Service New Brunswick’s plan to move from downtown Fredericton to a mall near the northern edge of the city isn’t sitting well with people concerned about the health of the city’s core and access to government services.
Bruce McCormack, general manager of Downtown Fredericton, said Service New Brunswick does 400,000 to 500,000 transactions in the Queen Street location every year, which means a lot of pedestrian traffic in the downtown core.
“We look at that Service New Brunswick counter as a large department store,” McCormack said.
“Whether people come down with the intention to go shopping or not … they may buy a cup of coffee, or they’ll go to [Guardian] Ross Drug and buy some cough drops or gum or whatever. But there is spinoff with that, and we’re going to lose out on that.”
Service New Brunswick, which announced the move to Brookside Mall last week, did not agree to an interview with CBC News on Monday.
In an email, spokesperson Jennifer Vienneau said the minister, Mary Wilson, would be available for an interview closer to the move, which is nearly a year away, according to a news release.
McCormack said the Service New Brunswick minister did come to his office originally to let his group know the Progressive Conservative government was considering moving the office to the other side of the river.
He said he was told that the lease was up in October 2024 and the province wasn’t going to renew.
McCormack said Service New Brunswick put out a request for proposals to find another location in downtown Fredericton.
“We put forth five different locations in front of them,” he said. “And they came back and said none of them were suitable.”
The release confirmed that in March, a request for space was made in the city’s downtown core but “no adequate locations were identified.” The province says that as a result, the Brookside Mall was chosen, since it meets all of their requirements “including access to city transit and adequate parking.”
On Queen Street on Monday, Raj Mulakala, a master’s student at the University of New Brunswick, said that part of Fredericton is pretty accessible to everyone.
From a student’s perspective, he thinks it would be more difficult to access services at the Brookside Mall.
“There won’t be [many] buses because [the] number of buses to downtown are more, but to Brookside Mall, it will be less.”
David Coon, MLA for Fredericton South, which is home to the current location, is also not pleased with the accessibility of the new choice.
“I was appalled that the government would take Service New Brunswick out of a very central, easy-to-access location in downtown Fredericton, where lots of people who don’t have vehicles can easily access it,” said Coon.
“I see lots of people who don’t have vehicles on this side because of the large population here living in poverty, including our homeless population. And yet, their intent is to move it across the river. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
He said bus service isn’t the best in the city, especially going from the south side to the north side.
He believes the move comes down to shaving rental costs.
Coon said moves like this have been a trend, and he thinks it will continue, with more services moving to less accessible locations.
He wishes that the government had been more open with Frederictonians about the plan and given them a chance to weigh in before the announcement was made.
“Because ultimately, their responsibility is to make sure people are well-served, and people should have an opportunity to weigh in on whether they feel like this is going to diminish their services or not,” said Coon.
Steve Forrester, a Fredericton resident who lives on the south side, said he thinks the majority of the population likely lives closer to the current location, but he likes the Brookside Mall as a space.
Most of the things he needs are on the south side, he said, but he doesn’t see the new location as being too much farther away.
“I think it’s a nice part of town that could use a little bit of reviving too, so probably not the worst thing for that area,” said Forrester. “And it’s not that far. I mean, we don’t live in Toronto. It’s not like commuting is that far away.”
Eric Claybourne, a resident of the north side, said he’s not too happy about the move. He said even though he lives on the north side, the Brookside Mall is still far away from him.
Claybourne bikes everywhere so he doesn’t need to rely on the bus system. But he hopes that Service New Brunswick wait times will be addressed with the new location.
“I know a lot of people that come here every day and wait for hours and hours and hours,” said Claybourne. “I’m hoping if they are moving it, they’re making it slightly bigger with a lot more staff, so more people can be helped in a quicker time.”
This story was originally published in CBC News on July 24, 2023.
Hannah Rudderham Portfolio 