Coming up on the CHMA daily news roundup:
Green MLA Megan Mitton on small business
Higgs considers lifting temporary foreign worker ban
and calling all Sackville volunteers.
But first:
New Brunswick had another day with no new reported cases of COVID-19.
It’s now been 14 days with no new cases reported in New Brunswick.
All 120 reported cases of COVID-19 in the province have recovered, leaving New Brunswick with no active cases of the disease.
The province released 353 new test results Wednesday. 102 of those results were in the South East region.
Over in Nova Scotia, one more person died with COVID-19, bringing the provincial death toll up to 57.
One new case was announced in Nova Scotia on Wednesday.
There are 32 reported active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.
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The New Brunswick Green Party is calling for more help to keep small businesses going during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Green MLA Megan Mitton says the closing of two businesses in Sackville shows the urgent need for more government support.
She was referring to the closing of the Thunder and Lightning pub and the Black Duck Café, both on Bridge Street.
As CHMA reported last week, the owners of the Black Duck are opening Fridgee, an online grocery store instead of continuing to operate their Café.
Mitton says she’s hearing from other small businesses that are struggling to survive:
CLIP#1 OPENS: “In these unprecedented times…
CLIP ENDS: “…for these business owners.”
Megan Mitton is calling more government grants to small businesses and better support programs to help them pay rent so they won’t be evicted next month:
CLIP#2 OPENS: “I think there’s urgency for…
ENDS: “…in these difficult times.”
Mitton she says she’s working with Nova Scotia MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin on making sure there are clear and consistent rules for crossing the provincial border.
She points out that’s crucial for business people, farmers and members of non-profit groups who regularly need to cross between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
CLIP#3 OPENS: “One of the things that we’re really trying to make sure…
CLIP ENDS: “…work in the long run.”
Megan Mitton says she’s open to any ideas about helping people cross the border to conduct business.
Last week, Jonathan McClelland of the Cumberland Business Connector suggested that the areas around Sackville and Port Elgin should be allowed to form a business bubble with Amherst and other towns on the Nova Scotia side of the border.
That would allow free movement of area residents across the provincial border.
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New Brunswick’s eviction ban will end on May 31st.
The province issued an announcement Tuesday reminding renters and landlords that the section in the state of emergency order that prevented evictions for non-payment of rent will end this month.
As of June 1st, landlords will again be allowed to serve tenants with a notice to vacate for non-payment of rent.
Premier Blaine Higgs says the province is not yet sure how many people could be affected by the change.
AUDIO CLIP Higgs 1
now we are in touch with with landlords, we are keeping track of that. I mean, it’s one of the things that has to end at some point. And the idea was to get through the crisis not be in a position here that we had trouble, you know, in the middle of a pandemic, and people have no place to go. But at some point, you have to get back to some degree of normality,
Higgs also says New Brunswick has an “extensive social safety net”, and that he expects any tenant facing eviction will have a place to go.
Back in April, when anti-poverty group ACORN Canada surveyed over 1000 renters across the country, they found 34% said that they didn’t have enough money to pay their rent for May.
Around 15% of those short on rent said they would have to rely on payday or installment loans, borrow money from their family members, or use their credit card to cover rent.
The ACORN survey also found that 15% of renters were already facing threats of eviction from landlords.
The provincial announcement says the Residential Tenancies Tribunal will work with renters and landlords to attempt a mediated agreement for payment, when payment in full is not possible.
Tenants will be required to provide evidence that they are unable to pay rent due to financial issues related to the pandemic.
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Premier Blaine Higgs says he will consider lifting the ban on temporary foreign workers in New Brunswick if more vacancies aren’t filled soon.
Higgs says 250 people have “stepped up” to fill spots normally filled by temporary foreign workers, and another hundred were interviewed yesterday.
Higgs says he won’t let the positions go unfilled.
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Court documents reveal that there were warning signs that the man who murdered 22 people in Nova Scotia last month was dangerous.
The Halifax Examiner reports that acquaintances of the gunman interviewed by police said he was a “psychopath,” a “sociopath,” and “paranoid.”
The heavily redacted documents summarize interviews with eight different people, six of whom appear to have known the gunman well.
The documents show the gunman was known to abuse his partner, collected an alarming number of weapons, and owned several replica police cars.
Two people interviewed said that the gunman had recently purchased large quantities of gas.
None of the people interviewed had reported the gunman’s behaviour to the police.
Last week, the Examiner featured an interview with a former neighbour of the gunman who called the RCMP several years ago to report the gunman’s possession of illegal weapons and his abuse of his partner.
The neighbour was told there was nothing that could be done unless eyewitnesses to the assaults, or the victim herself, came forward.
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The Town of Sackville is calling for nominations for its annual Volunteer Recognition awards.
The town is accepting nominations until June 1st in the four categories, recognizing 10 years, 25 years, and 50 years of community service.
There is also an award recognizing volunteer service for students in Tantramar Regional High School and its feeder schools.
Volunteers will be celebrated at a dinner once restrictions have been lifted.
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That was the CHMA daily news roundup.
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If you have questions or concerns about life in Sackville and the Tantramar area, get in touch with us at news@chmafm.com
