Fredericton Council votes in favor of rezoning 6th Provincial Jail – New Brunswick
The City of Fredericton, NB, has voted in favor of zoning bylaws that would allow the province to build a sixth correctional facility at Vanier Industrial Park.
It was a packed house of concerned residents, many standing due to a lack of seating. He waited anxiously to hear the council’s decision, and expressed his strong disapproval as soon as it was made. People hooted and shouted at the council on several occasions, including after the vote was taken. One person even threw the torn paper down in the chamber.
Ward 7 councilor for the City of Fredericton, Kevin Darrah, said, “I thought the neighbors were going to be angry and they are.”
He voted against the rezoning and represents the riding in which the prison is being built.
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He said, “There’s only two or three other people who’ve been there longer than me … I’ve never left the community, I love the community, I love the neighborhood.” “For me, living there, raising my kids there, it’s just different.”
He said he would vote against it regardless of the location chosen. Over 20 sites were considered within the limits of Fredericton.
The vote was 7-4 in favour, which was necessary for the motion to pass as the council is acting against the recommendation of the Planning Advisory Committee.
Voting against were councilors Kevin Darrah, Ruth Breen, Margo Sheppard and Cassandra LeBlanc. On its side were Eric Megarity, Bruce Grundy, Jocelyn Pike, Jason LeJuene, Henry Mallett, Steven Hicks and Greg Erickson.
Finally, Darrah said that the city council had to bear the burden of the province for not properly consulting the public. He said that any changes such as the construction of new highways, schools or hospitals often have several rounds of public consultation.
“In one here, there was nobody. They simply used the city council meeting and I think the government of New Brunswick could have done a better job,” he said.
On January 9, Deputy Minister for Justice and Public Safety Mike Comeau said in a presentation that the province felt the council’s process was adequate, but several councilors said in comments on January 23 that the zoning process was not correct. An opportunity to debate the surrounding social issues.
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“I wish we could dial back the clock to an earlier time and talk to the Department of Justice and Public Safety about how to run a consultation on this,” said Greg Erickson, the city’s deputy mayor. “This is not an existential question about prison.”
In December 2021, the province announced it would spend $32 million on the facility. It will consist of five units, each with 20 beds, as well as nine isolation and admission rooms. The design will be based on the Dalhousie Regional Correctional Centre.
Based on data such as the Crime Severity Index available online, the province made presentations showing that crime was rising, pointed to the level of overcrowding, and suggested that the city’s offenders needed to be closer to support systems in Fredericton.
country. Cassandra LeBlanc was given a standing ovation for her remarks, which kicked off the round-table by council.
“This decision does not stay in a silo,” she said speaking to the council. “We can remain part of the problem or take a stand and start on the way to being part of the solution.”
“The decision is really yours.
Mayor Kate Rogers would not say how she would vote if the result was a tie, but she tried to assure the crowd that the city would do due diligence during and after construction.
“I looked up and I knew how concerned they all were and you could see each councilor announcing how they were going to vote, their response and reaction, my heart really went out to those who Were in the gallery,” she said in an interview.
She said it is very difficult to see the residents so upset.
Rogers said, “There’s a ward within the city that feels we didn’t make the right decision tonight.”
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