NB-Fredericton-MP-Mayor)
A former member of Parliament for Fredericton is throwing her hat in the ring for the city’s top job.
Jenica Atwin says she will run for mayor this spring after current Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers announced last month that she will not reoffer.
Atwin was first elected with the Green Party in 2019 before she crossed the floor and joined the Liberals two years later.
Last year she announced she wouldn’t be running again — in part due to online hate. (CBC News)
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(Military-Housing)
More housing units are coming to C-F-B Gagetown in New Brunswick.
Defence Minister David McGuinty has announced a 3.7-billion-dollar plan to add 6-thousand more units where the Canadian Armed Forces operate.
C-F-B Gagetown is slated to get 500 new units, which McGuinty says will help with recruitment.
Last year, a report from Canada’s auditor general brought to light how military housing is aging, in poor condition and insufficient across multiple bases. (The Canadian Press)
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(NB-Stompin’ Tom)
Municipal politicians in in Saint John, New Brunswick, are taking the next step toward building a statue of music legend Stompin’ Tom Connors.
Councillors unanimously voted yesterday to advance the proposal to a committee.
City staff will work with proponents to find an appropriate site for the statue.
Connors, known for tunes like “The Hockey Song” and “Bud The Spud,” was born in Saint John and spent his early life in the city.
(CBC News)
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(NB-Research-Funding)
The New Brunswick Research and Productivity Council will receive six-million dollars from the provincial government for infrastructure improvements and other upgrades.
The research organization tests things like food, drinking water and dairy products.
Post-Secondary Education Minister Jean-Claude D’Amours says the council provides homegrown research that is of critical importance.
(The Canadian Press)
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(NS-Budget)
Nova Scotia’s finance minister has tabled a budget with a 1.2-billion-dollar deficit, saying cuts are coming for community groups and the public service.
John Lohr’s 18.9-billion-dollar budget calls for a five-per-cent cut to the civil service every year for four years, and three per cent cuts over the same period for the broader public service, including health care and education.
Nova Scotia’s population growth is expected to slow considerably over the next two years, but the government projects that its economic growth should be relatively stable.
Nova Scotia’s net debt is forecast to grow by 5.5-billion dollars in this fiscal year, for a total of 28-billion dollars.
(The Canadian Press)
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(PEI-Youth-Poverty)
Thousands of children across Prince Edward Island are struggling with poverty and there’s more the province could do to tackle the issue.
That’s according to Christine Saulnier, who is the Nova Scotia director for the Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives and who co-authored a report on youth poverty in the province last year.
Since the report, P-E-I now has the lowest child poverty rate in the region and has a lower depth of poverty compared to other parts of the country.
But despite the province putting in roughly 8.4-million-dollars in targeted food supports over the last year, adding a child benefit and increasing minimum wage, Saulnier says those improvements aren’t doing enough to help Island families. (CBC News)
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