Northern mayors say they'd be strong voices in a PC government

Allan Dickson's on a crusadeand this, he figures, may be the best time to make some progress.

Dickson's been complaining loudly about the poor state of Route 11 in northern New Brunswick, and he knows with a provincial election coming, it's an opportune moment to get the attention of politicians.

"It's terrible," he said during a mini-tour of the road in what used to be Tide Head, a village that was amalgamated with Campbellton during local government reform last year.

"It just seems to be neglected, neglected, neglected. All through the years we seem to get the tail end of everything."

He pointed out crumbling shoulders, bumpy sections of road, and what he considers poor patching work that may not survive next spring's frost heaves.

Dickson contacted CBC News in June about the issue, knowing that the campaign was on the horizon and that the Progressive Conservatives underleader Blaine Higgs are for the third straight election hoping for a big breakthrough in the province's north.

The influence the region could have if PCs were elected here has become the dominant message in the party's run-up to its re-election campaign.

Higgs alluded to that Wednesday night when he credited Bathurst Mayor Kim Chamberlain, who was officially nominated as a PC candidate, with persuading him as premier to have the province buy and demolish the former Smurfit-Stone mill in the city.

"Imagine the impact when we have voices all across the north," Higgs said at Chamberlain's nomination meeting.

About 60 people attended the PC meeting, though many of them were candidates or party members from ridings other than Bathurst.

Chamberlain, one of two northern mayors running for the PCs, said the Liberals have taken the riding for granted and said that has to end.

"I know that the decisions are made by those who sit in government in Fredericton, and that's why I'm running in this provincial election," she said.

"I think it's important that there will be new, strong, northern voices at the government table."

Dickson wouldn't say whether he thinks the neglect of northern roads predates the Higgs government, which took office in 2018.

Dickson was the last mayor of Tide Head before it was amalgamated with Campbellton as part of the Higgs government's local governance reform.

The northern stretch of Route 11, which he calls "a main artery in the province of New Brunswick," winds through Tide Head before reaching its end point at the bridge to Matapdia, Que.

Last year, Dickson was hopeful: the previous PC transportation minister, Jeff Carr, had come to the area to personally look at the roads.

"He realized what was going on," Dickson said. "Mr. Carr was the only one that really saw firsthand what it was like."

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Normand Pelletier, one of two northern N.B. mayors running for the Progressive Conservatives, says Premier Blaine Higgs hasnt neglected the north.

But three months later, Carr was dumped from cabinet after he joined a revolt against Higgs about changes to the province's sexual orientation and gender identity policy for school students.

Dickson wrote the new minister, Richard Ames, but says he received only a form letter in response.

The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure "has a well-established asset management system that helps staff determine the timing of paving projects" to ensure money is spent effectively, Ames wrote.

"And here we are," Dickson says, pointing out a large hole along the shoulder of Route 11 overlooking the Restigouche River.

Campbellton-Dalhousie Restigouche Liberal MLA Guy Arseneault said thatit's another example of Higgs ignoring the north, and thatthe PC leader's promises to listen to the region are designed to attract well-known names to run for the party.

"He's going to make idle promises, promises he won't keep, just to get some candidates on side with him," Arseneault said. "He doesn't want to be embarrassed."

Another northern mayor running for the PCs, Normand Pelletier of Heron Bay, said it's not true Higgs is not interested in the region.

"I can't say he's against the north," saidPelletier, the candidate in Restigouche East. "He got elected because he wants to represent our province."

Pelletier acknowledged, though, that there are "mixed feelings" about the PCs in the region and said there's some logic to larger spending in the south, where a larger part of the population is.

"If you've got a budget to invest in your province, you're going to want to make sure you get a bang for your buck when you do make those investments," Pelletier said.

"Certainly, we probably got neglected in some aspects, but you can't just blame the premier. There's a whole team behind him."

Becoming part of that team, he said,would make him an asset for the area.

"I believe we need a voice in Fredericton. We can't always be in the opposition."

The PCs elected a single northern francophone MLA under Higgs in 2018 and none in 2020, though they picked up one in 2022 when Rjean Savoie won a byelection in Miramichi Bay-Neguac.

After byelection defeats in two other northern ridings in 2023, Higgs claimedthe party has historically done poorly in the area, though the PCs won seats in the region under party leaders Richard Hatfield, Bernard Lord and David Alward.

The Liberals grudgingly acknowledge that the two northern mayors are strong candidates but argue that won't be enough.

"It's not about the candidate that's running. It's all about Higgs," said Arseneault, who is running for re-election against Pelletier in the newly redrawn Restigouche East riding.

"We have to get rid of Higgs. We have to form a government that listens to people, cares about people, and they can't change that."

Since Dickson contacted CBC in June, a number of road projects have started along Route 11.

He wouldn't say if he thinks that's motivated by the election.

"I wonder, honest to goodness. I really wonder."

Arseneault has no doubt.

"They are starting a little bit of paving now, but what is it, an election year by chance? Yes. We can't wait every four or five or six years for paving."

But Campbellton city councillor Diane Cyr, the PC candidate in Restigouche West, said one way to rectify that is by getting more MLAs into Higgs's government.

"When we win this election and we do get to Fredericton," she said, "we are going to advocate for the north."