CKNB News Aug 2,2019
CAM – NURSING HOME DISMISS
The provincial government has stepped in and put the Campbellton Nursing home under trusteeship and released all of the board members and administrators.
According to the Tribune, the Department of Social Development says the facility.. known as the Village Nursing Home had 30 vacant beds and didn’t fill them with one of the 50 people waiting for care in the Campbellton region.
The minister for the department Dorothy Shephard says it was time to make a bold move as the province has tried working with the home on the vacancies.
Shepherd stressed the move does not reflect on the quality of care at the facility. Tom Mann, a retired lawyer and former deputy minister, has been appointed trustee.
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CAM – TIGERS FOR CANADA
Two Campbellton Junior A Tigers have been invited to the Canada East selection camp for the 2019 World Junior A Challenge.
In a Facebook post the team announced forward Kyle Petten and goalie Tristan Gray would be making the trip to Cornwall Ontario from August 7th to the 9th.
They will be in familiar company as head coach Greg Leland was earlier named an associate coach for the Team Canada East Squad.
If selected the two popular Tigers will play in the 2019 World Junior A Challenge in Dawson Creek British Columbia in December.
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CAM – HOME INVASION
RCMP are looking for information on a home invasion that took place in pointe-a-la-croix.
The incident happened on July 26 or 27th between midnight and 4am. An undisclosed amount of cash was stolen.
Police are seeking any suspicious vehicles seen on Route 132 around that time or individuals trying to pay with large amounts of cash or rolled coin.
Anyone with in information is asked to call the Campellton RCMP or Matepedia Police.
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NB/CAM – PREVENTABLE DEATH
The family of a man found dead at the Restigouche Hospital Centre in Campbellton says the system failed him.
Martin Michaud was found dead in his room in the correctional unit of the psychiatric hospital on Feb 9th, two days after the ombuds damning report outlining inadequate care at the facility.
Michaud’s father Roland tells CBC his son was distraught the night before his death saying he had no one to talk to because the nurses were too busy and he rarely saw his psychiatrist.
A report into Michaud’s death shows staff missed a scheduled bed check and his parents feel he may still be alive if they hadn’t.
This week, Ombuds Charles Murray said conditions haven’t significantly changed after six months and it would be a mistake to assume the institution is now running properly.
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CAM – MLA ANGRY AT BRIDGE
Campbellton-Dalhousie MLA Guy Arseneault is both disappointed and surprised that repairs on the Eel River Bar Bridge won’t be going ahead this year.
Arseneault tells the Tribune the money is already allocated and the Higgs government is just delaying so they can show a surplus next year…
He compares it to the delay in building the new Anglophone K-8 school in Campbellton saying the surplus will be on the backs of needed projects like these.
The bridge on Route 134 was originally scheduled to be repaired this year, but officials have stated there is no immediate safety issues on the bridge so they are trying to work on a cost sharing agreement with Eel River Bar First Nation.
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CAM – BOIL ORDER
The Village of Tide Head has issued a boil water advisory.
The order effects all water destined for drinking, preparing infant formula, making ice cubes, washing fruits and vegetables, cooking and dental hygiene.
A release from the village says all water should be held at a rolling boil for 1 minute.
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NB-Higgs appeals nursing homes decision
The Higgs Government is going to the Court of Appeal to try to overturn a recent court decision which struck down a labour ruling on nursing home workers’ right to strike.
The Board ruled the Essential Services in Nursing Homes Act, brought in last year, violates the right to strike for about 4,100 workers in 46 non-profit care homes.
The president of the New Brunswick Council of Nursing Home Unions, Sharon Teare told CBC she was angry to learn the province wants to appeal the ruling….asking “How many court decisions do they need for them to say that the act is wrong and it needs to be fixed?”.
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NB-Gang money
Ottawa is giving the province $2.7 million to fight gang activity.
Bill Blair, the federal minister for organized crime and border security, was in Fredericton to announce the funding which is called an initiative for reducing gun and gang violence.
Neither he nor the provincial minister Carl Urquhart could say if gang violence is a growing problem in New Brunswick…but Urguhart says he feels it’s increasing and this money will help find out one way or another.
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MON/NB – LEGIONAIRES OUTBREAK
New Brunswick health officials are investigating after seven cases of a severe form of pneumonia known as Legionnaires’ disease have been detected in the Moncton area.
Dr. Cristin Muecke (Mew’-ik) — the province’s deputy chief medical officer of health — says her team is trying to determine possible sources of the bacteria.
The bacteria can be found in both natural bodies of water and human-constructed water systems.
It is not spread person to person, but is spread in an infected water source and from fine mists of water from that source that are inhaled.
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NB – BACKING ABORTION
The federal health minister’s statement that provinces must do more to remove barriers to abortion services is supported by the New Brunswick Medical Society.
The letter sent to several provinces including New Brunswick by minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said services must be improved and that Ottawa could cut transfer payments if its not done.
New Brunswick Medical Society CEO Anthony Knight says his organization that represents doctors in the province supports the federal stand and calls for a review of services.
The provinces Department of Health says it will be maintaining the status quo. Only two hospitals in Moncton and one in Bathurst are available for surgical abortions paid for by the province.
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NB-French nurses sue
Some French-speaking nurses have filed a complaint with the Official Languages Commissioner over the exam they have to take to become registered nurses.
The exam is a standard one developed in the U-S and translated into French.
An earlier investigation determined there were a few flaws in the translation but the quaity of the translation did not violate the official languages act.
Now this group of nurses has filed a complaint over the lack of french preparatory material.
They say obstables discouraging students should be removed and a Canadian bilingual exam should replace it.
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NS/PEI/NB-RESERVES MONEY
The federal government is planning to spend about 3.7 million dollars in infrastructure and gear for the reserves in Atlantic Canada this year.
The announcement of the local spending was part of a wider announcement by the Liberal government of a quarter of billion to go to the reserves over the next five years.
The Defence Department is studying the existing facilities and equipment across the country to help define the reserves’ longer term needs.
Nationally, the federal government has committed to increasing the size of the primary reserve Force by 1,500 people.
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ALL-Pot pardons
Federal Justice Minister David Lametti says legislation to speed up and simplify the process of getting a pardon for simple pot possession is significant for marginalized communities who have been disproportionately targeted by previous cannabis law enforcement.
The bill went into effect yesterday allowing Canadians with criminal records for simple pot possession to apply for a pardon free of cost and with no mandatory five-year waiting period.
A pardoned conviction will not appear on the Canadian Police Information Centre database used by U-S border officials. However, it won’t erase information about Canadians already in U-S-controlled databases, meaning people with criminal records for cannabis possession could still face problems travelling to the U-S.
ALL – CHEAP CAN DRUGS
Politicians on both sides of the border are criticizing the Trump administration’s decision to allow Americans to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.
Opposition health critics are calling on the Liberals to take the threat seriously, and to detail plans to protect Canada’s drug supply.
In the U-S, some lawmakers say the major cause of the skyrocketing costs of medication is price gouging, and importing drugs from Canada is just a band-aid.
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SPORTS 1
Vladimir Guerrero Junior hit two of the Blue Jays five home runs in an 11-2
rout of the Orioles. The Red Sox lost 9-4 to the Rays.
Two CFL games last night…Argos won their first game of the season 28-27 over Winnipeg. The Roughriders downed the Ti-Cats 24-19.
