Elizabeth Fraser· CBC News· Posted: Jan 20, 2020 7:00 AM AT 

Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick's chief medical officer, says her office will investigate whether other provinces have ways to reduce risks to food safety when it comes to projects like this. (CBC)


Instead of the 40 pounds of deer meat per family, they're being offered hot dogs and hamburger meat through the local food bank.

"They have a food insecurity issue and specifically protein," Linton said. "They were just hoping they could secure some food to get them through the winter."

• Deer meat from nuisance hunt in Saint Andrews will go to families in need

While most of the families told Linton they had never hunted, they do have experience with deer meat.

"All of the families have had experience cooking it and were aware of the different seasoning flavours that you can do," she said.

"It's just kind of sad."
 

Saint Andrews Deputy Mayor Brad Henderson says he was disappointed when the pilot project was called off. Thirty families had expressed interest. (Philip Drost/CBC)


The poverty line in that area of Charlotte County is about $24,000 a year, but many people try to get by on half that amount.

Many families who would've benefited from the pilot project either lost a job or are living on disability.

"When there's grandchildren living in the home, often they're living on the grandparents' pension."
But Linton is hopeful the project will be able to go ahead next year.

"We're not letting it go."

Deer population a big problem

Brad Henderson, deputy mayor of Saint Andrews, said the project would also decrease the town's deer population.

In August, residents of the town took out a full-page newspaper ad calling on the province and the town to do something.

Henderson said he was told by Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland that the project would go ahead sometime this year.

"One challenge could be another challenge's solution," he said.
 




Commenting is now closed for this story.




Johnny Jakobs
Lolol... smoke and mirrors




























Kyle Woodman
I wonder how many more of Hollands ideas will turn out to be pipe dreams. We were supposed to have a Turkey hunt last fall. It will be interesting to see Rod Cumberland preaching about deer numbers in a place that is lousy with deer.






https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/byelection-st-croix-new-brunswick-election-liberals-higgs-1.5411514

Liberal win in Saint Croix byelection would trigger provincial election, Higgs says

Premier cautions Saint Croix against splitting vote between PCs and Alliance, ending in possible Liberal win

Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Dec 31, 2019 8:07 PM AT




Premier Blaine Higgs said losing the Saint Croix and Shediac Bay-Dieppe ridings to the Liberals could lead to a full provincial election. (CBC)

Premier Blaine Higgs says a byelection win for the Opposition Liberals in the riding of Saint Croix would lead to an early provincial election and a risk of the Liberals returning to power by the end of 2020.

Higgs says he will warn voters in the riding against splitting their votes between his Progressive Conservatives and the People's Alliance, a split that could help the Liberals win the seat.

While he wants to avoid going to the polls in 2020, a Liberal win in Saint​ Croix "would probably put me there. I wouldn't have a choice.

"That is obviously in the back of my mind."
Liberal victories there and in another expected byelection in Shediac Bay-Dieppe would shift the standings in the legislature.
The Liberals and Greens would have a combined 25 seats to 24 for the PCs and the Alliance.

That would make it unlikely the PC minority government could win confidence votes and pass legislation even with the support of the Alliance.

"The decision [for voters in Saint Croix] is probably not so much 'Do I support the Alliance over the PCs' or vice versa," Higgs said in a year-end interview. "It's 'Do I really want to take a chance of the Liberals getting back in government?'"

Higgs's comments raise the stakes for the Saint Croix byelection, which he hasn't called yet.

The riding stretches from the village of McAdam to the Bay of Fundy, including the towns of St. Stephen and Saint Andrews.
It has been vacant since the death of PC MLA and cabinet minister Greg Thompson last September.

Will set date by March

Higgs has until March to set a date for the vote. He plans to schedule the byelection for Shediac Bay-Dieppe at the same time.

He said his choice of a date will be based in part on the possibility that losing both ridings would lead to a full provincial campaign.

The Saint Croix byelection will be the first time PC and Alliance candidates campaign against each other while the parties are co-operating in the legislature.

Normally a candidate for the governing party argues during a byelection campaign that he or she will be in the best position to influence government decisions.

But with the Alliance propping up the Tories in exchange for a role in decision-making, the Alliance candidate will be able to make the same case in Saint Croix.
While you can go chasing what might be the possibility of a majority, what we do know right now is we have the possibility to influence the outcome of the province for the better.





170 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.






David Raymond Amos
Welcome back to the Circus folks

Methinks it is obvious that Higgy is worried about the "Tempest in Teapot" no matter what a lawyer who was a wannabe leader long ago may claim N'esy Pas? 














David Raymond Amos
Methinks everybody loves this circus N'esy Pas? 


















Anne Berube
Who, but who could be insane enough to ever consider voting liberal!


Claude DeRoche






















Mac Isaac
 The Liberals would never, in a million years, do this, but wouldn't you love to see what "might" happen if the Liberals made the promise to hold off on any confidence motion...unless forced to do so by a policy that is anathema to their Liberal policies. As a Liberal of long-standing I admit there hasn't been many policies of this P.C. government to which I strongly disagree and, as a New Brunswicker of equally long-standing, I would seriously love seeing these two parties actually work together for the betterment of this province's people. As I said: "...never, in a million years..." Too bad because, like most New Brunswickers, I'm tired of political decisions being settled like a playground spat..























Murray Brown
I wouldn't hold Higgs to that statement... He'll likely change his mind after the Tories lose and decide to grasp onto power for as long as he can.


Johnny Horton 





















John Smith
i dunno im thinkin green is almost main stream now they just play for the home team thats the ledge itself we need polyspeakers to speak for unipeople


























Mike Connors
I never thought I would see the day when the Premier of this Province would threaten people to vote for him or else. Let's waste more millions on an unnecessary election because his fan club told him he would win a majority. Not from this voter, Blaine., Not from this voter.


Johnny Horton


Terry TibbsReply to @David Raymond Amos:
The BEST thing that could happen would be the government fragment further. More Green and PNAB MLA's, fewer Liberals and CONServatives.
We've seen the shallow pool of talent the CONServatives have for MLA's, and none would be missed, specifically good old Dominic Cardy.
A good, old fashioned, coalition government would work best for the people of NB, though most don't know it.























Mo Bennett
hold yer nose and mark an X. doesn't matter witch one ya pick, they're all the same evil.


Ben Haroldson 

David Raymond Amos



Norman Albert
Reply to @mo bennett: If you can't vote with confidence for one vote for none. Spoiled ballots send a message. You are a concerned citizen but not so gulible as to put any of tghese self serving individuals into a position of limited power.








https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/lorraine-gilmore-peters-pc-nomination-race-st-croix-1.5413348

St. Stephen woman wants to know why PC party quashed Saint Croix candidacy

Lorraine Gilmore Peters says she was 'stunned' after abrupt phone call saying she was rejected

Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Jan 02, 2020 5:47 PM AT




Lorraine Gilmore Peters is not happy about 'insinuations' made by the Progressive Conservative Party, which has not told her why her can't run for the Saint Croix seat. (Facebook/Lorraine Gilmore Peters)

A St. Stephen business owner who was prevented from running for the Progressive Conservative nomination in an upcoming byelection says she hasn't been given a reason for the decision.

Lorraine Gilmore Peters tells CBC News that her vetting process was going "great" until a Dec. 20 phone call from the party's executive director telling her that she could not run for the party in the upcoming Saint Croix  byelection.

"I was so stunned, I didn't even have a reply," she said.

The personal trainer and wellness coach now says she believes the controversy will hurt the PC party in the byelection, which could be crucial to the survival of the Higgs government.
"This riding has been left without representation," she said. "The executive locally is falling apart.

"People keep forgetting that this is not about [the party], this is about the voters, this is about the constituents who deserve to have great candidates put forward for them to vote for. They deserve to have representation and they've had none of that."
PC riding association president Vernon Card resigned from his position on Monday. He said in an email that the disqualification was "concerning," but it was "the overall environment" created by the party head office that led him to quit. He would not elaborate.

The Saint Croix riding has been without a member in the legislature since the death of Progressive Conservative Greg Thompson last September. The PCs are set to nominate a candidate Jan. 18 for a byelection that Premier Blaine Higgs says he will schedule in March.


Saint Croix was held for the PCs by Greg Thompson, minister of intergovernmental affairs, until he died in September at the age of 72. (Submitted by Government of New Brunswick)

So far only one candidate, Kathy Bockus, has publicly announced her candidacy.

The race could be decisive for the PC minority government because of the close standings in the legislature.

The PCs are being propped up by the People's Alliance during confidence votes, but that adds up to a narrow 24-22 margin. If the Liberals won Saint Croix and the Speaker of the legislature, a Liberal, resigned, the Tories would have a hard time passing budgets and bills.

Higgs said in a year-end interview that in that circumstance, he'd call an early provincial election.

Vetting process

Gilmore Peters went through a party process that included a criminal background check, the signing up of 25 party members to support her, and what party officials called a "social media scrub" to check for controversial posts in her past.

No red flags were raised during any of those steps, she said, and she has never posted any offensive material.

"I've been in business a long time. So has my husband. We don't have any radical extreme views about anything."

As a newcomer to the party, she said, many of her 25 signatures were people who joined the PCs to support her.

The final step was a panel interview with party officials on Dec. 19 that seemed to go well, to the point that the Tories let her in on how they plan to campaign against the People's Alliance candidate in the riding, she said.

But the next day PC executive director Rick Lafrance told her during "a very stern, authoritative, short call" by telephone that she couldn't run.

'He needs to tell me or he needs to shut up'

Lafrance said in an email statement earlier this week that the vetting process is standard for all candidates. He didn't respond to a request for further comment Thursday.

In an interview earlier this week, PC regional vice-president Cleveland Allaby said Gilmore Peters "obviously would know why" she was rejected.

But Gilmore Peters said she was not told, and she criticized Allaby for identifying anti-gay or anti-French social media posts as examples of the kind of material that can disqualify a candidate.

"If he knows why I was disqualified, then he needs to tell me or he needs to shut up before he gets himself in trouble, because I'm not going to stand by and allow the insinuations to continue," she said, adding she has counselled LGBTQ youth in a personal development program she runs.
She added that "odd things" have happened recently "that seem to point to the fact that somebody doesn't want me to make it to that nominating convention, but it's nothing that I can substantiate with fact."

Gilmore Peters said she hadn't thought ahead to whom she'll support when the byelection takes place or whether she'd consider running for another party.

"I'm going to choose to see this as an opportunity to help in some way, even if it's not necessarily myself at this point. I am going to use this as a benefit to somebody."

But "PCNB's time has expired," she said. "They don't get to say anything now.

"Through this process, I've realized that they don't meet my criteria. … They absolutely have demonstrated that they're not for women's equality. The lack of transparency and accountability is a major problem for me."








86 Comments
Commenting is now closed for this story.






David Peters
CBC could be running profiles of the all the candidates...in the nominating process too...in fact, isn't that what taxpayer's are paying them for? Would be nice to know a little background of the ppl running and what their views are/what they hope to accomplish if elected.




Toby Tolly
Reply to @David Peters:
that wouldnt be part of Jacques agenda


Johnny Horton
Reply to @David Peters:
Why the F should anyone care of who wants to run if they are not The one picked. BY the party. Waste of bloody time and money,
Yeah let’s run articles on people who think they might like to run some day and represent some party, brilliant,


















Bob McGaw
She went through the vetting process and was good to go. Next day she got a phone call with the thumbs down. She asked why and they said they WON'T tell her. They can but they won't. The riding president resigns with not being comfortable with *** the party is conducting itself and the only candidate left standing is a former employee of the late MLA Greg Thompson and as of a couple of weeks ago, former employee of a current MLA. They should just be honest and tell her why. She subjected herself to scrutiny and they simply refuse to tell her. It's like a teacher giving a test and failing you but not telling you the answers you got wrong. Where do you go from there?


David Raymond Amos

Kyle Woodman
Did Greg Thompson ever get DTI to take over his private road? Isn't that the only reason he ran the last time. The PC's should be more concerned with Rod Cumberland than Lorraine Gilmore Peters. What a gong show. The PC party has been divided ever since Higgs won the leadership. Lots of loose cannons ready to go off.


















DJ Redfern
First thing to learn about politics.......It's a game and a dirty one at that........


David Raymond Amos 








https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/st-croix-riding-byelection-1.5411647

PC riding president resigns after party bars potential St. Croix candidate

Head office's unexplained decision upsets some PCs in a riding facing key byelection

Jacques Poitras· CBC News· Posted: Dec 31, 2019 4:31 PM AT



Lorraine Gilmore Peters had planned to seek the nomination at the convention scheduled for Jan. 18, until the Progressive Conservative Party declared she couldn't run. (Facebook/Lorraine Gilmore Peters)

The president of the Progressive Conservative riding association in St. Croix has resigned less than three weeks before party members there are scheduled to pick a candidate for a key byelection.

Vern Card quit on Monday, citing unspecified actions by the party's Fredericton head office that "exceeded my personal and professional comfort levels," according to an email obtained by CBC News.

His resignation happened at the same time some members of the riding executive have been complaining about the party head office rejecting a potential byelection candidate.

Card wrote in his email that in the last two weeks he experienced "situations" that made him question "the positive characteristics" of the party.

Party stopped candidacy

He said he didn't anticipate the party's behaviour to change and "these environments makes it impossible for me to continue" as riding president.

Lorraine Gilmore Peters had planned to seek the nomination at the convention scheduled for Jan. 18, but the party declared she couldn't run.

She wrote in a public Facebook post last Friday that the Women For 50 initiative to recruit more female candidates "is suddenly taking on a whole new meaning for me. We must not tolerate barriers that lack credibility and prohibit women from entering politics."

Gilmore Peters couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday, and Card refused an interview request.

Cleveland Allaby, the party's regional vice-president who chaired the search committee for potential candidates, confirmed in an interview that some members of the riding executive were upset they weren't given reasons for the rejection of Gilmore Peters.

"We don't share that with the riding association," he said. "If someone is precluded, we respect their privacy rights. … That's a personal thing between the party and the potential nominee."

Thwarted candidate knows reason

He said a majority of the riding association board in St. Croix accepted the decision and agreed to move on.

He said Gilmore Peters herself "obviously would know why."

But in a public Facebook post Tuesday afternoon, Gilmore Peters asked, "if a Person is not permitted by a political party to run in an open race, but they meet the criteria, should they be told why?"

Premier Blaine Higgs hasn't set a date for the St. Croix byelection. The riding became vacant last September when PC MLA and cabinet minister Greg Thompson died.

It will be a critical test for Higgs's minority government. If the Liberals win the byelection and another one in their stronghold of Shediac Bay-Dieppe, the PCs and the People's Alliance will no longer have the votes to pass legislation.

Allaby said he doesn't think the "kerfuffle," as he called it, will hurt PC chances in the byelection.

"It's a tempest in a teapot in some regards," he said. "For other people, it's a major issue. … I think the voters in St. Croix want us to get the best local candidate we can get our hands on."

Only one candidate for the PC nomination has announced publicly: Kathy Bockus, a well-known former reporter for the St. Croix Courier newspaper who had been working as a riding assistant to Thompson when he died.


The St. Croix seat was held for the PCs by Greg Thompson, minister of intergovernmental affairs, until he died in September at the age of 72. (Submitted by Government of New Brunswick)

Allaby said at least two other potential candidates have filled out their paperwork and gone through vetting and will make a final decision about declaring before Saturday's deadline.

Provincial PC executive director Rick Lafrance said in an emailed statement that every candidate goes through the same process, including a lengthy application form and a face-to-face interview with a vetting committee.

"The committee looks into a candidate's background, using social media and a variety of other methods," he said.

Allaby said they check for any social media posts that are at odds with party policy or that make negative comments about particular communities.

9 rejected provincewide

He said examples include anti-LGBTQ or anti-French comments, though he wouldn't say if that is what led to Gilmore Peters being disqualified.

He called the process routine and said nine potential PC candidates were rejected in the last provincial election in 2018. "It's not an unusual thing for people to be declined," he said.

The Liberals haven't set a date for their nomination convention in the riding. The People's Alliance plans to nominate retired provincial biologist Rod Cumberland.

The Greens have not said when they will choose a candidate.



 


 

54 Comments 
Commenting is now closed for this story.






David Raymond Amos








David Raymond Amos
"Allaby said he doesn't think the "kerfuffle," as he called it, will hurt PC chances in the byelection."

Yea Right


David Davies 













David Raymond Amos
Methinks the lawyer/former wannabe PC leader Cleveland Allaby and his blogging buddy Chucky Leblanc know why Rod Cumberland is not running for his Green Meanie pals and that the PANB and the liberals are no doubt enjoying the tempest in the teapot as much as I am N'esy Pas?














David Raymond Amos
Methinks Vern Card must be clever enough to know if the PANB wins the St. Croix seat then then the goose could be cooked for the liberal and the conservative parties in New Brunswick. If not at least he was smart enough to quit the conservative good old boys club when things started smelling bad in his neck of the woods N'esy Pas?


John Smith 

David Raymond Amos
Reply to @john smith: Methinks it should be a small wonder to you why I always run as an Independent Perhaps you and many others should try it sometime N'esy Pas?  


















Crystal Cook
Smells of interference by someone in power. Just like my story, secret meetings to destroy me and my credibility. Bet the Same person got her nose stuck in this ! The truth will come out !


David Raymond Amos 




















David Stairs
just another prime example as to why we need to rid the province of party politics and vote in a party that represents the people that voted these candidates in ….enough of the good ole boys club and the language elitists who think it is up to government to save their culture and language...get over yourselves and wake up...

















Grant V Bablit
In Alberta where the neo-con mafia is so busy doling out favors that they can't even come up with a logo for their clubhouse. I am suggesting that the homeless people living in the woods all around the city should set up their camps on the legislature and we could have a people's democratic assembly on the outside in the gardens. While corporate reps do their over paid squabbling and bickering inside the palace.



















Edward St-pierre
I am surprised more people are not talking about the people's party of Canada like they be. Because the Liberals, Conservatives and the NDP are now all parties that have no future vision for the country and it's people. It seems like the parties only care about the party they belong to. I don't hear about what's good for us the people of Canada. But I do hear a lot more about the minority groups taking the spot lite .is that where we are going, small groups only out for themselves.an I'm tired of people saying but they are this and they are that. I will never vote for someone because of what they are.


David Raymond Amos 




















Maxim Waddington
Pity, but the cons in New Brunswick resemble a bunch of CLOWNS.


David Raymond Amos 





















David Davies
Another Con job.why are we not surprised by this. It seems that this entire RW organization is out of tune with reality. These Cons. are no longer a political party for the people.They are no more than another arm of that orange unit in the u.s.


David Raymond Amos 






















Justin Time
Could it be because of one of her twitter posts where she was disappointed because she attended a Celine Dion concert only to find out it was all sung in French only, which she was not aware of beforehand. Are the PC's that sensitive?? It won't win them any votes in Charlotte county.
























Jim Cyr
This is how the media wins elections for the Libs. The party jettisoned the best candidate. Why?? Guaranteed that this was in response to something she said or did in the past......the CPC was terrified of how the media would “spin” it if they found out. (The media is always looking to take out non-leftists, while they downplay the sins of people like Blackface Justin). But Trump has showed that you don’t have to cower in fear of what the media will try to do to you.....you can attack the media and destroy THEM before they destroy YOU. Remember, you don’t have to cower in fear of the biased media! The best defense is a good offense.























JJ Carrier 
Unless there is going to be a parachute....


























Matt Steele
Maybe the prov. PCs are taking a look at what happened in Saint John recently during the federal election , and have learned a lesson about candidate selection . For whatever reason , it was decided that Rodney Weston would be the Federal CPC candidate after Weston had already been defeated previously in both prov. and federal elections . As an end result , a Saint John riding that should have easily been won by the CPC was won by Liberal candidate Wayne Long instead . Weston really had no chance of winning after being defeated in two previous elections , but the CPC decided to back a losing candidate anyway , and ended up losing the riding . Maybe the prov. PCs want to avoid the same mistake in a very important byelection 


David Raymond Amos