The mood was optimistic last night in Dorchester as about 75 people gathered to witness the swearing in of the first ever Mayor and Council for the new municipality of Tantramar.
“Welcome to such a historic evening,” said new Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne as she began her first public address of the new council.
“It is both an honour and a privilege to stand before you as the first CAO of Tantramar and lead such an exceptional team of dedicated and talented employees,” Borne told the crowd. “While we gather on such a historic evening, we must acknowledge the history that came before us. We must commit to preserving local identities of individual areas that are coming together and continue to promote local interests as we move forward with a one community mindset.”
Sackville and newly-appointed Tantramar town clerk Donna Beal led the new mayor and councillors in a swearing in ceremony where one by one, they each pledged to “diligently, faithfully and impartially discharge to the best of [their] ability, the duties of office as may be imposed on [them] by law.”
First the mayor Andrew Black, then councillors Matt Estabrooks, Josh Goguen, Barry Hicks, Greg Martin, Bruce Phinney, Mike Tower and Debbie Wiggins Colwell were all sworn in. Allison Butcher was unable to be at the ceremony and will be sworn in at the first council meeting on January 10, 2023.
After the ceremony Black told reporters he was excited to begin his term. “It feels more real now, which is both kind of scary, but also really exciting,” said Black.
Former Dorchester mayor and Ward 1 Tantramar representative Debbie Wiggins-Colwell got an especially large cheer from her hometown crowd after she read her pledge. Like her colleagues, Wiggins-Colwell was all smiles after the ceremony. “I really feel the inclusion,” she said. “Such a happy event.”
Ward 5 councillor Greg Martin said he was looking forward to the future, and felt the crowd was filled with, “Tantramar people… people that want to see this whole area be a real success.”
Ward 3 councillor Josh Goguen said he was impressed with the turnout, and he had already started hearing from various people about their concerns, including people from the Dorchester Fire Department.
“I’m looking forward to what’s coming at us,” said Ward 3 councillor Michael Tower. “We have a good team to work with. And we can make it work.”
Tower said he was surprised by the new organizational structure announced this week, which organizes the new town into six new departments, and adds a number of new staff roles, including a human resources manager and a communications officer. “I was very happy to hear [about] the HR,” said Tower. “We’ve got to have that connection to help all [aspects] of our town, especially the fire department, they need some extra support.” The fire department was the subject of a workplace assessment in 2022 after complaints of bullying from various volunteers were brought to light by journalist Bruce Wark.
Mayor Andrew Black was also positive about the new organizational structure and new staff. “There’s a lot of stuff in there that we had spoken of at [Sackville] council for the last few years,” said Black, citing communications, compliance, and human resources. “I haven’t seen it all fleshed out entirely. But I’m pretty excited about that,” said Black.
Tantramar Council will hold its first regular meeting on January 10, 2023.