SJ Board of Trade Announces Three Award Winners

The best in business will be honoured at an awards ceremony in October.

The Saint John Board of Trade announcing three winners for the Outstanding Business Achievement Awards: Carole Cunningham, the Board of Trade's Event Manager winning the Chair's Award, the UNB Saint John Promise Partnership winning this year's Big Heart Award and the Young Entrepreneur of the Year is Sarah Jones, the owner of Jones Gallery on Duke Street. The rest of the winners will be announced on October 2.

This is the 29th year for the awards ceremony. For more information on the event, call the Saint John Board of Trade at 634-8111.

New Inclusive Education Policy For NB Schools

The province has made some changes so nobody in the classroom is left behind.

The Inclusive Education policy was just announced by Education & Early Childhood Development Minister Jody Carr, and it's meant to make sure all students in New Brunswick schools get the support they need in the classroom. The approach focuses on students' particular strengths and needs and must be implemented by teachers and staff who are flexible and responsive to change.

A similar policy was launched in 1986, when the government established a mandate to ensure the inclusion of all New Brunswick children in their schools.

Fire Crews Battle Rail Yard Blaze

Photo Courtesy of Andrew Sanojca

A smoky scene at a rail yard with three boxcars completely engulfed in fire. 

Fire crews called to NB Southern Railway's South Bay yard had to use extrication tools in order to get inside and put out the blaze. 

Acting Platoon Chief Roy Byers of the Saint John Fire Department says the cars were retired from the rails and being used for long-term storage. There were no injuries.

Sea Dogs Home Opener Tomorrow Night

The President of the Saint John Sea Dogs Wayne Long would like to put last season behind him as year one of rebuilding following a Memorial Cup championship and appearance in the final. 

Long says they had an excellent draft and training camp.
He predicts this year's version in the second year of rebuilding is young, highly skilled and will be exciting. 


Long says the great thing about having younger players is that they go full out every game and can pull off some surprises.
 
The Sea Dogs' home opener is tomorrow night against the Acadie Bathurst Titan at 7 and they play again Sunday afternoon at 3 against the Charlottetown Islanders.

LaPierre Revelations Call Reports Into Question

It's a question of honesty: if Louis Lapierre was willing to falsify his academic credentials, what else did he lie about? That's the point being raised by Provincial Green Party leader David Coon.

He says the Alward government appointed Lapierre to give its pro-fracking stance some legitimacy but now all that has been cast into question.

Coon says the people of New Brunswick will doubtless want the government to look at Lapierre's reports again, since they supposedly consulted with people and gave a green light for fracking to go ahead.

Aquarium To Extend Fall Hours, Reduce Admission

The Huntsman Fundy Discovery Aquarium in St. Andrews staying open from Monday until the end of October due to popular demand. 

The initial plan had been to open by appointment only after September 8, but instead they're opening a daily two-hour window which allows visitors to see the harbour seals Loki and Snorkel being fed, as well as the new seahorse exhibit.

As a special thank you to visitors, admission prices are being reduced by 20% for the period.

Head Of Province's Shale Gas Institute Resigns Amid Controversy

The big question is what the resignation of Louis LaPierre as head of the province's Energy Institute does to the Alward Government's policy on shale gas development. 

He had been appointed to head the province's new shale gas institute earlier this year. 

Provincial Energy Minister Craig Leonard, while announcing the resignation of LaPierre had been accepted, praised the work of the Institute under LaPierre’s leadership.
 
Controversy has erupted over LaPierre's supposed academic qualifications. LaPierre has been a University of Moncton professor for 30 years but now has admitted to misrepresenting his academic credentials. 

He also resigned as chair of the Marathon Panel, a federal environmental review board, citing medical reasons.

Volunteers Needed For St. Andrews Playground Construction And Demolition

Just like 20 years ago  -- a local playground's re-construction will be done by the hands of volunteers.

The St. Andrews Community Playground Committee asking the public to help with the demolition and build preparation before construction starts next week.

Volunteers are needed between 5:30pm to dusk on weekdays, and 9am-5pm on the weekend.

Construction on the playground will also be done by volunteers from next Wednesday, September 25th, to Sunday, Sept 29th.
To sign up as a volunteer for the project, and for details, click here.

Gallant Says It's Not A Real Shuffle

The Provincial Liberal Leader says it's also the same people around the table..it's not a real shuffle.
 
Brian Gallant tells Tide News this is an old political tactic when things are not going well politically.

He says it's only changing the roles for a few ministers adding it's like they are playing musical chairs with an extra seat.

Gallant says making Ted Flemming the Attorney General is only because of Marie-Claude Blais's move to education meaning they needed a lawyer in that post.

Cardy Calls Cabinet Shuffle "Rearranging Deck Chairs"

Provincial NDP Leader Dominic Cardy is predictably unimpressed with Premier David Alward's major cabinet shuffle unveiled today.

He tells Tide News he's a bit confused by the reappointment of former Education Minister Jody Carr to Post-secondary Education, Training and Labour since that's a ministry that needs stronger leadership.
 
Carr says it amounts to little more than putting individuals in potions with which they're not familiar--and that's unlikely to spark any major change in direction.

Environmentalist Wonders If Canaport Could Have Done More

The Canaport Community Environmental Liaison Committee is fit to be tied because the first it heard about the huge bird kill late last week was on the news. Thousands of birds died after apparently flying into the flaring at the L-N-G plant.

 A member of that committee, David Thompson tells Tide News if other birds had died the same way before last week, he wants to know if anything was done previously.

He wonders if they turned down the lights, tried to turn down the stack flare or put on sirens or made other noise to deter the birds away.

Thompson also speculates many more birds may have died than the estimated total of 75 hundred if they fell into the Bay or nearby woods.

NB Breast Cancer Deaths Are Declining

Breast cancer deaths in the province have been going down since 1996 according to the first report on breast cancer from the New Brunswick Cancer Network.

The number of breast cancer deaths has declined by 12 per cent with the number of mammograms and proportion of women screened rising dramatically. 

Breast cancer is still the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the province. 110 women have died so far this year.

Man Charged With Bestiality

A 29-year-old man has been arrested in relation to incidents of bestiality in the Moncton area.

A search warrant carried out on his home on September 18. Images and other items were seized.

He will appear in court on October 4 2013, to answer to charges of bestiality and corrupting morals. All the incidents, involving dogs, are said to have occurred from January to September 2013.

Big Changes In The Alward Cabinet

Some changes in the Alward cabinet just 12 months before the next provincial vote.

Rothesay MLA Ted Flemming remains Health Minister and also becomes Attorney General.

Jody Carr is no longer Education minister but takes over in related portfolio...Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour.

Marie-Claude Blais is the new minister for Education and Early Childhood Development.

Troy Lifford is the new minister of Justice and Robert Trevors moves out of Public Safety into Human Resources.

Bruce Northrup takes over Public Safety and Danny Soucy takes up his former role in Environment and Local Government.

Claude Williams remains in Transportation and Trevor Holder in Tourism, Heritage and Culture.

For more on the cabinet shuffle, click here

Gas Prices Down Again Especially Self Serve Regular

You won't have to pay as much for gas if you have to fill up after the weekly setting. 

The price of self serve regular taking a big dip by over 4 cents a litre to $1.26.5 around town. 

Diesel is also a bit less expensive at $1.37.6 a litre. 

The maximum price for heating oil is $1.18.6 which is down by a couple of cents a litre but propane has increased with the maximum price listed at $1.06.9 a litre.

RCMP Seeking Public Assistance

Uptown Saint John Reacts To Paramount Demolition

"Disappointing"......That's the reaction of the President of Uptown Saint John to the start of demolition at the old Paramount Theatre in King Square. 

Matt Alexander, though, is far from downcast about what the future holds.

Uptown Saint John made a concerted effort to get enough public and financial support to see the theatre transformed to another use but failed.

Alexander is hopeful the development of the Coast Guard site by Market Square will act as a catalyst to spur further development in the uptown. He says there's a lot of energy in that part of the city these days.

Thousands Of Dead Birds At Canaport LNG

Workers at Canaport LNG were met with a grim scene over the weekend as 7,500 birds--some of them possibly listed as endangered--were found dead near the gas plant.

 Research head of zoology at the New Brunswick Museum Donald McAlpine tells Tide News the birds were attracted to the large flame at the plant in the foggy weather, very much like moths are attracted to flames.

Canaport has been working to reduce flaring, and McAlpine called the event extremely unusual. He did say, however, that could have been predicted with the large amounts of birds migrating at this time of year and also the low cloud ceiling. 

The flares are a way to burn off excess gas.

Pension Coalition Making Stop In St. Stephen

Retirees came out in droves yesterday to hear about the shared risk pension plan the Alward government is proposing to replace a defined benefits model. Hundreds showing up to the New Brunswick Pension Coalition's information meeting at the qplex in Quispamsis.

Spokesperson Clifford Kennedy says the polls filled out at the meeting will be used to help the coalition figure out what they should do next--whether they go legal, or attempt to get into a discussion process with government.

Liberal Leader Brian Gallant addressed the crowd, showing his support for the Pension Coalition. Gallant suggesting a judicial review to find out if switching to that model from a defined benefits model is legal.

Quispamsis was the first stop on a tour of the region. St. Stephen being the second. Kennedy says the polls filled out at the meeting will be used to help the coalition figure out what they should do next.

Former Saint John mayor and teacher Ivan Court getting up and telling the room it's time to get rid of this government.

Around 100 pensioners came to the meeting at the Royal Canadian Legion in St. Stephen.

Some Changes As Hunters Gear Up For Moose Season

Moose season runs from next Thursday until Saturday--and with over 4600 licenses being given out this year, the Department of Natural Resources has set up a number of new registration stations so that hunters can get their moose registered quickly.

The new private moose registration stations are in Neguac, Saint-Paul, Tay Creek, Saint- Léonard, Edmundston, and nearby McAdam. Moose can also be registered at 17 department offices throughout the province. Time is of the essence to get moose to a butcher shop after they are shot for safety reasons and it's hoped the new stations will cut the wait time. 


A change in the moose hunting rules is also making it possible for a previously chosen hunter to be issued a moose license in the event of the death of the primary license holder before  moose season. The change will come into effect in time for this fall's hunt.