Federal department dashes N.B. Exhibition's hopes to relocate horse racing track
CBC
A failed attempt at relocating a horse racing track in Fredericton appears to have contributed to a breakdown in talks aimed at redeveloping the New Brunswick Exhibition grounds, according to documents obtained by CBC News.
Meeting minutes and internal N.B. Ex newsletters show the organization was hoping to secure an alternate site for hosting "agricultural activities" at a federally owned experimental farm on the outskirts of the city.
The hope was for that to happen before the current track near Smythe Street made way for a long-awaited middle school, the documents obtained through a Right to Information request show.
But Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada rejected the N.B. Ex's request to use part of the Fredericton Research and Development Centre, located in the city's east end, according to department spokesperson Cameron Newbigging.
"After reviewing the proposal, AAFC informed the NBEx that their requirements would bring irreparable and significant impacts to the research programs, security, and infrastructure at the FRDC," he said in an emailed statement.
The City of Fredericton has been pushing for years to redevelop the N.B. Ex grounds, a roughly 12-hectacre property owned by the municipality but leased to New Brunswick Exhibition, a non-profit organization, until December 2031.
In 2021, the organization and the city agreed to a redevelopment plan that would see the annual exhibition live on using a footprint about a third the size of the entire property.
The rest of it would be sold to developers to create as many as 1,200 new housing units, and another portion to the provincial government for the construction of a new middle school.
But a change in leadership within the N.B. Ex in 2023 suggested wavering commitment to that plan, which involves getting rid of a barn and race track still used to house and exercise horses.
Feeling the N.B. Ex was dragging its feet on redeveloping the site, the City of Fredericton moved to expropriate the lease it has with the organization.
Progress on the redevelopment of the site was supposed to take shape starting in the fall of 2023 by way of a committee tasked with implementing the plan.
It included Fredericton Mayor Kate Rogers, Fredericton chief administrative officer Steven Hart, former N.B. Ex board chair Rob Kitchen, former N.B. Ex executive director Jeff McCarthy, and other officials from both sides.
The committee, dubbed the joint development authority, was supposed to arrive at consensus on decisions, and N.B. Ex representatives said any land sales would first need to be approved by the organization's general membership.
However, the meeting minutes obtained by CBC suggest the two parties were misaligned from early on in their discussions.
Northern Ontario's highway system needs improvements in order to make travel safer, a highway safety advocate said.
Hundreds of thousands of used tires are piling up across Ontario as some companies responsible for tire recycling have stopped processing tires amid reduced provincial recycling regulations for tire producers, industry experts say.
People in Guelph facing homelessness will soon have a new place to go during the day.
Islanders are reminded to plan their rides ahead of holiday festivities if they plan on drinking alcohol or using cannabis.
Even before Gwen Healey Akearok began her new role as Nunavut’s Minister of Family Services, she was tuning into the Office of the Auditor General’s (OAG) hearings on the state of the Family Services department.
The racial reckoning of the COVID era saw Canada grapple with its checkered past — a process that led to statues of some foundational figures being removed, in some instances by force.
Holiday traditions are front and centre for many people at this time of year. But one Uxbridge family's Christmas tradition goes above and beyond the standard Christmas carols or holiday party.
A pedestrian is dead, and police are investigating following a collision in a north London parking lot on Tuesday afternoon.
Police have lifted a shelter-in-place order for parts of St. John's.
Nova Scotia Power is providing more information about the cyberattack on the utility earlier this year and its response in the months that followed.
A rare old-growth forest in Quebec’s Mauricie region is at the centre of a growing conflict between conservation advocates and the provincial government, after forestry roadwork was authorized in an area currently under review for protected status.
The FBI and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York sought an interview with ex-prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor for connections to Canadian sex offender and fashion mogul Peter Nygard.
A mother is grieving after a carbon monoxide incident killed her 11-year-old son and put her husband in hospital in critical condition.