NB Liquor to offer delivery services
NB Liquor will begin to offer online ordering and home delivery. A new website will offer a “Click-and-Collect” program by the end of the year or in early 2017. Customers who shop online will be able to pick up their order 48 to 72 hours later at the NB Liquor branch of their choice, a wait time designed to minimize impulse buys. NB Liquor will also provide home delivery for a fee, which will take two to four days. The delivery person will require identification in order to ensure that the person receiving the order is of legal drinking age.
Tobique First Nation approves land claim
The $39.2-million land claim approved this week by Tobique First Nation in western New Brunswick has been under negotiation for more than 40 years. The settlement is compensation from the federal government for 10,000 acres of land near the reserve that was siezed by Ottawa over a century ago. Eighty per cent of the money will be divided between more than 2,000 band members. The band council plans to spend the other 20 per cent on community development, including a new piece of land and on-reserve housing. Some band members feel that it was a “take-it-or-leave-it” situation and that the federal government didn’t give the band any choice in the matter.
Young woman from Quispamsis exposes voyeur father
Twenty-three-year-old Bonnie Wilson asked to have her publication ban waved so that information could be released about David Michael Wilson, her father. David Michael Wilson pleaded guilty to a charge of voyeurism that said he spied on his daughter by installing a camera in her bedroom between March 2007 and 2014 and taking pictures of her in various stages of nudity. Bonnie Wilson said that exposing her father was important in spreading the message that voyeurism is not the fault of the victim.
Fentanyl has deadly presence in Moncton, rest of Maritimes
Fentanyl, a drug estimated to be over 100 times more powerful than heroin, has been causing alarm among officials across Canada. A staff member at a recovery centre in Moncton reported to the CBC at least three recent deaths related to counterfeit oxycontin and dilaudid, both laced with fentanyl. A CBC report found 33 fentanyl-related deaths in the Maritimes, though many believe the real number to be higher. British Columbia has declared a state of emergency as hundreds of fentanyl-related overdose deaths have occurred this year. British Columbia is currently the only province that tracks overdose rates and releases the information publicly. New Brunswick Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jennifer Russell has stated that she takes the threat of fentanyl seriously but will not commit to tracking or releasing information about overdoses in the province.
Literacy gap between francophones and anglophones still present
According to a recent study by Statistics Canada, New Brunswick is the only province in which francophones lag behind anglophones in literacy tests. Jean-Pierre Corbeil, chief specialist for language and immigration statistics at Statistics Canada, said such gaps have nearly disappeared in the rest of the country but remain in New Brunswick. The study states possible reasons for this discrepancy, including the declining industrial sector, an aging population and a lower level of education compared to the anglophone population.
