Most of
the unions that represent the civil service are now on board with
proposed changes to the public pension plan, according to a release by
the provincial government.
Those changes include the
controversial move to the shared risk model, which it is hoped will
redress the $1 billion deficit for the public service plan.
The
government claims the the pension legislation will make sure retirees
will never see their pensions reduced from their current level and will
continue to get cost of living increases; however, the Pension Coalition
of New Brunswick has protested the changes all along as unjust and
potentially actionable.
Provincial Liberals say they will vote against the legislation introduced by the Alward Government.
Marilyn Quinn of the New Brunswick Nurses Union has said they're confident it's the best solution to provide pension security.
If
anyone was expecting a speedy resolution to the Richard Oland murder
investigation now that charges have been laid against his son Dennis,
they might be sorely disappointed.
Dennis
Oland made a brief court appearance this morning in connection with his
second degree murder charge in his father's death over two years ago.
On
January 21st, a date will set for a preliminary hearing that will
determine if there's enough evidence to go to trial. The adjournment was
requested due to the amount of documentation according to Oland's
lawyer--and the trial might not happen until late 2014.
Richard Oland was found dead in his Canterbury Street office in July, 2011.
The fraud section of the Saint John police are warning the public of a credit card scam.
Back on November 12th, three people were arrested and found with many fake i.d.'s and credit cards. Sgt.
Jay Henderson says police believe it is part of an organized credit
card fraud ring operating in this province and in PEI for the last two
months.
He says the suspects would enter a business, pick an item
and present a credit card to the cashier saying the magnetic strip was
not working. Then then ask the store's employee to enter the number manually to make the item go through. The
card given to the employee was counterfeit and the number on the card
was stolen.
The SJPD Fraud section advises businesses owners to speak
to their employees and see if this happened to their business. To contact police call 648-3333 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or click here.
Those aspiring entrepreneurs who think they've got the next big idea
can apply for some help through a newly announced fund.
The
Executive Director of the Pond-Deshpande Centre at UNB, Karina LeBlanc
tells Tide News the Saint John True Growth Innovation Fund is designed
to spur early stage innovators into action.
The fund
is between $1000 and $5000 and the money is meant to help the
entrepreneur build a case so they can go out and pitch to those who can
then give them more funding. Click here for more information on the fund.
The launch of the fund at the Creative Soup Building uptown also kicking off Global Entrepreneurship Week.
