Provincial
Finance Minister Blaine Higgs wants legislation passed during this
session of the Legislature to change teacher pensions to the shared risk
model.
Higgs
maintains the government can’t continue to make special payments that
have averaged $83 million annually over the last 10 years.
Provincial
Attorney General Ted Flemming tells Tide News there's been a lot of
fear mongering on the part of those who want to keep the status quo.
Flemming
says the change means teachers will have to contribute more to their
pension plan, if they decide to retire in their mid fifties then they'll
get less than if they worked longer and cost of living increases will
depend on how well the fund performs.
He also
argues the government is actually doing the teachers a favor if you
look at what is happening elsewhere. Flemming points out even a city
such as San Jose, California in Silicon Valley, no less, is on the verge
of bankruptcy because of unfunded pension liabilities.
Most of
us get our sexual health education in high school, but New Brunswick
Community College counselor suggests we may not be learning enough.
Kris
Trotter is giving a Valentine's Day presentation in Saint John on
sexual ethics, something she says isn't really covered in our
educational system. Trotter tells Tide News teachers and parents tell
her that young people are learning about the hardware, they know about
biology and sexual acts, but there hasn't been enough in terms of
managing what she calls the software.
Trotter
says it's largely about being able to accurately read someone's body
language and checking in if you're unsure. The workshop is being held on
Friday, February 14 at 7pm at Saint John High School and is being
offered through UNB Saint John Leisure Learning Courses. For more
information contact pce-saintjohn@unb.ca or call 648-5962.
War Amps Canada beginning this year's Key Tag campaign, mailing out 250,000 tags to New Brunswickers.
The tag
has a confidentially coded number on it linked to your name and address
so if you ever lose your keys, the person who finds them can drop them
in a mailbox or call the number on the back of the tag and a courier
will drop them off on your doorstep.
The
service is free, but any donations the group gets from the key tag
campaign goes to fund artificial limbs and programs for adult and child
amputees across the province.
Over 300 New Brunswickers getting their lost keys back last year thanks to the tags. Click here for more information on the service.
A woman
who had a rare autoimmune disorder requiring 32 units of blood after
having a liver transplant where her spleen was also removed.
While Kristin Wheaten supported blood and organ donation before, she is a vocal supporter now.
She
tells Tide News a third of the population is undecided when it comes to
donating blood, so she encourages people to really think about it and if
they do decide they want to give plasma, to let their families know
about their decision.
Wheaton,
who works at the Loch Lommond Villa foundation, tells us she chooses to
believe that 32 different people took an hour of their day to donate
and help save her life and she couldn't be more grateful. To book an
appointment to give blood, call 1-888-2-Donate.
Fire crews responding to a fire in a basement on the East side of Saint John.
Smoke
could be seen coming out of the building at 2623 Golden Grove Road.
Crews knocking down the fire shortly after it broke out.
It appears everyone made it out safely.
An auto repair shop on the Hanwell Road just outside of Fredericton being completely gutted by fire.
Fredericton
Fire Department Platoon Captain Mike Mizner tells us about seven
vehicles around the building were also destroyed. There were several
explosions as firefighters were battling the blaze, which sent fireballs
30 to 40 feet in the air.
The New
Maryland, Oromocto and Upper Kingsclear Fire Departments were called in
to assist, and crews were on the scene for about eight hours. The cause
of the fire is still under investigation.
Fire crews in the Fredericton area asking drivers to steer clear of the scene of a large structure fire in Hanwell.
Flames
and thick, black smoke can be seen coming from a building on the Hanwell
Road and there are reports of multiple, small explosions.
You can see pictures of the blaze on the Fredericton Fire Department's Twitter account.
Buyers,
beware: the Maritime Better Business Bureau is sending out a warning to
shoppers who want to show their support for the Sochi Olympics. Counterfeit goods and scams are all over the place.
A recent eBay search turning up a fake Olympic Torch for Sochi 2014 at a cost of $7,000.
And
if you or someone you know plan on heading to Sochi...the Olympic
Committee is sending a similar message about tickets saying if you plan
on buying them on a website other than tickets.sochi2014.com, they
strongly reccommend you make sure they're authorized to sell
them---otherwise, you could end up buying fakes then then getting turned
away at the door.
A Saint John chef will soon be cooking up a storm on your television screen.
Jesse
Vergen of the Saint John Alehouse and the Smoking Pig Real BBQ will be
appearing on Top Chef Canada. Vergen tells us for his audition he
cooked wild black duck with periwinkles, foraged sea greens from the
Bay of Fundy with cattail salad.
It seems
he's not too concerned about the speed factor, telling us he's been
trained to work fast and tells us anyone who works in the restaurant or
hospitality industry knows you don't just walk to a table, you walk
briskly.
The show premiers on March 10 on the Food Network. You can check out Vergen's audition tape by going to their website.
If you
or someone you know is taking lithium, Health Canada wants you to be
aware of new safety information and treatment recommendations for the
drug.
Lithium is used to treat bipolar disorder, however, taking
it can cause high levels of calcium in the bloodstream which may or may
not be accompanied by an increased level of parathormone, also known as
hyperparathyroidism.
Health Canada is now working with
companies to update the product labels for the drugs. If you're on
lithium, the federal department says do not stop treatment unless you've
talked over the benefits and the risks of your treatment with your
doctor.
Seven medications containing lithium are available in Canada.
The
University of New Brunswick Academic Senates giving the official
green-light to the cancellation of the March Reading Week as a way to
make up for time lost due to a more than two week long faculty strike
last month, according to reports.
No exams or tests will be held
during that time, and a reading day for students has been added the day
before the start of exams. Thee deadline for payment of fees for this
semester's term courses being extended to this upcoming Friday.
You can find a link to the revised Academic Dates Calender for undergraduate students by clicking here.
According to UNB, additional details including academic dates for
graduate students will be circulated by email as soon as they are
finalized. Follow more updates as they become available by clicking here
The parents of kids who had cancer in their teens or childhood being asked to take part in a survey.
The
Pediatric Oncology Patient Navigator Program is conducting a
confidential, online survey with the aim to improve children’s cancer
care services across the province.
They would like parents or
guardians of children or teens that had cancer under the age of 17
between 2005 and 2013 to provide feedback about the service they
received during their time of treatment.
To take part in the survey click, here
Premier
David Alward's TV ads coming up in the Legislature with Provincial
Liberal leader Brian Gallant saying the Olympic coverage should not be
polluted by his message of despair. The Premier responded by saying the
only pollution is being spewed by the Liberals.
Alward
has taken to calling the Liberals, the party of press pause and
moratoriums with no new ideas on offer to grow the provincial economy.
The
U-N-B Board of Governors will be giving the money the university saved
during the recent strike by faculty back to the students because of the
hardship and inconvenience they suffered.
The Board of Governors deciding the university should not financially benefit because of the strike.
The
exact figures and details are still not known but it's thought full-time
students will receive a lump sum credit on their account of over $200
with part time students getting a lesser amount.
UNB teachers across the province voting to accept the tentative collective agreement signed with administration on January 30th.
90% of those who cast a ballot voted for acceptance. The next step in the process is ratification by the Board of Governors.
Union
president Miriam Jones says they owe a huge debt of gratitude to their
bargaining team adding they did difficult work for more than a year.
Jones
says the strike was difficult for everyone but she says their members
have come out of it reinvigorated and ready to work to reclaim their
university.
The NDP
leader for New Brunswick suggesting trimming the fat in the government's
senior management sector as one of many ways the province can save
money.
Dominic
Cardy laying out a plan to save more than $213-million as a way to help
balance the budget. Cardy says he would cut the size of the cabinet down
to 10 from 17, the number of deputy ministers to 14 from 27 and the
number of senior managers to 50 from over 100.
He also
estimates taxpayers would save around $2-million if MLAs used spare
offices in government buildings instead of paying rent for office space.
Another more than $74-million could be saved by delivering on the
promise of the last Liberal government to centralize common government
services, according to Cardy.
Cardy coming out with the plan just after the release of the Alward Government's budget.
A brand new ladder truck being unveiled at the Irving Oil Emergency Services building on Grandview Avenue in Saint John.
In
addition, the City and Irving Oil announcing a partnership on creating a
training facility for firefighters that both companies can use and
third parties.
Fire Chief Kevin Clifford says he's been concerned about their firefighters not having a place to train and soon they will.
He
says they are not at elevated positions every day so having a training
facility is incredibly important for a community like this and the
response profile they have.
The training facility for the Saint John Fire Department will open in May.
Sharpen those ice skates because this year's Investors Group Skate to Care event is coming up this weekend in Saint John.
Director
of Development with the Regional Hospital Foundation & Mindcare
Victoria Clarke says this year they're focusing on mental health first
aid. She describes it as the mental health equivalent of being a first
responder, training people to recognize signs of stress, anxiety and
depression in children.
Clarke
says we still have a ways to go when it comes to increasing awareness of
mental illness and erasing the stigma, but seeing the community
rallying around an event like this tells her the groundswell is coming.
The event is happening at Harbour Station on Saturday from 10am-2pm. Click here for more information on the event, including how to join or support a team.
University students are disappointed the provincial budget did not contain measures to ease their financial burden.
Pat
Joyce of the New Brunswick Student Alliance tells Tide News the province
had saved money with a lower interest rate on what it had borrowed to
provide financial aid to students. They were hoping that money would be
used to help them out but such was not the case.
Joyce
points the cost of higher education is getting more onerous with the
rising costs of tuition, textbooks and housing. He worries post
secondary education is becoming less accessible for many young people
and argues helping students out financially is really investing in the
provincial economy as more and more jobs require higher skills.
A new
environmental report is claiming the Energy East pipeline that would
bring oilsands bitumen to the Irving Oil refinery will increase
greenhouse gas emissions enough to wipe out all the gains caused by the
elimination of coal-fired power plants in Ontario and be the equivalent
of adding 7 million new cars on the roads.
Clare
Demerse of the Pembina Institute, who wrote the report, says regulators
should consider the proposed pipeline’s effect on climate change when
hearings are held on the project.
The
Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and the National Energy
Board have said the expected tripling of output from the oilsands over
the next 16 years depends heavily on new pipelines being built.
