Senior Gets 5 Years In Federal Prison For Sex Crimes

69 year old John Joseph Allain of Nauwigewauk being sentened to 5 years in federal prison for five sex crimes that spanned over a 20 year period.

He pleaded guilty to having sex with a girl under the age of 14 back in the 1960's and four acts of sexual assault against 4 other girls from 1960 to 1982.

Lead RCMP Investigator in the case Const. Simon Jones tells CHSJ News the judge characterized the case accurately when he described Allain's actions as "predatory."

Allain will also be added to the sex offender registry.

Potash Spills After Derailment Near Causeway

The General Manager of Potashcorp New Brunswick says about 50 tonnes of potash did spill after a train derailment overnight on the track behind Crown street.

Stewart Brown tells CHSJ News that CN Rail was pulling  several loaded rail cars from the potash terminal and as they were making the turn by the causeway 8 cars came off the track and 4 tipped over.

He says potash is not a hazardous product but their first priority after making sure the NB Southern Railway crews were safe was to bring in some vacuum trucks and clean up the potash.

The Department of the Environment has also been at the site to investigate.
6 of the 8 derailed cars are back on the track and the remaining two should be back in service tonight.

West Side Candidate Wants to Create Jobs

Common sense solutions--that's what Ward 1 candidate Blake Armstrong wants for Saint John. He says he's a a proud West Sider and businessman. According to him,the city needs to be run with more business-sense if we want it to grown.

He tells CHSJ News that jobs have developed into a major problem for West Siders, and he wants to solve that.

He also says there needs to be clearer leadership at city hall, because without a captain, the ship is going down.

Calling For Regulation and Legislation For Tanning Salons

The Canadian Cancer Society is calling on the provincial government to bring in laws to protect teens from tanning too young.

Rosemary Boyle of the Saint John chapter says an evalution by the Department of Health finds 55 per cent of the salons evaluated would have let someone under the age of 18 use their tanning beds.

She says it's important to get the message out that there is no safe tan and youth are particularly vulnerable to the cumulative effects of uv exposure.

Boyle adds the Department of Health evaluation also found that 75 per cent of the salons failed to display the mandatory health warnings.

Capital Budgets Will Be Planned Ahead Over 5 Years

City Planner Ken Forrest says the capital budget will be planned ahead for the next five years in order to deal with the harsh reality of shrinking budgets and tough economic times.

Forrest tells CHSJ News Common Council is being advised not to pre-approve any projects in the 2013 capital program without making appropriate adjustments to the five year plan.  He says careful planning in the capital budget will help keep the tax rate down.

He adds more rigour needs to be applied to the approval process to ensure that the most important projects are approved and we can afford the infrastructure we already have.

Former Mayor Favours Radical Change To City's Pension Woes

Former Mayor Shirley McAlary, who is running for Councillor at large, says there will have to be changes made to the city's pension plan and she would favour changing it from defined benefits to defined contributions.

Such a change would have to be approved in the Legislature and would, no doubt, be opposed by the civic unions.

Another concern McAlary has is the amount of debt being carried by the city which she says has exceeded 100 million dollars.

McAlary decided not to run for Mayor because she tells CHSJ News she didn't want a fulltime commitment.

No Environmental Damage from Train Derailment

No word on why a train carrying potash derailed along Crown Street near Coast Tire. Crews on the scene for Southern New Brunswick Railway are referring all inquiries to J-D Irving. 

City Police are calling it a major derailment, although the fire department wasn't called, with 4 potash cars lying on their sides and 8 more are off the tracks but no one was hurt, there was no spillage and traffic along Crown is not blocked.

CHSJ News phoned the Transportation Safety Board but was told it was the first they had heard about it and requested information from us.

Train Derails Off Crown Street

(Photo Courtesy of Bill Conley)

An investigation will be launched into why a train carrying potash derailed along Crown Street in the south end. 

City Police are reporting 4 potash cars are lying on their sides and 8 more are off the tracks but no one was hurt, there was no spillage of potash and traffic along Crown is not blocked.


The stormy weather last night made driving difficult. Police are telling CHSJ News there were 18 collisions. 

One of the accidents at the Rothesay Avenue ramp onto the MacKay Highway ground traffic to a virtual standstill for about an hour and a half.

Education Critic Says Jody Carr Has Double Standards

Liberal Education Critic Hédard Albert says the Education Minister is favouring schools that are in Tory ridings.

Albert tells CHSJ News the minister will follow the recommendation of school boards as long as it doesn't affect regions that favour the Conservatives.

He says Juniper Elementary School was poised to be closed but Carr overruled that decision.  In the meantime, two schools in the Acadian Peninsula are scheduled to be closed down.

He says such a double standard is unacceptable.

Train Derails In City

(Photo Courtesy Of Bill Conley)

A train carrying potash has derailed along Crown Street in the south end. 

City Police telling CHSJ News 4 potash cars are lying on their sides and 8 more are off the tracks but no one was injured and traffic is not blocked.

The bad weather last night made driving treacherous. Police are reporting there were 18 collisions. 

One of the accidents at the Rothesay Avenue ramp onto the MacKay Highway ground traffic to a virtual standstill for about an hour and a half.