Update: Since this story was recorded, Dominic Leblanc was replaced as Public Safety Minister by David McGuinty.
Canada’s newly finance minister and MP for Beausejour, New Brunswick, Dominic Leblanc was at the Dorchester Penitentiary on Thursday to announce progress on a major new project: a standalone Health Centre of Excellence to replace the existing Shepody Healing Centre. LeBlanc told reporters that the project would be a “game changer for Tantramar, for southeastern New Brunswick, and for the Correctional Service of Canada across the country.”
Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black was at the event has had a chance to speak with LeBlanc before the announcement. Black says he asked questions about the major project’s impact on municipal infrastructure, and the issue of how the federal government pays municipal taxes, and whether they pay enough. “People here in Dorchester have been talking about it for years,” says Black. “Now that we’re this bigger municipality, this falls on the local government to continue that push.”