This weekend, I attended the Saint John Dragon Boat Festival with a team from my work, T4G Limited.  Our team’s name was T-oar-G.

As the drummer on the team, I figured that I would dress up a bit, since I heard that drummers on other teams were going to dress up as well.  A quick trip to Value Village and I was ready to go!

Well, it turns out the Telegraph-Journal liked my costume as they stopped me for an interview in the afternoon.

A brief story appeared in today’s newspaper:

Shawn Peterson of T4G’s T-oar-G team took the theme a little further by dressing as a pirate for the event. As the team’s drummer, tradition dictates that attire should stand out just a little. Given that it’s a water-related event, Peterson figured a pirate was an apt theme… especially since his IT firm is concerned about software piracy.

Today, my latest letter to the editor was printed:

Abel LeBlanc should resign

I am calling for the resignation of Abel LeBlanc. For too long, he has put his own personal interests and views ahead of his constituents. This time, he has gone too far with his comments.

Suggesting violence will be used to “take back power” is not something that rational people in Saint John believe. Saint John is on the verge of receiving an incredible amount of investment, and comments like these have the potential to impact that.

He should realize that his comments are not just read by people in Saint John, but in the rest of the province and worldwide.

If Abel wishes to continue down this path, then he should resign and do so as a regular citizen.

Shawn Peterson
Saint John

Chase calls on the Premier

Stephen Chase, the Deputy Mayor of Saint John, is calling on the Premier to fire Able Leblanc.

This comes after the explosive comments that Able made earlier this week.

Chase says that these comments send the wrong message to industry as the city prepares for large energy projects that are dependent on healthy labour relations. He said labour groups may view the statement, which came from a former top union official, as a call to action.

Chase says that, “Mr. LeBlanc should no longer be a member of the (Liberal) Party”.

“The world is watching Saint John and when business and industry are thinking about investing in this city, and these projects are dependent on healthy workforces, they are hearing about calls of violence. What message is being sent?”

The Premier does nothing

The Premier, doing what he does best, is refusing to listen to the people in Saint John.

Graham said he will not fire LeBlanc because the MLA was elected to do his job in the legislature.

“As premier, I am not given the authority to fire members of the legislative assembly,” Graham said after a caucus meeting in Memramcook.

The premier does not seem to realize that by doing nothing, he is silently supporting the views of Able - views that the vast majority of people in Saint John do not agree with.

Court and Riley to the rescue

Mayor Ivan Court and Pat Riley played down LeBlanc comments, stressing LeBlanc never condoned violence in his remarks.

“The only violence we have ever seen associated with the labour movement has been incited by union-busting firms who have been documented as planting thugs who try to incite violence,” Riley said, adding that he couldn’t recall any such events in the province (be sure to re-read the last part of that sentence).

The mayor said Chase is merely trying to grab headlines in calling for LeBlanc’s job.

I have a differerent view.  I belive that Chase is doing this to stand up for the people in Saint John.  If we say nothing then we are accepting what Able is saying.  He is an embarasment to this city and needs to appologize.  More people are speaking out each and every day, and this needs to continue until Able finally resigns.

Able LeBlanc made some very strange comments after Council’s decision in favour of the sale the former Lantic Sugar site to Irving Oil.

Able said that the city’s industrial unions will reclaim power and influence they lost to government and “big business-” and it could even come to blows.

“We will take it back, and it’s got to come from the grassroots and real leadership,” said LeBlanc. “I would only recommend that they do it peacefully. Somewhere down the line it will come to protest and violence.”

That’s right, a local MLA is threatening us with violence if we don’t do what him and the union’s say.

My response to Able is simply this - Stop the threats, you were elected to represent the citizens - do it already!

As an MLA, you should know what it means to represent your constituants - not yourself.  You have consistantly put your own personal views before the constituants, and this time has gone too far.  Get with the times.  You have had your chance to speak, more then enough on this topic, and now it is time to stop the threats.  You need to start working with the community, because we want to keep moving forward.

After weeks of debate and discussion, the vote finally took place to determine if the city would proceed with a land sale of the old Lantic sugar refinery to Irving Oil.

This vote passed 9 - 1.  This decision by council was made easier because of the amazing show of support from the community.

I was quite relieved when I heard that it did pass.  This really was the first major test for the new council and it showed that they did listen to the community - at least most did.  Patty Higgins managed to achieve an “Epic Fail” with her vote against.

Higgins, who blames every problem in the world on the “big corporations”, explained that it would be better for the city to keep the land because someday we might be able to build something as lovely as the Sydney Opera House.  Yes, that was her actual reason for voting against this deal.

Let’s hope that the councillors that did listen, keep listening, and that Patty will start.  Otherwise, it could be a very long four years.

Being Deputy Mayor of the city doesn’t protect you from the childish antics of the city’s inside workers. This is something Stephen Chase found out this week.

Since voting against a contract for the the city’s inside workers, his garbage and compost have not been picked up.  Coincidence?  Hardly.

Let’s first go over what was included in this terrible contract that did manage to pass (with only Chase and Titus voting against it).

John Chilibeck explains it best:

Members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 486 will receive a 3.5 per cent raise retroactive to Jan. 1, a 3.25 per cent raise in 2009, a 3.25 per cent raise in 2010 and a three per cent raise in 2011.

Unlike the city contract, which provided a hike of 13.6 per cent over four years when compounding increases are factored in, the provincial pact was 10.5 per cent over the same length of time. It was a far better deal for taxpayers.

The city has driven wages up so much that it pays the assistant common clerk the same salary as a highly educated optometrist. It also pays a garbage collector wages approaching a beginning teacher’s salary. Does this make any sense?

There’s another sleeping gorilla in the new contract that few councillors seem to care about or fully understand. For every wage increase, the city’s pension shortfall worsens. That’s because the higher wages are, the bigger pension payouts will be in the future. City taxpayers have already bailed out the plan plenty, kicking in $19 million extra over the last council term alone.

Now back to the inside workers.

Chase said Wednesday that he’d done some investigating that shows he was placed on a ‘do not pick up’ list on June 24, before he voted against the contract.

However, he’s still suspicious because when he voted against an outside workers’ contract in 2002, his front lawn was strewn with garbage the next day.

Chase has always been the councillor most likely to clash with unions - a fiscal conservative, he has often pushed for contracting out services, overhauling the employee pension plan and removing the clause in the outside workers’ contract that demands a minimum of 293 workers.

He has been heckled by union members in the council chamber and was the target of attack ads during the municipal election campaign that said he wanted to sell Saint John’s water.

“Here is the issue,” Chase said. “My route has just been taken over by a contractor. But before it was released to him, 30 Anglin Drive was placed on a no-pickup list by somebody. I’m really curious to know who and why.”

Luckily for Stephen, many people offered their support on the Telegraph-Journal’s online article:

“I think we owe Mr.Chase a hand cleaning up - after all he is trying to clean up one dirty bunch of louts at city hall. It appears that the unions / staff are thumbing their noses at the rest of SJ.”

“Hey Stephan….you can put your trash in with mine…don’t get discourged and keep up the good work…..or we should all stop by sir Ivan the terible’s and drop off our trash….with a local go to hell sign attached!”