New Brunswick’s major cities see big ‘turnover’ on councils after municipal election

New Brunswick’s municipal elections have resulted in big shakeups for the province’s largest cities — from new mayors to new councillors.

In Moncton, longtime city councillor Shawn Crossman is adjusting to life as the mayor-elect.

“The last 24 hours have been a real whirlwind, as they say,” said Crossman, who has served three terms as councillor representing Ward 1.

“I’m feeling very excited, very confident, and understanding that there are people around the table that can help me. We have great city staff who are going to be able to help me and direct me as well. And I look forward to that collaboration.”

Crossman says public safety is his priority, and something he hopes to “tackle right away.”

There will be many new faces in council chambers after this election, and Crossman says he hopes they will work well together.

“Politics is very dirty and very negative. I want us to get away from that, and I want us to work together,” he said.

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Moncton adding security cameras to downtown street

Fredericton also elected a first-time mayor after Mayor Kate Rogers decided not to re-offer.

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Four-term councillor Steve Hicks is the capital city’s mayor-elect — beating out three other candidates, including former MP Jenica Atwin.

In a social media post, Hicks said he was “incredibly honoured and humbled to have earned the trust and support of the people of Fredericton.”

“Fredericton is growing and changing, and with that comes both challenges and opportunity. I believe deeply in the future of this city, and I am ready to get to work building a Fredericton that is affordable, safe, inclusive, and prepared for the future,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, in Saint John, a majority of the elected councillors are new to council.

“I think it’s been a long time since all three major cities in New Brunswick had this much turnover on council,” said Jamie Gillies, a political scientist from Saint Thomas University.

“That may be indicative of some of the stress and challenges that the previous councillors and mayors have had. We’re getting sort of big-city problems in all three centres without big-city resources.”

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New Brunswickers are going to the polls to cast their votes in the municipal election

Incumbent Donna Reardon was re-elected as mayor of Saint John by a wide margin and says she’s celebrating the voter confidence, even after unpopular decisions such as budget cuts.

“It makes me feel pretty good that we’ve come this far and we’ve made these big decisions and we’re reaping the benefits of this work,” Reardon said.

And she has some advice for the mayoral newcomers in Fredericton and Moncton.

“If you want to really move things forward for your city, it’s a lot of work,” she said.

“You can’t do this job in isolation. The city needs the support of the province and the support of the federal government to move forward.”

Higher voter turnout

More than 216,000 voters cast a ballot Monday or in advance polls — a nearly 40 per cent turnout.

In comparison, the 2021 and 2016 elections had roughly 30 per cent turnout.

Since the last municipal elections in 2022, New Brunswick has changed its local government system, reducing the number of local bodies from 340 to 89. Those bodies consist of 77 municipalities and 12 rural districts.

“This really is a benchmark for voter turnout for local government elections going forward because this is the first time we’ve had full provincewide elections in every municipality under the new restructured municipalities with 77,” chief electoral officer Kim Poffenroth said.

She says the areas with lower voter turnout tended to be municipalities where the mayor was acclaimed or had several councillor positions that weren’t contested.

In contrast, some highly contested races saw strong turnout.

“We had a high in Kedgwick of 72 per cent and all throughout the north of the province, it was in the high 60s,” she said.

Several municipalities, like Sunbury-York South, are also seeing a return of elected representatives after spending months under a provincially appointed supervisor.

— with a file from Reeti Meenakshi Rohilla

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