Candidates Respond to the
Petitcodiac River Survey

Riverkeeper Returns to River Study Process

(Moncton, June 2nd, 2003) - With one week left to provincial election day, candidates from all political stripes are lining up to promise action for the Petitcodiac River, giving the party line of "committing to implement the recommendations of the EIA" or else keeping quiet.

Three weeks ago, all candidates running for office in the eight provincial ridings of the Petitcodiac River watershed were asked to make their stand public on what they intended to do for New Brunswick's most endangered river once elected . The eight ridings of the watershed are Albert, Dieppe-Memramcook, Moncton Crescent, Moncton East, Moncton North, Moncton South, Petitcodiac and Riverview. The deadline for the candidates' responses was Friday and final results can now be seen online at the Riverkeeper web site (click here to see results).

Out of the 27 candidates vying for election in the region, eight candidates from five different ridings have so far indicated their willingness to champion the Petitcodiac River cause. They include:

Michael Murphy (Lib.), Moncton North
Jean-Marie Nadeau (NDP), Moncton East
Chris Collins (Lib.), Moncton East
Hélène Lapointe (NDP), Dieppe-Memramcook
Cy LeBlanc (PC), Dieppe-Memramcook
Élie Richard (Lib.), Dieppe-Memramcook
Jean-Marc (Diggit) Dugas (Ind.), Moncton South
Richard Golding (NDP), Moncton Crescent

Six candidates responded to the questionnaire by committing to implement the recommendations of the Environmental Impact Assessment. They include:

Clark Butland (Lib.), Albert
Bernard Lord (PC), Moncton East
Ray Goudreau (Lib.), Moncton Crescent
Bruce Fitch (PC), Riverview
Ward White (Lib.), Riverview
Bethany Dykstra (Lib.), Petitcodiac

Six candidates who received the questionnaire but did not respond include:

Wayne Steeves (PC), Albert
John Betts (PC), Moncton Crescent
René (Pepsi) Landry (PC), Moncton North
Joan MacAlpine (PC), Moncton South
Norman Branch (Lib.), Moncton South
Wally Stiles (PC), Petitcodiac

Five candidates who could not be reached during the exercise include:

Pat Pearson (NDP), Albert
John Gallant (GP), Moncton South
Tracy Trott (NDP), Petitcodiac
Dan Leaman (GP), Petitcodiac
John Falconer (NDP), Riverview

In early March, the Riverkeeper organisation as well as most of New Brunswick's environmental community opted to boycott the Environmental Impact Assessment process looking at future options for the Petitcodiac because the provincial government was not willing to commit to any action once the million dollar study would be completed in 2005.

"The absence of the environmental community in the EIA process during the past three months was of great concern to us, says the organisation's Riverkeeper and Executive Director Daniel LeBlanc, "and it was important to obtain some form of commitment from politicians before investing ourselves blindly into this or any other process aimed at solving the Petitcodiac River problems."

With all three political parties and candidates from all sides now promising swift action on the Petitcodiac, the Riverkeeper feels that these commitments are good enough for them to return to the river study process. The organisation took part in the AMEC-lead workshop dealing with socio-economic issues surrounding the Petitcodiac River over the weekend and intends to continue its involvement in the EIA process. "To achieve the best long term solution for the river and for the community, all voices from the region need to be heard", said LeBlanc.