Atlantic Canadian Politics Thread

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by adamuptownsj

Brent Harris proposed a pretty broad set of electoral reforms for council in Saint John.

• Reduce each ward to 1 councillor (keep two at-large)
• Allow mayor to vote in non-tiebreaker situations
• Increase councillor pay from $35K to $60K
• Implement performance review for elected officials (???)

Honestly not terrible, other than the last one.

If we went to one councillor per ward, I would like to see instant-runoff or preference voting or something. The odds of getting a total dud are way higher in ideologically-amorphous low-turnout no-platform municipal elections than provincial elections.

Mayor voting kind of makes sense, but not really something I care about.

Cutting councillors and increasing pay is good. Not as good as making it fully volunteer and part-time, but the current commitment-to-pay ratio clearly isn't getting the best and brightest.

Elected officials are not employees and should be accountable to voters, not city staff. Not keen on city employees reviewing popularly-elected officials. A recall mechanism would work better.
**EDIT: Apparently the mayor would be doing the reviews, which is absolutely nutso.

I think it sounds more like a terrible plan that will only make "common" councillors even more powerful than they already are, which won't be an improvement for the residents of the city, who will lose almost half of the councillors to contact with concerns, ideas, etc.

If we want to talk about a sensible reforms... ranked ballots should be near the top of the list.

But let's roll with this 1 councillor per ward idea, and take a look at who came in first and second in the SJ city council races in the last election:



Gerry Lowe over David Hickey? Greg Stewart over Paula Radwan? Brent Harris over Gary Sullivan? Greg Norton over Joanna Killen?

Barry Ogden was basically the only city councillor in the #1 spot that I think could be universally considered the better councillor of the top two vote getters.

Some of the #1 vote getters like Harris, Lowe, and Stewart are pretty objectively worse at their job compared than the #2 councillors. I may not agree Paula Radwan Donovan on everything, but I think she's one of the better councillors in terms of communicating with residents of the city, even residents outside of her ward.

As for Harris's proposal not being, "as good as making it fully volunteer and part-time" I'm not sure if you're serious or not lol. Like, how much in savings are we really talking about here, and for what benefit? I have serious doubts a volunteer run council would be any better than the current situation, and could easily see it being objectively worse with many councillors using the ole' "we're just volunteers" line to justify their decision making, or worse, their lack of dedication. Moreover, I think making council "volunteer only" could make the position of councillor even more prone to corruption than it already is.

Though some might argue corruption in the name of progress isn't always a bad thing.

Personally, I think if the Holt government's comprehensive reforms live up to their expectations even a little bit, The City of Saint John will have more than enough room in the budget to continue paying city councillors, or even give them a pay raise.

Moreover, while it's highly unlikely the Holt government will touch regional amalgamation in the Saint John Region (unless they see polling to suggest the KV ridings are lost causes for the next election)... I don't think it's entirely out of the question for the the government to pursue solutions that see the KV communities (and Grand Bay) begin to contribute far more than currently do to fund regional services within the city limits of Saint John.

If I'm not mistaken, Rothesay and Quispamsis still only $750,000 each towards services in the city of Saint John each year? I think that figure is abysmally low... and it's straight up gaslighting for the mayors of KV to try and claim they are already "paying their fair share" when the amount they are contributing to the city budget is such a paltry sum every year.

I think we all know for that figure to be truly considered fair, that figure would be in the multiple millions for each for the urban communities of Grand Bay, Rothesay, and Quispamsis.

[ivegotaname]

Imagine if a party came out and said they'd cover everyone's TV and Internet and as a Thank you for voting for them. Add if they wanted likes, a party should follow through what they say they will do in there platform in first 2 years, higher immigration rates and more homes and higher density neighborhoods. Lower rent prices also pay low rate not monthly. More incentives for couples who want to have children but dont have money or time too they should be paid extra for the period of time trying to get pregnant and both should get parental leave from work paid. Get the government out of businesses selling Pot and alcohol plus others or at least the money collected by those stores should go to the community

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Non-firewall version of the article:

https://thedeepdive.ca/internal-list-32-projects-pipeline/

Ports figure prominently in the list: Contrecoeur (Port of Montreal)

Originally Posted by James Bond Agent 007

Rendering!

Not as exciting as a skyscraper, but nonetheless ...

Dubai’s DP World to develop Montreal container terminal

The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) and the Canadian arm of Dubai’s DP World announced that they have entered into a Joint Development Agreement to develop a new container terminal that will add 1.15 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) to the port’s annual handling capacity.

The terminal is part of the Contrecoeur expansion project that includes two ship berths, a railyard, and other facilities to be located 25 miles downstream from Montreal on the St. Lawrence River.

Contrecoeur will be DP World’s sixth port facility in Canada, joining Fraser Surrey, Nanaimo, Prince Rupert, and Vancouver in the west, and Saint John in the east.

Quoting this post on Montreal Port expansion from the Projects of National Interest Thread on the Canadian Current Events forum.

Montreal isn't exactly in Atlantic Canada, but its still the biggest container port in Eastern Canada, by far, and it's just been announced that it's going to get even bigger.

The Port of Halifax and Port Saint John, along with their regional and provincial partners will have to make a good case for our Maritime ports to get similarly ambitious port expansion and development projects, but I think both Port Saint John and the Port of Halifax have lots of room for growth if the PM really is hellbent on increasing and expanding Canada's trading relationships with Europe. Still, they won't just be handing out the funding without a good pitch. Based on what I've seen so far from Houston and Holt, Houston has a much more ambitious plan for Nova Scotia than Holt has for New Brunswick in terms of Canrney's request for "Project of National Interest".

However, Houston is from a rival party, and could even be a rival to Carney for PM in the next election depending on Pierre Poilievre's leadership review. While Susan Holt, on the other hand, might be the type of Liberal that could sustain the Liberal's inroads in Quebec should she successfully run for the federal Liberal leadership after her and Carney both win another election for a second term. Wouldn't it be something if Holt and Houston both were the two, main federal leaders in an election down the road?


___________________________________


Where I think Saint John and Halifax could come into a more direct competition during Carney's first term is the subs purchase. Clearly, Halifax is always going to be the preeminent Canadian naval base on the East Coast, but it doesn't exactly have a spare 1150 ft dry dock just sitting their unused in its harbour like Saint John does.

Carney has talked a big, big talk about doing things bigger, and bolder, and faster than every before, but he can't magically clear away the huge backlog in Canadian shipyards that are working at capacity for the next ten years with their ongoing contracts. Meanwhile, Saint John has the basic infrastructure needed that could be turned around into the East Coast's main submarine maintenance facility or even a small submarine base.



Halifax would still host the Canada's east coast submarine fleet, and I'd imagine they would eventually invest in some sort of floating dry dock or other infrastructure to allow some light maintenance of the subs in Halifax, but Canada would gain some strategic benefit expanding its naval presence on the east coast by building the submarine maintenance facility, and maybe even a small, adjacent submarine base at the former site of Saint John Shipbuilding.

Maybe the HRM will get a new dry dock one day... one big enough to build a new generation of "flat top carriers" aka amphibious assault ships, of which there are currently no dry docks in Canada wide enough to facilitate such a vessel for long term maintenance.

• Video Link

Now that's the type of ship that would truly necessitate the enormous cost of building the biggest dry dock in Canadian in history.

[sailor734]

Carney announced the first five projects to be fast tracked.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carney-major-projects-list-1.7630470

Kind of underwhelming in my opinion and nothing really positive for NB or Saint John.

Not sure if the support for the new Montreal container port has the potential to hurt PortSJ or if they would serve a different market?

[CharlotteCountyLogan]

Im not surprised by the lack of anything for NB. The best NB will get might be a upgrade at Simms Corner, or something for Belldune.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by CharlotteCountyLogan

Im not surprised by the lack of anything for NB. The best NB will get might be a upgrade at Simms Corner, or something for Belledune.

That's some seriously pessimistic thinking... I think it's waayyyy too soon to write off port expansion for Port Saint John, or other projects of national interest for NB for that matter.

We've never had a PM like Carney before, and I remain optimistic he will deliver for NB. However, I'm not sure our provincial leaders have been thinking big enough when it comes to these projects of national interest.

Carney asked for big ideas from the premiers, and it seems Holt didn't really deliver those big ideas... like as far I know she didn't even float the idea of connecting Port Saint John with the Trans Canada Highway... but who knows what's actually being discussed behind the scenes.

[Bishop2047]

I am not surprised by the initial list. Most of these were already well into the planning/development phase. Gotta start with some lay-ups. Belledune is still likely to be green lit, but it does not fit the "Nation Building" definition so will not get the same sort of press. They were smart in NS to market the wind project as Atlantic, and play up the regional benefits.

Would love to see Port of SJ on the list but it could also be seen as not a "Nation Building" project unless you could tie it to key deliverables. As with many things in Gov't Marketing is more important than substance at times.

[CharlotteCountyLogan]

Freeland leaving cabinet for U...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/freeland-stepping-down-1.7634960
Freeland is leaving cabinet to become envoy to Ukraine. This means a new transportation minister will be appointed, and I do hope its a maritimer though I know it won't be.

[drewber]

Originally Posted by CharlotteCountyLogan

Freeland leaving cabinet for U...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/freeland-stepping-down-1.7634960
Freeland is leaving cabinet to become envoy to Ukraine. This means a new transportation minister will be appointed, and I do hope its a maritimer though I know it won't be.

Steven MacKinnon. Born in PEI but represents Gatineau, PQ

[sailor734]

https://tj.news/new-brunswick/province-l...k-force-on-homelessness?itm_source=index

"Emergency" provincial response to homelessness happening over the next four years when it needs to happen over the next three months. But hey, bureaucrats from multiple departments are going to have lots and lots of meetings and send each other hundreds of emails so that's good right?

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by sailor734

https://tj.news/new-brunswick/province-l...k-force-on-homelessness?itm_source=index

"Emergency" provincial response to homelessness happening over the next four years when it needs to happen over the next three months. But hey, bureaucrats from multiple departments are going to have lots and lots of meetings and send each other hundreds of emails so that's good right?

• Video Link

I thought this "press conference" was a bit much. Like 13 minutes to discuss what they are going to do, with very little to report on the things they are currently doing. They should be building new shelters in all three cities... and based on those numbers he was spitting out (more than 500 homeless people in Moncton, and around 200 in both Saint John and Fredericton) it sounds like the province should building two new shelters in Moncton.

Moreover, it was mentioned in the main Saint John thread that David Hickey and Fresh Start claim were not consulted about the city's red zone's strategy. I have an especially hard time believing that about David Hickey, considering he was on council as the city was developing the strategy, and talked to the media about the red zone strategy mere months before he was elected as an MLA and named minister for housing. He said King Square wouldn't be full of tents, but that there would be places in the community that would be.

• Video Link


As for his new role as housing minister... where's all the ambitious plans and ambitious projects? It seems all three of NB's main cities would benefit from some sort of Single Room Occupancy style housing in their downtowns to deal with chronic homelessness, along with far more deeply affordable rental housing for middle and low income people that don't quality for social housing.


As for the deeply affordable and affordable housing projects for the tens of thousands of renters in our cities who are being squeezed by market forces and historic levels of immigration, I don't think I've seen our housing minister take a single photo op in front of a government housing development even close to 10 storeys or taller. It's always some tiny little 2 or 4 storey project.

High rises with deeply affordable and desirable rental housing, funded and owned by the public, but built by private construction companies, should already be going up in all three of NB's "big three". We should be building big, building bold, and building now in NB too. Yet, we seem to have no plans to do anything such thing.

I think it makes a lot more sense for more people to pay rent to a publicly owned corporation, than to pay private landlords and rental companies who received government funding to build their own affordable housing projects.

The Landlords of SSP might not like it, but I think the vast majority of renters would rather pay affordable rents that go towards filling governmental coffers and building more affordable housing, than paying mostly unaffordable rents that mostly go towards filling landlord's pockets.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by drewber

Steven MacKinnon. Born in PEI but represents Gatineau, PQ

Hopefully that's a good thing for Port Saint John and the Port of Halifax. As other than the PM, the Minister of Transport is the most important person in government relating to our ports.

I think there's a lot of room for port expansion in Saint John and Halifax, along with corresponding rail and transportation infrastructure investment between both cities.

I really think Saint John and New Brunswick's leaders should be pushing for Port Saint John to be linked up with the Trans Canada Highway.

So far, it seems the only project relating to Port Saint John that Susan Holt has publicly requested, is a fix for Simms Corner, which would be good, but I think there should be a far bigger ask than that!

This is the first time in a while that the ruling NB government has been aligned with the federal government, I hope premier Holt truly makes the most of this alignment, especially when we have a PM that talks a bigger talk about "building big, building bold, and building now" and more about economic transformations, than perhaps any other PM in modern history.


Moreover, I think NB and Saint John's leaders should be making a concerted effort to lobby for the Saint John Dry Dock to be named the new, east coast RCN submarine maintenance facility... especially since Halifax doesn't exactly have a spare 1000+ meter dry dock laying around.

[ivegotaname]

According to what Grok Pro. There was 165,000 babies born in new brunswick since the turn of the century. Now where did those kids go now we should have over 1,000 000 population the government drove the familys out of town and its still going on

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by ivegotaname

According to what Grok Pro. There was 165,000 babies born in new brunswick since the turn of the century. Now where did those kids go now we should have over 1,000 000 population the government drove the familys out of town and its still going on

"Down the road"

[irisheyes]

Shocking and stupefying. Worst debt to GDP ratio in 30 years.

These were the words of the parliamentary budget officer yesterday.

[sailor734]

Originally Posted by irisheyes

Shocking and stupefying. Worst debt to GDP ratio in 30 years.

These were the words of the parliamentary budget officer yesterday.

10 Years of Trudeau's "the budget will balance itself" and unchecked spending. Combined with wide open mass immigration, the damage that smug, self satisfied fop has done to Canada will resonate for decades. We may never recover.

[irisheyes]

Originally Posted by sailor734

10 Years of Trudeau's "the budget will balance itself" and unchecked spending. Combined with wide open mass immigration, the damage that smug, self satisfied fop has done to Canada will resonate for decades. We may never recover.

Couldn't have said it better if I tried.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Carney at least wants to invest in big things to transform the Canadian economy. JT's virtue signalling was costly and he did not have an ambitious vision for Canada's future.

I remain confident that Carney's vision for the future of Canada is far better than the one held by JT or the one PP would have had as Prime Minister.

[drewber]

Originally Posted by irisheyes

Shocking and stupefying. Worst debt to GDP ratio in 30 years.

These were the words of the parliamentary budget officer yesterday.

Don't pretend like it's a Canada only problem and that anyone other than Trudeau would have made it much better. The USA, Italy, the UK, Japan, Spain so many countries with terrible debt to gdp and a lot of it happened because of covid. We also had a great recession in the late naughts. Also 30 years ago Chretien was in power because Canada was on the brink of a debt crisis as a result of a chronic budget deficit caused by Mulroney. This isn't a red or blue thing.

[irisheyes]

I am not partisan. You seem to be.

And multiple things can be true at the same time. Pandemic - yes. Utterly incompetent Liberals - yes.