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News Release
Candidates declare strong support for River
(Moncton, January 12, 2006) – With 10 days left to federal election day, candidates from all political stripes are lining up to promise their support for the Environmental Impact Assessment’s (EIA) recommendation to open the Petitcodiac causeway and to find federal funding to restore the river to its maximum potential.
In mid-December, the 12 candidates running for office in the three federal ridings of the Petitcodiac River watershed (Conservatives, Green, Liberal and NDP) were asked to confirm their stance on 1) their support for the EIA’s findings, recommending the opening of the causeway and 2) their support for directing immediate and significant federal government investments to the Province of New Brunswick to enable it commence, this winter, the project to restore fish passage at the Petitcodiac causeway (including Option 4B -http://www.petitcodiac.org/riverkeeper/english/Campaigns/News_Articles/bestoption.htm). Candidates were also invited to provide their opinion and/or their party’s stance on the issue.
The three ridings of the watershed are Beauséjour, Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe and Fundy Royal. The deadline for the candidates’ responses was Tuesday and full results can now be seen online at the Riverkeeper web site (www.petitcodiac.org). All 12 candidates responded fully to the survey. Here is a summary of the results:
Beauséjour
Neil Gardner (NDP): Yes, Yes, comments
Anna Girouard (GP): Yes, Yes, comments
Dominic LeBlanc (Lib.): Yes, Yes, comments
Omer Léger (CP): Yes, Yes, comments
Moncton – Riverview – Dieppe
Charles Doucet (CP): Yes, Yes, comments
David Hackett (NDP): Yes, Yes, comments
Camille Labchuck (GP): Yes, Yes, comments
Brian Murphy (Lib.): Yes, Yes, comments
Fundy Royal
Patty Donavan (GP): Yes, Yes, comments
Eldon Hunter (Lib.): Yes, Yes, comments
Rob Moir (NDP): Yes, Yes, comments
Rob Moore (CP): No, No, comments
“We appear to have widespread support on the part of the candidates for swift action on the Petitcodiac River”, says Riverkeeper Daniel LeBlanc, “which reflects well the sentiment of the people living in this region. After decades of inaction and millions of dollars spent on studying the river, a consensus has emerged in our community that financial support from the federal and provincial governments is needed to resolve this long outstanding issue. This is a very encouraging development,” concluded LeBlanc.
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INFORMATION:
Daniel LeBlanc,
Petitcodiac Riverkeeper
(506) 388-5337 |
