Tantramar mayoralty candidates Shawn Mesheau (L) Bonnie Swift and Andrew Black

Seventeen of the 20 candidates running in the Tantramar municipal election have responded to a Warktimes request for information about campaign donors, the amounts they gave and total campaign expenses.

Mayoralty candidate Shawn Mesheau stuck with his initial response that there is no requirement under the Municipal Elections Act for candidates to keep track of their campaign donations or expenditures and Warktimes received no response from Ward 3 candidates Charles Harvey and Sana Mohamad.

Andrew Black, who won the mayoralty race, sent this spreadsheet:

Mayoralty candidate Bonnie Swift also sent a spreadsheet:

Ward 1

Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, who won the race in Ward 1, said she had one private donation of $100 to pay the rental for a candidate meet and greet. She did not disclose the name of the donor. She paid the rest of her campaign expenses, which came to $1,075.25: Advocate Printing $985.55 and postal costs $89.70.

Robert Corkerton reported total campaign spending of $777.00 with one donation from Carla Gillis of $3.00 for a bag of foam paint brushes.

Ward 2

Barry Hicks, who won the contest in Ward 2, sent the following message: “I didn’t spend any money. I chose to speak to people personally and didn’t spend anything on signage.”

Kevin Scott e-mailed to say: “I didn’t receive any donations and spent $120 out of my own pocket for my campaign.”

Wendy Epworth said she had no donors and spent $354.21 on a campaign website.

Natalie Donaher wrote: “I’m confirming no donations to my campaign. I spent time on a website but no money, my campaign total was $0.

Ward 3

Ward 3 candidates who responded to Warktimes’ request for information, L-R: Josh Goguen, Bruce Phinney, Alice Cotton, Virgil Hammock, Allison Butcher, Sahitya Pendurthi, Michael Tower

The Ward 3 candidates, who responded to Warktimes’ request for campaign donations and spending, are listed in order of the number of votes they received beginning with the four who were elected:

Allison Butcher e-mailed to say: “This is an easy answer for me. My signs were made by my children with paint we already owned and scrap lumber. I had no campaign donors. My total is zero dollars.”

Michael Tower reported that he had no donations to his campaign and that he and his wife drafted and created all of his campaign materials. His total spending of $90.57 was for photocopying.

Bruce Phinney, who has served on Sackville Town Council since 2004, responded: “I have no money donations, just verbal support. I spent no money on my campaign. I had signs left over from the last two elections.”

Josh Goguen responded that he paid his total campaign expenses of $220.81 out of his own pocket and did not receive any donations. The expenses were: $94.28 for pamphlets; $76.53 for Facebook advertising and $50.00 to RD Print for election signs that were worth $122.00 (The difference in what he paid and total sign value was “compensation for work done/barter.”)

Alice Cotton responded with this message: “Here we go: 384.00 for lawn signs from Hansen Signs Ltd., 58.00 for the printing of handbills by Mount Allison’s print shop. Rob Lyon designed my lawn sign from a photo taken by Peter Stephenson, free of charge. I paid for the printing of the lawn signs and of the handbills. I did not pay for any advertising on Facebook, though I did contemplate it.”

Sahitya Pendurthi wrote that she didn’t spend any money on her campaign.

Virgil Hammock responded that he had “zero donations” and “I have spent zero dollars running for council. I have done everything online by myself.”

Ward 4

Matt Estabrooks, who won the council seat in Ward 4, e-mailed to say: “1. No donors to my campaign. 2. No donors and therefore no funding or in kind services received for my campaign. 3. $245 of personal funds spent at Payzant Home Hardware on exterior paint and one sheet of 3/4” plywood. To hand paint and construct my one election sign installed on my own property. That is the extent of my personal spending on this election.”

Sabine Dietz reported no donors and total campaign spending of $900.00.

Note: Greg Martin, who was elected by acclamation, did not need to campaign in Ward 5 because no one ran against him.

Public disclosure rules in other provinces

1. Nova Scotia requires municipal candidates to list the names and addresses of anyone who contributes $50 or more and that information must be filed at the municipal office where it is open to the public.
2. Prince Edward Island requires disclosure of names and addresses of those who contribute more than $250.
3. Newfoundland and Labrador requires candidates to disclose the names of contributors who give more than $100.
4. Quebec requires disclosure of donations over $50.
5. Ontario requires disclosure of donations over $100.
6. Manitoba requires disclosure of amounts over $250.
7. Saskatchewan leaves contribution disclosure rules up to municipal councils who can pass a bylaw governing local elections.
8. Alberta requires municipal candidates to disclose the names and addresses of donors whose contributions exceed $50.
9. British Columbia requires disclosure of amounts over $100.

Ward 4 candidate Sabine Dietz

Sabine Dietz says she decided to run as a Tantramar council candidate in Ward 4 after Andrew Black announced he would be running to become mayor of the new town.

“I decided that yes, I can imagine working with Andrew to make this work for all of the community,” she said during an interview last week.

“It’s absolutely crucial who gets elected mayor,” she adds, noting that whoever is elected mayor will have a seat on the board of a newly strengthened regional service commission.

“There are going to be all sorts of committees and the mayor will essentially determine who sits on those committees to make sure our Tantramar interests are represented and defended,” she said.

“That’s why it’s absolutely crucial who gets elected — someone who understands the role of the regional service commission, who can ask the questions that are needed and who can make a stand,” Dietz says.

Dietz, who is currently serving as a Sackville councillor, is running against her council colleague Matt Estabrooks for the Ward 4 seat.

Estabrooks declined an interview request from Warktimes saying in an e-mail, “I have chosen to use my own social media and good old fashioned face to face conversations to communicate my positioning in Ward 4 issues.”

For her part, Dietz says she has knocked on almost all of the doors in Ward 4 which includes Pond Shore Road, Upper Sackville and the Midgic area.

“I know there’s about 660 voters in the area and I estimate about 300 houses, or units I should say, because some of them are apartments,” she says.

“In some cases, just a flyer in the mailbox, if there was nobody home, but I’ve visited all but a handful.”

Ward 4 issues

Dietz says residents are concerned about tax increases especially since property assessments have risen so steeply and they’re also worried about the services they’ll receive from the new town.

“There are these questions about, what does it mean for me?” she says, adding that snow clearing and road maintenance are big concerns even though the province will continue to provide those services in the outlying areas for the next year or two.

She notes that people on Pond Shore, who were within Sackville’s town limits, continue to worry about speeding as well as ATVs on the road.

“There was also something very curious that I noticed,” she says.

“Part of it was a quiet excitement that folks in outlying areas can now vote, but on the other hand, there was the total opposite, ‘This is stupid, I don’t want to have anything to do with it.'”

Dietz says it will be important to try to reconcile the interests of the residents along Pond Shore, Mount View, Church Street and Station Road, who were part of Sackville, with those in the rural areas.

She also noticed that younger people have been moving in, attracted to the area because of lower housing costs, but also affected by the steep rise in property assessments.

“It’s interesting, it’s different, Ward 4 feels almost more like a provincial riding where you get the same kind of broad range of interests and  differences in what people think.”

Dietz says that if elected, she will continue to work on climate change issues even though next year’s budget is still uncertain and no one knows, for example, whether the province has made any provision for the climate-change co-ordinator position that Sackville requested.

New layer of government

Sabine Dietz

Dietz points out that the provincial government has downloaded some of its responsibilities to the newly strengthened regional service commissions that will oversee regional economic, social and community development as well as tourism and recreation.

“I feel we’re on the brink of losing some of our own capability of addressing issues locally and moving them to an unelected body which is not what we want,” she says.

She notes that the province will pay the added costs next year, but in 2024, “believe me, we will be paying.”

Dietz fears that decision-making power will shift to the regional service commission.

“It’s in the opposite direction to where we need to go,” she says.

“We need to make our communities stronger, take ownership over all of those files that are important to us like housing, health care, social development, economic development, tourism, climate change — all of those really need to be embedded in the community and what is happening is some of those things that make us stronger and more resilient are being taken away from us.”

Dietz says that since Tantramar’s mayor will sit on the board of the regional service commission, it’s crucial to elect someone who understands the issues and can defend the town’s interests.

“We’ve got communities such as Dieppe and Moncton in there, they have a way stronger voice, but only in theory. If you’ve got a good mayor, the mayor will be able to stand up in this forum,” she adds.

Swift tweet endorses 2008 statement from Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre questioning compensation for residential school abuses

Sackville Mayoralty candidate Bonnie Swift has deleted hundreds of tweets from her Twitter account that express strong right-wing views including support for the continued extraction and use of fossil fuels; visceral hatred of Prime Minister Trudeau and his Liberals as well as opposition to women’s abortion rights and campaigns for racial justice.

Many of Swift’s tweets were replies to Trudeau including to his tweet on June 6th saying the prime minister was meeting with Ottawa high school students to discuss “climate change, gender equality, democracy, leadership, and other topics these young people are passionate about.”

“Topics no one cares about,” Swift replied. “Cost of living, cost of housing, inflation rates on food and gas, improving healthcare, decreased standards of living for families because they can’t afford to live here. The level of detachment this government shows for basic human needs is appalling.”

In reply to a tweet about the possible loss of abortion rights in the U.S., Swift wrote on May 5th: “And if abortions is illegal it does not impact me in anyway….I just don’t care…it’s not 1950 use birth control, tons of options”.

When Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland tweeted on May 3rd that Canadian women who care about “a woman’s right to choose need to be active, vigilant and speak out,” Swift replied: “As a Canadian woman I don’t care about this crap. I care that about all the women and single moms that can no longer afford to live in this country because of the inflation your irresponsible government created”.

CTV News tweeted on May 3 that Freeland was “deeply troubled” that the U.S. Supreme Court was considering overturning the abortion rights decision Roe v. Wade.

Swift replied: “”I am deeply trouble by Freeland …She’s a hideous human being,” adding later: “I can’t stand Freeland. Rather be run through a wood chipper than have her as my PM. I am women but she disgust me”.

In reply to a tweet on April 26th that the “biggest threat to Canadian healthcare is Conservative politicians who want to erode universality by introducing more privatization so they can eventually open the country to American HMOs who are slavering at Canada as a virgin market,” Swift replied: “Can’t happen soon enough. I was very ill had to fly to the US for treatment as the wait times for specialist here are way too long….Give us some other options because we need them”.

In a tweet on April 30th, Swift referred to the CBC as “Trudeau’s propaganda TV station.”

On April 25th, a tweet from American economist Robert Reich caught Swift’s attention.

Reich wrote: “A handful of billionaires now have unprecedented control over banking, the food we eat, the health care we can access and, now, the information we receive. This is what oligarchy looks like.”

Swift replied: “Shut up please…We couldn’t live without these people and the technologies and jobs that they have created. They are doing more to advance society that you ever will.”

On April 28th, a tweet from British journalist Laurie Penny provoked another acerbic reply from Swift.

Penny wrote: “Like many writers who aren’t straight, white, wealthy men, I’ve spent my whole career being trolled, threatened, flamed, defamed, iced out and lied about by EXACTLY the same people who claim to be all about ‘protecting free speech’ until a single woman actually speaks her mind.”

Swift replied: “I really think most people don’t care about what you have to say. They are just not that interested in this stuff. At least the white, wealthy men are creating technologies that are advancing society. The only reason you have these platforms to whine on is because they made them.”

On May 14th, Swift again defended the American rich against the prospect of President Biden raising their taxes.

“That rich are 70% of the tax base they are what’s holding the country up, they also create most of the jobs. Tax them anymore they’ll leave then we are screwed the jobs are gone,” Swift wrote.

Swift’s admiration for Elon Musk was a recurring theme in her tweets. His promise to reinstate Donald Trump’s Twitter account drew her praise.

Here is a statement e-mailed to Warktimes by Bonnie Swift at 4:09 p.m Wednesday, Nov. 23rd:

My husband deactivated my Twitter account when I was out today campaigning in Midgic, due to the online harassment coming from the comments on my sites and he was worried about my safety. There was lots of personal stuff on there. By the time I was contacted by Bruce Wark, I was unable to go back and see when the comments were made or confirm if the context was accurate. So when Bruce said I deleted it that was not true. He also asked me to confirm some of the stuff yet he posted it without me having a chance to respond.

My responses, such as my comment under the Poilievre meme where I was quoted as saying “everyone could learn the value of hard work” was missing. There were other lines missing, so I do believe some if these tweets are out of context, but how can I confirm this? I can’t.

Since I began running for mayor, I have received steady harassment and stalking online but it’s not going to break me. I’ve always been a strong woman and I will see this election out to the end.

If I was truly concerned about my social media, I would have deleted my accounts long before I ran for local office. I chose not to delete them because I live my life as an open book with nothing to hide.

The Twitter content posted was taken from a small window of my life. There was tons of Twitter content not included, like when I was a green party supporter for 10 years, or my animal welfare posts and my volunteering for wildlife conservation. What was posted, if even accurate, was a very limited reflection of me as a whole person.

I have views reflecting both left and right for the most part. I am a social liberal but a fiscal conservative. I am non partisan, having voted Green, Liberal and Conservative, it varies every year. I consider myself politically fluid across the political spectrum.

I have just as many left sided views as right but none of those were ever posted. I have to question why I am singled out to be investigated in the campaign. Whatever happens, I could author a book about women like me, who don’t fit into the Sackville status quo. I feel like the next Rima Azar. The poor women’s career was almost destroyed by cancel culture. I don’t care about the outcome of this campaign. I ran because many concerned citizens asked me to and they still want me to. I really don’t care if I win or lose. They think I do but I don’t, that’s what they don’t get.

About 120 people attending Saturday’s all-candidates forum in Middle Sackville heard a wide range of views on the role the municipal council should play in shaping the future for the new Town of Tantramar.

“We are setting the foundation for the generations to come. How exciting is that!” declared mayoralty candidate Shawn Mesheau.

“Our population will be 9,100 and our tax base $1 billion.”

Ward 5 Councillor Greg Martin

Mesheau’s view that the new mayor and council “must create the mechanism that brings our communities together with one vision” seemed to be widely shared among the 15 council candidates who attended the forum along with Greg Martin, who has already been acclaimed in Ward 5 (Point de Bute/Aulac) because no one ran against him.

“I am the first elected council member of Tantramar,” Martin said.

“I’ll tell you, my mother would be very, very proud,” he added as the audience laughed.

He said there will need to be “a team mentality” on the new council.

Mayoralty candidate Bonnie Swift promised to bring more transparency and openness to municipal government.

She also spoke directly to residents of the rural wards.

“You now have a candidate that understands your concerns,” she said.

“You know why? Because I grew up in one and I know a lot of you are struggling and worried about having proper representation. If I am your mayor, you will not have to worry about that. I will be there for you.”

Mayoralty candidate Andrew Black came with written answers to key questions.

When asked about the shortage of affordable housing, for example, he promised to push for “a full housing needs assessment in our new expanded boundaries so we have solid and accurate data to start with.”

Black also pledged that he would create a mayor’s round table on housing to bring groups working on the issue together and said he would take steps to investigate and potentially set up a housing authority in Tantramar.

For a transcript of the mayoralty candidates’ opening statements, click here.

Ward 3 (Sackville)

Four of the nine candidates for Ward 3 (Sackville) Photo: Peter Stephenson

Council candidates for the populous Ward 3 (Sackville) shared a variety of opinions and ideas.

Allison Butcher, who has been a Sackville councillor since 2016, said she originally ran “to give back to the community that I love so much, and was quite surprised to discover that I actually got a lot of satisfaction and joy from working at the municipal level.”

She added she would like to continue working for the new Town of Tantramar.

To read Butcher’s two-minute opening statement, click here.

Alice Cotton, who has lived in Sackville for nearly 30 years, said she decided to run for office because of the lack of affordable housing.

“We must work with the new housing hub and groups like Acorn to find solutions,” she added.

“A working group from council needs to be tasked with coming up with creative housing solutions, working on zoning bylaws and partnering with local concerned citizens and organizations.”

To read Cotton’s opening statement, click here.

Josh Goguen, who works for Moneris, has lived in Sackville for 16 years and is heavily involved as a leader in the Scouts.

“The reason I’m running is just to give a new perspective on town council,” he said.

“If elected, I’ll definitely work hard on representing everybody not just from Ward 3, but from every single other word, because this is not just a ward issue, it’s a whole Tantramar Council issue.”

To read Goguen’s opening statement, click here.

Virgil Hammock, who served on Sackville Town Council for 13 years as well as four years on the Southeast Regional Health Authority and seven years on the planning commission, said he’s running because he’s angry that the province imposed municipal amalgamation without any mandate from the people affected by it.

“The Town of Sackville and the Village of Dorchester have histories that go back to the mid-18th century and are going to be erased and replaced with Tantramar,” he added.

“Really?”

Hammock also criticized the ward system.

“It’s going to be hard for newly elected Tantramar councillors to get your heads around the idea they need to represent the entire community and not just your wards.”

T0 read Hammock’s opening statement, click here.

Charlie Harvey delivered this short opening statement:

“Good evening, my name is Charlie Harvey. I’m running for council in Ward 3. If elected, I pledge to be receptive to the citizens of Tantramar and bring worthy concerns and suggestions to council for consideration. On council, I will vote as I believe is in the best interests of Tantramar. Thank you.”

Sahitya Pendurthi said she and her husband moved to Sackville last year and while the town is still new for her, “it’s still as dear as it is for all of you.”

She added she wanted to run for town council to give back to the community that has accepted her as its own.

“Everybody is so loving and kind, but is also so troubled in this little paradise of ours,” Pendurthi said.

She urged everyone to vote as a way of preserving Canada’s democracy.

To read her opening statement, click here.

Ward 3 candidates Bruce Phinney (L) and Michael Tower

Bruce Phinney, who has served continuously on Sackville Town Council for the last 18 years, said councillors who are elected are going to have to learn from the people in the five Tantramar wards.

“As much as I know Wood Point and Rockport, I know nothing really,” he added.

“I know people, but I need to know what their needs and concerns are.”

Phinney said he’s open to listening to people and hoped voters would re-elect him on November 28th.

“I enjoy this job immensely and I work for you, not for anybody else.”

To read Phinney opening statement, click here.

Michael Tower said his long experience and dedication to his work on Sackville Town Council would be an asset to Tantramar’s new council.

“I understand how council works and I acknowledge that things can be better and must be better,” he added.

“Being an open-minded and approachable person, I listen to what people have to say in meetings and casual conversations,” he added.

“I believe to get the best results, we must work collaboratively.”

Tower ended his opening statement with this advice:

“When you get your ballot, please review the list of candidates and vote from the bottom up.”

To read Tower’s opening statement, click here.

Note:  Ward 3 candidate Sana Mohamad was not able to attend the all-candidates forum.

Ward 4 (Upper Sackville, Midgic)

Sabine Dietz, who has served on Sackville Town Council for a year and a half, said councillors need to be active on many fronts.

“When I was elected last year, I was clearly running on climate change making this community be more aware of climate change and incorporating climate change into all the decisions that council would make,” she said.

“I soon realized that councillors cannot be a one-issue person.”

She added that councillors have to be active on issues such as health care and housing even though issues such as these are not in municipal jurisdiction.

Dietz said it’s really important for municipal councils to advocate on behalf of health care, for example, with the provincial government.

(Dietz herself served on the Rural Health Action Group, a volunteer committee that worked for the restoration of full services at Sackville Memorial Hospital.)

She warned that Tantramar councillors will also need “to make our stand with the Regional Service Commission, who will impose many more mandates on us than we currently have.”

To read Dietz’s opening statement, click here.

Matt Estabrooks said he was proud to be running as councillor for Ward 4.

“What a wonderful community we live in. We should be so very thankful that we live in a democracy where all people have a voice,” he added.

“This local government reform process has strengthened that for us, giving a voice to all members of Tantramar, giving a voice to some that did not have one before,” he said, referring to the local service districts that did not elect local councils.

Estabrooks said that he alone supported municipal amalgamation.

“I was on an island. I like to think a beautiful island. But nonetheless, I was the lone councillor on that island. On an island choosing positive change, positive change based on a collaborative way forward for our region,” he added.

“The relationships between our communities have been damaged over the last year by some outspoken people, and we now have the task ahead of us to repair them.”

He ended his opening statement by saying he is “ready and willing” to do the job of bringing “all the communities in new Tantramar together through collaboration.”

To read Estabrooks’s opening statement, click here.

Wards 1 and 2

Candidates for Ward 1 (Dorchester & vicinity) and Ward 2 (West Sackville/Rockport) participated in the all-candidates forum.

For a complete report on the candidates in Ward 1 including what they said at the all-candidates forum, click here.

For a report on the candidates in Ward 2 and their contributions at the all-candidates forum, click here.