Near miss on Anderson Bridge

March 6, 2009

MIRAMICHI - No one was hurt when a truck hauling a front end loader hit the cross beam meant to protect the Anderson Bridge Tuesday.

The thick steel beam - called a backscratcher - did its job when it caught the top of the loader being hauled on a transport truck trailer before it could reach the bridge.

Despite signs along the road and on the beam warning drivers of the bridge's height, the truck still tried to pass under the backscratcher with its tall load.

The force of the impact ripped the beam from its perch and knocked it to the ground where it lay in the snow while Transportation Department workers directed traffic through the accident scene.

Miramichi Police Force Cst. Lindsay Louden said traffic was already down to one lane because of construction on the bridge at the time of the accident.

"He's just lucky there was no on underneath at the time."

Police received the call around 10:45 a.m. and by about 11:30 a.m. the loader was off the trailer. As it backed down the road on tires taller than the workers standing beside it, the loader left an oily trail behind on the asphalt, although Louden said there didn't seem to be any damage to it.

"It hit the top of the loader so it didn't cause anything to the truck."

Louden said the construction meant speeds were reduced leading onto the bridge and she didn't think speed was a factor in the damage caused to the backscratcher.

"With the size of the vehicle it wouldn't take too much, I guess."

Rippled edges on the end of the beam show where it snapped off its supports before landing in the snow on the side of the road.

The beam's height limit sign wasn't visible because it was buried under the snow.

Transportation Department district engineer Andy Legere confirmed there are signs leading up to the bridge to warn of the height restrictions.

"It's advertised well."

For now there is nothing in place to protect the bridge from oversized loads, but the department will work as fast as they can to get a replacement up, he said.

"It does leave the bridge somewhat vulnerable without it up there."

But Legere said he didn't know how long it would take to replace the beam.

"It will depend on how quickly we can get the beam."

There isn't much they can do to protect the bridge until the backscratcher is back in place, he said.

"Obviously we just hope people abide by the rules of the road."

Priest was dedicated to church and education

March 6, 2009

MIRAMICHI - When Rev. Leon Creamer would go to Rev. Msgr. George Martin for advice on his writing, Martin would compliment him if he thought it was worthwhile.

If he didn't he wouldn't say anything at all.

It was one of the many ways Martin mentored Creamer as he went about his priestly duties.

"He certainly inspired me that if I was going to do it I should do it well."

Martin died in Saint John Monday after a period of failing health.

Originally from the Miramichi, Martin was ordained as a priest in St. Michael's Basilica in 1949 for the Diocese of Bathurst.

From there he went on to a long career as a professor, registrar, vice- president and eventually president at St. Thomas University where he served in the latter role for 15 years.

The university's dean of students Larry Batt was a student when he met Martin. He served as an altar boy for Martin and as a former Miramichier himself, he used to catch a ride home with him from Fredericton on weekends.

"I was one of the ones that benefitted from him travelling back and forth." Martin eventually hired Batt as assistant registrar at the university and he continued to keep in touch with the priest long after he left the university.

One time he saw one of Martin's homilies written out on paper before the mass. There were only three words, but Batt said the priest's mind was so strong they were all he needed.

"Three words and away he went."

Speaker of the Senate Noel Kinsella first met Martin about 50 years ago when St. Thomas was located in Chatham and said the priest loved the Miramichi.

"He was a fiercely proud son of the Miramichi."

Kinsella said Martin embraced his priestly vocation, but still saw himself as a teacher.

"It was like a hand fitting a glove."

Miramichi lawyer George Martin bears his uncle's name and said he was always very close to his family in the Miramichi.

"He was gone for 44 years, but he was still a Chatham boy."

One of the things his uncle appreciated was the way people of the Miramichi were good to the university when it was in the city, he said.

"He never forgot that."

Creamer said his former colleague was a big supporter of the reforms brought about by Vatican II, which saw more involvement of laypeople in the church.

"I think he saw the advantage of the church being closer to people."

Martin continued to work, even as his health was failing and Creamer said he couldn't keep up with his former colleague.

"He was certainly an example to us that way, to those of us that were younger. I doubt ... if I'll ever meet anyone like him again."

St. Thomas University recognized Martin's dedication to the school with a building named in his honour. Artists creating a stained glass window even used his likeness in a pane depicting St. Thomas Aquinas.

Batt said Martin volunteered to take mass on weekends while he worked at the university.

"That was his way of continuing his priestly duties."

Even during his time at the school, he was always clear he was a priest first, Batt said.

"That was part of his life. That was what he did."

Priest was dedicated to church and education

March 6, 2009

MIRAMICHI - When Rev. Leon Creamer would go to Rev. Msgr. George Martin for advice on his writing, Martin would compliment him if he thought it was worthwhile.

If he didn't he wouldn't say anything at all.

It was one of the many ways Martin mentored Creamer as he went about his priestly duties.

"He certainly inspired me that if I was going to do it I should do it well."

Martin died in Saint John Monday after a period of failing health.

Originally from the Miramichi, Martin was ordained as a priest in St. Michael's Basilica in 1949 for the Diocese of Bathurst.

From there he went on to a long career as a professor, registrar, vice- president and eventually president at St. Thomas University where he served in the latter role for 15 years.

The university's dean of students Larry Batt was a student when he met Martin. He served as an altar boy for Martin and as a former Miramichier himself, he used to catch a ride home with him from Fredericton on weekends.

"I was one of the ones that benefitted from him travelling back and forth." Martin eventually hired Batt as assistant registrar at the university and he continued to keep in touch with the priest long after he left the university.

One time he saw one of Martin's homilies written out on paper before the mass. There were only three words, but Batt said the priest's mind was so strong they were all he needed.

"Three words and away he went."

Speaker of the Senate Noel Kinsella first met Martin about 50 years ago when St. Thomas was located in Chatham and said the priest loved the Miramichi.

"He was a fiercely proud son of the Miramichi."

Kinsella said Martin embraced his priestly vocation, but still saw himself as a teacher.

"It was like a hand fitting a glove."

Miramichi lawyer George Martin bears his uncle's name and said he was always very close to his family in the Miramichi.

"He was gone for 44 years, but he was still a Chatham boy."

One of the things his uncle appreciated was the way people of the Miramichi were good to the university when it was in the city, he said.

"He never forgot that."

Creamer said his former colleague was a big supporter of the reforms brought about by Vatican II, which saw more involvement of laypeople in the church.

"I think he saw the advantage of the church being closer to people."

Martin continued to work, even as his health was failing and Creamer said he couldn't keep up with his former colleague.

"He was certainly an example to us that way, to those of us that were younger. I doubt ... if I'll ever meet anyone like him again."

St. Thomas University recognized Martin's dedication to the school with a building named in his honour. Artists creating a stained glass window even used his likeness in a pane depicting St. Thomas Aquinas.

Batt said Martin volunteered to take mass on weekends while he worked at the university.

"That was his way of continuing his priestly duties."

Even during his time at the school, he was always clear he was a priest first, Batt said.

"That was part of his life. That was what he did."

Weather keeps snowmobile trails empty

Mrch 6, 2009

MIRAMICHI - A cold wind after a night of rain might have kept many snowmobilers off the trails Saturday, but not the people who work to keep them safe.

Brody Sisk and Stephen Geikie are the off-road vehicle enforcement officers for Northumberland County and set out in the blowing snow to do their afternoon patrol.

Their sleek white snowmobiles joined the trail system near the Northumberland Woodlot Owners Association building and tore through the snow on their way to get gas.

With a system that works like a mini highway, signs dotted the trails at junctions to guide snowmobilers along the way.

Once they had gassed up, Sisk and Geikie were back on the trail. A bone jarring ride on the back of Sisk's sled took me to a junction where the pair expected to find a lot of traffic.

As Sisk exchanged his helmet for a fur hat, he noticed beer bottles and cans poking out of the snow along the side of the trail.

With rows of power lines hanging overhead, Sisk tossed five cans and a bottle into a pile near the junction signs and said they don't see litter like that as much as they used to.

"Hopefully one person didn't drink them all themself."

While they waited for snowmobilers along the normally busy section of trail, Geikie and Sisk tipped one of the sleds onto its side so they could adjust the suspension to compensate for the extra weight from an extra passenger.

"It was bottoming out there a bit," Sisk said.

There was little excitement at the junction until a group of snowmobilers from Nova Scotia rode up the trail where the enforcement officers checked their insurance, registrations and trail passes.

As they pulled away, Sisk said the trails were usually quite busy.

"You could check up to 200 or 300 sleds on a normal Saturday."

Although their first check stop was out in the open, Sisk said they set them up where riders have to go so they can't avoid them.

"We try to do it around a corner, like the police do."

With business slow, we suited up and headed off along on what to me was unfamiliar territory.

Cold wind seeped through my outer layer of clothing wherever there was a zipper or loose cuff as I bounced around on the seat behind Sisk, my mittened fingers gripping bars behind my legs.

Every bounce sent me into the air until I reached the end of my extended arms and went crashing down onto the seat.

My head bounced around from the extra weight of a heavy helmet as I leaned into the turns, following Sisk's lead.

Wherever our sleds met a road, we stopped and checked for oncoming cars before travelling on.

Geikie took the lead and sped on ahead of us. As we rounded a corner he was checking an ATV on a separate trail and caught up to us when we parked at a road crossing.

Despite flashing blue and red lights, a lone snowmobiler avoided the parked machines and headed down a side trail.

Geikie said the ATV rider told him there was a big crowd at the ATV club so he decided to check it out.

"I'm gonna take a drive by just to let them know that we're here."

Sisk took me along with him as he set off in search of the rider who avoided the check stop and we set off in the other direction.

We ducked and leaned as tree branches swatted our helmets, but found no sign of the snowmobiler. After a few minutes of listening for his engine, we turned around and headed back to meet up with Geikie.

Miramichi Off-Road ATV Club president Scott Black rolled down the ATV trail and stopped for a few minutes to talk with the officers while they waited for more traffic.

Sisk said the enforcement officers try to keep in touch with the ATV association.

"We've got a good rapport and we want to keep things sensible."

Black said there has been a good response to the enforcement officers from snowmobilers and ATVers.

"There's more common sense on the trails."

As we stood at the end of the trail, Sisk commended the ATV club for their work.

"They're well organized and doing things right."

Despite the cold wind, the snow was slushy in places and a misstep sent my feet plunging though a thin layer of ice. My boots were just waterproof enough to keep my socks dry, but when Sisk asked if I wanted to keep patrolling with them I decided not to press my luck and we headed back to the city.

It was a serene ride back with the rumbling engine the only sound in the snow covered forest. As we got closer to town, we passed signs of civilization, like crumbling concrete pipes behind a business we passed and an old stove abandoned on the side of the trail.

By the time we reached the enforcement office the sun was shining in a clear sky. While I was heading home to a warm apartment Sisk and Geikie were ready to patrol the trails until 10 p.m.

"It all comes down to everyone going home safely at the end of their trip," Sisk said.

Government says time needed for forestry strategy results

March 9, 2009

It will take time for a new forest management plan to see results, says a Natural Resources Department spokesman.

Assistant Deputy Minister for Natural Resources Paul Orser presented the plan at the Miramichi River Environmental Assessment Committee meeting Wednesday.

Orser said the province put together a task force that tried to ensure all interested parties saw an alternative consistent with their view of how the forest should be managed.

"The one that you liked and the one that I liked could be completely different."

The task force came up with thousands of possible alternatives and narrowed them down to eight they examined before settling on a final plan they will put into action in 2012.

The plan will see a reduction in the amount of wood available for cutting to keep the forests sustainable, but the province kept in mind companies may want to start new operations in the future, he said.

"That's where the rubber hits the road a little bit."

Orser said provincial forests have a lot of unused deer wintering areas set aside with the hope deer will return to them.

Those areas will be reduced by 40-60 per cent, but he said the province doesn't expect to see a drop in deep populations.

"They're tying up a lot of land base that could be used for timber use."

Orser said his department made their decisions based on the science available to them.

"It's not throwing darts. We do it with as much science as we can."

Although he did not attend the meeting, Roger Babin does have concerns about how the government manages New Brunswick's forests.

He worked in the forest for 16 years and said he was concerned about the shrinking number of deer yards.

"If you take out the deer yards and the deer want to come back where are they gonna go?"

Babin said when he started working in the woods in 1958 they didn't clear cut and would harvest trees according to the size they could pull out of the woods.

"As soon as the harvesters got in there it was like making a field in a week. "

When he went on a tour of a chipping operation with Natural Resources officials, he said they were chipping everything.

"Every tree, it didn't matter what size it was."

Under the new plan, the size of protected natural areas in the province will increase 4 per cent to about 6-8 per cent of the province's forests.

Orser said the size of conservation forest will drop to between 23 and 25 per cent from its current 30 per cent.

"That's not necessarily a popular decision by any means."

The plan will see an increase in the size of old forest, plantations and non- clear cut harvest. It will also see a drop in the wood supply with the allowable cut dropping from 5.34 million cubic metres to 4.42 million.

Orser said it will take about 30 years before new trees growing under the plan can be harvested.

"This is a long term strategy that really isn't influenced by what the industry is today."

Group still hopes for vehicles on Morrissy Bridge

March 9, 2009

The province may not want to own Morrissy Bridge, but a local group still hopes to see it re-open to vehicle traffic.

Newcastle Business District general manager Natalie Bradford said the option of repairing the bridge to make it safe for traffic should be looked at now before it's too late.

"If it is demolished, once it's gone it's gone. There's nothing we can do then."

The Transportation Department planned to demolish the bridge after an engineering study found serious structural defects that made it unsafe for vehicle and pedestrian use.

A local group stepped in to try and convert the bridge to a pedestrian crossing and the province gave it a temporary reprieve until the group could present a plan for the 94-year-old structure.

Since the bridge's closure the city commissioned a study to look at the effects of changes to traffic patterns.

Bradford said some of the study's recommendations could lead to huge expenses for the city.

"How could we expect the city to take on such an expense?"

Depending on the study's findings, it may be more financially feasible to repair and use the bridge instead of spending money on other infrastructure, she said.

"This is all stuff that would have to be discussed further."

Bradford said people are seeing an increased expense to go around the bridges and additional traffic could lead to delays in response times for emergency vehicles.

"The best point that I heard so far was we lost a vital link to our community."

City councillor Rupert Bernard said the study results are ready, but the capital budget took precedence over it for the council and he didn't know what the findings are.

"They haven't been presented to council yet."

Although he wasn't sure when the deadline was for the traffic study, Bernard said it was not on the council's agenda this month.

"That means it will not be reviewed until April if it's on April's agenda."

The original engineering study that lead to the closure estimated repair work needed to make it safe for vehicles would cost over $15 million, which Bernard said wouldn't be feasible for the city.

"We certainly wouldn't be able to consider that alone."

But Bernard said if there are traffic problems, they are good ones to have.

"Traffic problems can be solved, but lack of traffic are more difficult to solve."

Daughter upset with possible delay in Menon case

March 11, 2009

When Kelly Hallihan's father received test results that showed he had cancer their family was devastated.

For seven years he believed he was cancer free until he learned he was one of the patients misdiagnosed by Dr. Rajgopal Menon.

Now he is part of a class-action lawsuit seeking compensation for victims.

But lawyers for the group sent a letter in February telling them the Miramichi Regional Health Authority wants to delay a certification hearing with Justice Jean-Paul Oulette to decide if Menon will be included as a defendant in the suit.

Ouellette's decision was expected to be released later this week, but the letter states the health authority wants to delay it.

It also says the health authority brought in insurance company HIROC to act on their behalf in defence of the lawsuit.

Hallihan said it's like they want to sweep the issue under the rug.

"You've got to be kidding me, really, because it's been going on for years."

One of the issues for Hallihan is that the government hasn't acknowledged anything was done wrong, unlike in Newfoundland where a similar situation lead to Premier Danny Williams issuing a public apology.

She said it wasn't just about money and wants to see the government admit there were mistakes made.

"Nothing's going to change what my father went through or what others went through."

Her father had three biopsies between 1999 and 2001 that all came back fine, but he later found out he had prostate cancer.

Since September he has had surgery to remove lymph nodes, a kidney and his prostate.

Because of his health issues, he hasn't been able to work since October and Hallihan said he thinks he deserves compensation.

"He's very angry. He's angry with the system," said Hallihan. John Gay is one of the lucky ones who was retested and came up cancer free.

He is still involved in the lawsuit and said the government should look for a quick solution to the problem and not force the victims to go through a lawsuit.

"We need closure. It's no use for the government to keep pushing and pushing because we're not going away."

The people involved are still suffering and delaying the issue will just cause more trauma and emotional worry, he said.

"We need closure. It has to end."

Although his tests showed he was cancer free, Gay said he suffered from depression as he went through the ordeal to find out if he had cancer.

"I've been through the mill. Emotionally it drained me." Hallihan said she hasn't been in touch with anyone else involved in the class action suit yet, but is trying to get people together.

"We need to get together as a group and rally in support of one another because if we don't then the government's just gonna do whatever they want."