Dieppe residents snubbed by sewerage commission

Dieppe residents were upset Monday night after holding a public meeting about questionable spending by the Greater Moncton Sewerage Commission. No one from the commission attended.

City council organized the meeting to give members of the commission a chance to explain their actions afterthe auditor general criticized them last month for the way they run the body that controls the sewers in the region.

"It is not just rude and ignorant. It is tantamount to a slap in the face," said resident Rudi Saueracker.

"People are not doing what they should be doing. They are accountable to the electorate and they are not doing their job. This should have been taken care of a long time ago."

The commission sent a letter to Dieppe saying they don't want to meet with city council and the public, and suggesting instead that Dieppe join a meeting organized with Moncton and Riverview on Nov. 15.

Dieppe City Councillor David Maltais said a joint meeting would be logistically challenging.

"I'm convinced a meeting with Riverview and Moncton will be in English and with 30 people it will be difficult to ask questions and to receive adequate answers, so for me that's not acceptable," Maltais said.

Dieppe city councillors have been trying unsuccessfully since 2006 to get financial statements from the commission. They believe the commission has about $10 million in a bank account, which they said far exceeds the legal limit.

Saueracker said he wants the minister responsible to fire the entire commission.

Other citizens in attendance said the city should stop paying its share to the sewerage commission until the issues are resolved.

The opposition Liberals said they have been asking for follow-up on the auditor general's report for two weeks. Liberal leader Victor Boudreau said the government is stalling on his party's request for a public inquiry.

"The inquiries act falls under the responsibility of the attorney general but the link the attorney general has with [Greater Moncton Sewerage Chair] Ron Leblanc makes us question whether or not the Alward government is seriously going to look at this issue."

New Brunswick Attorney General Marie-Claude Blais worked as a lawyer in Ron Leblanc's Moncton law firm. Neither Leblanc nor Blais responded to CBC requests for interviews.

Minister of Environment Margaret-Ann Blaney said the government will not initiate a public inquiry.

Blaney met with the commission last week and will attend when the commission meets with Moncton and Dieppe next Tuesday. Whether Dieppe will attend or get a separate meeting remains uncertain.