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.

https://warktimes.com/2022/11/22/tantramar-mayoralty-candidate-bonnie-swift-deletes-hundreds-of-right-wing-tweets/

UPDATED: Tantramar Mayoralty candidate Bonnie Swift deletes hundreds of right-wing tweets

Posted onNovember 22, 2022bybrucewark

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

1. Bill Carrollsays:

   November 22, 2022 at 5:26 pm

   Thank you for sharing. I am a more informed voter than before.

   Reply
2. Marikasays:

   November 22, 2022 at 5:32 pm

   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.

   Reply
   • Dorissays:

     November 22, 2022 at 6:32 pm

     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.

     Reply
   • Geoff Martinsays:

     November 22, 2022 at 7:21 pm

     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.

     Reply
   • Csays:

     November 22, 2022 at 7:31 pm

     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?

     Reply
   • Alexandrasays:

     November 22, 2022 at 8:17 pm

     She definitely is for a different kind of system – you don’t think oil companies and oil investors aren’t part of a system?

     Reply
   • Wayne Feindel Puppet of the People.says:

     November 22, 2022 at 9:10 pm

     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.

     Reply
     • Alexandra Tomesays:

       November 23, 2022 at 9:29 am

       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
3. Jeffsays:

   November 22, 2022 at 5:37 pm

   So this is a far left rag after all .!!! Heaven forbid we objective reporting in this town

   Reply
   • Alexandrasays:

     November 22, 2022 at 8:16 pm

     Showing her tweets isn’t objective?

     Reply
4. Alexandrasays:

   November 22, 2022 at 5:42 pm

   It all really concerns me greatly

   Reply
5. dave epworthsays:

   November 22, 2022 at 6:40 pm

   Transparency eh?

   Reply
6. Theodore Trenholm-Estabrookssays:

   November 22, 2022 at 8:13 pm

   Some parts are more or less mundane conservative factory settings, many others however are deeply troubling and wild. Good information to know. Thanks, Bruce.

   Reply
7. Mike Brownsays:

   November 22, 2022 at 8:33 pm

   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.”.

   Reply
8. marcsays:

   November 22, 2022 at 8:42 pm

   It will be very interesting (and instructive, perhaps?) to see whether and how Ms. Swift responds to Bruce’s information.

   Reply
9. Sylvia Moricesays:

   November 22, 2022 at 8:59 pm

   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.

   Reply
   • Marikasays:

     November 22, 2022 at 9:34 pm

     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.

     Reply
     • Mike Brownsays:

       November 22, 2022 at 10:17 pm

       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.
     • Wraytonsays:

       November 23, 2022 at 8:07 am

       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?
     • Tristansays:

       November 23, 2022 at 11:26 am

       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.
10. Petersays:

    November 22, 2022 at 9:22 pm

    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.

    Reply
11. Robsays:

    November 23, 2022 at 7:20 pm

    “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?

    Reply
12. Mike Brownsays:

    November 23, 2022 at 11:42 pm

    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/1490522128881496064

    Her twitter is not “deactivated” or even made private, she just deleted all of her tweets.
    https://twitter.com/bonnieswift10

    You 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.

    Reply
    • Mike Brownsays:

      November 24, 2022 at 9:09 am

      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.

      Reply
    • Marikasays:

      November 24, 2022 at 11:10 am

      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.

      Reply
      • Mike Brownsays:

        November 24, 2022 at 12:30 pm

        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.
13. Wayne Feindel Puppet of the Peoplesays:

    November 24, 2022 at 10:23 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Marikasays:

      November 24, 2022 at 11:14 am

      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.

      Reply
    • Mike Brownsays:

      November 24, 2022 at 11:53 am

      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.

      Reply
      • Tantramarshiresays:

        November 25, 2022 at 11:18 pm

        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.
14. Shaun Cunninghamsays:

    November 24, 2022 at 10:31 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Susansays:

      November 24, 2022 at 9:55 pm

      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.

      Reply
15. Tantramarshiresays:

    November 24, 2022 at 10:36 am

    Opinionated women in their 50s are a real problem for this town of think-alikes.

    Reply
16. Mariesays:

    November 24, 2022 at 8:38 pm

    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
    

    https://bambisafkar.ca/index.php/2022/11/23/nb-municipal-politics-what-can-sackville-or-tantramar-learn-from-fifa-doha-qatar/?fbclid=IwAR2LMPehQWDK3_K2hk8xf9oJXE_nCS8_w0qW7GPlluNZeZk1xHkvbwSAqSY

    Reply
    • Mikesays:

      November 24, 2022 at 9:48 pm

      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

      Reply
      • Marikasays:

        November 24, 2022 at 10:27 pm

        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.
      • Mike brownsays:

        November 25, 2022 at 8:01 am

        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.
      • Marikasays:

        November 25, 2022 at 10:56 am

        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.
17. Louissays:

    November 24, 2022 at 9:19 pm

    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/

    Reply
18. Susansays:

    November 24, 2022 at 9:45 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Mike Brownsays:

      November 24, 2022 at 10:08 pm

      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..

      Reply
19. azisays:

    November 24, 2022 at 10:03 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Mike Brownsays:

      November 25, 2022 at 10:55 am

      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.

      Reply
20. Shaun Cunninghamsays:

    November 24, 2022 at 10:27 pm

    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.

    Reply
21. Robsays:

    November 25, 2022 at 9:45 am

    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.

    Reply
22. Allansays:

    November 25, 2022 at 5:44 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Bob Ripley Ibbitsonsays:

      December 4, 2022 at 9:04 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Harold Jarchesays:

        December 5, 2022 at 1:05 pm

        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
23. Susansays:

    November 27, 2022 at 1:44 am

    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.

    Reply
24. Larry Blacksays:

    November 27, 2022 at 12:34 pm

    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