John Craig said when amalgamation happened, he knew he needed to spend more time in the newly incorporated areas – making himself accessible to the new constituents of Eastern Charlotte.
It has been one of his biggest commitments through 2025. With a new council, and a renewed focus, the issues of the Blacks and Beaver Harbour water supply came to a boiling point, the increasing demand for childcare, and a greater need for affordable housing.
“When I go out to all these areas and talk to people, whether it’s birthday parties, anniversaries or just church services, it gives them accessibility to me,” he said, speaking to The Courier.
In the last year, the council has built a pavilion in Riverside Park – an area poised for both recreation and events. It has become the home of the Eastern Charlotte Night Market.
“I expect it to be used a lot and maybe for weddings, receptions, birthday parties, anniversaries, and graduation parties. I can see a lot of that happening there, right by the river, is a beautiful spot, and so we’re quite proud of that this year,” he said.
The town worked on paving this past year. Craig said the challenge is that there is only so much money to go around.
“Paving is always a must, and it’s not easy, because when you do certain streets, we can’t do them all at once,” he said. “We did the Hospital Street, which was falling apart. The reason we did that is because everybody in Eastern Charlotte uses that.”
Blacks and Beaver Harbour water supply
Craig said the biggest priority for the current council–and the one he hopes to lead in 2026– is improving the water quality for residents in Blacks and Beaver Harbour.
The issue has been impacting residents for many years. The system is privately owned by Connors Brothers, a fish packing and processing plant.
“I know it’s frustrating for the people of Blacks Harbour,” he said. “It’s safe, but I see the frustration there, but it is moving ahead.”
In November, Englobe–the engineering firm responsible for trying to find a new water source for the area–said a new water main-flushing schedule would help with the deposits being left by manganese and iron coming in contact with chlorine.
He said the biannual flushing schedule isn’t enough to move the deposits along.
“The transmission line we know that’s got to be replaced,” Craig said. “They’re doing the final study on that. The province is not going to give us (Eastern Charlotte) money until they’ve done those studies.”
He said the next step is for council to form a separate committee to work on the water supply quality in Blacks and Beaver Harbour
“[The] council wants a separate committee,” he explained. “It’d be sort of a communication committee, where they can communicate what’s going on better to the public, and let people know and try to get the information out there.”
The engineering firm is working on determining the legality of going on to private property, which can often be a complicated process.
“We have to keep pushing and pushing to make sure this gets done,” he said.
Child-care in Eastern Charlotte
For several years, the council has also been working toward a new child-care facility in partnership with the Southwest New Brunswick YMCA.
In April, the YMCA said it had seen an increase in usage.
“We’re going to keep the momentum going, offer more programming,” Paige Scott said, speaking to the council in April. “We’re a small, but mighty team. We put our heart and soul into everything that we’re doing.”
“And I’d like to see it through. And if I do go one more will be my last time. I want to see some of these projects through. I have a great council down there.” – Eastern Charlotte Mayor John Craig
It has faced challenges with finding a location for the facility, and it currently operates out of the Eastern Charlotte Recreation Complex.
Craig said the municipality is waiting on drawings for what the new facility could look like, which should allow them to put it out for tender.
“We [have] got to see what the final prices are going to be and that’s kind of where it is at the moment,” he said. “Child-care is very important, because if you don’t have a place for your children to go to, you end up moving away and moving to a place where there is child-care.”
Increase in medical calls
The fire department in Eastern Charlotte has also been facing an increased number of medical calls throughout the year, prompting the municipality to seek assistance from the province in advocating for better response times from Ambulance New Brunswick (ANB).
Jason Gaudet, the municipality’s chief administrative officer, said in February that officials have been going back to Ambulance New Brunswick – operated by a private company – and the province to ask why this is happening.
“We’re looking for some assistance from the province on their end to look into it as well, and to come up with some answers long-term,” he said.
With increasing medical calls also comes additional costs, Gaudet explained.
“There’s also an additional cost for training firefighters, not just now for fighting fires, but also in regards to just responding to health and medical calls,” he said.
According to ANB, in November 2025 it responded to 94.7 per cent of 9-1-1 emergency calls in Blacks Harbour within the 22-minute rural response requirement.
Between April and November, ANB responded to 9-1-1 emergency calls for Blacks Harbour on average 86.6 per cent of the time.
Craig said the fire department has a list of medical calls that it responds to.
“I think they’ve taken some things off that list to try to keep the call numbers down a bit,” he said, adding they still respond to more serious 9-1-1 calls.
ANB said in February that the company was contacted by Eastern Charlotte Fire Chief Justin Johnston to join its Medical First Responder (MFR) program, in which ANB and individual fire services mutually agree on the types of medical calls a particular fire department will respond to. The Courier has obtained that email and viewed its content to confirm that request.
When the criteria are met, ANB will request assistance from the fire department through its dispatch agency. It said requests for the MFR program are not always made by ANB, but can also be made by the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP).
“In those instances, PSAP advises ANB that they are sending MFRs. In these instances, calls do not always meet the agreed upon MFR criteria,” it said in a statement.
Craig believes the fire department has the situation under control.
“I have to talk with the fire chief and our manager too, I think they seem to have a pretty good handle on it, really, at the moment,” he said.
On Dec. 17, the council unanimously adopted a new policy related to medical calls. The policy outlines what calls the fire department should respond to, including cardiac arrest, accidents, and respiratory arrest.
It said only two members of the department should respond to medical calls, who are properly trained. Firefighters are directed to leave the scene once Ambulance New Brunswick arrives and has control of the situation, unless otherwise request for additional assistance.
Looking ahead to 2026
Craig said the main focus going into 2026 will be housing, the Blacks and Beaver Harbour water supply, and maintaining the tax rates.
“We’re going to hold the line on taxes, and the council is voting on that to make sure that we hold the line on taxes,” he said. He also noted the provincial property assessment freeze, which is creating uncertainty on local governments.
“We’re not going to have as much capital money to do as much capital work next year, but we’re going to pick and choose what we can do, and live within our means,” Craig said.
As for the mayor’s future and the upcoming election in May 2026, Craig said his name will go back in the hat for one last time around the horseshoe.
“I feel things still have to be done,” he said. “And I’d like to see it through. And if I do go one more will be my last time. I want to see some of these projects through. I have a great council down there.”
