Wear A Red Ribbon For World AIDS Day

Today marks the 24th annual World AIDS Day, a day marked around the globe for people to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with the chronic disease and to commemorate people who died.

Julie Dingwell is the executive director at AIDS Saint John, and she tells Tide news today is a chance to pause and reflect on how we're dealing with the epidemic. She says there's still a lot of discrimination in Saint John and around the world towards people with HIV. She says it's that discrimination that sometimes discourages people from getting testing out of fear of being shunned. 

Dingwell says AIDS is no longer a death sentence here in Canada, but a chronic manageable condition. She stresses it's still a global pandemic, and our government needs to step up. Dingwell says just recently parliament voted down bill C-398 which would've let Canadian drug manufactures send medicine to Africa to help fight HIV. Only 2 batches of medicine have been sent to one country since 2008, she says.

Carrie Underwood Concert Sells Out

Carrie Underwood tickets must be a very popular Christmas gift is greater Saint John.

The show sold out in less than two hours this morning.

The American Idol winner will thrill local fans when her show hits Harbour Station on April 2nd.

It's her second appearance in the City.

Early Morning Fire On Saint Andrews Street

Saint John Fire Department putting out a fire at a vacant building at 16 Saint Andrews street in uptown.

Platoon Chief Eric Garland tells Tide news they received the call just before 6 am. He says the fire was on the second floor and caused extensive damage to the roof and right side of the house. Garland says it took 45 minutes to get the fire under control and the building suffered considerable damage.

Garland says the building appeared to be under renovations.

Sussex Tennis Court & Trails Getting An Upgrade

The tennis centre and trails in Sussex getting a big boost.

Fundy Royal MP Rob Moore announcing $30,000 from the government will be put into updating the rec facilities.

The updates mean washrooms in the tennis centre and signage for walking trails. The signs will be location specific, meaning they'll include GPS coordinates which will help locate people faster in an emergency.

The funds are part of the Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund which helps projects that look to improve existing community infrastructure.

Uptown Gets Sweet With Gingerbread Houses

Here's a trail that's sweeter than Harbour Passage.

The Gingerbread Trail is a new fundraiser in Saint John, which will see 21 businesses across uptown build their own gingerbread house to be displayed and raffled off before Christmas. All proceeds from the fundraiser go straight to kids at The Joshua Group and non-profit group Gala Ballet Productions.

Gala Ballet board member Darlene Baker tells Tide news they encourage the shop owners to make the houses from scratch and use the "Land of Sweets" theme from their upcoming production of The Nutcracker.

She says the business are really excited about creating the sweet houses, and there's a prize for the best one. The Nutcracker is playing at the Imperial Theatre December 8th & 9th.

Tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5, with the draw happening on December 22nd.

To see a map of the trail, click here.

Midnight Madness Hitting St. Stephen Tonight

It's Time to "Spread the Cheer and Shop Right Here"!

Tonight is Midnight Madness in St. Stephen with many businesses staying open late for your convenience with countless sales.
Shop locally in St. Stephen at over 60 businesses and fill out a ballot to win some Christmas Cash.

Tonight will be the first draw with the St. Stephen Retailers Christmas Promotion with $250 up for grabs.

The Doors To Healthcare Will Remain Open... For Now

It came down to crunch-time, but we have the victory.


The people of Charlotte County will not lose their healthcare services at the Fundy Health Centre in Blacks Harbour -- at least for now.

Residents of Charlotte County can breathe easy knowing the Fundy Health Centre will remain open, after doctors threatened to lock-up and protest a policy from the Horizon Health Network that would charge them $1.50 per patient visit.
Doctors were planning to lock the doors and refuse patients after Friday, November 30th, 2012.

MLA for Charlotte-The Isles Rick Doucet tells Tide News Health Minister Hugh Flemming has stepped in and the doctors are talking with Horizon Health. He says, "The doctors are discussing this issue, they are dialoguing. I understand there are some parts of negotiations that are still going on, but at least this gives them some breathing room, the $1.50 is off the table, and now they can continue to do the work that they've been doing, serving the people of this area. After tomorrow (Friday) it's going to be business as usual, and doctors will continue to see patients at the facility."

Doucet says he wants to give credit where credit is due, and says he is grateful for Health Minister Hugh Flemming for stepping in on the matter. However, Doucet says,  "I've discussed this with the mayors of Blacks Harbour and St. George, and we are all very cautiously optimistic because we don't know what is in the future. That's why we'd still like to meet with the minister on this, along with the doctors, so we can talk not only about the short term, but what is the long-term future of this facility."

Town Buying Property, But Quiet On Future Plans

They're buying the property, but won't tell us what they want with it.


St. Stephen Town Council passing a motion during last night's council meeting (November 26th) to purchase a section of land off Route 170, between Car Quest and a private farm, from the Dept of Transportation.

Mayor John Quartermain tells Tide News it's a prime piece of real estate. He said they intend to flip the property and make the town some revenue. However, he wouldn't give any further details on what the town plans on doing with the property. Quartermain says, "There's reasons, there are reasons and I can't go into it right now."

The pricetag on the property is $1700.

Liberal Leader Gets Taste Of Charlotte County

Liberal Leader Brian Gallant getting a good taste of Charlotte County this weekend.


Gallant is touring New Brunswick to gather information on what residents want from their government.

At the Magaguadavic Place in St. George, Gallant tells Tide News he was very happy with the big turn-out of residents. He says, "It was really interesting as it was a good chance to let people know what I'm about, and where I think our party and the province has to go, and it was also a really great opportunity to have some feedback about what is happening here locally and what's happening here in the province. It's very beneficial to me."

In Gallant's speech, he said we need three things in New Brunswick. "We need to change our political culture by putting parties aside and working together to help the economy. We need to be transparent, not only in our information, but in our motives."

He says, "Next is job creation. New Brunswick is 1 of 2 provinces to have lost jobs in 2012, which means our economy is shrinking. That makes job creation our biggest priority. Right now we've seen cuts, and cuts, and cuts, but we can't cut our way to prosperity. One of the reasons we see so many cuts is because we aren't growing the revenue side of things. We have to go to a system that will develop our economy by making conditions that will help businnesses in the long run and not just a quick fix to earn a few extra votes at election time."

Gallant says his third priority is education and training. "If we want to be ready for the knowledge economy tomorrow, we have to invest in education and training today." He says it's not just about university, it's about college, K to 12, pre-school, and life-long learning. It's not just about math and science, it's about putting skilled trades back in our schools."

Gallant also making a stop in Blacks Harbour for the Sunday Jam Session, where he joined local MLA Rick Doucet in a so-called "butchered" version of "You Are My Sunshine".

New Health Coaches To Help Fight Diabetes

If you have type 2 diabetes, you're about to get a new way to fight it.

New health coaches are gearing up here in Saint John and across the province as part of New Brunswick's new Live Well! program. The $1.7 million partnership between the Department of Health, the Canadian Diabetes Association and the Medavie Health Foundation uses a community approach to prevent and manage diabetes.

Lesley Melanson is one of the heath coaches here in Saint John, and she tells Tide news she'll be helping people between the ages of 16-50 fight the chronic disease. She says she'll be a resource and mentor in helping people get healthy. They'll work with community groups that focus on healthy eating, active living and mental health.

Melanson says a big misconception about type 2 diabetes is most people view it as a disease only older people get, and because of this a lot of young people keep living an unhealthy lifestyle.  She says about 10% of people living in Greater Saint John and over 70,000 people in New Brunswick have diabetes. That number is also expected to rise to 128,000 by 2032.

The service is free but you'll need to be refereed to the health coach by a physician or another health care provider.

Most Canadians Like Their Job

Turns out most Canadians are pretty satisfied with their jobs, that's according to a recent study by the Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling.

Jeff Landine -- an assistant professor in the faculty of education at UNB -- has reviewed the study and found that we also have a better balance between work and our personal lives than most countries.

The study shows a whopping 81% of Canadians are satisfied with their jobs, 86% like the work they do and 78% are happy with their overall life. It also found 88% like their coworkers and 62% are content and don't plan to switch jobs. Landine isn't surprised by the numbers, and says the more control people feel they have in their job the happier they are.

The downside? 39% of people felt they aren't paid fairly. Landine says when you look at pay, perks or interest in work, that can lead to dissatisfaction.

Fires Destroy Homes In Shediac & Bathurst

Five people in are temporarily homeless after a fire yesterday afternoon that destroyed their duplex. No one was hurt in the blaze at 115 Smith Avenue in Shediac.

The Canadian Red Cross provided emergency aid with blankets, food and shelter.

Firefighters were on the scene for several hours. No word yet no the cause of the blaze.

The second fire happening in Bathurst around 8 o'clock at night.

The Canadian Red Cross says two families are without a home after a fire broke out on Assaff Drive.

Fire crews say the blaze destroyed a row house and caused smoke damage in several other nearby row houses. No one was injured.

Point Lepreau Is Finally Running Again

It's been a long time coming, but the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station is back online as of today.

The facility is expected to provide 25 to 30 years of power to both New Brunswickers and export customers.Gaeten Thomas, president and CEO of NB Power, tells Tide News the customer rates will level out in the long term despite the project's widely-broadcast cost overruns.

There have been seemingly endless delays in the refurbishment project, which began in 2008. Tests and monitoring will continue during the early weeks of the plant's operation.

Honouring Our Vets Beyond Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day has passed, but our veterans aren't forgotten.

Saint John MP Rodney Weston announcing a contribution of up to over $20,000 dollars to restore a memorialhonouring those who served in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, peacekeeping operations and modern missions.

The monument will be cleaned and polished, and various parts of it will be updated and replaced.

Inquest Into Smith's Death Will Be "Broadly Based"

A coroner ruled Friday that an inquest into the prison death of a New Brunswick teenager will be broadly based despite objections raised by several doctors who treated her.

The three Ontario doctors argued the inquest should focus only on the last days of Ashley Smith's life at the Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener, Ontario.

Smith's family, backed by other parties, wanted the coroner to examine much more, including how Smith was treated at other prisons in other provinces long before her death.

The 19-year-old Smith choked to death in October 2007 as guards essentially stood by.

(Courtesy of the Canadian Press)

Irvings Rank #3 As Canada's Wealthiest

It may not come as a surprise, but the province's oil giants the Irvings are among the wealthiest Canadians.

That's according to Canadian Business magazine's annual ranking of Canada's wealthiest, putting industrialists James, Arthur and the late Jack Irving at # 3 on the list.

The trio have a combined net worth of about 8-billion dollars.

Topping the list was the Thomson family, owners of Thomson Reuters, at more than $20-billion dollars.

Making Science Less Intimidating & More Fun

Making physics a little less intimidating and a lot more fun.

That's the goal of Physics–Ploration, a series of exciting physic presentations and experiments at the Saint John Free Public library. 

UNB Saint John physics professor Dr. Li-Hong Xu sets up and explains the experiments to get students from elementary to high school curious about the science. She says very few people get into physics because they think it's hard, but Xu stresses that anything is hard and just like anything you have to work on it. She says physics is part of our everyday life and it's interesting to understand the world you're living in.

The experiments are designed as hands on activities for students. Today's session will focus on forces. Xu describes some forces as visible -- such as push and pull -- while others are invisible like electromagnetic and gravity. Other sessions in the past have even focused on physics in the kitchen, like how a microwave can measure the speed of light.

Today's presentation will run from 1:00 until 2:00 pm in the multipurpose room on the second floor in Saint John.

Renovated Algonquin Will Help Economy Year Round

The famous Algonquin Hotel and resort is receiving a major face-lift.


New Castle Hotels and Resorts doing renovations on the property in St. Andrews, which will include a new roof, windows, and warmer, energy efficient wings that will allow marketing for all seasons.

Vice President of New Castle Guido Kerpel tells Tide News its a unique and very iconic property. He says, "We are going to restore it to the way it was but with some modern slants. That as well as the fact that we are now going to be operating 365 days of the year, full steam ahead to bring guests to the property."

Kerpel adds both sections of the hotel will now match, with the same color white paint, and the tudor-style trim will reach from end to end.

The renovations are also bringing some new -- and old -- ideas to the buildings. Private balconies along the second floor, which were included with the original design in 1889, but were not rebuilt after the fire in the early 1900's, will be put back in place.  The outdoor pool will remain as it is at the request of many returning summer guests, however, to accomodate the winter guests, a new indoor pool is being built where a former garden was situated. The indoor pool will be approximately 6000 square feet and will have a two-story, indoor/outdoor spiral water-slide.

Tourism Minister Trevor Holder tells Tide News an overwhelming majority of the contractors involved come from New Brunswick. He tells Tide News, "It's another example of what we are doing, during tough, fiscal and economic times, make sure there is opportunities for the local economy here in St. Andrews and Charlotte County, but also continue to build a world-class tourism product for the whole province."

Local MLA for Charlotte-Campobello Curtis Malloch tells Tide News the bottom line in the project is the employment factor. Malloch tells us, "We have upwards of 10 or more local contractors and sub-contractors right out of the riding of Charlotte-Campobello. Just one contract that I know of, the roof contract, it is worth over a million dollars, and it is a local company that has that contract." Malloch says not a single penny has been spent outside of New Brunswick.
The completion date is June 1st. ( Top Picture - The Algonquin showing boarded up windows. The private balconies will be built along the second floor. Bottom Picture - From Left; MLA Curtis Malloch, Tourism Minister Trevor Holder, and Construction Manager for Avant-Garde Construction and Management Inc. Rob Clinch, looking over the area where the indoor pool will be built. )

Gallant Responds To Alward Bashing His Party

Provincial Liberal Leader Brian Gallant is speaking out after getting slammed by Premier David Alward.


In an interview with our sister station, CHSJ, Gallant said he wanted to put politics aside and work with the Tories to build the economy.

Alward then responded at the Conservatives' Annual General meeting over the weekend. Alward spend 8 minutes of his 24 minute speech dedicated to bashing Gallant and why he didn't believe the Liberal party.

Gallant tells Tide News its not going to be easy to change our political culture. Gallant says, "I know its going to take a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of patience. I know its new to hear an Opposition party saying they want to collaborate, they want to offer pro-active, positive ideas, so we are just going to go ahead and keep doing that."

Gallant tells us he has the political will to keep trucking with his message of doing it differently. "Its the way that politics is supposed to be. We're not simply there to criticize everything the government does, we are there to offer solutions as well. We are there to say if we think the idea is good, but also to ask questions and keep the government accountable, and to let them know if they are saying things that can be tweaked or done better."

Gallant will be coming to Charlotte County on Sunday, November 25th, 2012.

He will be attending a "Jam Session" with the locals at the Stella Maris Hall in Blacks Harbour at 2pm, in which Gallant says -- quote -- "Where I will be singing terribly."

At 3pm, Gallant will head to the Magaguadavic Place in St. George for a "Meet & Greet".

CBS Getting Donors From St. Stephen

It's in you to give.


Canadian Blood Services is trying to get local donors from St. Stephen.

CBS Community Development Coordinator Thomas Bishop tells Tide News the blood is used for many different ailments and diseases. He says, "There's lots of different kinds of cancers that require blood transfusions, there are people who have blood disorders, some infants when they are born need blood, and trauma victims from car accidents." Bishop adds, "The biggest units are needed for trauma victims."
Bishop says the need for blood is constant. "We see our hardest times to collect are during the summer months and Christmas, when people are preoccupied with other things and it's not top of mind. So as we're heading into the winter months, it's a really critical time."

Bishop says every minute of every day - somebody needs blood. He tells us, "Currently in Canada, 1 in 2 people are eligible to give blood, but only 1 in 60 do." He encourages everyone if they are healthy and are feeling up to it on the day of the clinic to come and give it a try.
He says to make sure you eat a meal and drink lots of fluids on the day of the donation prior to giving your blood.


The Blood Donor Clinic will be at the St. Stephen Legion, located at 43 Queen Street in St. Stephen, tomorrow ( Thusday, November 22nd ) from 2 to 4, and again from 5:30 to 7:30.
To book an appointment call 1-888-2-DONATE (1-888-236-6283) or go online at www.blood.ca.