Defeated MLA's Can Clean Up In Pensions After Election

(Retiring MLA Stuart Jamieson)

The price tag for pensions for MLA's defeated on Monday or who chose not to run this fall is staggering according the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Kevin Lacey tells CHSJ News the calculation is for estimated lifetime pension based on the average age of a person in this province.


He says they found MLA's could earn over 7.5 million dollars now that the election is over.
Lacey adds outgoing Liberal MLA Stuart Jamieson can potentially earn over 77-thousand dollars annually and more than 1.3 million dollars in an estimated lifetime benefit.

Family Of Lost Fisherman Upset Over The Search

It may shock you to hear that it was seven months ago, the scallop dragger "The Whole Family" went missing off St. Martin's with two fisherman aboard.
The family of Whitehead Island fisherman, Corey Cossaboom, is unhappy with the investigation by the department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Mirjam Cossaboom, Corey's mother, tells CHSJ News more could have been done.

She says they did search but, it took a long time and she has been told not to say too much because someone could sue her family.
Cossaboom and Federal MP Greg Thompson are hosting a news conference at the Saint John Police Association building on Charlotte street tomorrow morning at 11.

Common Councillor Says We Have To Grow Up Rather Than Out

(Common Councillor Donnie Snook)
              (File Photo)

Saint Johnners will be asked to give more input to the city as it comes up with a new municipal plan to guide future development. This latest brainstorming session will be taking place at Simonds High on October 14th.

Common Councillor Donnie Snook says the wave of the future will be to grow upwards and not outwards so Saint Johnners will have to get used to high rises which have run into opposition in the past.

Snook says, in other cities, you see residential development being built on top of existing businesses which are located on the ground floor and maybe that can be considered for some of the flat roof buildings in the uptown if they're structurally strong enough.

The possibility has also been left open for residential development to go on top of the new parking garage that is destined to be built at Peel Plaza.

Snook says he can also see the court building on Charlotte Street being turned into residential development when the new justice complex opens up at Peel Plaza.

License Approved For UNB

UNB in Fredericton has been issued a new Class 1 air quality approval to operate its central heating plant.

The company's current approval expires at the end of next month.

The central heating plant has four industrial sized boilers...one wood waste fired boiler, two oil fired boilers and one multi-fuelled boiler.

It supplies steam to the majority of the university's buildings and several others including St. Thomas University and the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital.

More Of Your Feed-Back Is Requested

Plan SJ wants more of your input in the development of a new municipal plan which will be a roadmap to future development for the next generation.


A meeting is scheduled October 14th at Simonds High where you can get your two cents worth in.


Common Councillor Donnie Snook says the time has come for Saint Johnners to get used to high rise residential development.


The possibility has been left open for residential development to be built on top of the new parking garage to be built as part of Peel Plaza.

Maintenance Project At Irving Oil Refinery Underway

At a cost of $72 million dollars, the Irving Oil Refinery has begun a fall maintenance project.


1200 additional workers are giving a full inspection to major processing units at the facility until the middle of November.

The units being worked on include the number three crude unit and sulphur plant.

Officials point out the maintenance work will not disrupt it's regular schedules or customers needs.

The extra workers are trades-people from all across the Province and the country.

KV Chamber Set To Hand Out Hardware

Small Business Week is being celebrated by the KV Chamber of Commerce by handing out some awards next month.

16 pieces of hardware will be awarded in four categories including two special merit awards to Homestar Inc. and Culligan of Rothesay.

A few of the nominated businesses include Dairy Queen, Simply For Life, Informative Computer Solutions and Seaside Transportation Services Inc.

The award ceremony is scheduled for Oct.20th at the Riverside Golf and Country Club.

Power Lost In A Good Portion Of Uptown Saint John

Power has been re-stored after a wide-spread outage rocked most of the metro area this morning.

It was just after 8:30am that Saint John Energy had a problem with it's power station on Union Street.


President and CEO Eric Marr tells CHSJ News, power was lost after a bus-duct, which connects the transformer to switching gear failed.

Crews quickly isolated the problem, called NB Power and asked them to start sending electricity back through the system.

The outage lasted for less than an hour.


No official word on how many customers were with-out electricity but Marr estimates it was close to eight thousand homes and businesses.

Leadership Tips For High School Students

(Former District 8 Education Rep Elizabeth Murphy now at St. Thomas University)

                       (Photo by Tamara Steele)

It's not a shock that finding new ways to encourage young people to take on leadership roles is an uphill battle.

A former District 8 Education council representative believes it's about resources and overcoming challenges.

Elizabeth Murphy tells CHSJ News it's very important to collaborate well with others and communication in student government is a big challenge.

Murphy was last year's high school representative and is now at student at St. Thomas University. She advises the best resources for high school leaders are people including your principal.