City councillor Veronique Arsenault wins decisive victory in Miramichi mayoral race

City councillor Veronique Arsenault won a decisive victory in the race for mayor of Miramichi in Monday’s local government elections, gaining 49 per cent of votes in a five-way contest.

Arsenault was elected with 3,570 votes, almost double the 1,896 votes for runner-up Shawn Power. Peggy McLean received 816 votes, followed closely by Tiffany Gallivan with 809 votes, while 176 residents cast their ballot for Nancy Waye.

“I am humbled by your trust and I am grateful,” Arsenault said in a late-night Facebook post, while also thanking the other candidates for “stepping up, sharing your ideas, improvements and thoughts for a better way forward.”

During a recent debate hosted by the NB Media Co-op, she expressed support for a permanent adult emergency shelter that was recently established on King George Highway southwest of central Miramichi, which includes wraparound services and transitional housing.

She added that “we need to support our businesses and our citizens to feel safe,” an apparent reference to demands for a law-and-order approach to social problems such as homelessness, drug addiction, and petty crime.

Arsenault defended the city’s record on law enforcement, citing an effort to increase the “presence and visibility” of police in the downtown area, but suggested that the the city should “get more creative” to recruit members to the Miramichi Police Force.

“There is one incentive program in place now where the city will pay for the education [of police], which is great,” she said. “But we know that most police departments are having a struggle in recruiting.”

Arsenault also called for incentive programs to stimulate the development of affordable housing, particularly for seniors and low-income residents. “Our vacancy rate has been less than one per cent for far too many years,” she said. “A healthy vacancy rate is around four or five per cent in a community our size.”

The mayor-elect also suggested that Miramichi needs a greater variety of housing options, in part to attract people to the area.

“We’ve gotten more creative over the last number of years in the types of housing that we hadn’t seen before like row houses, as we call them, or duplexes,” she said. “So we need to increase the appetite to build that kind of housing, but also single-home ownership, as well, in all price points.”

On economic development, she has stated that she intends to pursue collaboration between New Brunswick Community College, business associations, and non-profits to identify training that local residents need. “We need to work to attract the jobs but we need to make sure our people are trained to fill them,” she said in a Facebook post.

Arsenault said during the debate that she intends to advocate for higher immigration levels to New Brunswick, citing labour shortages in some industries after Ottawa drastically reduced immigration targets last year.

“We need to push for an opportunity for that cap to be raised,” she said, also noting international students at New Brunswick Community College. “All of those things help drive our economy and support growth for our community.”

Arsenault has served on Miramichi city council since 2021 and is currently employed in strategic change management for Employment and Social Development Canada. She previously served in a number of other roles with the federal government, and was executive director of the Miramichi Regional Multicultural Association in 2016-17.

One rival candidate questioned how Arsenault would approach economic development while continuing to work full-time for the federal government.

She indicated that she would rely on staff, including the city’s newly recruited chief administrative officer. “It’s giving the mandate to our staff to really aggressively and actively go out and find those companies,” she said.

“I work nine to five as do most people, and I take those calls on my lunch, my breaks, in the morning and afternoon and after work, and I answer our residents when they need me to, and so that will continue as mayor.”

The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for May 25.

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, via the Local Journalism Initiative.