Your Councillor At Large

Serving The people of Saint John to ensure sustainability for our Community, a more livable city, and housing justice for all

Chair of Strategic Planning Committee
Vice Chair of Growth Committee
Member of Transit Committee
City of SJ rep for Federation of Canadian Municipalities
Member of Climate Caucus
Community Energy Action Plan Working Group

Brent is known for his work with the Saint John Tool Library and the Saint John Community Build; two grassroots initiatives that he and a community of residents established in order to address issues around housing. He has also worked in community development for a number of groups over the past decade between Saint John and Hamilton/Durham Region Ontario. These experiences have given him competency and passion for policy development in many areas including:

• Healthy neighbourhood development

• Environmental action

• Thoughtful housing development policy that supports our need for affordable housing and a more resilient housing sector

• Fighting for a living wage

• Access to safe cycling in SJ

• Social enterprise development that is targeted toward housing, poverty reduction, and job creation.

• lobbying for important municipal reforms from the provincial government

• Housing reform, justice, and leadership. (Including accessibility improvements)

• Unlocking the potential of groups like the Saint John Land Bank, Saint John Energy, Saint John Cycling, and exploring the viability of a Municipal Housing Corporation.

• Fighting for funding for our frontline community centres and services

Major Actions Taken since being elected

1. Motion made on the Devar Road Logistics Park project to have long term noise monitoring and mitigation built into the project proposal. This will ensure residents have recourse and commitments from the developer to mitigate noise increases in the area to ensure quality of life and property value protection. (June 2021)

2. Motion supported (by Councillor Norton) to have staff provide a permaculture design landscaping bylaw which can be passed onto developers in Saint John. This will ensure landscaping supports the natural environment of the area and builds in biodiversity (July 2021)

3. Request for briefing for the Growth Committee on local governance act section 137 concerning the “ability to repair” derelict buildings clause

4. Introduced the “Cities Race To Zero” motion to align our climate change action policies with the global efforts in preparation for COP 26. Was passed on Nov 01, 2021 unanimously by common council.

5. Motion to freeze recreation rates from increasing and to make major investments in our recreational facilities to support better access to recreation and quality of life

6. Passed a motion to explore a suite of housing policies to help our city align with federal and provincial housing direction and to inform budget 2023 for action on housing justice in SJ. May, 02, 2022.

7. Attended the FCM conference in June to learn about emerging housing, municipal, and community research and policy

8. Introduced and passed a motion on July 25, 2022, to have staff review options for implementing a vacant properties tax. (Passed by council in Jan 2023)

   1. Also introduced a motion to have staff move forward right away with the expansion of our Unsightly Premises Program which would have us utilize legal power to repair run-down buildings that are a hazard to the community. This motion was defeated in COW by Council but eventually became part of the Community Enhancement Program and was passed in Spring 2023

9. Passed a motion in September 2022 to establish a Municipal Housing Entity in Saint John to properly champion housing leadership to transform the supply of housing, opportunities for ownership by those in greatest need,

10. Pushed for a smaller tax rate reduction in Fall 2022 budget deliberations to better fund community centres, transit, housing development, and climate action. Unsuccessful.

11. Pushed for a social procurement policy that takes notes from the Preston model to support local homegrown companies that make social impact and pay a living wage. Passed June, 19, 2023.

12. Met with Local 486 union workers and leaders to discuss the ongoing strike. After taking a stand to support the union position, council voted to remove me from committee duties as well as special appointments to FCM. This led to legal action against the city for the mayor and councils failure to follow our code of conduct around procedural fairness and violations against the Local Governance Act.

Want to see a detailed list of what Brent has been up to? Click the link below for a view of his actions since being sworn in