Province Buys Wheelchair Golf Cart For Campobello

Just because you're in a wheelchair -- doesn't mean you can't shoot under par.

The Provincial government announcing today on Campobello Island the purchase of a wheelchair golf cart for the Herring Cove Provincial Park.

Minister of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, Travor Holder tells Tide News accessibility is important to everyone. "It's important for both our residents to have an accessible experience so they can have the opportunity to play golf, and it's also very important as we move forward trying to promote ourselves as an accessible destination as well."

A number of upgrades have taken place recently in provinical parks as the government reviews health, safety, and accessibility in the Parks Act.

In Picture, From Left: Healthy and Inclusive Communities Minister Dorothy Shephard; local park patron Kyle Newman; Tourism, Heritage and Culture Minister Trevor Holder; and Charlotte-Campobello MLA Curtis Malloch. Picture from Conservative website.

Social Assistance Rate Rising In October

The number on your social assistance check will be a little higher this month. 

The province boosting the province's basic social assistance rate by four percent on the first of October, and it's going to go up again by three percent in April of next year. The government says it's part of their focus to reduce, prevent and alleviate poverty in the province. 

They're also making a few other changes to the system, including more support for families with high shelter costs and better assistance for clients with disabilities who are living with their parents.

UPDATED...Number Of Sex Abuse Victims Escalates

Deceased Saint John city police officer Ken Estabrooks may have sexually abused 263 children over the course of nearly three decades dating back to the late 1950s. 

That word coming from the private investigator contracted by Common Council to investigate the extent of the abuse. After decades of secrecy, private investigators and the city say vulnerable children were targeted for at least 25 years. Most of the sexual abuse victims were boys but some girls have been identified in the investigation. They were between the ages of 6 and 19 when the abuse happened.

About 53 of the victims are still living, 33 are dead and it's believed there are another 152 suspected victims.
 
Estabrooks confessed in 1975, but charges weren't laid until more than 20 years later. Perry revealing to Tide News he continued to sexually abuse children after resigning from the police department and being quietly transferred to a job in City Works. He was finally convicted in 1999 and sentenced to six years in jail, dying of cancer in 2005.

A toll free number has been set up for victims wanting to contact investigator Dave Perry and receive counseling paid for by the city of Saint John. The number to call is 1-866-790-4764.

Perry says the investigation could take up to a year to wrap up.

More Details Coming In Another Case Of Abuse Of Trust

An update into the investigation of now deceased former Saint John city police officer Ken Estabrooks, with more alleged victims coming forward, being delivered today. 

And as the decades-old case continues to unfold, the province's Youth Advocate speaking on the social impact of an all too similar case which came to light just this year. 

Norm Bosse tells Tide News, like Estabrooks, disgraced former Common Councillor Donnie Snook was in a position of trust and authority and he believes Snook used that power as a way of getting away with abusing his victims. "Who is going to question him?" asks Bosse.

While many may blame themselves for what happened, Bosse says at the end of the day only one person is responsible for Snook's actions, and that is Snook himself. However, he believes parents need to be aware of what their children are doing.

Bosse, who is a lawyer, represented the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of notorious pedophile Karl Toft at the Youth Training Centre in Kingsclear in the '90s.