Safe Restart money spread unevenly among N.B. communities for pandemic losses

When the federal government offered New Brunswick municipalities Safe Restart money in 2020, 69 eligible governments stepped up to claim a total of $11 million in Phase 2 of the program. 

Saint John received the biggest portion of the pie, with almost $3.4 million.  

When size is factored in, the Village of Centreville was the big winner. Located between Woodstock and Grand Falls, the tiny community received almost $93,000 for its 557 residents. Per capita, that works out to $166.68, compared to Saint John's $49.97 per resident. 

Centreville's clerk and administrator, Andrea Callahan, said the village followed the rules of the program and applied for money to help cover losses incurred because of the pandemic.

For Centreville, that's basically one event — the annual truck and tractor pull that attracts as many as 5,800 people through the gates in a single day, said Callahan. 

She said the community usually makes between $150,000 to $220,000 over the weekend-long event. So when COVID forced its cancellation in 2020, the village applied for Safe Restart money to help make up for the loss.

"That loss was huge for our community," said Callahan. 

Safe Restart is a $19 billion federal aid program announced in July 2020 to help communities bounce back from the pandemic. New Brunswick's share was roughly $41 million and it was divided into three phases of giving.

Phase 1 of the program doled out $1.6 million to Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John for public transit. It also provided $360,000 for Edmundston to enter into an agreement with Maritime Bus to keep its northern New Brunswick routes open until the end of 2021.

In Phase 2, all 104 of the province's eligible communities were asked to submit claims to cover net losses in 2020 caused by the pandemic. Sixty-nine communities did so, filing claims that totalled $13,158,017.52, according to Anne Mooers, director of communications for the Department of Environment and Local Government. 

Nearly $2 million was rejected, leaving a total of more than $11 million spread among the 69 communities. The complete list of communities and what they received is available online.

Phase 3 distributed the remaining $28 million to every community on a per capita basis — regardless of whether they asked for it. Communities got $54.29 for every citizen based on 2016 population figures — the most recent census figures available at the time.

Woodstock was another big winner in Phase 2. The town of 5,228 received nearly $321,000 to offset COVID-related losses. 

Mayor Arthur Slipp said town officials followed all of the rules and closely tracked all losses and additional expenses because of the pandemic. Woodstock filed a detailed claim of about $333,000, with about $12,000 in claims getting rejected.