CHMA is continuing its series of short candidate interviews ahead of Tantramar’s municipal election on May 11.
This time, Mike Robar sat down with incumbent candidate Bruce Phinney, one of eight running for the four Ward 3 seats. Phinney spoke about what he thinks needs to happen to address the ongoing issues with the fire department and some changes in how council operates that he’d like to see if he is reelected.
Listen to the audio below
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Can you tell me a little about yourself?
 I used to work at Mount Allison for 42 and a half years, retired in 2020. I reached out to run for council back in 2004. I have been reelected ever since and would love to be reelected again. One of my things I do is I’m on the CAC (Citizen Advisory Committee) at Dorchester. And that’s pretty much it. I’m just an easygoing, happy-go-lucky guy.
Why are you running in the municipal election this year?
 I’m running because of the fact, I hate to be so blunt, they need someone like me there who works for the people. I don’t work for individuals or corporations or in any kind of community group. I work for everybody. I believe everybody needs representation. And there are some things that need to be looked after because with amalgamation, there are a lot of things changed.
And actually, you need somebody there that’s keeping an eye on things. And since I’ve been there—I’ve been a councillor for 22 years now—I have a pretty good idea of exactly who to run to if I need to find out any information and try to get things straightened out. We need to fix things sooner than later, as a matter of fact. So, I just love doing it. I think I’m pretty good at it. A lot of people keep reelecting me, so they must see something in me. Sometimes I talk too much, but I call it like I see it and I’m not afraid to ask questions. So I really do enjoy doing this and I’m looking forward to being reelected so I can fix some of the issues and the problems that are going on within the town hall and within the government.
 What would you like to accomplish if you are reelected?
 Well, first of all, I’d like to turn around and try to get our management team back, in the way that it was when I first got elected, because I find that sometimes they’re not communicating with us or bringing us the information. And when I say us, I mean council, so that we can make an informed decision on the issues that are happening at the time.
We have a big issue right now, which is the fire department. And, as I said to a gentleman earlier, and I’ve said to a number of people in town, there are two things that need to be done. I would like to see the resignation of the fire chief and our CAO (chief administrative officer). I feel we need to start there and then rebuild. There are some things that are happening that are not right and they need to be fixed sooner than later. With the fire department, it’s that we have really no protection other than the agreements that we have with the other communities. If we do. This is unacceptable, and we don’t need that. We need to turn around and get it straightened out and hopefully get the 12 back that resigned because they’ve got over a hundred years or more of service and they’re good at it.
Some of the other things I’d like to turn around and address is the minister of local government and the (Local) Governance Act, which changed from the Municipalities Act in 2017. Some of the issues in there, like for instance, the Right to Privacy Act. I mean, this is ridiculous. They don’t want people to know anything.
And also the fact that we as councillors used to be able to read all reports that we used to authorize and authorize the money for. I’m referring to the Montana report. Out of my 22 years, that’s the only report that I’ve ever never been able to read. And so therefore we need to get that put back so that council can read exactly what they’re doing and get those things straightened out. I can’t fix things unless I know what the reports are saying. So that’s pretty much it, I guess, right there.
 Thank you so much for coming in to chat today. I really appreciate the time, and I wish you the best of luck in the election on May 11th.
