Chief Releases Statement On Budget Cuts

The Chief of Police releasing only a brief statement regarding the 1 million dollars in cuts for the police force in the new city budget.


Bill Reid says the force is committed to upholding the safety of citizens and its officers but decisive leadership will be required to reduce any impacts to public safety.

He adds the police force will adapt its current operations to meet the realities of the new budget.

The Police Commission will be meeting Tuesday and will likely have more to say about the cuts. Mayor Ivan Court and Common Councillor Peter McGuire are members of the Commission.

There are fears initiatives to reduce crime in the city will be a casualty of the budget. The Police Association has a no layoff clause in its contract agreement.

North End And West Side Most Affected By Cuts To Fire Budget

Saint John Fire Chief Kevin Clifford says the 750-thousand dollars worth of cuts in the new city budget will have a definite impact on fire protection.

Clifford tells CHSJ News the North End and the West Side could see increase in response times as one of the trucks from the north station will now be moved to the fire station on Courtney Avenue. He says the response time could go up by as much as 4 minutes.

16 positions will be lost due to the budget cuts and he says it will be difficult to handle multiple incidents at the same time.

Chase & Morgan To Visit China

Two New Brunswick country stars are taking their act on the road all the way to China next month.


Kevin Chase of the Kingston Peninsula and Melanie Morgan of Cap Pele are doing a 5 stop tour finishing in Shanghai.


Chase tells CHSJ News he's excited and nervous at the same time about the trip.

He says they leave on March 5th and play 5 major Chinese cities back to back which will be busy but, Chase says it will be exciting to play for the Chinese.

Chase wouldn't say his music is exactly popular in China but that's the point to create awareness about his brand of Canadian country in that part of the world.

Canadian Taxpayers Federation Reacts To Rising Pension Plan Deficit

The deficit with the city's pension plan could get even worse before it gets better.

That warning from Kevin Lacey, the Atlantic Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, who tells CHSJ News a rise of more than 60 million dollars in a year to 190 million dollars is a real mind blower for a city the size of Saint John.

He says it should raise questions about how it got so high and why such a huge increase in just one year.

Lacey adds the city will have to take another look at eligibility and payouts. He warns depending on the province to bail the city out is an iffy proposition, at best, considering the sad financial state of its pension plan.

$750 Baby Greek Tortoise Is Still Missing

"Herman" the baby tortoise is still on the loose!
Three people facing charges after a $750 tortoise was stolen from an East Saint John pet store.

Sgt. Glen Hayward of the City police tells CHSJ News three men ages 21, 22, and 23 were charged with theft and released. One of them also faces a charge for posessing marijuana.

Pets Unlimited Manager Joe Mullet says it's the second time the baby Greek tortoise has been stolen.
He tells us a former employee took "Herman" before Christmas and last night someone broke the lock on his cage taking him a second time.

Mullet says the store's staff is upset adding everyone is pretty attached to "Herman".

Self Serve Gas Rises

It will cost you more to fill up with self serve regular after the weekly setting. 

It has increased by 2 cents a litre and is selling for $1.27.8 in the city. 

There is no change in the price of diesel. It's still at $1.37.3 a litre. 

Heating oil is virtually unchanged at $1.19.5 a litre with propane declining slightly to $1.06.8.

Police Investigate North End Fire And Stolen Tortoise

Arson is thought to be the cause of a small fire early this morning at an apartment building owned by non-profit housing at 200 Main Street North. The call came in shortly after 2:30 and City Police tell us the fire started in a hallway. 6 or 7 people who live in the building have been forced out of their apartments into other accomodation.

City Police are also looking for a stolen tortoise which is worth something like 700 dollars. It was taken from the Pets Unlimited store on the east side. 3 people were arrested nearby but later released. The tortoise, meantime, is still among the missing.

Rothesay Regional Police telling us a man suffered a broken arm when he was struck by a passing highway plow on the Gondola Point Arterial yesterday afternoon. The man was walking along the side of the highway against the flow of traffic which is what you're supposed to do when he was hit by the plow's blade.

Mayor Vehemently Against New Budget

Mayor Ivan Court and Councillor Patty Higgins the only ones voting against the Plan B budget. 

Court wanted council to stand together and believe the pension reforms were coming.

He says he cannot vote for a budget that brings down the quality of life so drastically for citizens.

He adds the passing of the plan B budget will affect the trust between city hall and the people.

Council Passes "Plan B" Budget Containing Cuts Across The Board

After much publicized grappling with the city budget, the issue has finally been put to bed.

Common Council has approved the 2012 budget as well as passing the tax rate at $1.785.

Council has approved the Plan B budget, which contains millions in cuts to fire, police, community grants, and city services.  This was done in case pension reforms are not approved by the province.

City Manager Pat Woods says while he originally supported the first budget, which assumed pension reforms, he says he can't do so now because the city would have needed to find an extra 13.2 million dollars if pension reforms were not achieved.
Woods revealed last night that over the course of the year, the pension deficit has now grown by 64 million dollars to a total of 190 million dollars.

Council Passes Budget "B" & Tax Rate

Saint John Common Council passes version "b" of the 2012 budget and the tax rate.


Mayor Ivan Court and Councillor Patti Higgins are the only nay votes.

Common Council May Pass Budget "B" Tonight

At long last, a vote is possible tonight on the 2012 municipal budget and it's tax rate.

City manager Pat Woods is recommending that council adopts the plan "b" budget which features cuts to city services, jobs, and grants.


He also says the pension deficit has now grown to 190 million according to the latest actuary numbers.

He adds the city cannot assume pension reforms are coming and needs to adopt a more conservative budget.

Tenants Displaced After North End Fire

The residents who live in two units of a North End apartment building will be sleeping somewhere else tonight after a fire.

City fire crews got the call just before 4pm about the blaze in a 2nd floor apartment at 6 Anglin Crescent.

District Chief Joe Armstrong tells CHSJ News the 12-unit building was in the process of being evacuated when crews arrived on scene.

Crews quickly knocked down the blaze and the apartment with the fire did suffer smoke, water and fire damage while the unit directly below did suffer some water damage.

Armstrong tells us the cause is being looked into but, it's not believed to be suspicious.

Province To Hike User Fees

The Finance Minister says an increase in user fees as a fair way of raising revenue.

Blaine Higgs says the hikes are expected to raise an extra six million dollars for the province.

The fee increases begin to take effect in April and include a range of services from vehicle registrations to campsite reservations.


Liberal MLA Donald Arseneault says fee increases are a form of tax increase and are contrary to a Conservative election promise not to raise taxes.


He says many of the fee increases will hurt those residents in rural parts of the province.
 
For more info, click here

We Fare OK, Dairytown Gets Slammed With Snow

Between 4 and 8 centimetres of snow for Greater Saint John but, Sussex and Moncton may get more than 20 centimetres by tomorrow.


Greater Saint John received between 4 and 8 cm's of snow.

Claude Cote of Environment Canada tells CHSJ News chances are the temperature will stay just shy of the freezing mark.

He says with temps around the minus 2 mark we are looking at freezing precipitation until it ends early this evening.

The skiers will be thrilled, Cote expects Poley Mountain will have at least 20 centimetres of snow by tomorrow morning.

February Fork Off Is Underway

February doesn't bring too many reasons to celebrate...shoveling isn't one but, eating great food could be.
Today marks the beginning of "February Fork Off" which is Uptown Saint John's Winter Restaurant Week.
Event Coordinator Tracy Hanson tells CHSJ News it's basically the February version of the Chop Chop Festival.

She says it's the first winter restaurant week and it's a chance to get a break from the winter chill and enjoy the many food choices uptown.

Some of the participating restaurants will be offering a three-course dinner for $30, a two-course lunch for $12 or a Fork plate for $10.

For more info on which restaurants are taking part, click here

New Understanding Needed In Province On Resource Development

The Atlantica Centre for Energy says governments, industry and the people who live in the province will have to reach a social contract to advance the economy.

Atlantica President John Herron maintains developing our natural resources is the answer to the province's economic problems but the controversy over shale gas development is not helping. That's why he argues rigorous regulations are required that are not onerous but ease public skepticism that the bottom line is the only thing that counts.

Herron says the three goals of this social contract would be economic progress, social development and ecological integrity.

Herron warns the provincial tax base can't support our basic health, education and social programmes without federal transfers so new sources of economic activity will have to be found and natural resoources are it.

Police Association Questions Whether Common Council Is Exceeding Its Authority

Whether anything will be accomplished at Common Council's special budget meeting this afternoon remains to be seen. Three versions of the budget are being considered.

The police department could see it's budget reduced by over 134 thousand dollars depending on which version of the budget is passed eventually. The President of the Police Union, Jamie Hachey is taking a wait and see approach although he says the goings on of late remind him more of kindergarten.

Hachey argues it should be up to the Police Commission to determine how much money is needed to provide adequate policing in the city, not Common Council.
 
He goes so far as to suggest Council might be violating provincial legislation by arbitrarily cutting the police budget regardless of what the Police Commission says.

Premier Unveils Senior Panel

The Premier announcing the establishment of a panel designed to help prepare for the challenges with our aging senior population.

David Alward says the panel's role is to guide government investments in community development and services that help seniors live active, healthy lives.

The five-member panel will be chaired by John McLaughlin of UNB.

He says an aging population offers benefits and opportunities adding the skills and knowledge of seniors can provide opportunities for young people to learn new ideas and preserving the lessons of the past.

Project support and administration will be provided by the Atlantic Institute on Aging. The panel's blueprint will be delivered to the premier by this summer.

For more info, click here

Winter Storm Cancels School

February is being ushered in with some snow coming our way. 

Gilles Duguay of Environment Canada tells CHSJ News it's because of a low pressure system that's tracking south of Nova Scotia. 

It's going to be a messy morning commute with most of the snow falling this morning into the early part of the afternoon when it goes above freezing and turns into rain. 10 to 15 centimeters of snow is in the forecast.

Duguay says there will be more snow if you're travelling east to Moncton where there's a snowfall warning in place and more rain than snow west of Saint John along the coast.

All schools are closed today in districts 6, 8, 10, 17 and Samuel de Champlain.

Call Center Industry Not Dying In The Province

The executive director of ContactNB, which represents call centre employees, says the closure of Atelka does not mean the industry is dying in the province.

Mike Bacon tells CHSJ News even though there have been recent closures or cuts at other centers in Saint John, job opportunities have been plentiful.

He says there are constantly 4 or 5 companies hiring in Southern New Brunswick and the industry has been growing for the past 3 to 4 years.
 
ContactNB will be working with the Atelka employees on finding new jobs.