CHCO-TV NewsBreak26 with Vicki Hogarth and Nathalie Sturgeon: March 25, 2025

Canadians are heading to the polls in a snap election on April 28. The announcement came just days after Mark Carney was sworn in as the country’s new prime minister, following the resignation of Justin Trudeau in January.

Vicki Hogarth and Nathalie Sturgeon – Local Journalism Initiative

The election comes at a pivotal moment, as Canada faces a deepening trade war and renewed pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has made repeated suggestions that Canada should become America’s 51st state. The five-week campaign trail is expected to be fast-paced, with candidates making their case on key issues—from Canada’s shifting relationship with the U.S. to economic uncertainty and the rising cost of living. And in a reconfiguration for our region, the riding of New Brunswick Southwest has been redrawn and renamed Saint John-St. Croix for the 2025 federal election.

The newly expanded riding now includes west Saint John, previously part of Saint John-Rothesay, as well as Burton from Fredericton. However, it loses several communities such as Harvey and Hanwell, which are shifting to Tobique-Mactaquac. Currently, three candidates are vying for the Saint John-St. Croix seat: incumbent John Williamson for the Progressive Conservatives, former MP Karen Ludwig for the Liberals, and Andrew Hill for the NDP with more expected to put their names forward in the days ahead. CHCO-TV spoke to all three candidates on Tuesday as they set out on the campaign trail.

Here's what they had to say about campaigning during critical snap election. "A snap election like this obviously gives the Liberals an advantage because they would have known in advance when elections called," said Williamson. "So there is some catch up that is happening. Plus, we're campaigning now in the snow, which is certainly would be unexpected or very unusual in a fall campaign. So it's a question of just adjusting. But really, that's what this job is all about. It is confronting things that aren't expected, adjusting to it, and moving forward."

"If we look at a riding like Saint John-St. Croix, we're in economically vast area that has so many different communities," said Ludwig. "We have five borders that come into our particular riding. We're large, and I think it is important to actually to have a fast election. It wasn't that the opposition didn't want one. Everyone--every leader in parliament was actually calling for an election. So I think there's that. I think Canadians are anxious."
"Honestly, [a snap election] doesn't really change the strategy all that much," said Hill. "I had anticipated a spring election and being a grassroots campaign. I knew it was going to be a really busy on the ground, knocking on doors.

So the strategy is relatively the same. It's just knocking on doors, introducing myself, spreading the message, and that's what it's going to be like: just getting myself out there and meeting the people." And mark your calendars—CHCO-TV is teaming up with the Municipal District of St. Stephen, the St. Stephen Chamber, and Downtown St. Stephen to host a Meet the Candidates event on Friday, April 11, at 7 p.m at the Garcelon Civic Centre. All candidates for Saint John-St. Croix will be invited to participate. Questions are be submitted by the public via email andthen vetted by CHCO, with candidates hearing them for the first time during the event. If you’d like to submit a question, please it send it to candidates@chco.tv.

Argyll building faces possible setback in St. Andrews
The council in Saint Andrews has denied an encroachment agreement for a major development in the downtown core. In February, developer John Rocca came to council to make them aware of an error that had been made – leaving the building too high off the sidewalk. He requested an encroachment agreement – which staff drafted.

It required the developer to pay an annual fee and mitigate several concerns along the sidewalk. Staff demonstrated, with pylons, how much of the sidewalk the encroachment would take.

"I was down and it is about 65 per cent," said Councillor Lee Heenan. "I sat and watched and two people had to go single file by the pylons." The front entrance of the building is required to be barrier free as a new build, something not required of existing buildings. Rocca did explain last month that there are other options, but those could cost extra and force delays in the project.

Council has not been involved in any part of the approval of this development – as it complied with all the bylaws and a permit was issued by the Southwest New Brunswick Service Commission.

"I personally feel it would be a bit of a mistake for us to get involved at this point," said Councillor Neil. "The encroachment is going to be way more than anything we have in town currently. I do feel it poses a bit more of a safety risk as well as damaging the downtown aesthetics. For the residents of Saint Andrews, I don’t see why, again, they should be giving up, essentially land on the sidewalk, to accommodate this mistake."
Some councillors were in favour of the encroachment agreement, citing the very real impact the development will have on revitalizing the downtown core.

The building is a significant investment in our downtown, which for many years hasn’t had a lot of investment, that old garage sat there empty for years,” said Councillor Kurt Gumushel. “I think that moving forward it is not setting a precedent, there was a mistake that was made.”

CHCO-TV has reached Ellerdale Ventures Inc by phone and is awaiting a response.