Secretary of State Wayne Long said he would go to bat for the Town of Saint Andrews to resubmit an application for wharf funding amid its delayed refurbishment project.
Long was in Grand Manan last week to announce $958.7 million for small craft harbours, including construction and repairs to the North Head and Ingalls Head wharves.
“I know there are challenges with what was allocated and there was a bit of [a] back and forth,” he said, speaking to The Courier. “There is more infrastructure money coming, there is a [bilateral agreement] that hasn’t been signed yet. My advice to Saint Andrews would be to get that application in, and I’ll go to bat for them and we can make that happen.”
Market Wharf is one of the few wharves not owned by the federal government but is owned by the municipality.
The plan to refurbish the aging wooden wharf began in 2017 and continued until council voted down an overpriced tender in September 2025.
It went back to the drawing board with Fundy Engineering, which produced a comprehensive structural assessment that identified further issues at the head of the wharf and its approach.
“Near the mud line, the piles are in very poor condition,” Gordon Mouland, an engineer with Fundy Engineering, said. “I didn’t expect it, and these need immediate structural repairs.”
Mouland said it is something the council needs to undertake this year.
He added that the section of the wharf adjacent to the Day Adventure gangway is also an area of concern.
“We’re recommending that we limit traffic in that area,” he said. “Those piles are severely compromised in the steel area, which means that they don’t have the same capacity that they originally had.”
Council had intended to bring forth options to the public for consultations, but following the death of acting mayor Kate Akagi, some meetings were cancelled, including a public consultation session.
The election for Ward 3 — representing four seats in the town plat — remains vacant pending a byelection on June 22. Until then, the current council continues to maintain the function of the municipality but under restricted powers, with a few exceptions.
Long said the bilateral agreement is expected to be hundreds of millions.
“It should be signed within a month,” he said.
The bilateral agreements between the federal and provincial governments are allocated to the proponents through the Regional Development Corporation.
Saint John-St. Croix MP John Williamson said he appreciates the support Long is willing to provide.
But he said the challenge is the federal and provincial governments have already allocated money to this project and that money is on the table.
Williamson said the town needs to take advantage of that money in the first phase that Fundy Engineering has proposed.
“Then go back, apply for more for a Phase 2,” he said, noting the town could lose the money or it could be delayed if they ask for more.
“An agreement is coming, it has not been signed,” he said. “So, there’s some uncertainty there.”
Williamson explained he and Long worked on a lot of projects together to benefit this region.
“In my experience, when a municipality demonstrates success with a first phase, it demonstrates to public servants that they can be relied on to do a good job. Of course, that means the Town of Saint Andrews needs to get it right this time.”
He said this project has been hanging over the council’s head for years — and the willingness on the part of the federal government to help is positive — but recognizes that there are many priorities for the federal government, which means they cannot feel comfort in that willingness.
“The town has had this project hanging over the municipality for years now, I don’t think anyone should take a breath and feel particularly good about how this has gone,” he said.
Williamson said when the election is over, parties put away colours to achieve the best outcome for New Brunswick — and that includes working with the nine other Members of Parliament on both sides of the aisle.
Mayor-elect Steve Neil said in a statement the short answer would be yes.
“We would, however, need to check to see if federal rules would allow us to add a second grant to the current project before applying for additional funding,” he said.
He said the public consultation will be rescheduled for when the new council is eventually sworn in.
“We are very appreciative of the support offered by the Secretary of State, and hopefully there will be opportunities to work with him and his office to help support the completion of the wharf project,” he said.
RDC confirmed to The Courier that it is working on a new federal-provincial infrastructure fund, through the Build Communities Strong Fund, which was announced in the 2025 federal budget.
