forward though , members of the Council
> MUST remember there is a process to be followed and they're all there
> to represent the Municipality and everyone in it , and not just
> themselves and their friends . And if that's not viable , then just
> resign . It would be better for all .
>
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Reply to Lou Bell
> Methinks you seem very confused today Best back away from the butter
> tarts and have a nap before you get a call from your boss N'esy Pas?
>
>
> Christopher Harborne
> Reply to Lou Bell
> They haven't said it will be taken down. The Mayor said it will be
> addressed now that they know it's happened, which could include having
> the installation verified so it's compliant with liability insurance
> requirements. A kid gets up on it and fall, you know what's gonna
> happen.
>
> This is only a guess as well, but there were tables and chairs that
> belonged to now Tantramar that former Dorchester staff gave away
> without permission. I'm betting there might be some anger over "oh
> boy, not again".
>
> I really don't see the municipality voting against a replacement Shep
> at all, the entire area benefits when tourists stop through when the
> sandpipers are here.
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Reply to Christopher Harborne
> I just tried to call you
>
>
> Ben Wu
> Reply to Christopher Harborne
> Actually it was the Councillor for Dorchester who gave them away. The
> town showed up to give them away and they were gone
>
>
> Ben Wu
> Reply to Lou Bell
> Actually it was the Councillor for Dorchester who gave them away. The
> town showed up to give them away and they were gone
>
>
> Christopher Harborne
> Reply to Ben Wu
> Yes, but they never told the town, who now owned the assets.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Lou Bell
> Appears to be a battle of who thinks they're more important than the
> other . This is after all the same area that thought keeping their
> hospital open and doctors available overnight to service 2 or 3 people
> should take precident over those where people were waiting 5 or 6
> hours to be seen .
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Lou Bell
> Clearly you do not know Dorchester very well
>
>
> Lou Bell
> Reply to David Amos
> Clearly you do not know this area at all . Dorchester is a part of the
> Municipality that includes Sackville . You know , the same place whose
> residents demanded their Hospital remain open after hours to service 2
> or 3 people an evening , while residents in many other places waited 5
> and 6 hours to be looked after . So yeah , I do know the area very
> well .
>
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Reply to Lou Bell
> Even your hero Higgy knows I was born and raised there
>
>
> Christopher Harborne
> Reply to Lou Bell
> As someone from this area, we know what happens when something is lost
> and we're left with a promise things will "be dealt with fairly".
> Federally, we lost the crime lab we had here, we lost the DFO office,
> and.... the last one is escaping me, but we were told that the cuts
> were necessary but that we'd see some benefits. Low and behold, the
> feds put all the jobs in Shediac, and nary a thought for this end of
> Beausejour. So yes, we will make a ruckus this time and garner as much
> attention and be the largest PITA we can be (legally), because that's
> the only way anyone pays attention to a small community. As for
> looking after the wait time, if it was servicing locals it wouldn't be
> 5 to 6 hours. It's because people from as far as Peticodiac will come
> to our ER to avoid the astronomical wait in Moncton. I don't begrudge
> them in the least, you do what's best for your health or your family.
> But don't turn this back on our community.
>
>
> G. Timothy Walton
> Reply to Lou Bell
> I can't remember the Sackville Hospital ER ever having only 2 or 3
> people at a time, let alone of an evening.
>
> As usual, reality is a slave Lou's politics.
>
> David Amos
> Reply to G. Timothy Walton
> Oh So True
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to G. Timothy Walton
> FYI I spent a month in a coma in that hospital
>
>
> Scott A.
> Content Deactivated
> Reply to
>
>
> Scott A.
> Reply to Scott A.
> just give a Community a Community Center and staff it, you want to Ego
> or Hyper-inflated sense of self importance ...
>
> seems to create Classism or us vs them attitude, like almost instantly
> ... it is bizarre .. .
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Graeme Scott
> Do the newly created municipalities not inherit the liabilities of
> their component villages? Story says the previous council ordered the
> replacement statue. "But when the wooden statue began to rot three
> years ago, the village council commissioned New Brunswick artist Robin
> Hanson to craft a more durable version made of steel, epoxy and
> fibreglass."
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Graeme Scott
> "The municipality of Tantramar and its council did not commission this
> work to be done nor request or approve the installation of this statue
> on municipally owned land," reads an emailed statement from Mayor
> Andrew Black.
>
> When asked if the statue will be removed, Black said the issue won't
> be discussed until municipal offices reopen on Tuesday."
>
> Lou Bell
> Reply to David Amos
> I'd expect the issue will be addressed at the next meeting of Council
> and not when the office opens Tuesday morning .
>
>
> Graeme Scott
> Reply to David Amos
> yes, but as the story says, the village of Dorchester did. I would
> assume the new municipality would be responsible for these
> obligations.
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Graeme Scott
> A deal is a deal
>
>
> Lou Bell
> Reply to Graeme Scott
> Appears the new Mayor wants to show he's in charge and which
> apparently overides what's best for the Community in his mind !
>
>
>
>
>
> Alison Jackson
> NB has the most perpetually offended people in Canada. So apologetic
> for this sitting government it's past the point of being amusing.
>
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Reply to Alison Jackson
> Methinks you should try to enjoy the circus we are compelled to pay
> for N'esy Pas?
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Alison Jackson
> Apparently so
>
>
> Lou Bell
> Reply to Alison Jackson
> The Municipal Government ? They're the only government involved in
> this you know .
>
>
>
>
>
> Louie Latour
> Looks great and glad to see it back where it belongs. Even more happy
> to see locals getting together to make something happen for their own
> benefit and satisfaction, rather than waiting for politicians to spend
> months wringing their hands, launching meaningless studies then having
> to issue a procurement process and pay overinflated costs to have the
> thing reinstalled. Kinda like paying $60K for rebranding...
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Louie Latour
> Amen
>
>
>
>
>
> Ralston Cadman
> Mayor black is wonderful and totally correct on this matter.
>
>
> Graham McCormack
> Reply to Ralston Cadman
> Correct about what?
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Ralston Cadman
> Surely you jest
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Graham McCormack
> The new Mayor is not correct
>
>
> Ralston Cadman
> Reply to Graham McCormack
> It was a joke comment as my previous 5 that stated that the mayor and
> 4 councillors from the Sackville ward are only going to look out for
> the former town of Sackville and could care less about the other 4 lsd
> areas. It started with the first meeting in which the mayor used his
> one vote to shut down a vote on deputy mayor. Was a 8-1 vote but
> needed to be unanimous now in new format. He’s going to do what is
> good for him,
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Ralston Cadman
> Welcome to the circus
>
>
> Christopher Harborne
> Reply to Ralston Cadman
> Since when does a Mayor get a vote? They only get to vote to break a
> tie. And 8-0 would not have triggered that requirement
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Christopher Harborne
> True
>
>
> Ralston Cadman
> Reply to Christopher Harborne
> Incorrect. Now on some motions it needs to be unanimous and the mayor
> gets to vote on them too. Check the minutes of the very first meeting
> and you will see how he asks and then voted down the motion.
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Ralston Cadman
> Interesting
>
>
> Ralston Cadman
> Reply to David Amos
> Yea it was. Nobody seemed to know this and he asks the clerk (Like he
> knew already) as the motion was for deputy mayor vote. He voted it
> down because he said he wanted the council to get to know one another
> better. But it’s known he wanted to make sure the councillor from
> Dorchester not get the position so he and his supporters from previous
> council got to position a nominee to challenge. Ironically it was a
> 5-4 vote on that vote when it eventually happened. Mayor to break tie.
>
>
> Christopher Harborne
> Reply to Ralston Cadman
> The very first Council meeting on Jan 10 has no such record. Nor does
> the Feb minutes. March minutes are not available until they are
> presented at the April meeting I think? Anyway, no idea where you're
> getting this
>
>
> Ralston Cadman
> Reply to Christopher Harborne
> Maybe watch the meeting on YouTube. There was a motion to add it to
> the agenda and all 8 councillors voted yes to add it and then black
> voted against it with his reasoning. It has to be unanimous and he
> clearly knew that and voted against. I’m sure you like him but can’t
> defend against the truth.
>
>
> Ralston Cadman
> Reply to Ralston Cadman
> It’s right on first page of January 10th meeting. Motion by councillor
> wiggins-colwell and voted yea by all councillors and nay by mayor,
> motion defeated. Go check it out.
>
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Reply to Ralston Cadman
> I heard through the grapevine that the agenda of the closed door
> meeting tomorrow is an effort to cook Dorchester's goose
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Christopher Harborne
> The person who holds the key to resolving this nonsense is the new CAO
> and her buddy the Minister
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Ralston Cadman
> Do you know where to go to read all my comments?
>
>
> Christopher Harborne
> Reply to Ralston Cadman
> I stand corrected, my apologies. I wasn't looking at agenda motions.
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to David Amos
> Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black blocks a vote on who will be his deputy
>
> Posted on January 11, 2023 by brucewark
>
> In a move that surprised many observers, Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black
> prevented council from electing a deputy mayor at its first meeting on
> Tuesday.
>
> “We have just sat as the new council of the Town of Tantramar,” Black said.
>
> “We have not had an opportunity to interact with one another. I would
> like us to be able to know each other and have an understanding of who
> we are as councillors and as council, before we make the decision of
> who would be the deputy mayor,” he added.
>
> Black was responding to a motion from Councillor Debbie
> Wiggins-Colwell who sought to add the election of deputy mayor to
> Tuesday’s council agenda.
>
> She pointed out that the bylaw governing council procedures requires
> it to elect a deputy mayor at its first meeting.
>
> However, changing the agenda requires unanimous approval, and after
> all other councillors had voted to change it, Black asked clerk Donna
> Beal: “Do I vote as well?”
>
> In the past, Sackville mayors have voted only to break council ties,
> but the new procedural bylaw imposed by the province allows the mayor
> to vote on every issue.
>
> “I will vote nay,” Black declared defeating the motion to add the
> election of deputy mayor to council’s agenda.
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Reply to Christopher Harborne
> Your apology speaks well of you Too bad you didn't pick up the phone today
> eh?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Graeme Scott
> Sounds like mayor Andrew Black is on a bit of an ego/power trip.
> Lighten up Mr Mayor.
>
>
> Ralston Cadman
> Reply to Graeme Scott
> Definitely!
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Ralston Cadman
> Ditto
>
>
>
>
>
> Kyle Woodman
> I bet the Big Stop in Aulac would buy it if council wants to make some
> money back.
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Kyle Woodman
> Nobody has lost any money. I talked to the artist and he has been paid
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Marc Andre
> Obviously Mr Black is incapable of sound reasoning, vote him out
> before he does any real damage.
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Marc Andre
> I don't think recall votes exist in Canada
>
>
> Marc Andre
> Reply to David Amos
> Poor choice of wording on my part. I meant simply to vote for a
> different ( more qualified) person next election.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Matt Steele
> Not sure what the big issue is as there was a similar statue there ,
> and it is not costing the taxpayers anything . Sounds like the new
> Mayor is a bit of a power tripper , and is against anything that he
> didn't personally approve . Give some of these people a little bit of
> power , and they want to control anything and everything .
>
>
> Graeme Scott
> Reply to Matt Steele
> and the story indicates it was ordered by the previous council before
> amalgamation.
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Graeme Scott
> Bingo
>
>
> Christopher Harborne
> Reply to Graeme Scott
> The issue is, if the money wasn't spent under Dorchester, was this
> included in the new budget that the amalgamation manager built for
> Tantramar? If not, that's potentially part of the issue?
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Christopher Harborne
> Higgy will fix it if the Greens apply the proper pressure
>
>
>
>
>
> Dianne MacPherson
> The Mayor and Council of Tantramar need to give
>
> Dorchester an explanation for removing the Statue
>
> other than "needed permission to set it up ".
>
> This decision makes no sense.
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Dianne MacPherson
> I agree
>
>
>
>
>
> Matthew Smith
> No good deed shall go unpunished
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Matthew Smith
> Oh So True The Feds have yet to do anything about this gift
>
> R.B. Bennett statue on its way to Ottawa
>
> Artist Robin Hanson created statue to honour only prime minister from
> New Brunswick
>
> CBC News · Posted: Jul 31, 2015 10:51 AM ADT
>
>
>
>
> Greg Windsor
> Sackville, if you think you are going to come to Dorchester and remove
> a statue, you had better give it serious thought.....
>
>
> Mikjáll Gerrits
> Reply to Greg Windsor
> You're going to have to get used to the new municipality governance
> because I doubt we're going to be able to change it any time soon. I'd
> rather we worked together to make something great instead of fighting
> with each other. There's enough of that crap going on between the
> provinces and within the country.
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Greg Windsor
> I concur
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Micheal Grey
> This is what politics is nonsense sometimes.
>
> Bring back a well loved statue of a beautiful bird but because it was
> installed without permission it's awful. Humans suck.
>
> David Amos
> Content Deactivated
> Reply to Micheal Grey
> Methinks folks should wonder why I am laughing at the nonsense in my
> old stomping grounds today N'esy Pas?
>
> Deja Vu Anyone?
>
> Nature conservancy wants to help moose cross the Isthmus for Christmas
>
> There are about 29,000 moose in New Brunswick, but only about 1,000 in
> mainland Nova Scotia
>
> CBC News · Posted: Dec 23, 2015 8:45 AM AST
>
>
>
>
> Mikjáll Gerrits
> I feel as though someone is looking for controversy where there really
> is none.
>
>
> David Amos
> Reply to Mikjáll Gerrits
> Somebody wants to be the big cheese tis all
>
>
>
>
> Deja Vu Anyone???
>
>
> YO Joe Tacopina I just called FYI 20 Years ago today the US Secret
> Service threatened to take me to GITMO 2 years ago tomorrow the US
> Naval Intelligence called me then offended me
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
> Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2023 12:44:51 -0300
> Subject: YO Joe Tacopina I just called FYI 20 Years ago today the US
> Secret Service threatened to take me to GITMO 2 years ago tomorrow the
> US Naval Intelligence called me then offended me
> To: info@tacopinalaw.com, NIA_IG@navy.mil, FOIL@dany.nyc.gov,
> contact@win.donaldjtrump.com, donjr@email.donjr.com,
> mdcohen212@gmail.com, "Diane.Lebouthillier"
> <Diane.Lebouthillier@cra-arc.
> <mark.vespucci@ci.irs.gov>, mcu <mcu@justice.gc.ca>, premier
> <premier@gnb.ca>, "blaine.higgs" <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>,
> "Matt.DeCourcey" <Matt.DeCourcey@parl.gc.ca>, oldmaison
> <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, andre <andre@jafaust.com>, washington field
> <washington.field@ic.fbi.gov>, "David.Coon" <David.Coon@gnb.ca>,
> "Jacques.Poitras" <Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>, "sylvie.gadoury"
> <sylvie.gadoury@radio-canada.
> <pierre.poilievre@parl.gc.ca>, pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>, "Katie.Telford"
> <Katie.Telford@pmo-cpm.gc.ca>, "jagmeet.singh"
> <jagmeet.singh@parl.gc.ca>, "Marco.Mendicino"
> <Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca>, "martin.gaudet"
> <martin.gaudet@fredericton.ca>
> <Mark.Blakely@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, PREMIER <PREMIER@gov.ns.ca>, justmin
> <justmin@gov.ns.ca>, paulpalango <paulpalango@protonmail.com>, premier
> <premier@gov.pe.ca>, premier <premier@ontario.ca>, premier
> <premier@gov.bc.ca>, premier <premier@gov.nl.ca>, premier
> <premier@gov.yk.ca>, premier <premier@gov.nt.ca>, Office of the
> Premier <scott.moe@gov.sk.ca>, premier <premier@leg.gov.mb.ca>
> Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, jfetzer
> <jfetzer@d.umn.edu>, John Furey <JohnFurey@fureylegal.com>,
> "Mike.Comeau" <Mike.Comeau@gnb.ca>, Pat.Morris@opp.ca,
> "Michael.Duheme" <Michael.Duheme@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
>
> https://davidraymondamos3.
>
> Friday, 2 April 2021
>
> Russia warns NATO against deploying troops to Ukraine
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: NIA_IG <nia_ig.fct@navy.mil>
> Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2021 11:03:08 +0000
> Subject: RE: [Non-DoD Source] Fwd: Methinks the evil lawyer Howie
> Cooper made a deal with the VERY NASTY FBI dudes in Beantown N'esy Pas
> Howie Anglin?
> To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
>
> Dear David Amos,
>
> The Naval Intelligence Activity (NIA) Office of the Inspector General
> (IG) reviewed your email and attached .WAV file provided to the NIA
> Hotline on 2 April 2021. I found no connection to the United States
> Navy or United States Naval Intelligence.
> Naval Inspectors General exist to improve the efficiency and
> effectiveness of US Navy Programs, and strive to eliminate and prevent
> waste, fraud, and abuse with their respective departments. Naval IGs
> are restricted to assessing matters falling within the purview of
> their respective commanders.
>
> Citing the lack of an apparent connection to the US Navy or Naval
> Intelligence, I am unable to provide further assistance, or provide
> direct referral to any other agency or activity.
>
> Sincerely,
> Mark Koneda
> Investigator
> Naval Intelligence Activity
> Office of the Inspector General
> NIA_IG@navy.mil
> (301)669-3030 (unclass)
> TSVOIP 560-3030
>
> INSPECTOR GENERAL SENSITIVE INFORMATION - FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY The
> information contained in this email and any accompanying attachments
> may contain Inspector General sensitive or pre-decisional information,
> which is protected from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of
> Information Act (FOIA, 5 USC Section 552). It should not be released
> to unauthorized persons. If you are not the intended recipient of this
> information, any disclosure, copying, distribution, or the taking of
> any action in reliance on this information is prohibited. If you
> received this email in error, please notify this office by email or by
> calling (301) 669-3030.
>
>>>> ---------- Original message ----------
>>>> From: "McGrath, Stephen T" <Stephen.McGrath@novascotia.ca
>>>> Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2018 12:40:22 +0000
>>>> Subject: Automatic reply: Does anyone recall the email entitled "So
>>>> Stephen McGrath if not you then just exactly who sent me this latest
>>>> email from your office?"
>>>> To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for your message, however I am no longer at the Department of
>>>> Justice, and this email account is not being monitored.
>>>>
>>>> Please contact Kim Fleming at Kim.Fleming@novascotia.ca (phone
>>>> 902-424-4023), or Vicky Zinck at Victoria.Zinck@novascotia.ca (phone
>>>> 902-424-4390). Kim and Vicky will be able to redirect you.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---------- Original message ----------
>>>> From: Justice Website <JUSTWEB@novascotia.ca>
>>>> Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2017 14:21:11 +0000
>>>> Subject: Emails to Department of Justice and Province of Nova Scotia
>>>> To: "motomaniac333@gmail.com" <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
>>>>
>>>> Mr. Amos,
>>>> We acknowledge receipt of your recent emails to the Deputy Minister of
>>>> Justice and lawyers within the Legal Services Division of the
>>>> Department of Justice respecting a possible claim against the Province
>>>> of Nova Scotia. Service of any documents respecting a legal claim
>>>> against the Province of Nova Scotia may be served on the Attorney
>>>> General at 1690 Hollis Street, Halifax, NS. Please note that we will
>>>> not be responding to further emails on this matter.
>>>>
>>>> Department of Justice
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---------- Original message ----------
>>>> From: David Amos motomaniac333@gmail.com
>>>> Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2017 15:16:38 -0400
>>>> Subject: Attn Laura Lee Langley, Karen Hudson and Joanne Munro I just
>>>> called all three of your offices to inform you of my next lawsuit
>>>> against Nova Scotia
>>>> To: LauraLee.Langley@novascotia.ca
>>>> Joanne.Munro@novascotia.ca
>>>> Cc: David Amos david.raymond.amos@gmail.com
>>>>
>>>> https://novascotia.ca/exec_
>>>>
>>>> https://novascotia.ca/exec_
>>>>
>>>> Laura Lee Langley
>>>> 1700 Granville Street, 5th Floor
>>>> One Government Place
>>>> Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 1X5
>>>> Phone: (902) 424-8940
>>>> Fax: (902) 424-0667
>>>> Email: LauraLee.Langley@novascotia.ca
>>>>
>>>> https://novascotia.ca/just/
>>>>
>>>> Karen Hudson Q.C.
>>>> 1690 Hollis Street, 7th Floor
>>>> Joseph Howe Building
>>>> Halifax, NS B3J 3J9
>>>> Phone: (902) 424-4223
>>>> Fax: (902) 424-0510
>>>> Email: Karen.Hudson@novascotia.ca
>>>>
>>>> https://novascotia.ca/sns/ceo.
>>>>
>>>> Joanne Munro:
>>>> 1505 Barrington Street, 14-South
>>>> Maritime Centre
>>>> Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 3K5
>>>> Phone: (902) 424-4089
>>>> Fax: (902) 424-5510
>>>> Email: Joanne.Munro@novascotia.ca
>>>>
>>>> If you don't wish to speak to me before I begin litigation then I
>>>> suspect the Integrity Commissioner New Brunswick or the Federal Crown
>>>> Counsel can explain the email below and the documents hereto attached
>>>> to you and your Premier etc.
>>>>
>>>> Veritas Vincit
>>>> David Raymond Amos
>>>> 902 800 0369
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>>> From: David Amos motomaniac333@gmail.com
>>>> Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2017 09:32:09 -0400
>>>> Subject: Attn Integrity Commissioner Alexandre Deschênes, Q.C.,
>>>> To: coi@gnb.ca
>>>> Cc: david.raymond.amos@gmail.com
>>>>
>>>> Good Day Sir
>>>>
>>>> After I heard you speak on CBC I called your office again and managed
>>>> to speak to one of your staff for the first time
>>>>
>>>> Please find attached the documents I promised to send to the lady who
>>>> answered the phone this morning. Please notice that not after the Sgt
>>>> at Arms took the documents destined to your office his pal Tanker
>>>> Malley barred me in writing with an "English" only document.
>>>>
>>>> These are the hearings and the dockets in Federal Court that I
>>>> suggested that you study closely.
>>>>
>>>> This is the docket in Federal Court
>>>>
>>>> http://cas-cdc-www02.cas-satj.
>>>>
>>>> These are digital recordings of the last three hearings
>>>>
>>>> Dec 14th https://archive.org/details/
>>>>
>>>> January 11th, 2016 https://archive.org/details/
>>>>
>>>> April 3rd, 2017
>>>>
>>>> https://archive.org/details/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> This is the docket in the Federal Court of Appeal
>>>>
>>>> http://cas-cdc-www02.cas-satj.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The only hearing thus far
>>>>
>>>> May 24th, 2017
>>>>
>>>> https://archive.org/details/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> This Judge understnds the meaning of the word Integrity
>>>>
>>>> Date: 20151223
>>>>
>>>> Docket: T-1557-15
>>>>
>>>> Fredericton, New Brunswick, December 23, 2015
>>>>
>>>> PRESENT: The Honourable Mr. Justice Bell
>>>>
>>>> BETWEEN:
>>>>
>>>> DAVID RAYMOND AMOS
>>>>
>>>> Plaintiff
>>>>
>>>> and
>>>>
>>>> HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
>>>>
>>>> Defendant
>>>>
>>>> ORDER
>>>>
>>>> (Delivered orally from the Bench in Fredericton, New Brunswick, on
>>>> December 14, 2015)
>>>>
>>>> The Plaintiff seeks an appeal de novo, by way of motion pursuant to
>>>> the Federal Courts Rules (SOR/98-106), from an Order made on November
>>>> 12, 2015, in which Prothonotary Morneau struck the Statement of Claim
>>>> in its entirety.
>>>>
>>>> At the outset of the hearing, the Plaintiff brought to my attention a
>>>> letter dated September 10, 2004, which he sent to me, in my then
>>>> capacity as Past President of the New Brunswick Branch of the Canadian
>>>> Bar Association, and the then President of the Branch, Kathleen Quigg,
>>>> (now a Justice of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal). In that letter
>>>> he stated:
>>>>
>>>> As for your past President, Mr. Bell, may I suggest that you check the
>>>> work of Frank McKenna before I sue your entire law firm including you.
>>>> You are your brother’s keeper.
>>>>
>>>> Frank McKenna is the former Premier of New Brunswick and a former
>>>> colleague of mine at the law firm of McInnes Cooper. In addition to
>>>> expressing an intention to sue me, the Plaintiff refers to a number of
>>>> people in his Motion Record who he appears to contend may be witnesses
>>>> or potential parties to be added. Those individuals who are known to
>>>> me personally, include, but are not limited to the former Prime
>>>> Minister of Canada, The Right Honourable Stephen Harper; former
>>>> Attorney General of Canada and now a Justice of the Manitoba Court of
>>>> Queen’s Bench, Vic Toews; former member of Parliament Rob Moore;
>>>> former Director of Policing Services, the late Grant Garneau; former
>>>> Chief of the Fredericton Police Force, Barry McKnight; former Staff
>>>> Sergeant Danny Copp; my former colleagues on the New Brunswick Court
>>>> of Appeal, Justices Bradley V. Green and Kathleen Quigg, and, retired
>>>> Assistant Commissioner Wayne Lang of the Royal Canadian Mounted
>>>> Police.
>>>>
>>>> In the circumstances, given the threat in 2004 to sue me in my
>>>> personal capacity and my past and present relationship with many
>>>> potential witnesses and/or potential parties to the litigation, I am
>>>> of the view there would be a reasonable apprehension of bias should I
>>>> hear this motion. See Justice de Grandpré’s dissenting judgment in
>>>> Committee for Justice and Liberty et al v National Energy Board et al,
>>>> [1978] 1 SCR 369 at p 394 for the applicable test regarding
>>>> allegations of bias. In the circumstances, although neither party has
>>>> requested I recuse myself, I consider it appropriate that I do so.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> AS A RESULT OF MY RECUSAL, THIS COURT ORDERS that the Administrator of
>>>> the Court schedule another date for the hearing of the motion. There
>>>> is no order as to costs.
>>>>
>>>> “B. Richard Bell”
>>>> Judge
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Below after the CBC article about your concerns (I made one comment
>>>> already) you will find the text of just two of many emails I had sent
>>>> to your office over the years since I first visited it in 2006.
>>>>
>>>> I noticed that on July 30, 2009, he was appointed to the the Court
>>>> Martial Appeal Court of Canada Perhaps you should scroll to the
>>>> bottom of this email ASAP and read the entire Paragraph 83 of my
>>>> lawsuit now before the Federal Court of Canada?
>>>>
>>>> "FYI This is the text of the lawsuit that should interest Trudeau the
>>>> most
>>>>
>>>> http://davidraymondamos3.
>>>>
>>>> 83 The Plaintiff states that now that Canada is involved in more war
>>>> in Iraq again it did not serve Canadian interests and reputation to
>>>> allow Barry Winters to publish the following words three times over
>>>> five years after he began his bragging:
>>>>
>>>> January 13, 2015
>>>> This Is Just AS Relevant Now As When I wrote It During The Debate
>>>>
>>>> December 8, 2014
>>>> Why Canada Stood Tall!
>>>>
>>>> Friday, October 3, 2014
>>>> Little David Amos’ “True History Of War” Canadian Airstrikes And
>>>> Stupid Justin Trudeau?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Vertias Vincit
>>>> David Raymond Amos
>>>> 902 800 0369
>>>>
>>>> P.S. Whereas this CBC article is about your opinion of the actions of
>>>> the latest Minister Of Health trust that Mr Boudreau and the CBC have
>>>> had my files for many years and the last thing they are is ethical.
>>>> Ask his friends Mr Murphy and the RCMP if you don't believe me.
>>>>
>>>> Subject:
>>>> Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:02:35 -0400
>>>> From: "Murphy, Michael B. \(DH/MS\)" MichaelB.Murphy@gnb.ca
>>>> To: motomaniac_02186@yahoo.com
>>>>
>>>> January 30, 2007
>>>>
>>>> WITHOUT PREJUDICE
>>>>
>>>> Mr. David Amos
>>>>
>>>> Dear Mr. Amos:
>>>>
>>>> This will acknowledge receipt of a copy of your e-mail of December 29,
>>>> 2006 to Corporal Warren McBeath of the RCMP.
>>>>
>>>> Because of the nature of the allegations made in your message, I have
>>>> taken the measure of forwarding a copy to Assistant Commissioner Steve
>>>> Graham of the RCMP “J” Division in Fredericton.
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>
>>>> Honourable Michael B. Murphy
>>>> Minister of Health
>>>>
>>>> CM/cb
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Warren McBeath warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 17:34:53 -0500
>>>> From: "Warren McBeath" warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
>>>> To: kilgoursite@ca.inter.net, MichaelB.Murphy@gnb.ca,
>>>> nada.sarkis@gnb.ca, wally.stiles@gnb.ca, dwatch@web.net,
>>>> motomaniac_02186@yahoo.com
>>>> CC: ottawa@chuckstrahl.com, riding@chuckstrahl.com,John.
>>>> Oda.B@parl.gc.ca,"Bev BUSSON" bev.busson@rcmp-grc.gc.ca,
>>>> "Paul Dube" PAUL.DUBE@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
>>>> Subject: Re: Remember me Kilgour? Landslide Annie McLellan has
>>>> forgotten me but the crooks within the RCMP have not
>>>>
>>>> Dear Mr. Amos,
>>>>
>>>> Thank you for your follow up e-mail to me today. I was on days off
>>>> over the holidays and returned to work this evening. Rest assured I
>>>> was not ignoring or procrastinating to respond to your concerns.
>>>>
>>>> As your attachment sent today refers from Premier Graham, our position
>>>> is clear on your dead calf issue: Our forensic labs do not process
>>>> testing on animals in cases such as yours, they are referred to the
>>>> Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown who can provide these
>>>> services. If you do not choose to utilize their expertise in this
>>>> instance, then that is your decision and nothing more can be done.
>>>>
>>>> As for your other concerns regarding the US Government, false
>>>> imprisonment and Federal Court Dates in the US, etc... it is clear
>>>> that Federal authorities are aware of your concerns both in Canada
>>>> the US. These issues do not fall into the purvue of Detachment
>>>> and policing in Petitcodiac, NB.
>>>>
>>>> It was indeed an interesting and informative conversation we had on
>>>> December 23rd, and I wish you well in all of your future endeavors.
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>
>>>> Warren McBeath, Cpl.
>>>> GRC Caledonia RCMP
>>>> Traffic Services NCO
>>>> Ph: (506) 387-2222
>>>> Fax: (506) 387-4622
>>>> E-mail warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://www.archive.org/
>>>>
>>>> http://www.archive.org/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> FEDERAL EXPRES February 7, 2006
>>>> Senator Arlen Specter
>>>> United States Senate
>>>> Committee on the Judiciary
>>>> 224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
>>>> Washington, DC 20510
>>>>
>>>> Dear Mr. Specter:
>>>>
>>>> I have been asked to forward the enclosed tapes to you from a man
>>>> named, David Amos, a Canadian citizen, in connection with the matters
>>>> raised in the attached letter. Mr. Amos has represented to me that
>>>> these are illegal FBI wire tap tapes. I believe Mr. Amos has been in
>>>> contact
>>>> with you about this previously.
>>>>
>>>> Very truly yours,
>>>> Barry A. Bachrach
>>>> Direct telephone: (508) 926-3403
>>>> Direct facsimile: (508) 929-3003
>>>> Email: bbachrach@bowditch.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Alexandre Deschênes, Q.C.,
>>>> Office of the Integrity Commissioner
>>>> Edgecombe House, 736 King Street
>>>> Fredericton, N.B. CANADA E3B 5H1
>>>> tel.: 506-457-7890
>>>> fax: 506-444-5224
>>>> e-mail:coi@gnb.ca
>>>>
>>>> Hon. Alexandre Deschênes, Q.C.
>>>> Integrity Commissioner
>
>
> I called Tobias Paul (506) 295-3034 to talk about Donald He shut me
> down after wondering how I got his number So now I will talk about HIM
> NBEUB/CESPNB
> <General@nbeub.ca> Mon, Dec 20, 2021 at 8:18 AM
> To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
>
> Thank you for your email to the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board.
>
> This is to acknowledge receipt of the information you have filed with the
> Board.
>
>
> La Commission de l’énergie et des services publics du
> Nouveau-Brunswick vous remercie pour votre courriel.
>
> Nous accusons réception de l’information que vous avez déposée auprès
> de la Commission.
>
> Sarah Thebeau
> Administrative Assistant / Assistante administrative
> (506) 658-2504 (Reception)
> (506) 658-2711 (Direct)
>
>
>
> Confidentiality Notice
>
> This private message (and any attachments) is for the exclusive use of
> the individual for whom, or entity for which, it is intended. It may
> contain information that is privileged, confidential or exempt from
> disclosure by law. Its author does not waive the protection afforded
> to it under applicable law. Disclosure to anyone other than the
> intended recipient does not constitute waiver of privilege. Its
> possession or usage, by any person other than the one for whom it is
> intended, is not authorized by its author and is strictly prohibited.
> If you have received this communication in error, please notify us
> immediately, at our expense, by telephone at (506) 658-2504. Also, if
> you received this email in error, delete it and any attachments from
> your computer system and records. Thank you.
>
> Avis de confidentialité
>
> Ce message privé (et toutes les pièces jointes) est à l'usage exclusif
> de la personne pour laquelle ou entité pour laquelle, il est destiné.
> Il peut contenir des informations qui sont personnelles,
> confidentielles ou exemptées de la divulgation par la loi. Son auteur
> ne renonce pas à la protection accordée en vertu de la loi applicable.
> Sa divulgation à toute personne autre que son destinataire ne
> constitue pas une renonciation de privilège. Sa possession ou
> l'utilisation, par une personne autre que celle pour laquelle il est
> destiné, n'est pas autorisée par son auteur et est strictement
> interdite. Si vous recevez cette communication par erreur, veuillez
> nous appeler dans les plus brefs délais, à frais virés, au (506)
> 658-2504. Aussi, si vous avez reçu ce courriel par erreur, veuillez
> effacer ce courriel, ainsi que les pièces jointes, de votre système
> informatique et de vos dossiers. Merci.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Amos [mailto:david.raymond.amos333@
> Sent: Friday, December 17, 2021 7:09 PM
> To: barnyardbicycles@gmail.com; s.mesheau@sackville.com;
> bagtownbrewing@gmail.com; miriam.lafontaine@cbc.ca;
> bruce.wark@bellaliant.net; Mitton, Megan (LEG) <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>;
> steve.murphy <steve.murphy@ctv.ca>; sheilagunnreid
> <sheilagunnreid@gmail.com>; Newsroom <Newsroom@globeandmail.com>;
> dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca; pm <pm@pm.gc.ca>; Katie.Telford
> <Katie.Telford@pmo-cpm.gc.ca>; Kevin.leahy
> <Kevin.leahy@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>; Ian.Shugart <Ian.Shugart@pco-bcp.gc.ca>;
> info <info@gg.ca>; editor <editor@wikileaks.org>; station@chmafm.com;
> andrew <andrew@frankmagazine.ca>; NBEUB/CESPNB <General@nbeub.ca>;
> news-tips <news-tips@nytimes.com>; a.black@sackville.com;
> a.butcher@sackville.com; s.dietz@sackville.com;
> m.estabrooks@sackville.com; b.evans@sackville.com;
> k.hicks@sackville.com; b.phinney@sackville.com; m.tower@sackville.com
> Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>; blaine.higgs
> <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>; dominic.cardy@gnb.ca; Daniel.J.Allain
> <Daniel.J.Allain@gnb.ca>; hugh.flemming <hugh.flemming@gnb.ca>;
> oldmaison <oldmaison@yahoo.com>; andrea.anderson-mason
> <andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca>
> Subject: Re: I called Tobias Paul (506) 295-3034 to talk about Donald
> He shut me down after wondering how I got his number So now I will
> talk about HIM
>
> https://davidraymondamos3.
>
>
> Friday, 17 December 2021
>
> Celebrity cat in Sackville prompting debate and demands for animal bylaw
> changes
>
>
> ---------- Orignal message ----------
> From: Barnyard Bicycles <barnyardbicycles@gmail.com>
> Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2021 17:27:44 -0400
> Subject: Re: I called Tobias Paul (506) 295-3034 to talk about Donald
> He shut me down after wondering how I got his number So now I will
> talk about HIM
> To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
>
> Hi David,
>
> My cat is just fine thanks.
>
> I hope you get the help you need,
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
> Tobias Paul
> Barnyard Bicycles
> (506) 295 3034
>
>
> ---------- Original message ----------
> From: "Higgs, Premier Blaine (PO/CPM)" <Blaine.Higgs@gnb.ca>
> Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2021 21:04:05 +0000
> Subject: RE: I called Tobias Paul (506) 295-3034 to talk about Donald
> He shut me down after wondering how I got his number So now I will
> talk about HIM
> To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
>
>
> Hello,
>
> Thank you for taking the time to write.
>
> Due to the volume of incoming messages, this is an automated response
> to let you know that your email has been received and will be reviewed
> at the earliest opportunity.
>
> If your inquiry more appropriately falls within the mandate of a
> Ministry or other area of government, staff will refer your email for
> review and consideration.
>
> Merci d'avoir pris le temps de nous écrire.
>
> En raison du volume des messages reçus, cette réponse automatique vous
> informe que votre courriel a été reçu et sera examiné dans les
> meilleurs délais.
>
> Si votre demande relève plutôt du mandat d'un ministère ou d'un autre
> secteur du gouvernement, le personnel vous renverra votre courriel
> pour examen et considération.
>
> If this is a Media Request, please contact the Premier’s office at
> (506) 453-2144 or by email
> media-medias@gnb.ca<mailto:med
>
> S’il s’agit d’une demande des médias, veuillez communiquer avec le
> Cabinet du premier ministre au 506-453-2144.
>
>
> Office of the Premier/Cabinet du premier ministre P.O Box/C. P. 6000
> Fredericton New-Brunswick/Nouveau-
> (506) 453-2144
> Email/Courriel:
> premier@gnb.ca/premier.
>
>
>
> ---------- Original message ----------
> From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
> Date: Fri, 17 Dec 2021 17:02:17 -0400
> Subject: I called Tobias Paul (506) 295-3034 to talk about Donald He
> shut me down after wondering how I got his number So now I will talk
> about HIM
> To: barnyardbicycles@gmail.com, s.mesheau@sackville.com,
> bagtownbrewing@gmail.com, miriam.lafontaine@cbc.ca,
> bruce.wark@bellaliant.net, "Mitton, Megan (LEG)"
> <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>, "steve.murphy" <steve.murphy@ctv.ca>,
> sheilagunnreid <sheilagunnreid@gmail.com>, Newsroom
> <Newsroom@globeandmail.com>, dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca, pm
> <pm@pm.gc.ca>, "Katie.Telford" <Katie.Telford@pmo-cpm.gc.ca>,
> "Kevin.leahy" <Kevin.leahy@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, "Ian.Shugart"
> <Ian.Shugart@pco-bcp.gc.ca>, info <info@gg.ca>, editor
> <editor@wikileaks.org>, station@chmafm.com, andrew
> <andrew@frankmagazine.ca>, NBEUB/CESPNB <general@nbeub.ca>, news-tips
> <news-tips@nytimes.com>, a.black@sackville.com,
> a.butcher@sackville.com, s.dietz@sackville.com,
> m.estabrooks@sackville.com, b.evans@sackville.com,
> k.hicks@sackville.com, b.phinney@sackville.com, m.tower@sackville.com
> Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, "blaine.higgs"
> <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, dominic.cardy@gnb.ca, "Daniel.J.Allain"
> <Daniel.J.Allain@gnb.ca>, "hugh.flemming" <hugh.flemming@gnb.ca>,
> oldmaison <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, "andrea.anderson-mason"
> <andrea.anderson-mason@gnb.ca>
>
> Need I say DUHHH??
>
> Perhaps Tobias Paul should have listened to me then printed this file
> in oe to protect his dumb cat
>
> https://www.scribd.com/doc/
>
> Check out pages 1, 2, 13 and 14 Go figure why CBC continues to play dumb
>
> https://www.banking.senate.
>
> The Committee will meet in OPEN SESSION to conduct the second in a
> series of hearings on the “Review of Current Investigations and
> Regulatory Actions Regarding the Mutual Fund Industry.”
>
> Witness Panel 1
>
> Mr. Stephen M. Cutler
> Director - Division of Enforcement
> Securities and Exchange Commission
> Cutler - November 20, 2003
>
> Mr. Robert Glauber
> Chairman and CEO
> National Association of Securities Dealers
> Glauber - November 20, 2003
>
> Eliot Spitzer
> Attorney General
> State of New York
>
>
> Methinks the effect of Bill 82 on my old stomping grounds and the
> doings in the local hospital (where I spent over a month in a comma
> long before my cousin Madame Mitton was born) are far more newsworthy
> than the actions of an old stray cat and the concerns of its nasty
> owner N'esy Pas Mr Wark?
>
>
> I have no doubt the Bagtown Brewing Company is enjoying the free
> advertising financed by the the Canadian taxpayers
>
> BTW Merry Xmass
>
> Please enjoy watching the clowns performing in Higgy's circus today
>
> https://legnb.ca/en/webcasts/
>
>
> 60th Legislature | 1st Session | Daily Sitting #62
> December 17, 2021
> Related Media
>
> Order Paper (PDF)
>
> Download Webcast (MP4)
>
>
>
> https://www.cbc.ca/news/
> Celebrity cat in Sackville prompting debate and demands for animal bylaw
> changes
> A cat named Donald has been the talk of the town ever since he was
> adopted this summer
>
> Miriam Lafontaine · CBC News · Posted: Dec 16, 2021 8:00 AM AT
>
>
> https://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/
>
> Refer to your local police for information about criminal record
> checks. If the RCMP is your local police, use the RCMP locator to find
> an RCMP detachment near you.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?
>
>
>
> RCMP Sussex New Brunswick
> David Amos
> 46 subscribers
> 2,488 views Apr 5, 2013
>
>>>> Subject:
>>>> Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:02:35 -0400
>>>> From: "Murphy, Michael B. \(DH/MS\)" MichaelB.Murphy@gnb.ca
>>>> To: motomaniac_02186@yahoo.com
>>>>
>>>> January 30, 2007
>>>>
>>>> WITHOUT PREJUDICE
>>>>
>>>> Mr. David Amos
>>>>
>>>> Dear Mr. Amos:
>>>>
>>>> This will acknowledge receipt of a copy of your e-mail of December 29,
>>>> 2006 to Corporal Warren McBeath of the RCMP.
>>>>
>>>> Because of the nature of the allegations made in your message, I have
>>>> taken the measure of forwarding a copy to Assistant Commissioner Steve
>>>> Graham of the RCMP “J” Division in Fredericton.
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>
>>>> Honourable Michael B. Murphy
>>>> Minister of Health
>>>>
>>>> CM/cb
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Warren McBeath warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2006 17:34:53 -0500
>>>> From: "Warren McBeath" warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
>>>> To: kilgoursite@ca.inter.net, MichaelB.Murphy@gnb.ca,
>>>> nada.sarkis@gnb.ca, wally.stiles@gnb.ca, dwatch@web.net,
>>>> motomaniac_02186@yahoo.com
>>>> CC: ottawa@chuckstrahl.com, riding@chuckstrahl.com,John.
>>>> Oda.B@parl.gc.ca,"Bev BUSSON" bev.busson@rcmp-grc.gc.ca,
>>>> "Paul Dube" PAUL.DUBE@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
>>>> Subject: Re: Remember me Kilgour? Landslide Annie McLellan has
>>>> forgotten me but the crooks within the RCMP have not
>>>>
>>>> Dear Mr. Amos,
>>>>
>>>> Thank you for your follow up e-mail to me today. I was on days off
>>>> over the holidays and returned to work this evening. Rest assured I
>>>> was not ignoring or procrastinating to respond to your concerns.
>>>>
>>>> As your attachment sent today refers from Premier Graham, our position
>>>> is clear on your dead calf issue: Our forensic labs do not process
>>>> testing on animals in cases such as yours, they are referred to the
>>>> Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown who can provide these
>>>> services. If you do not choose to utilize their expertise in this
>>>> instance, then that is your decision and nothing more can be done.
>>>>
>>>> As for your other concerns regarding the US Government, false
>>>> imprisonment and Federal Court Dates in the US, etc... it is clear
>>>> that Federal authorities are aware of your concerns both in Canada
>>>> the US. These issues do not fall into the purvue of Detachment
>>>> and policing in Petitcodiac, NB.
>>>>
>>>> It was indeed an interesting and informative conversation we had on
>>>> December 23rd, and I wish you well in all of your future endeavors.
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely,
>>>>
>>>> Warren McBeath, Cpl.
>>>> GRC Caledonia RCMP
>>>> Traffic Services NCO
>>>> Ph: (506) 387-2222
>>>> Fax: (506) 387-4622
>>>> E-mail warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://www.archive.org/
>>>>
>>>> http://www.archive.org/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> FEDERAL EXPRES February 7, 2006
>>>> Senator Arlen Specter
>>>> United States Senate
>>>> Committee on the Judiciary
>>>> 224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
>>>> Washington, DC 20510
>>>>
>>>> Dear Mr. Specter:
>>>>
>>>> I have been asked to forward the enclosed tapes to you from a man
>>>> named, David Amos, a Canadian citizen, in connection with the matters
>>>> raised in the attached letter. Mr. Amos has represented to me that
>>>> these are illegal FBI wire tap tapes. I believe Mr. Amos has been in
>>>> contact
>>>> with you about this previously.
>>>>
>>>> Very truly yours,
>>>> Barry A. Bachrach
>>>> Direct telephone: (508) 926-3403
>>>> Direct facsimile: (508) 929-3003
>>>> Email: bbachrach@bowditch.com
>>>>
>>>>
>
>
> For general information please contact:
>
> Email: CCRTIS-SCICTR@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
>
> Phone: 613-998-6362 between 7:30 AM and 5:30 PM Eastern Time
> 1-833-541-3089 between 7:30 AM and 5:30 PM Eastern Time
>
> By Mail:
> Director General
> Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services RCMP, NPS Bldg.
> 1200 Vanier Parkway Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R2
>
> By Courier:
> Director General
> Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services RCMP, NPS Bldg.,
> Loading Dock #1 1200 Vanier Parkway Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R2
>
> CCRTIS-SCICTR@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
>
> Eric.Hanson@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
>
> A copy of the new Tantramar organizational chart will be coming soon!
> Chief Administrative Officer
>
> Jennifer Borne
> jborne@dorchester.com
>
> Donna Beal, Clerk
> d.beal@sackville.com
>
> Becky Goodwin, Asst. Clerk
> b.goodwin@sackville.com
> Financial Services
>
> Michael Beal, Treasurer
> m.beal@sackville.com
>
> Elizabeth Hartling, Asst. Treasurer
> e.hartling@sackville.com
> Corporate Projects
>
> Kieran Miller, Sen. Manager
> k.miller@sackville.com
> Tourism & Business Development
>
> Ron Kelly Spurles, Manager
> r.kellyspurles@sackville.com
> Recreation, Programs & Events
>
> Matt Pryde, Manager
> m.pryde@sackville.com
>
> Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre,
> Tel. (506) 364-4955, Fax (506) 364-4977
>
> Todd Cole, Manager of Parks & Facilities
> t.cole@sackville.com
> Engineering and Public Works
>
> 101 Crescent St., Sackville Industrial Park
> Tel. (506) 364-4960 [Call: (506) 364-4960] , Fax (506) 364-4978 [Call:
> (506) 364-4978]
>
> Jon Eppell, Town Engineer
> j.eppell@sackville.com
>
> Michelle Sherwood, Superintendent of Public Works
> m.sherwood@sackville.com
> Bylaw Enforcement
>
> Corey Springer, By-Law Enforcement Officer
> bylaw@sackville.com (506) 364-4930 [Call: (506) 364-4988]
>
> Jaime Spicer, Animal Control Officer
> Tel. (506)536-7671 [Call: (506) 364-9199]
> Sackville Fire & Rescue
>
> 31B Main St.
> Emergency: 911
>
> Craig Bowser, Fire Chief
> c.bowser@sackville.com, (506) 364-4988 [Call: (506) 364-4988]
>
> Mike Green, Deputy Fire Chief
> m.green@sackville.com, (506) 364-4987
> RCMP
>
> RCMP Sergeant
> Sgt. Eric Hanson
> 31A Main Street
> Emergency: 911
> Daytime non-emergency: (506) 533-5151
> After Hours, Weekends and holidays non-emergency:
> 1-888-506-7267 (English)
> 1-888-506-1472 (French)
>
> Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-8477 (tips)
> Text: CRIMES(274637) KEYWORD tip252
> Crimestoppers.ca
>
> Community Program Officer
> Position currently vacant
> 31A Main Street
> Email: (community program inquiries only)
>
> Plan 360
> Tantramar District
> 131 H rue Main Street
> Sackville, N-B, E4L 4B2 Canada
> (506) 364-4701 [Call: (506) 364-4701]
> plan360.ca
>
>
> Phil Handrahan resigns as Sackville’s Chief Administrative Officer
> Posted on September 11, 2019 by brucewark
>
> CAO Phil Handrahan chastises critics at Monday’s council meeting
>
> After more than six years on the job, Phil Handrahan has submitted his
> resignation as the Town of Sackville’s Chief Administrative Officer
> (CAO).
>
> Mayor John Higham informed councillors in an e-mail yesterday that
> Handrahan’s resignation will take effect at the end of February.
>
> Handrahan became Sackville’s CAO in May 2013 after a 30-year career
> with the city of Charlottetown where he had been serving as director
> of fiscal and development services.
>
> Neither the mayor nor Handrahan himself have returned phone calls so
> the reasons for the CAO’s resignation are not clear.
>
> Councillor Bill Evans, who serves on the town’s personnel committee,
> said that he’s personally not surprised at Handrahan’s departure.
>
> “When he came here,” Evans said, “his plan was to be here for a term,”
> he added. “My understanding is that his intention was to be here for
> five years.”
>
> Evans said he’s grateful that Handrahan, whom he described as “an
> experienced administrator,” actually stayed a bit longer.
>
> “I’ve been really pleased with his professionalism and the
> professionalism he’s brought to the town,” Evans said, adding that
> Handrahan clarified the roles of town staff and council.
>
> Evans said the personnel committee knew about Handrahan’s decision to
> resign well before Monday night’s council meeting when the CAO
> uncharacteristically chastised a member of the public and Councillor
> Shawn Mesheau for raising questions about how the town evaluates the
> events it sponsors.
>
> Shelley Chase, owner of Garrison Hill Entertainment
>
> During the public question period, Shelley Chase, owner of an
> entertainment booking agency, asked what measurement system the town
> uses to calculate benefits to residents versus expenditures.
>
> She pointed out, for example, that the town spent $9,035.50 to stage a
> Joel Plaskett concert that attracted 180 people. Chase said revenues
> amounted to only $5,750 producing what she called a “net financial
> loss of $3,385.”
>
> Mayor Higham objected to her use of the word “loss.”
>
> “It’s not a loss of money, it’s an investment by the community to
> deliver a service that doesn’t make a profit,” Higham said. “It’s not
> a loss as you described it,” the mayor added. “We’ll describe that
> there’s a difference between the revenue and the amount of cost
> attached to it.”
>
> Higham said that similar questions arise over the town’s subsidies for
> the rink at the Civic Centre.
>
> CAO Handrahan then said that it’s up to council to decide on town
> spending for events and besides, the town is not a profit-making
> organization.
>
> “It’s not whether or not we’re making money,” Handrahan said. “We
> don’t charge for roads, we don’t charge 100% for the arena, we don’t
> charge for sidewalks, we’re not trying to make a dollar on events.”
>
> Councillor Shawn Mesheau
>
> After Handrahan accused Chase of not understanding what the town does,
> Councillor Shawn Mesheau said it’s important to evaluate municipal
> services.
>
> “As a councillor, I would hope to get the information so that when
> budget time comes, that an evaluation could be done to help a
> determination be made in regards to a line item in the budget,”
> Mesheau said.
>
> Handrahan replied that all information is supplied during budget
> deliberations. “And you as a former member of council know that,” he
> said referring to Mesheau’s previous years on council.
>
> Handrahan added that council votes on all expenditures. “So, you’re
> the evaluator. You ask us what to do. We’re doing what you’ve asked us
> to do,” he said, adding, “You ask more questions than anybody. We
> answer them as best as we can to try and give you the information. To
> make that statement suggests that we’re just going off willy nilly
> spending money without a care,” the CAO said to Mesheau. “That’s
> unfair.”
>
> Mesheau replied that he hadn’t said that.
>
> “You said ‘needs to be evaluated,’ you should listen to what you just
> said,” Handrahan replied. “You’re implying that we’re just spending
> money and we don’t care.”
>
> “Wow,” Mesheau said.
>
> “Wow is right,” Handrahan answered as their testy exchange ended.
>
> As per my calls I trust that the Mayors of Norton, Sackville and Port
> Elgin should not deny my sending this email EH Higgy?
>
> Charity McDonald
> <charitymcd@gmail.com> Wed, Nov 2, 2022 at 9:58 PM
> To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> Thanks for the call last eve, the conversation was quite interesting.
> Just wanted to let you know, I did get your email, am reading through
> it…will take some time, as there is a lot to read, and listen too, but
> will read as I get opportunity to do so.
>
> Take care and have a great eve, will chat again,
> Charity
> - Hide quoted text -
>
> David Amos
> <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
> To: walcorn54@gmail.com, cclark76@hotmail.ca,
> Randal_McKnight@yahoo.ca, johnurquart73@gmail.com,
> charitymcd@gmail.com, cbgillis@hotmail.com, stephenpmuir@outlook.com,
> jeffgaunce@villageofnorton.com
> <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, j.burke@sackville.com,
> info@villageofportelgin.com, lise.babineau@rcmp-grc.gc.ca, "Mitton,
> Megan (LEG)" <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>, "Marco.Mendicino"
> <Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca>, vnorton <vnorton@nbnet.nb.ca>,
> p.handrahan@sackville.com, j.higham@sackville.com,
> t.cole@sackville.com, alfwal@nbnet.nb.ca, "bruce.wark"
> <bruce.wark@bellaliant.net>, simon.serge@kanesatake.ca,
> "harjit.sajjan" <harjit.sajjan@parl.gc.ca>, "carolyn.bennett"
> <carolyn.bennett@parl.gc.ca>, jean-francois.leblanc@rcmp-
> Cc: motomaniac333 <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, "Ross.Wetmore"
> <Ross.Wetmore@gnb.ca>, "Bill.Oliver" <Bill.Oliver@gnb.ca>,
> "Gary.Crossman" <Gary.Crossman@gnb.ca>, "John.Williamson"
> <John.Williamson@parl.gc.ca>, "rob.moore" <rob.moore@parl.gc.ca>
>
>
> https://davidraymondamos3.
>
>
> Wednesday, 2 November 2022
>
> Local elections get enough candidates for functioning councils
>
>
> ---------- Original message ----------
> From: "Higgs, Premier Blaine (PO/CPM)" <Blaine.Higgs@gnb.ca>
> Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2022 17:56:36 +0000
> Subject: RE: Mr Handrahan I just called again tell your Mayor and his
> friends in the RCMP to start lining up lawyers
> To: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
>
> Hello,
>
> Thank you for taking the time to write.
>
> Due to the volume of incoming messages, this is an automated response
> to let you know that your email has been received and will be reviewed
> at the earliest opportunity.
>
> If your inquiry more appropriately falls within the mandate of a
> Ministry or other area of government, staff will refer your email for
> review and consideration.
>
> Merci d'avoir pris le temps de nous écrire.
>
> En raison du volume des messages reçus, cette réponse automatique vous
> informe que votre courriel a été reçu et sera examiné dans les
> meilleurs délais.
>
> Si votre demande relève plutôt du mandat d'un ministère ou d'un autre
> secteur du gouvernement, le personnel vous renverra votre courriel
> pour examen et considération.
>
>
> If this is a Media Request, please contact the Premier’s office at
> (506) 453-2144 or by email
> media-medias@gnb.ca<mailto:med
>
> S’il s’agit d’une demande des médias, veuillez communiquer avec le
> Cabinet du premier ministre au 506-453-2144.
>
>
>
> Office of the Premier/Cabinet du premier ministre
> P.O Box/C. P. 6000 Fredericton New-Brunswick/Nouveau-
> Canada
> Tel./Tel. : (506) 453-2144
> Email/Courriel:
> premier@gnb.ca/premier.
>
>
>
> ---------- Original message ----------
> From: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
> Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2022 14:54:45 -0300
> Subject: Re: Mr Handrahan I just called again tell your Mayor and his
> friends in the RCMP to start lining up lawyers
> To: "blaine.higgs" <blaine.higgs@gnb.ca>, j.burke@sackville.com,
> info@villageofportelgin.com, lise.babineau@rcmp-grc.gc.ca, "Mitton,
> Megan (LEG)" <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>, "Marco.Mendicino"
> <Marco.Mendicino@parl.gc.ca>, vnorton@nbnet.nb.ca
> Cc: p.handrahan@sackville.com, j.higham@sackville.com,
> t.cole@sackville.com, alfwal@nbnet.nb.ca, motomaniac333
> <motomaniac333@gmail.com>, "bruce.wark" <bruce.wark@bellaliant.net>,
> simon.serge@kanesatake.ca, "harjit.sajjan" <harjit.sajjan@parl.gc.ca>,
> "carolyn.bennett" <carolyn.bennett@parl.gc.ca>,
> jean-francois.leblanc@rcmp-
>
> On 7/8/19, David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com> wrote
>
>
> ---------- Original message ----------
> From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
> Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2019 14:54:57 -0400
> Subject: Fwd: Mr Handrahan I just called again tell your Mayor and his
> friends in the RCMP to start lining up lawyers
> To: b.phinney@sackville.com, m.tower@sackville.com,
> j.oneil@sackville.com, b.evans@sackville.com, a.butcher@sackville.com,
> a.black@sackville.com, r.aiken@sackville.com
> Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
> <premier@gnb.ca>, premier <premier@ontario.ca>, Newsroom
> <Newsroom@globeandmail.com>, "steve.murphy" <steve.murphy@ctv.ca>,
> "Jacques.Poitras" <Jacques.Poitras@cbc.ca>, "David.Akin"
> <David.Akin@globalnews.ca>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
> Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2019 14:11:16 -0400
> Subject: Mr Handrahan I just called again tell your Mayor and his
> friends in the RCMP to start lining up lawyers
> To: p.handrahan@sackville.com, j.higham@sackville.com,
> t.cole@sackville.com, alfwal@nbnet.nb.ca
> Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
> <bruce.wark@bellaliant.net>, simon.serge@kanesatake.ca,
> "harjit.sajjan" <harjit.sajjan@parl.gc.ca>, "carolyn.bennett"
> <carolyn.bennett@parl.gc.ca>, jean-francois.leblanc@rcmp-
>
> https://warktimes.com/2019/07/
>
>
> https://warktimes.com/2017/08/
>
> Paul Gagne, RCMP Sergeant
>
> 31A Main Street
> Emergency: 911
> Local: 533-5151 (0800-1600 hours)
> After Hours: 1-800-665-6663 [Call: 1-800-665-6663]
> Crime Stoppers: 1-800-222-8477(tips)
> Text: CRIMES(274637) KEYWORD tip252
> Crimestoppers.ca
>
> Jean-Francois LeBlanc, RCMP Community Program Officer
>
> 31A Main Street
> Office Directly: 506-364-5107
> Cell: 506-874-0010
>
> Alf Walker 1st Vice President
> RCL Branch 26
> 506 364 7766 cell
> 506 364 1093 fax
> 506 536 0304 home
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
> Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2019 22:34:13 -0400
> Subject: Megan Mitton must know who Sally Cunliffe is by now
> To: abordage@rogers.com, oldmaison <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, andre
> <andre@jafaust.com>, lenorezannmla <lenorezannmla@bellaliant.com>
> "don.darling" <don.darling@saintjohn.ca>, "Dale.Morgan"
> <Dale.Morgan@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, "Roger.Brown"
> <Roger.Brown@fredericton.ca>, "martin.gaudet"
> <martin.gaudet@fredericton.ca>
> <mike.obrien@fredericton.ca>, "dominic.leblanc.c1"
> <dominic.leblanc.c1@parl.gc.ca
> Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos333@gmail.
> (LEG)" <megan.mitton@gnb.ca>, "Larry.Tremblay"
> <Larry.Tremblay@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
> <Mark.Blakely@rcmp-grc.gc.ca>, "warren.mcbeath"
> <warren.mcbeath@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
> <hon.ralph.goodale@canada.ca>
>
> https://davidraymondamos3.
>
> Saturday, 29 June 2019
>
> Controversial political party greeted by vocal protesters in Saint John
>
>
> https://twitter.com/
>
> David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
> Replying to @DavidRayAmos @alllibertynews and 49 others
> Methinks everybody knows that the wacko Sally Cunliffe has to learn
> some new tricks before the RCMP pull out a Section 10 document on her
> or prosecute her under Section 300 N'esy Pas?
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?
>
>
> #cdnpoli #nbpoli
>
>
> indiemediaeastcoastcanada.
>
>
> METHINKS FOLKS SHOULD SCROLL DOWN IF THEY WISH TO READ THE ENTIRE
> EMAIL N'ESY PAS?
>
>
> ---------- Orginal message ----------
> From: "Mitton, Megan (LEG)" <Megan.Mitton@gnb.ca>
> Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2019 17:44:52 +0000
> Subject: Automatic reply: RE Canadian Truths I would lay odds that
> Megan Mitton knows Sally Cunliffe I know for a fact that Andre Faust
> certainly does
> To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
>
> Thank you for your email. MLA Megan Mitton is out of the office and
> will return the week of July 8th. We appreciate your patience, and
> will read your email as soon as possible. If you require assistance
> promptly, please email Alice Cotton, Constituency Coordinator
> (alice.cotton@gnb.ca). For more urgent matters, you can also call the
> office at (506) 378-1565. Merci pour votre courriel. La députée Megan
> Mitton sera absente du bureau et reviendra la semaine du 8 juillet.
> Nous apprécions votre patience, et nous lirons votre courriel dès que
> possible. Si vous avez besoin d'aide plus rapidement, veuillez envoyer
> un courriel à Alice Cotton, coordonnatrice de circonscription
> (alice.cotton@gnb.ca). Pour des questions plus urgentes, vous pouvez
> également appeler le bureau au (506) 378-1565.
>
>
>
>
>
> Eastcoast Blogger
> petitcodiac... check into werner bock .. a farmer there
>
> David Amos
> How stupid are you trolls?
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?
>
> David Amos
> "did you ever meet charlie leblanc? he's a blogger downeast too.. not
> a bright guy but apparently famous"
> DUHHH????
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?
>
> David Amos Yo Sally why did ya delete the link to your hero Chucky
> Leblanc yapping about me in Federal Court?
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?
>
> Kata List Productions
> You're confused... you keep repeating comments about deleted
> comments.. why? No one is listening to your mad crazy shit Dave.
>
> David Amos
> @Kata List Productions I see you put the link to Chucky's bragging
> back after you reminded the folks about you versus Chucky Leblanc and
> his butt buddy Andre Faust of Occupy NB N'esy Pas Sally Baby?
>
> Eastcoast Blogger
> Occupy is full of commi.. but you are a class of something else.... a
> troll with brain damage most likely.
>
> David Amos
> @Eastcoast Blogger Methinks mindless Trolls such as yourself must
> resort to ad hominem insults when they run out of hot air and BS N'esy
> Pas?
>
> Kata List Productions
> Werner Bock - farmer / rancher immigrant from Germany.. look into it
> Dave...
>
> David Amos
> @Kata List Productions Methinks everybody and his dog and particularly
> your RCMP buddies in Petiticodiac know that I know your pal Werner
> Bock very well N'esy Pas?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> David Amos
> Methinks the RCMP should go figure why I saved this video N'esy Pas Sally
> Baby?
>
>
>
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?
>
>
>
> Town of Sackville - Facebook Censors
> 11 views
>
> Eastcoast Blogger
> Published on Jun 13, 2019
> Censored and taking notes, described by the important people as: " low
> class " - "unimportant " - a "troublemaker "..
>
>
> 2 Comments
>
>
> David Amos
> Yo Sally Baby ask yourself why I saved this nonsense of yours?
> Reply
>
> Eastcoast Blogger
> Because you're an obsessed lil dude?
>
>
> David Amos
> "Comments are disabled for this video."
>
> TOO LATE and TOO TOO FUNNY
>
>
>
> CNP - Canadian Nationalist Party - Trav Patron
>
>
> https://youtu.be/8RQvA-Ox20s
>
>
>
>
> Kata List Productions
> Published on May 28, 2019
>
> #travpatron #cnp #nationalist #canadiannationalistparty
>
> http://nationalist.ca
>
> The Canadian Nationalist Party (CNP) is a political party operating in
> the federal jurisdiction of Canada. Our constituency advocates for a
> constitutional monarchy within Canada, governed domestically rather
> than through the British Crown. We advocate for an ethnocentric Canada
> because we believe any political stance is rooted in identitarianism.
> That is, the unifying factor of a nation is understood to be a common
> tradition, lineage, and language. This is a movement based on the
> principles of the Christian traditions inherent in the history of
> Canada.
>
> 3 Comments
>
> Kata List Productions (edited)
> CBC talked to Trav Patron in 2018 .. leader of CNP - Canadian Nationalist
> Party
> Reply
> David Amos
> Say Hey to Trav and your buddies in the RCMP for me will ya?
>
> David Amos
> Eastcoast Blogger David Raymond Amos -- they won't answer your emails
> about me .. gosh .. honey.. why do you think that could be old man?
> hahaha! Reply David Amos @Eastcoast Blogger Now that is truly funny
> because I am about to send them another email about YOU. FYI I just
> talked to your buddy Travis Patron (306 700 2193) about the RCMP
> Methinks you maybe the evil hate monger helping him on YouTube N'esy
> Pas?
>
> http://
>
> Sunday, 7 July 2019
>
> CNP - Canadian Nationalist Party - Trav Patron
>
> https://youtu.be/8RQvA-Ox20s
>
> #travpatron #cnp #nationalist #canadiannationalistparty
>
> http://nationalist.ca The Canadian Nationalist Party (CNP) is a
> political party operating in the federal jurisdiction of Canada. Our
> constituency advocates for a constitutional monarchy within Canada,
> governed domestically rather than through the British Crown. We
> advocate for an ethnocentric Canada because we believe any political
> stance is rooted in identitarianism. That is, the unifying factor of a
> nation is understood to be a common tradition, lineage, and language.
> This is a movement based on the principles of the Christian traditions
> inherent in the history of Canada.
>
>
> https://www.cbc.ca/news/
>
>
>
> RCMP launch hate crime probe of leader of nationalist group vying for
> party status in federal election
> Elections Canada gives Canadian Nationalist Party until mid-July to
> meet requirements
>
> Dave Seglins, Andreas Wesley, Carly Thomas · CBC News · Posted: Jun
> 28, 2019 4:00 AM ET
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2018 10:45:57 -0400
> Subject: Fwd: So what does Premier Gallant and Minister Doucet et al
> think of my lawsuit? How about David Coon and his blogging buddy
> Chucky joking about being illegally barred from parliamentary property
> To: j.higham@sackville.com
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2018 09:59:24 -0400
> Subject: Fwd: So what does Premier Gallant and Minister Doucet et al
> think of my lawsuit? How about David Coon and his blogging buddy
> Chucky joking about being illegally barred from parliamentary property
> To: Ernie.Steeves@gnb.ca, Sherry.Wilson@gnb.ca,
> Keirstead.Brian@gnb.ca, "Ross.Wetmore" <Ross.Wetmore@gnb.ca>,
> Gary.Crossman@gnb.ca, Glen.Savoie@gnb.ca, Trevor.Holder@gnb.ca,
> Dorothy.Shephard@gnb.ca, Ed.Doherty@gnb.ca, Bill.Oliver@gnb.ca,
> John.Ames@gnb.ca, "michael.bray" <michael.bray@
> Jody.Carr@gnb.ca, Pam.Lynch@gnb.ca, Jeff.Carr@gnb.ca,
> Carl.Urquhart@gnb.ca, Stewart.Fairgrieve@gnb.ca, Andrew.Harvey@gnb.ca,
> Chuck.Chiasson@gnb.ca, Madeleine.Dube@gnb.ca, Francine.Landry@gnb.ca
> Cc: David Amos <david.raymond.amos@gmail.com>
> <dan.bussieres@gnb.ca>, "brian.gallant" <brian.gallant@gnb.ca>,
> "Dominic.Cardy" <Dominic.Cardy@gnb.ca>, oldmaison
> <oldmaison@yahoo.com>, andre <andre@jafaust.com>, tj <tj@burkelaw.ca>,
> "chris.collins" <chris.collins@gnb.ca>, "David.Coon"
> <David.Coon@gnb.ca>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Gallant, Premier Brian (PO/CPM)" <Brian.Gallant@gnb.ca>
> Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2016 17:05:07 +0000
> Subject: RE: So what does Premier Gallant and Minister Doucet et al
> think of my lawsuit? How about David Coon and his blogging buddy
> Chucky joking about being illegally barred from parliamentary property
> To: David Amos <motomaniac333@gmail.com>
>
> Thank you for writing to the Premier of New Brunswick.
> Please be assured that your email has been received, will be reviewed,
> and a response will be forthcoming.
> Once again, thank you for taking the time to write.
>
> Merci d'avoir communiqué avec le premier ministre du Nouveau-Brunswick.
> Soyez assuré que votre courriel a bien été reçu, qu'il sera examiné
> et qu'une réponse vous sera acheminée.
> Merci encore d'avoir pris de temps de nous écrire.
>
> Sincerely, / Sincèrement,
> Mallory Fowler
> Correspondence Manager / Gestionnaire de la correspondance
> Office of the Premier / Cabinet du premier ministre
>
This is one more example of ‘bikeshedding’. Elected officials should focus on the important stuff (like climate change) but instead waste time on fibreglass birds.
https://whatsthepont.blog/2011/11/06/bikeshedding-prospering-in-your-committees-parkinsons-law-of-triviality/
Great little video Harold as it certainly relates to the lack of communication and discussion with citizens and councillors here in town with major projects, like the current $5 million flood mitigation project that is about to get underway.
The plans, as drawn, will effectively reverse the Industrial Park area storm water flow by sending it towards town and into the existing water holding pond adjacent St James Street. That major fact was not revealed by the consultant.
The project will also enable siltation to totally seal off the outlet at Aboiteau AB-01, behind Russell Metals that discharges into the Tantramar River, within the first year, because the existing flow of flushing storm water will be taken away.
We will then only have ONE working aboiteau, that being the undersized AB-02 behind Armtec, to evacuate storm water from our downtown area. Methinks this is ‘bikeshedding’ at it’s best when $5 million is being spent on a project that will only worsen our possibility of storm water flooding and so little time is being spent actually having this very expensive project explained to anyone.
Now back to BIG BIRD!
Everything is art and art is everything.
I think most locals realize that this complaint is just the result of a sore loser.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Let’s get real. Move the bird to another place. Bigger fish to fry. No, make that birds not fish.
Sandpiper Shep has driven the council Koo Koo . There is no turning back from Koo Koo .
Is this a case of citizens overriding council? Well, perhaps and so be it as council refuses to listen and rather enjoys dictating.
A tempest in a teapot! Just another example of casuistry employed to bury historic realities. The construction and seating of the now iconic Shep was instituted under the authority of the Village of Dorchester ‘s Village Council, long before Premier Higg’s municipality act reconfigured the landscape of New Brunswick, bolstered by its removal of the new entities’ powers to self-govern in full (such as barring citizens from asking questions at Council meetings!)
When Shep was unseated for concerns about its decay, the monument was still within the authority of the Village Council. And, I would daresay, was the idea to replace it. Little did the villagers expect that they would be left bereft of seeing that aspiration realized by the political maneuvering of their provincial government. Let’s imagine, for example, that the Sackville water tower were to be tumbled by a tornado. Would the township of Tantramar be forbidden from proposing a replacement of the crucial infrastructure? Yet the once independent town had provided one half the cost of the $2,430,242 project.
The point is that the refurbished Shep has a right to be put back on her throne, and I for one, would be happy to help to see that happen, as I suspect a number of others in the area would be so inclined. Not a donation! A restoration! Just the way it was and should be. Down with casuistry!
Peter – Thank you. That is exactly the point.
People, people people ! What are you thinking? :”Shep” the sandpiper is more than bronze, wood or fiberglass. Shep didn’t even star in the 1965 movie THE SANDPIPER, about a cross-cultural; marriage. Shep isn’t even about Jessica Glasner’s timeless World War Two story the Voyage of the Sandpiper.’ Shep in fact represents three decades of the whole village of Dorchester striving to protect and promote their unique place in history. Shep is indeed the result of hard work, many meetings, a school auditorium filled with everyone, and of every age from Rock Port to Breau Creek. A total commitment from a tri cultural village mostly shunned by Sackville and even recorded in the former Town of Sackville’s Town meetings. The impetus and the work of involved citizens kept councilors and their mayor darting back forth like the Sandpipers at Johnson’s Mills . Then one day the tide came in for the Village.. It is a certain irony that the Sandpiper Festival was launched by controversy ranching from a cartoon of the Mayor promoting a “leviathan piper:” to be erected in the square to international rage that the famous Sandpiper Stew would include actual sandpipers. Finishing off by assuring everyone that there also was no Mud from Johnson’s Mills in the mud pie desert.. Today due to no small part transmitted through the internet the image of Shep Dorchester is part of the Fundy Biosphere Reserve includes the local local school as a UNESCO sponsored educational site helping maintain the world class foot print that Doug Howe wrote for the Reader digest. In the year 2017 Federal and provincial governments chose Dorchester to celebrate the 150th Anniversary. At a historical heritage fair where five Dorchester students won the staggering amount of $700 dollars for their Bi-centennial essays. If if you can erect a bronze Cattail statute. I think SHEP even If just fiberglass deserves a place in local history. The Dorchester D-Day Dodgers who when serving on village council meetings around a couple of card tables all the while debating with great dissonance to prove who was right, but how to protect the truth. I know by the 1970’s my Dad and others were wondering if winning was worth the price they paid.. Duty and self reliance coupled with courage and loyalty now substituted by actions that involved replacing what worked with what sounded good. This is for another day_ EDUCATION.
Totally off topic, but I just saw your name. I’m assuming you are the teacher Mr. Feindel.
I was a student of yours in the late ’90s in Dorchester and just wanted
to say thank you for everything you did while I was a student. I loved
your classes!
Lynsey you are most welcome. Those days were the best of times because students like yourself were very self reliant and had solid footing to leap forward into the world. Junior high high was the best fun ever. Take care
Terrific to see the good people of Dorchester take the initiative and instal their bird. Well done. I am fan of this worthwhile artwork [no plaques about climate change needed]. There is definitely money to cover costs for installation – lots and lots of money right? Remember what Mayor Shawn Mesheau was quoted as saying:
““We are setting the foundation for the generations to come. How exciting is that!” declared mayoralty candidate Shawn Mesheau. “Our population will be 9,100 and our tax base $1 billion.” Maybe we should get this little quote made in to fridge magnets to distribute throughout Tantramarshire.