RCMP say 24-year-old Bouctouche man is dead after being hit by a vehicle in Moncton.

Lineups at key border crossings into Maine raise questions about staffing of U.S. Customs.

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A prosecution arising from a shooting incident late last year may go off the rails, because police listed the wrong address on a search warrant that netted key evidence in the case.

Jesse Michael Joe, 41, of Angelview Court in Fredericton, was scheduled to stand trial in provincial court Friday on several charges, mainly from events stemming from a violent incident in Hanwell late last year.

He’s accused of assaulting Daniel Gallant with a weapon (a two-by-four), pointing a firearm at Gallant, threatening to harm him, robbing him of jewelry while armed with weapons, and robbing him of those items while armed with a prohibited firearm, namely a 22-calibre rifle, all on Dec. 2.

But rather than proceed to the trial phase, the court instead went into a voir-dire hearing on the admissibility of evidence.

Defence lawyer T.J. Burke filed an application with the court seeking to challenge the validity of the search warrant at one of the locations involved in the case.

Crown prosecutor Rodney Jordan conceded the warrant, signed by a judge, was for the premises of 42 Elmwood Cres. in the Hanwell Trailer Park.

The problem was the location was actually 42 Elmdale Cres.

But before the defence could argue the items seized at that location should be excluded as evidence at trial due to the flaw in the warrant, it first has to establish that Joe has standing to challenge the warrant at all.

Jurisdictional chaos

RCMP Const. Andrey Bouchard Kirouac testified members of the RCMP and the Fredericton Police Force were dispatched to the Hanwell Trailer Park after receiving a report of a shooting at about 4 a.m.

Gallant would later tell police he’d been shot at, as had his brother, Corey Vaillancourt, in the course of a robbery, court heard.

“At the time, there had been some jurisdictional issues,” she said, noting the boundary denoting the city police’s area of responsibility and the Mounties’ goes right through the trailer park.

Initially, Bouchard Kirouac said, the incident was reported to have occurred at 27 Leafwood Cres., which falls under the Fredericton Police Force’s purview. But later, she said, it was learned there was another location involved - 42 Elmdale Cres., for which the RCMP is responsible - and it was there that the crime had begun. 

The city police force took the lead at first, she said, but eventually, the RCMP took over.  

However, before that happened, Bouchard Kirouac said, the Fredericton police had already begun preparing documentation to secure search warrants in the case.

Fredericton police Det. Debbie Stafford prepared the informations to obtain (ITOs) the warrants as well as the warrants themselves, the Mountie testified.

The Elmdale Crescent ITO listed the address correctly, court heard, but the search warrant itself referred to the location as 42 Elmwood Cres.

Bouchard Kirouac said she and the three other Mounties executing the warrant at the Elmdale Crescent mobile home all reviewed the warrant and signed off on it, with none of them noticing the mistake.

Joe was listed as a suspect in the investigation in the ITO, she said, and it indicated he had an association with the address.

They conducted the search the afternoon of Dec. 3, Bouchard Kirouac said, noting she was acting as the exhibit officer in the investigation. “We seized some different items that were listed on the warrant.”

Among the items they were looking for, she said, were a revolver, an AK-15-style rifle, ammunition, a broken piece of wood and blood evidence.

The officer said information gleaned later during the investigation indicated Joe was living at an Angelview Court apartment at the time of the robbery.

Court heard that at Joe’s bail hearing in mid-December, a girlfriend testified he lived with her at that apartment. Furthermore, Bouchard Kirouac said, Joe told another RCMP officer that he’d moved out of the Elmdale Crescent home and into Angelview Court on Dec. 1, the day before the robbery.

‘What does living in the residence mean?’

Where Joe was living at the time of his alleged offences was a key element. If he had an expectation of privacy at 42 Elmdale Cres., that would mean he would have standing to challenge the search warrant due to the incorrect address being listed.

The Mountie said Sarah Harper resided at the Elmdale address, and there was information that Joe had an on-again/off-again relationship with her.

When cross-examined by Burke on Friday, Bouchard Kirouac said she didn’t recall seeing any men’s clothing, sports apparel or spiritual Indigenous items that could have been associated with Joe.

Burke offered precedents with the court Friday showing that the wrong address on a search warrant, even if it’s the result of a simple clerical mistake, is a fatal error.

But to rule the warrant breached Joe’s Charter rights, he said, he first had to show Joe had an interest in the property.

While there was information that linked his client to the Angelview Court address, the defence lawyer said, that doesn’t necessarily mean his connection to Elmdale Crescent was eradicated.

“What does living in the residence mean?” Burke said.

There are various possibilities, he argued, such as Joe couch-surfing in more than one location, or perhaps he was out of Elmdale temporarily due to a fight with Harper.

He said the release order, listing Angelview Court as his residence, was issued Dec. 15, well after the events of Dec. 2.

“All of this stuff after the fact [is a] red herring on the part of the Crown,” he said.

Prosecutor Rodney Jordan said the Crown rejects Joe’s assertion he was residing at Elmdale Crescent at the time of the events in question.

All of the relevant information pointed to him having left that location behind by that point, he said.

Judge Lucie Mathurin reserved her decision on the standing issue to Aug. 28. Depending on that decision, she said, she’d deal with the validity of the warrant and the alleged Charter breach at that time.

While Joe was released after a bail hearing Dec. 15, he was charged with violating the conditions of his release order a month later and has remained in custody since that time.

The other defendant

Also accused in the same investigation is Blake R. Holt, 23 of Forest Hill Road in Fredericton.

He faces a variety of charges stemming from the events of Dec. 2, the most serious of which are two counts of discharging a firearm - at Gallant and Vaillancourt - with intent to wound, maim, disfigure or endanger the complainants’ lives.

Holt is also accused of robbing Gallant of jewelry and keys, and masking his face during the robbery in Hanwell.

Other related charges include flight from police in Harvey that day, theft of gas from Sun’s Convenience in Beaver Dam, dangerous driving, possession of a stolen 2012 Honda Civic, possession of a prohibited weapon (a 22-calibre rifle) without a licence, possession of that rifle with readily accessible ammo capable of being discharged, occupancy of a car in which he knew there was a prohibited firearm and breach of a release order barring him from driving.

Holt elected in April for a trial in the Court of King’s Bench before a judge and jury.

His preliminary inquiry - held to determine if there’s sufficient evidence to set the case over for trial at the higher level of court - is scheduled to begin Aug. 25 in provincial court.

Police issued an Alert Ready message over broadcast and cellphone networks Dec. 2 reporting that two suspects fled the scene of a shooting in the Hanwell Trailer Park in a blue 2012 Honda Civic and were believed to be armed and dangerous.

A news release reported that two victims at a mobile home were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Don MacPherson can be contacted at [email protected].

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A new immersive art and culture experience called Akadi Lumina has been launched at the Pays de la Sagouine in Bouctouche, N.B., a community about 50 kms north of Moncton.

An 18-year-old man ws arrested after a fatal collision with an 89-year-old woman in eastern New Brunswick.

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The post Pallmer Share New Single and Video appeared first on Grid City Magazine.

Progressive Conservative members hoping to remove Premier Blaine Higgs as leader are at least one tiny step closer to forcing the issue onto the party agenda.

Australia may have the Great Barrier Reef but Shediac Bay has one, too, only it's artificial, and researchers say it's doing exactly what a natural reef does: providing shelter for lobsters and other marine life.

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Lengthy detours and long lines of traffic have some Fredericton residents feeling frustrated as construction projects close roads in several parts of the city.

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A Geary man accused of possessing sexually explicit material depicting minors asked for his case to be adjourned Thursday so he could seek legal counsel.

Nathan William MacKenzie, 38, of Colbourne Drive, made his initial appearance in Fredericton provincial court Thursday to face an indictable charge of possessing child pornography, alleged to have occurred in Geary on Feb. 25, 2022.

The defendant told the court he needed time to apply for legal aid, and Judge Scott Brittain set the matter over to Aug. 23 for election of mode of trial and plea.

The relevant section of the Criminal Code of Canada notes that there’s a mandatory minimum jail term of a year for those convicted of the indictable offence.

However, higher courts in Canada have routinely been striking down such mandatory minimums, even for sexual offences.

Don MacPherson can be contacted at [email protected].

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Ambulance New Brunswick says it plans to "expand and enhance" air ambulance service for Grand Manan residents through its contractor hiring more pilots to operate a secondary plane until a permanent medevac solution is finalized.

N.B. Power is continuing to grapple with major uncertainty as it lays out its plan to decarbonize its electricity grid in time for a 2035 deadline.

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Two suspects in the shooting death of a Bilijk (Kingsclear) First Nation man will be proceeding to a preliminary inquiry late this year to determine if there’s sufficient evidence for a trial.

Joshua Christopher Raines, 47, of Route 565 in Holmesville, between Perth Andover and Florenceville-Bristol; and Samantha Mary Butler, 21, of Karen Drive in Rusagonis, appeared by telephone in Fredericton provincial court Thursday to schedule their preliminary inquiry.

They’re charged jointly with second-degree murder in the death of Lucas Richard Solomon Polchies, 27, in Lincoln on March 12.

Also appearing in court by phone Thursday was Gillex Lemieux, Butler’s defence counsel. Lawyer Alexandra Youssef appeared in person as an agent for Raines’ counsel, Nathan Gorham.

Youssef said the defence feels four days would be needed for the preliminary inquiry, and after comparing the availability of Crown and defence counsel, as well as witnesses, Judge Scott Brittain settled on Dec. 14, 15, 18 and Feb. 8 for the hearing.

A preliminary inquiry is held in more serious criminal cases to test key evidence to determine if it meets the threshold to justify a trial at a higher level of court.

Murder cases are automatically designated to go to trial before a jury at a superior level of court, and in New Brunswick, that would be the Court of King’s Bench.

Several members of Polchies’ family attended Thursday afternoon’s proceeding, several of them wearing shirts with the victim’s photo on them with the slogan “Justice for Lucas.”  

In a news release issued March 13, the RCMP’s major crime unit reported that emergency personnel responded to the 2300 block of Route 102 in Lincoln at approximately 4:10 a.m.  March 12 after receiving a report of a gunshot.

“When police arrived on the scene, it was confirmed that a 27-year-old man was injured due to a gunshot wound and was transported to hospital with what were believed to be serious, life-threatening injuries,” the release said.

That victim was later identified as Polchies, and he died from his injuries in hospital.

Raines and Butler are both in custody, and they’re subject to non-communication orders issued by the court, prohibiting them from contact with one another and with six other individuals: Patrick Harris, Victoria King, Abigail King, Tyler Sabattis, Bethany Paul and Hannah Kilfillen, all believed to be witnesses in the investigation.

Don MacPherson can be contacted at [email protected].

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Warning: This report contains graphic details of sexual crimes against minors.

The provincial Attorney General’s Office is seeking to appeal a lenient, community-based sentence given to an elderly Southampton man last month for abusing his granddaughter sexually for years.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Thomas Christie convicted a 74-year-old Southampton man after trial earlier of touching his granddaughter for a sexual purpose over the course of 10 years.

Evidence at trial indicated the abuse began in April 2006 when the girl was four years old, and continued until she was 14.

There’s a court-ordered publication ban on information that would tend to identify the victim, and given the relationship to the offender, the Fredericton Independent isn’t naming him either.

At the conclusion of the offender’s sentencing hearing July 18, Christie imposed a conditional sentence of two years less a day, during which the offender will be under house arrest and numerous other conditions, including limited visitation from others and no contact with the victim or children under the age of 16.

The defence had argued for the conditional sentence based on the man’s poor health. The Crown had recommended a prison term of six years.

Representatives with the provincial Office of the Attorney General - Gwynne Hearn, the prosecutor at trial, and Patrick McGuinty, who handles criminal appeals for the Crown - filed a notice of appeal with the registrar’s offence Thursday morning.

“The trial judge imposed a sentence that is demonstrably unfit and clearly unreasonable and one which fundamentally disregards the parity principle, as well as the sentence guidance set out by the Supreme Court of Canada,” the notice of appeal lists as the main grounds.

No date has been set for the appeal to be heard.

Long-term abuse, long-term trauma

At trial, court heard the victim would frequently stay over at her grandfather’s home because of instability in her parents’ residence, and the girl saw her grandfather’s home as a haven from the chaos in her life.

But the offender started touching the girl sexually at an early age. Christie accepted the girl’s testimony that the man would enter her room and touch her breasts.

Evidence showed he’d lie down in bed with the child, and she spoke of being awakened to find his penis in her mouth.

The offender would also put his penis between her legs, though there wasn’t an indication of actual penetration.

The abuse occurred regularly over the course of several years.

In her victim-impact statement, the girl said her grandfather had shattered her ability to connect with anyone and has torn her family apart.

“You made it so I cannot even trust a single person in my life,” she said last month.

“I had 10 years stolen from me.” 

She reported she’s wracked with guilt over the rift her reporting of the abuse has caused in her family, with various members of the clan taking different sides.

“But it’s not my fault,” she said. “I am the last person you will ever touch and control.”

Court heard the victim has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and has trouble sleeping.

The offender continued to profess his innocence during the sentencing hearing.

In arguing for the conditional sentence last month, defence lawyer Edward Derrah urged Christie to consider his client’s ailing health in crafting a sentence.

Court heard the man has a long list of serious medical conditions and takes a variety of medications.

Among those issues are high blood pressure, kidney failure, elevated cholesterol and high risks of heart attacks and strokes. In fact, the mini-strokes the man has suffered already have impacted his memory.

Derrah argued a prison term to deter his client would serve no purpose as he doesn’t remember committing the crimes.

“To what degree do I concern myself with his health while incarcerated?” Christie asked Hearn during the sentencing hearing. “I’m concerned about what to do with that.”

Hearn said the federal prison system handles health issues among inmates all the time, there was no evidence before the court it couldn’t address this offender’s medical challenges.

She said the offender’s health wasn’t something the court needed to address in any way.

In addition to the conditional sentence, Christie ordered a three-year term of probation to follow, during which the offender would be subject to a curfew and would still be barred from contact with the victim.

Furthermore, the judge imposed a lifetime order prohibiting the offender from being in public places - such as parks, pools and community centres - where children could be expected to be present, and to have no unsupervised contact with kids under the age of 16.

The offender was also ordered to submit a DNA sample for inclusion in a criminal database, to refrain from possessing firearms and other weapons for 10 years, and to register as a sex offender for 20 years.

Don MacPherson can be contacted at [email protected].

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With his new three-song EP, I’ve Waited Long Enough, Sw3aTy Sam delivers a refined polish, both lyrically and musically to further reinforce hip hop’s unique presence in the Port City. …

The post Saint John rapper Sw3aTy Sam broadens voice on new EP appeared first on Grid City Magazine.

The Swallowtail Lighthouse on Grand Manan Island has seen decades worth of water damage due to poor weather and wild storms. The structure was months away from irreparable damage until a fundraising effort and a helicopter provided the solution.

Student publications heavily rely on social media to share news content and drive traffic to their website. But with Meta shutting down news content across Canada as a response to the federal government's Online News Act, some students fear university and college publications may be coming to an end.

The Fredericton Region Museum marks Emancipation Day with the launch of its virtual Black heritage exhibit and a walking tour highlighting the historic sites of early Black settlers.

Ambulance New Brunswick has reintroduced the use of emergency medical technicians, or EMTs, and will start using multi-patient vehicles for non-urgent transfers in some areas Thursday.

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Blue herons are a common sight on Nancy Brown's regular kayak trips. But while paddling on the Oromocto River on Friday, something she saw stayed on her mind.

The Marine Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence at the University of New Brunswick is one of just a few research facilities in North America looking at 3D printing in shipbuilding.

High fecal bacteria levels have forced the closure of two more New Brunswick swimming spots, including Parlee Beach Provincial Park, northeast of Shediac, which had a recent test result more than 10 times the national guidelines.

The Fredericton Regional Museum has expanded it's exhibit on the rich and varied history of Black New Brunswickers

A village in southern New Brunswick is reviewing its facility rental policies after a religious right activist spoke at its community center.

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A young Mazerolle Settlement man told a judge Tuesday he was still drunk from the night before when the RCMP busted him for impaired driving shortly after 9 a.m. earlier this year.

Cameron Paul Taylor, 21, of Mazerolle Settlement Road, pleaded guilty before Fredericton provincial court Judge Mary Jane Richards on Tuesday to counts of impaired driving and flight from police.

Crown prosecutor Kathleen Jacobs said an RCMP officer was on patrol in the Hanwell area at 9:04 a.m. Feb. 19 when she spotted a vehicle on Route 640 cross the centre line.

“The vehicle suddenly over-corrected back into its lane,” the prosecutor said.

The officer, who’d been travelling in the opposite direction, turned her cruiser around and activated her emergency lights, court heard, but the suspect vehicle was already off in the distance, having accelerated at a high speed in an apparent attempt to get away from the police vehicle.

Jacobs said the officer was able to keep the suspect vehicle in sight and saw it turn into a Hanwell subdivision, and the police vehicle caught up with it.

The suspect vehicle pulled over at that time, the prosecutor said, and the officer approached.

“The driver was looking away from the officer,” Jacobs said, noting the driver was Taylor.W

When he finally turned to face the officer, she said, he exhibited signs of impairment, including glossy eyes, slow movements and an odour of alcohol.

Taylor also had trouble following the officer’s commands, court heard, and he was detained on suspicion of impaired driving.

He was taken to a police station, where breathalyzer tests were administered, Jacobs said, and he blew readings of 210 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. 

The legal limit is 80 mg.

“They’re very, very high readings,” the prosecutor said, noting they were in the aggravating range as per the provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada.

While Taylor has no prior criminal record, she said, his blood-alcohol level required a heftier fine - a mandatory minimum fine of $2,000.

Jacobs asked the court to impose that fine, plus another $500 for the flight from police.

Furthermore, the impaired-driving requires a one-year driving prohibition, but the prosecutor asked the judge to add another year onto that ban for the flight offence, though that would be a discretionary order.

Defence lawyer Emily Cochrane said her client is a youthful, first-time offender who plans to attend a community college program.

She agreed with the fines the Crown had recommended, but asked the court not to impose the additional driving prohibition.

“This happened at 9 in the morning,” Richards said, noting it looked as though Taylor might have a drinking problem.

“I had been drinking the night before,” the offender told her.

“I had assumed that,” the judge said.

When people drink heavily at night, she said, they often erroneously assume they’re OK to drive even after just a couple of hours of sleep, when it’s clearly not the case.

The judge said Taylor’s driving - weaving across the centre line of a highway - was clearly dangerous.

“It could’ve been much, much worse,” Richards said.

She imposed the requested fines totalling $2,500, plus customary victim-fine surcharges amounting to $750, for an overall total of $3,250.

The judge also prohibited Taylor from driving for a year, and she declined to extend that ban for the flight offence.

Don MacPherson can be contacted at [email protected].

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A processing plant in eastern New Brunswick has had its operating licence renewed, with the condition that it install odour control technology within a year.

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A Fredericton man admitted Tuesday he passed phoney funds at a downtown business early last year, and he’ll be back in court this fall for sentencing.

Shaun Francis, 45, of Woodstock Road, elected to be tried in provincial court and pleaded guilty Tuesday to an indictable charge of uttering counterfeit money - namely, a fake $100 Canadian bill - at the Irving station on King Street in Fredericton on March 14, 2022.

Duty counsel Charlotte Cowley said Francis was seeking a pre-sentence report, and prosecutor Kathleen Jacobs asked for a victim-impact statement for the court’s consideration.

Judge Mary Jane Richards ordered both, and she scheduled Francis’ sentencing hearing for Oct. 23.

Don MacPherson can be contacted at [email protected].

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The Charlotte Street Arts Centre will host a reunion for all past students of the Charlotte Street Elementary School and historical exhibition on August 16.  The Charlotte Street Arts Centre…

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Recycling depots across the province will now take accept non-beverage glass containers, but the program hasn't been promoted widely. That might soon change.

Friday afternoons are usually quiet at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de l'Assomption in downtown Moncton. But this summer, the church is filled with sound from the 5,176 pipes of the Casavant organ.

The province is improving access to insulin pumps for people over the age of 25 with Type 1 diabetes. At an announcement in Moncton on Monday, Health Minister Bruce Fitch said the insulin health program is being expanded.

A 47-year-old man from Edmundston has died after the dirt bike he was driving collided with a pickup truck on Sunday afternoon, say RCMP.

The Department of Education has not received a single complaint from parents whose child’s name or pronouns change was kept secret from them by school.

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The New Brunswick government announced in late 2021 there was a dire need for a new jail to be added to the province’s complement of correctional facilities, and it was going to be in Fredericton.

The major infrastructure project was destined to be constructed within Fredericton city limits, in the area of the Vanier Industrial Park, allowing it to tap into the municipality’s water and sewer services - an element the province earmarked as a vital criterion.

It appears government administrators and political players didn’t count on one thing: pushback from the community.

Residents of the Lincoln Heights neighbourhood, just a stone’s throw was the planned location for the lockup, wanted nothing to do with a correctional facility so close to their homes, to their families.

Now, it’s arguable the concerns weren’t founded on any real risk. Fredericton had a jail located in its downtown core for years, right next to its iconic Boyce Farmers Market.

But the people made their voices heard, and city council torpedoed the project, sending the province scrambling to find a new locale for its jail and remand centre.

In a news release issued Monday, the Department of Justice and Public Safety revealed Grand Lake - the community formed through the amalgamation of Minto, Chipman and five local service districts at the outset of 2023 - as the new site for the future jail project.

“Nine communities expressed an interest and five submitted applications to be the site,” the release stated.

“The site, which is located on Industrial Park Road in Minto, scored higher than the other applicants based on the criteria provided.”

Of course, Grand Lake is a key component of Public Safety Minister Kris Austin’s riding. The release is silent on that element, though the area the minister represents is hardly a secret.

The optics of that coinciding interest aren’t great, but that comes with the territory with governance.

The location of the corrections facility isn’t the larger issue to explore. Instead, it’s the questionable justification for the project.

When the province announced its intent to construct a new jail in Fredericton, it seemed to come from out of left field. There hadn’t been a call for such a new correctional building.

In fact, the announcement came at a time when the province was realizing reduced costs in terms of corrections. 

Even before the pandemic, the province’s courts were delving into telephone and video-conference appearances for people on remand or serving provincial jail terms, which eased the number of transport vehicles needed to move people in custody around the province. 

COVID-19 solidified the practice. It didn’t always prove effective or efficient, as technology glitches and staffing issues would sometimes delay or stymie remote appearances, and occasionally, particularly stubborn defendants wouldn’t co-operate with the relatively new method of connecting with courts.

One could argue a stronger investment in equipment and staffing could have been a better use of government spending than a new lockup.

Given the unexpected nature of the original announcement last year and questions about the need, Justice and Public Safety released numbers showing New Brunswick’s jails were over capacity. The province reported the correctional system for adult male inmates had a capacity to house 470, but there were 512 in the system at the end of 2022.

But that total turned out to be the result of some creative accounting, a CBC investigation revealed. The department developed a new way of counting its inmates that painted a more dire picture. In reality, the previous methodology showed the jails were below capacity from 2010-20.

Despite being faced with those facts, Austin defended the move for a new jail and stuck by the new count.

"The numbers don't lie and they're very clear … We are over capacity.,” he said.

The minister’s right: numbers don’t lie, but this government does. It’s led by the man who uttered the phrase, “Data, my ass,” in response to facts that flew in the face of his quest to overhaul - some might say “dismantle” - French immersion education in New Brunswick.

Monday’s announcement indicated the expected project cost is $42 million.

Time will tell if that proves to be the case, but we’re doubtful.

Capital construction cost estimates rarely seem to work out to be as restrained as anyone hopes, but setting aside the economic optimism that always seems to go into public-sector cost projections, one has to consider this project has already cost taxpayers money. And that’s before anything of substance has even occurred yet.

First of all, the Grand Lake incarnation of the project, as just noted, is earmarked at $42 million. But the cost of the original Fredericton version of the jail was touted in the December 2021 announcement as $32 million.

So we’re already up $10 million before a single shovel full of dirt has been moved.

Furthermore, government has already expended resources in its proposal of the initial Fredericton jail endeavour. It had already developed a design, based on the Dalhousie Regional Correctional Centre.

The Grand Lake project announcement, though, points to the design process starting over from scratch.

“A request for proposal for the facility’s design has been filed and an announcement will be made when a design has been chosen,” Monday’s release states.

The $42-million estimate also doesn’t account for the many costs that will flow naturally from the establishment and operation of the jail, most notably in terms of staffing.

Existing jails are routinely plagued by staffing shortages, and the addition of a new facility and its new complement of cells will require more human resources, even if the number of inmates in the province remains relatively the same.

The province is essentially developing a plan for corrections that will increase its costs while maintaining the same level of service. 

Perhaps part of the plan after the Grand Lake jail is built will be to shutter one of New Brunswick’s older jails, but if part of the justification is to deal with exceeding capacities, building a new jail only to close another one wouldn’t seem to achieve that goal.

Ultimately, pushing a new jail is another incarnation of the usual “tough on crime” rhetoric that seems so common a refrain among politicians these days - especially conservative ones.

Criminology, law and health experts have said for years that a more effective way to reduce crime is to address the root causes that lead people to commit them. Crime isn’t the problem: it’s a symptom of the real problems. Addictions, poverty and mental-health challenges - and frequently, a tragic combination of those issues - are almost universally at the heart of the most onerous cases that unfold in courts - be it in New Brunswick or just about any other jurisdiction.

Austin has rejected the studies, dismissed the voices of experts. It’s easy to understand why, though. The more effective solutions would be expensive in the short term, even if they would promise economic relief in the long term, and they would represent efforts that require nuance, patience and compassion.

But locking away a perceived problem, out of sight, feels more immediate, more productive.

Alas, it solves nothing, addresses no social ills. It’s a temporary fix, shunting the issue off for a few months or a couple of years at least.

Don MacPherson can be contacted at [email protected].

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The emergency departments in Sackville and Sussex still aren't staffed overnight, but Horizon Health Network has reaffirmed its goal to restore 24/7 service for both and says it's making progress in its recruitment efforts.

Don your kilt, grab a bite of Haggis and enjoy the bagpipes to celebrate the Scottish games.

After months of speculation and controversy over the location of a new $42 million jail, the New Brunswick government has selected a new site — Minto, in the newly formed community of Grand Lake.

New Brunswick's violent crime rate is holding steady at a historic high, however, experts in criminal justice say adding more police officers and building new jails shouldn't be the only solution to the problem

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A Fredericton man was sentenced to jail time late last week for impaired driving - a mandatory sentence because it was his second conviction for the same crime in recent years.

Nicholas Konnor Gillies, 25, of Beaverbrook Street, pleaded guilty in Fredericton provincial court Friday to a count of impaired driving.

Crown prosecutor Kathleen Jacobs said Gillies came to the attention of police the night of April 10 when a member of the Fredericton Police Force in an unmarked police vehicle observed a black Toyota Rav 4 run a red light.

The officer pulled the Rav 4 over and found Gillies at the wheel, court heard, and the defendant was exhibiting signs of impairment.

The prosecutor said a breathalyzer test later showed he had almost double the legal limit of alcohol in his system.

Jacobs said Gillies has a prior criminal record, including a previous conviction for impaired driving within the last five years.

The Crown had given notice to the defence it would be seeking a greater penalty - a 30-day jail sentence, a mandatory term of incarceration for a second offence.

Defence lawyer Sabrina Winters said her client is employed with the Canadian Forces.

“He understands there’s an addiction issue at play,” she said. “He’s attending AA.”

Judge Scott Brittain imposed the requested 30-day jail stint, to be followed by a two-year prohibition against driving anywhere in Canada.

Don MacPherson can be contacted at [email protected].

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Fredericton's Lee Dugas has more than 200 dolls in her Barbie collection. She shares what it was like growing up in the 'Barbie era.'

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A Rusagonis man accused of numerous sex-related crimes against a minor won’t get the chance to test the evidence against him ahead of trial, as the Crown has fast-tracked his case.

Evan Sandwith, 21, of Noble Court, previously elected to be tried before a Court of King’s Bench judge alone on 11 indictable charges alleging sexual offences against an underage girl.

He’s accused of the following: 

- sexually assaulting the complainant with a knife, touching her for a sexual purpose and counselling her to touch him for a sexual purpose, all on Aug. 20, 2021;

- committing those same crimes against the same complainant between Sept. 1 and 30, 2021;

- doing so again Sept. 25, 2021;

- sexually assaulting her and touching her for a sexual purpose on Sept. 11, 2021;

All charges allege events in or near Oromocto.

Defence lawyer Emily Cochrane had previously noted her client was seeking to have a preliminary inquiry. That’s a process in provincial court in which some of the evidence is presented before a judge to determine if there’s sufficient cause to merit a trial at a higher level of court.

However, the case was back in Fredericton provincial court Friday, and prosecutor Kathleen Jacobs said the Crown had filed a preferred indictment directly with the Court of King’s Bench.

That process skips the preliminary-inquiry phase of the case.

Judge Scott Brittain referred the matter to the next King’s Bench motions day - set for Aug. 8 - to schedule the judge-alone trial.

Section 577 of the Criminal Code of Canada allows the prosecution to prefer an indictment “even if the accused has not been given the opportunity to request a preliminary inquiry, a preliminary inquiry has been commenced but not concluded or a preliminary inquiry has been held and the accused has been discharged.”

The move requires consent in writing from the provincial Attorney General or deputy attorney general.

Jacobs didn’t state in court Friday why the Crown preferred the indictment in Sandwith’s case.

Cochrane told the Fredericton Independent she wasn’t given a reason for the preferred indictment either.

Acquittals in other trials

The Crown’s move comes in the wake of acquittals in two other cases involving Sandwith.

The defendant was acquitted last summer after a provincial court trial on summary counts of sexual assault and sexual interference involving a different underage female complainant.

Those charges stemmed from allegations dating back to September 2020, when Sandwith was 18 years old.

The girl in that case - whose identity is also protected by a publication ban - said she was 15 at the time when Sandwith touched her breast over her clothes and then tried to put his hand down her pants.

The defendant testified it was a different member of the group of teens who were hanging out at Hazen Park in Oromocto that day who was with the girl.

Judge Leslie Jackson found Sandwith not guilty because he found the girl and Sandwith both to be credible witnesses, leaving him with a reasonable doubt as to the defendant’s guilt.

Sandwith was also charged with indictable counts of sexual assault and sexual touching, this time involving another underage girl, in that case, between Oct. 29 and 30, 2020, in Oromocto. 

He was scheduled to stand trial in the Court of King’s Bench at the Burton Courthouse on June 19, but the complainant - whose identity is also protected by a court-ordered publication ban - and two other witnesses didn’t show up for the trial.

Justice Thomas Christie denied a Crown request for an adjournment and found Sandwith not guilty after the prosecution called no evidence.

Don MacPherson can be contacted at [email protected].

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