Economy The #1 Issue For 2013, Says Liberal Leader

As we enter 2013, Provincial Liberal Leader Brian Gallant has no hesitation in saying what the number one issue is in New Brunswick these days. He says our major challenge is the economy, with a 11.2% unemployment rate and a rising deficit

Despite that, Gallant says the Liberals still favour a moratorium on shale gas development with too many unanswered questions. He tells Tide News even Provincial Energy Minister Craig Leonard can't say how many jobs will be created, what impact it would have economically and how it would affect the environment.

Rplex? Rothesay Looks Into New Rec Centre

Quispamsis has the Qplex, and now Rothesay is looking at creating its own recreational centre.

Mayor Bill Bishop tells Tiude news there's 2 million dollars in their capital budget for a design study, but that will only be used if Rothesay Council gets enough information on funding and size to go ahead.

Bishop says the rec centre would have a focus on indoor sports, with small rooms for martial arts, an indoor walking track and courts for basketball and volleyball.

New Brunswick Gets First Dumping Of Snow

Hopefully you don't have anywhere to go today, because most of southern New Brunswick is snowed in.

Gelas Duguay, a meteorologist from Environment Canada, says the worst of the snowfall is mostly over, but there's still snow coming. He says we've received as much as 15 cm of snow at the airport that started late overnight. Duguay says the heaviest of the snow fall will end around 8:30 am, but we will continue to get 5-6 cm of lighter snow throughout the day. Although the snowfall will end tonight, we'll still have strong winds up to 70 kilometers an hour.

The winter blast is dumping as much as 30 cm of snow across Nova Scotia, PEI and southern and eastern New Brunswick. It will then head to Newfoundland, bringing winds gusting up to 140 kilometers an hour.

The high will be zero today, with a low of minus 12 for tonight.

The Princess of Acadia ferry crossing the Bay of Fundy has been cancelled for the day because of the storm. City transit says buses will start running at 10 am, but warn to expect delays and service may be stopped if the weather gets worse. Delays and cancellations have started at the airport.