The Official Moncton, NB Project Thread

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

I would never allow those neanderthals to use my business for a photo op.

I don't think any smart businessman would ever say no to the PM for a photo-op. It's free publicity and it never hurts to build bridges with a powerful man.

[mylesmalley]

We were asked if he could come by. The company is completely non-partisan, but as MonctonRad mentioned, it's publicity. Having him and his entourage come means that we will be seen from coast to coast. There's a great photo on the CBC of Harper installing one of our van liner packages - something we're actively trying to push from coast to coast.

We're very proud of our facility and what we do here. We're open to having any and everyone we can to tour the place and get the word out. And in case you don't believe me when I say we're not partisan, we had four Liberal MLAs and one Liberal MP through last week!

[kwajo]

I came on here specifically to ask Myles if the photo I saw on CBC was inside the Malley factory, but I guess I don't even need to ask! Nice photo-op for a NB company, well done!

[pierremoncton]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

We were asked if he could come by. The company is completely non-partisan, but as MonctonRad mentioned, it's publicity. Having him and his entourage come means that we will be seen from coast to coast. There's a great photo on the CBC of Harper installing one of our van liner packages - something we're actively trying to push from coast to coast.

We're very proud of our facility and what we do here. We're open to having any and everyone we can to tour the place and get the word out. And in case you don't believe me when I say we're not partisan, we had four Liberal MLAs and one Liberal MP through last week!

I understand the publicity aspect. It's definitely your (company's) choice, and my judgment is my own. I know I'm one of the few, but I would definitely reconsider my support of a company based on their political affiliation. I believe you when you say the company is non-partisan, but reality is that a few low-key Liberals walking through the factory doesn't actually garner publicity, whereas King Harper speaking does; hence the association. In this case, I have no need for any volume of vans anytime soon anyhow, and I'd be crazy to think that this'll have any negative repercussions for you! Having said that, I just noticed and read the lead story on CBC and it doesn't actually mention Malley anywhere; just "a factory".

In response to what creationism has to do with anything: it's just simpler to use that to associate everything else that's wrong with them. I won't turn this into a political debate; I'm done. I read this forum every day but the idea that we should vote for Harper for a carrot was enough for me to make hit "reply".

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

I won't turn this into a political debate; I'm done.

That's good, because your usage of terms like "King Harper" and creationism tells me you wouldn't be a very effective political debater anyways.

[MonctonRad]

Speaking of Malley Industries, I drove up the new extension of Aviation Blvd. for the first time the other day. Your new facility looks really impressive from the road. It's already quite large and has room for expansion. Well done!

[mylesmalley]

Thank you, Kwajo!

Originally Posted by pierremoncton

I understand the publicity aspect. It's definitely your (company's) choice, and my judgment is my own. I know I'm one of the few, but I would definitely reconsider my support of a company based on their political affiliation. I believe you when you say the company is non-partisan, but reality is that a few low-key Liberals walking through the factory doesn't actually garner publicity, whereas King Harper speaking does; hence the association. In this case, I have no need for any volume of vans anytime soon anyhow, and I'd be crazy to think that this'll have any negative repercussions for you! Having said that, I just noticed and read the lead story on CBC and it doesn't actually mention Malley anywhere; just "a factory".

In response to what creationism has to do with anything: it's just simpler to use that to associate everything else that's wrong with them. I won't turn this into a political debate; I'm done. I read this forum every day but the idea that we should vote for Harper for a carrot was enough for me to make hit "reply".

We're all entitled to our opinions, but personally, I think letting political affiliation control your life to the point of avoiding certain businesses because of who they support is taking it a bit to the extreme.

There are people who are going to look at this and say 'oh, they're Tories!'. There are people who are going to say 'Hey look, Stephen Harper is standing in front of a Malley van'. And there are people who are going to remember seeing the name a month from now when we mention it.

When it comes down to it, this is what we're getting:


To ourselves, our suppliers, our customers, and partners, this is golden:




For the record, we don't just build ambulances. We build everything from police cars and prisoner transports, wheelchair-accessible vehicles, ambulances, commercial trucks, plastic components (everything from vehicle interiors to soap moulds), and custom products for just about any industry you can think of.

And if anyone's in the area, send me a message. I'd be glad to give you all a tour!


Sorry mods. I hope this didn't come across as an advertisement.

[cormiermax]

Iv been wondering this for awhile now and I guess you'd be a good person to ask. Are there any plans to bring in the Dodge Sprinter truck model for ambulances and such?

[mylesmalley]

Some places use them, particularly where there's a good dealer network to back them up. Ford has a pretty huge market share of ambulances. That's a market they've really gone after. That said, you'll find some of all the big vehicle models.

[Sony500]

Myles, congrats on your photo op with the PM. Sometimes good or bad publicity is good publicity. Personally, I think that being in the same region with a company that builds specialty vehicles is really awesome. Just like I bet that a lot of people doesn't realize that Waldale Manufacturing in Amherst produces license plates for many countries. That being said, Harper maybe have just been very interested in seeing where some of these specialty vehicles are produced. I don't like Harper myself, but I am happy for you that he made a visit to your company.

Some people are very pationate about how they feel about our politicians, and all opinions should be appreciated.

I don't think pierremoncton was trying to qualify for a debater. I have heard the terms that pierremoncton used before when describing Harper, and I won't disagree with them.

[mylesmalley]

Oh, I'm no fan of Harper either. As a matter of fact, I'm on the executive for the NB Young Liberals. It's just important to be able to put politics aside when an opportunity comes around.

[David_99]

Looks like he offended some Acadians by saying he was "happy to be in Moncton"...

Well they're starting to lay pipe for the new Sobeys on the old Files de Jesus site. If anything good can come of this is that maybe the added property tax will be enough incentive to repave the northern half of Elmwood. I don't feel like busting another tire this spring!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by David_99

Looks like he offended some Acadians by saying he was "happy to be in Moncton"...

Well they're starting to lay pipe for the new Sobeys on the old Files de Jesus site. If anything good can come of this is that maybe the added property tax will be enough incentive to repave the northern half of Elmwood. I don't feel like busting another tire this spring!

Yes, I see that lyin' Brian Murphy was trying to make political hay about this. He stated something to the effect that it was an unacceptable slap in the face to the proud Acadian city of Dieppe to have been ignored by the PM.

Sounds like Liberal hyperbole and opportunism to me!

I agree that Elmwood is in horrible shape. I drove down it the other evening to get off the TCH during the snowstorm and I damn near busted an axle getting down to Morton!

Repaving Elmwood needs to be a top priority for the city.

[C_Boy]

Here is some more colour for the page... well not quite colour but pictures of downtown anyway! Pictures were taken a few weeks ago by a friend of mine.














Photo credit: Christina Allain

[nwalbert]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Yes, I see that lyin' Brian Murphy was trying to make political hay about this.

Well said! That guy is a real sleazeball in every sense of the word.

[MonctonRad]

Moncton 2010 one of Canada's top sport events
Published Wednesday April 6th, 2011

World track competition nominated for International Sport Event of the Year by industry group
BY BRENT MAZEROLLE
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF

OTTAWA - The Canadian Sports Tourism Alliance has named last year's IAAF World Junior Championships in Moncton one of three finalists for Canada's International Sport Event of the Year.

The youth track and field championships, which drew teenaged competitors from 170 countries, was held in Moncton last July 19-26.

The Moncton event is up against 2010 Rogers Cup, held in Toronto, and the 2010 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, held in Saskatoon and Regina.

As well, Larry Nelson, the head of Moncton 2010's local organizing committee, has been nominated for the CSTA Community Service Award.

The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance is a tourism industry led organization that promotes sport tourism as an economic development initiative at the community level.

It serves more than 200 members across Canada, including 105 municipalities, 55 national sport, multi-sport and major games organizations and a variety of other national and provincial sport and tourism industry partners.

The association says the purpose of the Prestige Awards is to "celebrate the people, places and events that make the Canadian sport tourism industry so dynamic and important to the economic fabric of our communities."

It is the same organization that found the games last summer generated $127.5 million in gross economic impact throughout New Brunswick.

An estimated 75,000 spectators attend the 11 sessions of the championships, which were held at the Stade Moncton 2010 Stadium on the Université de Moncton campus.

The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance used the same methodology it has used since 2006 to gauge large sporting events across Canada, up to and including the Vancouver Olympics.

The findings of that report, released in January, and the award nominations announced yesterday both "underscore the success of the event, which happened on-time and on budget," said Ian Fowler, the City of Moncton's general manager of economic development, culture and tourism.

All finalists will be honored at the Prestige Awards gala luncheon to be held on April 28 in conjunction with the CSTA's 2011 Sport Events Congress. Recipients of the CSTA President's Award will also be announced at the event, held at the Westin Ottawa hotel.

TSN broadcaster Rod Black, one of Canada's most recognized and distinguished sportscasters, is returning as master of ceremonies for the luncheon.

So, being nominated for this award certainly should help the city somewhat in it's quest to be a host city for the FIFA Women's World Cup. Good stuff!

[Lrdevlop]

Metro centre now one step closer
Published Thursday April 7th, 2011


Moncton council OKs application for federal funding for proposed downtown facility
A1
BY BRENT MAZEROLLE

This is why they taught you about oxymorons in high school English - they may not make literal sense, but somehow they're the most accurate way to describe a thing.

Last night's special public meeting of Moncton city council was just such a thing, and the city took what Ward 3 Councillor Daniel Bourgeois aptly called "one more big baby step" on the road to building a downtown multi-purpose events centre.

By a vote of 8-2, they endorsed the federal funding submission for the downtown centre that had been developed by a staff working group over the course of the past year.

The funding request will be submitted to P3 Canada, a federal Crown corporation whose mandate is to improve the delivery of public infrastructure by achieving better value, timeliness and accountability to taxpayers, through public-private partnerships.

The city staff and the council were working against a tight deadline, which is why the special meeting was called. The application seeking $25 million in federal funds must be in Ottawa today, complete with multiple supporting documents including an independent economic impact analysis from Grant Thornton and a business study from Sierra Planning Consultants. As you might imagine, asking for $25 million requires a few more forms than your average student loan.

None of this means council has voted once and for all to go ahead with building a centre that is expected to be the catalyst to revitalize downtown. There will be many more hurdles to jump and conditions to be met before council commits to an estimated $100-million project.

That's why last night was a baby step.

Why it was a "big baby step," is that had the council not taken this step, the dream of a centre that could one day house community spaces, a library, museum, art gallery, the farmer's market, Codiac Transit hub, retail and commercial spaces and, of course, a large indoor stadium-style venue for arts, entertainment and sporting events, might not be going any further.

"If we kill this now, we'll have killed the whole thing," Ward 2 Councillor Merrill Henderson suggested shortly before the vote.

Ultimately, council voted 8-2 in favour of going forward, with Ward 3 Councillor Brian Hicks and Ward 2 Councillor Nancy Hoar dissenting. Ward 1 Councillor Steven Boyce was absent.

Hoar said at the outset that she had a number of concerns preventing her from voting for it, but "my main concern is we don't know what we're going to have in this venue and where it's going to be."

Hicks said his naying on last night's step didn't necessarily mean he would not support building a centre if certain conditions were met.

Those conditions were determined by a community task force led by James Lockyer and endorsed by council on March 15 of last year.

They were that the facility be built with a three-way equal cost-sharing among the three levels of government, and that a fair contract be negotiated with the Moncton Wildcats, who would be the anchor tenants of the sports arena portion of the facility. Other important conditions of moving forward were financial support from Downtown Moncton Centre-Ville Inc. and the local hotel industry.

The deal with the anchor tenant was reached last summer, and DMCI recently announced it will contribute $2.5 million to the project over 10 years to help with operating costs. There is still no hotel levy in New Brunswick, but the city has been negotiating with the area hoteliers' association to see that some of the revenues of a levy could support tourism measures such as holding events at the centre once a levy is established through enabling legislation expected from the provincial government.

Hicks argued those commitments weren't as strong as he would have liked, and suggested DMCI and the hoteliers could show more meaningful support with a 30-year commitment instead.

But the biggest issue for a number of councillors, chiefly Hicks and Bourgeois, is that the P3 Canada money, the only federal fund accessible at this point, only funds projects to a maximum of 25 per cent or $25 million.

The estimated cost range for a multi-purpose facility is from a low $75 million to a high $100 million, so the concern is legitimate, especially since the rules of P3 Canada, a completely independent body whose decisions are based on set criteria rather than political considerations, state their federal funding can't be combined with any other federal programs.

Assuming P3 Canada does give the city the $25 million, the other $8 million-plus that a three-way split on a $100-million centre would have brought in from Ottawa would have to be found elsewhere.

City manager Jacques Dubé urged councillors to go ahead with pursuing the money anyway, even if it doesn't give council all that it wanted, arguing that deciding whether or not to take the $25 million and build something with funds from elsewhere was a better position than not having any money at all.

"This keeps our options open because at the moment no other sources of funding exist," Dubé said.

He also said staff would be preparing a parallel application for a more traditional three-way Infrastructure Canada arrangement. While there is no program offering that traditional arrangement running right now, "that doesn't mean there won't be another federal program" down the road a bit, the Parliament Hill veteran suggested.

"This is just the beginning of the negotiations," Deputy Mayor Paulette Thériault said, supporting the city manager. "This is where the fun begins for all of us. We need to give staff the authorization to go forward."

Bourgeois and Hicks both fought at length to have last night's motion of support for the funding application include clauses about the March 15, 2010 conditions needing to be met.

Mayor George LeBlanc, Dubé and Councillor-at-large Pierre Boudreau all suggested that could disqualify the application from the outset, because P3 Canada does not exceed $25 million, period, and would see no sense in processing an application asking for more.

Urging councillors to vote for sending the application, the mayor said, "it will still always be open to council to stop from going forward," if a suitable plan couldn't be reached.

"Maybe we're crossing the bridge before we get to the river," Merril Henderson suggested to any council colleagues opposed to at least seeing what the federal government would offer.

Councillor-at-large Kathryn Barnes said she had a number of design and vision concerns about what such a facility should be but she would save those for another day.

"We do need a downtown development," she said.

The mayor built on that.

"This is not a project to build a rink downtown. It has to be much broader than that."

He expressed regret that fear of driving up land prices led to much of the recent work on the proposed project being done behind closed doors.

"It would have been my preference to have all these discussions in public," he said, noting it's hardly a good negotiation strategy, for instance, to let a potential land seller know how much money you have put aside to buy it.

"But I can tell you at some point we will have all of these documents available and will have all of these discussions in public. I look forward to a very thorough debate on this so everybody understands all the issues."

[MonctonRad]

a "big" baby step indeed!!

I find it mildly amusing that in both this article, and in the CBC article on the same topic that everyone is going way out of their way to avoid using the "A" word in describing this project.

This is being described as an events centre, multipurpose centre, community centre and almost any other possible type of centre, but God forbid if anyone chooses to call it an "arena"!!

Given the current political climate, this is understandable and appropriate but amusing nonetheless.

[Sunnybrae]

I'm curious MonctonRad, have you ever given thought to a name for the new arena, stadium, colosseum.... thingy? I like what Saint John did with the "Harbour Station" name. I never really cared for the Moncton Colosseum name.

[mmmatt]

The new power plant at the Dumont is now well underway and is quite visible from Wheeler...hopefully it looks 1/2 decent when complete

Seville property group is taking another step to revitilize the corner of Mclaughlin and Morton...they already finished this 2 years ago:

Mclaughlin Place


and now they just put up a sign for this:

Mclaughlin Plaza




Doesn't look half bad for a strip mall...certainly MUCH better than the dilapidated house and garage currently occupying this lot