Ward 4 Candiate Says City Is In Shambles

He works for the province and lives in Glen Falls but Mark Leblanc is willing to make tough choices if elected to common council.
Ward 4 candidate  Mark Leblanc tells CHSJ News the City of Saint John is in shambles.

He says the current state is not any one council's fault adding it goes back years and years.

Leblanc has four main priorities for Saint John which are Emergency Services, Roads, Leisure Services and clean drinking water.

Clark To Re-Offer In Quispam

Quispamsis councillor Gary Clark is hoping to be back in Landing Court as of May 14th.

He tells CHSJ News the constituents he talks to and council itself are pleased the town's council was able to reduce taxes.

He says the qplex is a great addition to the town, recreation is going well so for the most part things in the community are positive.

Clark says he offered his name for council in the first place because he wants to give back to the community where he has lived for more than 30 years.

Common Council Plans To Vote Again On Pension Payment

Common Council will be trying again to put through a 800-thousand dollar pension payment in order to avoid interest charges.

Councillors Bill Farren and Patty Higgins voted down making the payment at the last council meeting but Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase tells CHSJ News a special meeting of council might be called in order to redo the vote.

Chase says Councillor Chris Titus was left early during the last meeting and did not vote on the issue.

He says if Titus votes in favour of making the payment and all others vote the same as before, there will be enough votes to approve the payment and avoid the extra charges.

The meeting is being called for by the Finance Commissioner and Chase says a redo can be had if the matter is important enough

The meeting is tentatively set for Monday.

CME Says Controlling Provincial Spending Is The Right Call

The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters are giving a thumbs up to the province's budget.

VP of the CME for New Brunswick David Plante tells CHSJ News it was important for the province to get it's fiscal house in order by cutting spending before focusing on the economy.

He says there is no silver bullet and there is still work to be done to deal with a 183-million dollar deficit.

Coalition For Pay Equity In Province Underwhelmed

The Alward Government has allocated 6.4 million dollars in the provincial budget for pay equity. How that money will be used hasn't been spelled out.

6.4 million might sound like a lot but Vallie Stearns, who chairs the New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity, is underwhelmed when you consider there are likley more than 20 thousand workers, perhaps as many as 25 thousand, who would be in line for wage adjustments.

In fact, Stearns says it would amount to a coffee a day for those workers affected if the money was just divided up among all the workers who are eligible for wage adjustments.
 
The Coalition is now waiting for the government to finish up and release its job evaluations for pay equity which, she complains, have been delayed.

A Mixed Bag With Gas Prices

You might be paying more for gas after the weekly setting depending what you fill up with.
 
Self serve regular has increased by over 2 cents and is now at $1.36.8 a litre in the city.

 Diesel, meantime, is being sold for $1.38.4 a litre in the city, a drop of over a cent. 

Heating oil is also a bit cheaper at $1.22.2 a litre and propane is now listed at $1.05.5.

Premier Says Province Has Plans To Raise Revenues

Premier David Alward says the province does have plans to raise revenues despite criticisms that the budget was mostly focused on government cuts.

Alward tells CHSJ News a few methods were identified during this speech -- such as raising the property transaction tax and bringing in a 100-million dollars through non-renewable resource royalties.

He says taxes will also be going up for the largest financial institutions which will bring in 5-million dollars but will keep us competitive with the rest of the country.

Alward says he will be making a innovation strategy announcement in the coming days that will generate 2 million dollars for the province.

NDP Leader Finds The Budget Vague

The Leader of the Provincial NDP says the Alward government's second budget lacks clarity.

Dominic Cardy says Finance Minister Blaine Higgs has not been clear on the impact of cutting 4500 government jobs to front-line services.

He tells CHSJ News they want to see the province get rid of corporate welfare which he calls a wildly expensive failure adding this government is one of few that think it works.

He adds the government thinks it can spend its way out of an an economic by throwing money in the hands of corporations who often disappear to other provinces or countries.

Cardy adds there is no focus on the environment in this budget adding Efficiency NB has won international awards yet it's budget gets cut.

Yeomans Blames Deficit on Stock Market

Hindsight is 20/20: that from former finance commissioner Greg Yeomans, who testified at the John Ferguson trial not even the most prudent financial advice could have predicted 2008's stock market crash and subsequent recession.


Yeomans reminded the court that 2008 was one of the worst economic downturns on this planet in 80 years. He said the pension plan experienced a 28.6% investment loss, and that's what created the currently precarious fiscal situation.

He said Saint John isn't alone in its position, hower; last year, Montreal had to put $607 million  into their plan, up from $130 million in 2005, and Regina is similarly strapped. That being said, he  he doesn't believe the city can go bankrupt, because the province would step in under the Municipalities Act.

After Yeoman's testimony, the final witness for pension board lawyer Barry Morrison's took to the stand. City solicitor John Nugent bea trustee of the pension plan in 2003.


Nugent testified integrity is the cornerstone of his professional life, because communications between lawyer and client are sacrosanct. But, said Nugent, that's the code of conduct people should hold themselves to anyway.

Nugent says he wasn't concerned even once he realized the number of disability pensions the board was awarding was significantly higher than the industry standard. He said he didn't worry because he felt confident that all the information had been shared with him, and the board worked to clarify the definition of disability.

The FSL Hamburg Arrives In Saint John

A tanker that picked up three people stranded in waters near Cape Sale Island on Monday night has arrived in Saint John.  The FSL Hamburg has arrived in port this afternoon.

Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says law enforcement agencies have yet to determine if a sailboat carrying nine people off the coast of Nova Scotia was involved in human smuggling.   Three people have made refugee claims.
 
One man pulled from the yacht was pronounced dead in hospital in Yarmouth, N.S.,  where two other men were being treated for their injuries.

Dairytown School Needs Votes In Contest

Sussex Elementary is one of 10 finalists and the only one from this province in the Majesta Trees of Knowledge Competition. 

The winning school will be identified through an online voting process that starts today and runs until May 2nd.

While students can't vote, parents and the greater community can.

Principal Doug Bobbitt is encouraging people to vote daily for the school's applicaton on the Trees of Knowledge website.

If the school wins, they get a $20,000 grant for an outdoor classroom and one lucky voter will win $10,000 dollars just for taking part.

To find the link and vote now, click here

Big Spending Cuts Expected In Federal Budget

The Harper government brings down its budget tomorrow and it's being reported seven billion dollars will be slashed from discretionary spending.

That raises the question of whether spending on infrastructure projects will be scaled back as well.

Saint John M-P Rodney Weston tells CHSJ News that won't happen.  He warns any government that neglects infrastructure will find it will pay for it down the road.

Safe drinking water is the city's top priority and will require big funding help from both the provincial and federal governments.

After examining the 80-billion-dollar discretionary spending envelope, officials found 7.5 per cent in savings or seven billion dollars.

Mayor Finishes Up Gruelling Cross Examination

Mayor Ivan Court clashed with the lawyer for John Ferguson at the former Common Councillor's trial for defamation.

Court admonished Gillis to show him some respect as Mayor and member of Common Council. Gillis was pressing Court on whether he had an obligation to the taxpayer in 2003 to make changes to the city's pension plan.

Court told the jury the city received actuarial advice in 2006 not to make any changes because the plan was in good shape but then the financial collapse happened in 2008. Court also rejects the suggestion of any mismanagement on the part of the Pension Board.

Ferguson's lawyer, Rod Gillis told Court the only people who are losing are the taxpayers but the Mayor disagreed with the suggestion that the pension plans financial woes will drive the city into bankruptcy.

Court admits he was never comfortable with the early retirement buyouts but told the jury Ferguson went down a dangerous road and was reckless.

Fire Call In South End

City fire crews called out around 9:45 last night to a small fire at the corner of Duke and Carmarthen Streets.

John Ferguson Defamation Trial

Armed Robber Sought

City Police releasing a description of the suspect they're looking for in the armed holdup of Sandy's Convenience on Sandy Point Road Sunday afternoon around 5:00.
 
He's described as white, standing from 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 9 with an average build.

At the time of the holdup, he was wearing a black jacket and beige hoodie with a black ball cap, jeans, black shoes and light coloured gloves.

BOT Wants More Details On Investments From Provincial Budget

The Saint John Board of Trade is giving the provincial budget a cautious thumbs up.

BOT Chair John Warrington says he would give the budget a grade of B.

He tells CHSJ News he gives credit to the government for not raising taxes as it would have been an easy way out but more detail was needed on strategic spending and the 10 million dollars being put into Invest NB.

He adds it's important to know how the province is going to grow our economy at a faster pace.

He says cutting expenses can only take us so far.

Don't Panic If You See Commotion At Lepreau

No need to head for the hills if you see a lot of emergency vehicles and commotion around Point Lepreau on your morning commute.


The generation station is holding a drill to check the reliability of its communications and responses in case of a nuclear emergency. There's no risk to personnel or anyone in the neighborhood.

The provincial and federal governments, NB Power and several other agencies will be testing radio communications and response times.

Court Calls Councillors' Votes "Outrageous"

Mayor Ivan Court is taken aback over penalties and interest costs being added on to a recent pension deficit payment.



Court tells CHSJ News the fact that Councillors Farren and Higgins voted against making the payment as requested indicates they aren't overly concerned with what taxpayers want. 

He says when someone comes to your door asking for your debts, you better pay up, adding that Farren has been "disruptive" over pension issues for the past 4 year.


For his part, Farren said his vote was protest against what he called the "pension fiasco". The Mayor said he hopes the next council will have a different attitude.

Mayor Gets Heat For Icy Analogy

Mayor Ivan Court got some heat Tuesday at the Court of Queen's Bench over a certain icy analogy he used to describe the city's pension problems.



The Mayor was under cross examination by defence lawyer Rod Gillis in the ongoing defamation trial of a former city councillor. Gillis reminded Court he once referred to the city of Saint John's pension problems as an iceberg. He asked,  "Are you a student of history, Mayor Court?" 

 "Then surely the implications of your iceberg analogy are not lost on you, given the 100th anniversary that is soon coming up?" The centennial anniversary of the Titanic's sinking is April 14. 

When Gillis tried to suggest Court was part of the crew on the ship steering toward that iceberg, Court testily replied, “I wasn't on any crew! I was a common councillor representing the taxpayers of the city of Saint John.”