Prime minister appoints Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold to Senate
Announced late Friday afternoon, a news release from Trudeau's office described Arnold as "an accomplished public servant with over 30 years of experience in municipal government, community development, and publishing."
As mayor, "she championed public engagement and environmental sustainability, guiding Moncton toward rapid growth while fostering a vibrant, inclusive community," the statement said.
Arnold will take the spot left vacant by Moncton's Nancy Hartling, who retired from the Senate this year after serving since 2016.
Arnold was elected mayor in 2016 after previously serving as a city councillor for four years.
In a Facebook post, Arnold said it was an honour to be selected.
"The Prime Minister was clear that he expects me to make a significant contribution to the work of the Senate, and to actively be involved in the broad range of challenges and opportunities facing our country," Arnold wrote.
"He also underlined the fact that I will be able to contribute to the work of the Senate in an independent and non-partisan fashion, which is highly appealing to me. While my role is changing, my commitment to this city and to all Monctonians remains unwavering."
The city's website describes Arnold as a supporter of local arts and culture, serving on the board of the Frye Festival for 15 years.
She is a recipient of a number of honours, including the Order of New Brunswick, the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal, the YWCA's Women of Distinction Award, and the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the Government of France.
Deputy Mayor Paulette Thériault will be acting mayor, effective immediately, a statement from the city said.
Paul Harpelle, spokesperson for Elections N.B., said Moncton will have to wait until May 11, 2026, to fill Arnold's vacancy.
Although by-elections are being this spring, Harpelle said the deadline to be included was Feb. 28.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
12 hours ago
- Global News
Texas approves redistricting as California moves to counter with new maps
The national redistricting battle enters its next phase Thursday as California Democrats are scheduled to pass a new congressional map that creates five winnable seats for their party, a direct counter to the Texas House's approval of a new map to create more conservative-leaning seats in that state. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has engineered the high-risk strategy in response to President Donald Trump's own brinkmanship. Trump pushed Texas Republicans to reopen the legislative maps they passed in 2021 to squeeze out up to five new GOP seats to help the party stave off a midterm defeat. View image in full screen California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks about the 'Election Rigging Response Act' at a press conference at the Democracy Center, Japanese American National Museum on August 14, 2025, in Los Angeles. Mario Tama / Getty Images Unlike in Texas, where passage by the Republican-controlled state Senate and signature by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott are now all that's needed to make the maps official, California faces a more uncertain route. Democrats must use their legislative supermajority to pass the map by a two-third margin. Then they must schedule a special election in November for voters to approve the map that Newsom must sign by Friday to meet ballot deadlines. Story continues below advertisement The added complexity is because California has a voter-approved independent commission that Newsom himself backed before Trump's latest redistricting maneuver. Only the state's voters can override the map that the commission approved in 2021. But Newsom said extraordinary steps are required to counter Texas and other Republican-led states that Trump is pushing to revise maps. 'This is a new Democratic Party, this is a new day, this is new energy out there all across this country,' Newsom said Wednesday on a call with reporters. 'And we're going to fight fire with fire.' Texas Democratic lawmakers, vastly outnumbered in that state's legislature, delayed approval of the new map by 15 days by fleeing Texas earlier this month in protest. They were assigned round-the-clock police monitoring upon their return to ensure they attended Wednesday's session. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy That session ended with an 88-52 party-line vote approving the map after more than eight hours of debate. Democrats have also vowed to challenge the new Texas map in court and complained that Republicans made the political power move before passing legislation responding to deadly floods that swept the state last month. Story continues below advertisement A battle for the US House control waged via redistricting In a sign of Democrats' stiffening redistricting resolve, former President Barack Obama on Tuesday night backed Newsom's bid to redraw the California map, saying it was a necessary step to stave off the GOP's Texas move. 'I think that approach is a smart, measured approach,' Obama said during a fundraiser for the Democratic Party's main redistricting arm. Over the long term, we shouldn't have political gerrymandering in America, just a fair fight between Republicans and Democrats based on who's got better ideas. But since Texas is taking direction from a partisan White House and gerrymandering in the middle of a decade to try and… — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 20, 2025 The incumbent president's party usually loses congressional seats in the midterm election, and the GOP currently controls the House of Representatives by a mere three votes. Trump is going beyond Texas in his push to remake the map. He's pushed Republican leaders in conservative states like Indiana and Missouri to also try to create new Republican seats. Ohio Republicans were already revising their map before Texas moved. Democrats, meanwhile, are mulling reopening Maryland's and New York's maps as well. Story continues below advertisement View image in full screen Texas Republican Rep. Marc LaHood views a map during a House meeting in the State Capitol on August 20, 2025 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell / Getty Images However, more Democratic-run states have commission systems like California's or other redistricting limits than Republican ones do, leaving the GOP with a freer hand to swiftly redraw maps. New York, for example, can't draw new maps until 2028, and even then, only with voter approval. The struggle for — and against — Texas redistricting Texas Republicans openly said they were acting in their party's interest. State Rep. Todd Hunter, who wrote the legislation formally creating the new map, noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed politicians to redraw districts for nakedly partisan purposes. There was little that outnumbered Democrats could do other than fume and threaten a lawsuit to block the map. Because the Supreme Court has blessed purely partisan gerrymandering, the only way opponents can stop the new Texas map would be by arguing it violates the Voting Rights Act requirement to keep minority communities together so they can select representatives of their choice. Story continues below advertisement House Republicans' frustration at the Democrats' flight and ability to delay the vote was palpable during the Wednesday vote. View image in full screen State Representative Charles Cunningham, a Republican from Texas, and State Representative Mano DeAyala, a Republican from Texas, in the House Chamber during a special session at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. Eli Hartman / Getty Images House Speaker Dustin Burrows announced as debate started that doors to the chamber were locked and any member leaving was required to have a permission slip. The doors were only unlocked after final passage more than eight hours later. Republicans issued civil arrest warrants to bring the Democrats back after they left the state Aug. 3, and Abbott asked the state Supreme Court to oust several Democrats from office. The lawmakers also face a fine of $500 for every day they were absent.
Winnipeg Free Press
13 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
The Latest: California Democrats will vote on a new congressional map to counter Texas
The national redistricting battle enters its next phase with California Democrats scheduled Thursday to pass a new congressional map for voters to consider in November that would create five more winnable seats for their party, a direct counter to the GOP Texas House members imposing a new map on their state's voters at the urging of President Donald Trump. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has engineered the high-risk strategy in response to Trump's brinkmanship in Texas, where passage by the Republican-controlled state Senate and signature by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott are now all that's needed to make the maps official. California by contrast has an independent commission and only a voter-approved ballot measure can override the current map. The Latest: US-EU negotiators issue trade deal framework Trump administration and European Union negotiators released on Thursday a bare-bones account of their trade deal imposing a stiff 15% import tax on 70% of European goods exported to the U.S. It leaves key areas blank, including wine and spirits and steel. They called it just 'a first step in a process' as they deal with a vast range of goods in the world's largest bilateral trading relationship, involving $2 trillion in annual transatlantic business. EU officials said Thursday the agreement brings stability and avoids a trade war with even higher tariffs, or import taxes. 'South Park' continues its cartoon assault on the Trump administration The Comedy Central show addressed the federal takeover of the Washington, D.C., police department, showing armed forces patrolling in front of the Supreme Court and a tank rolling by the White House. Wednesday's episode also roasted world leaders and tech CEOs for kowtowing to Trump. Earlier episodes depicted Trump lying in bed with Satan and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shooting puppies, a reference to her biography where she revealed that she killed her family's dog. The show also showed Noem being trailed by a team of beauticians having to reattach her face. 'It's so easy to make fun of women for how they look,' Noem told Glenn Beck. The White House called the show fourth-rate and irrelevant. Trump escalates threats against California over transgender policies 'Any California school district that doesn't adhere to our Transgender policies, will not be funded,' Trump said in a Thursday morning social media posting. The new warning from Trump comes after his administration sued the California Department of Education last month for allowing transgender girls to compete on girls' sports teams, alleging the policy violates federal law. The lawsuit filed by the Justice Department says California's transgender athlete policies violate Title IX, the federal law that bans discrimination in education based on sex. California has sued the Trump administration for unlawfully intimidating health care providers into stopping gender-affirming care for transgender youth. That lawsuit was filed with attorneys general from 15 states and the District of Columbia, plus the governor of Pennsylvania. State Department press officer fired after questioning talking points on Israel and Gaza Officials said Shahed Ghoreishi, a contractor working for the Bureau of Near East Affairs, was terminated over the weekend following two incidents in which his loyalty to Trump administration policies was questioned. He and two current U.S. officials say he drew ire for drafting a response to an Associated Press query related to discussions between Israel and South Sudan about the possible relocation of Palestinians from Gaza to South Sudan. The draft response included a line that said the U.S. does not support the forced relocation of Gazans, something that Trump and his special envoy Steve Witkoff have said repeatedly. That line was rejected by the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, according to Ghoreishi and the officials. He also questioned an embassy statement referring to the West Bank as the biblical 'Judea and Samaria.' The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel changes. Texas governor says new maps will 'better reflect the actual votes of Texans' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott says he'll sign into the law the redrawn U.S. House districts that give his party five more winnable seats. He had put escalating pressure on Democrats to come home during their two-week walkout that had delayed the vote. 'While Democrats shirked their duty, in futility, and ran away to other states, Republicans stayed the course, stayed at work and stayed true to Texas,' he said. Abbott spoke after the Texas Republicans used their majority in the House to approve the new congressional voting maps on Wednesday. Seconds later, House Speaker Dustin Burrows removed the 'call of the House.' The chamber doors were unlocked and House members are now allowed to leave.
Toronto Star
14 hours ago
- Toronto Star
The Latest: California Democrats will vote on a new congressional map to counter Texas
The national redistricting battle enters its next phase with California Democrats scheduled Thursday to pass a new congressional map for voters to consider in November that would create five more winnable seats for their party, a direct counter to the GOP Texas House members imposing a new map on their state's voters at the urging of President Donald Trump. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has engineered the high-risk strategy in response to Trump's brinkmanship in Texas, where passage by the Republican-controlled state Senate and signature by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott are now all that's needed to make the maps official. California by contrast has an independent commission and only a voter-approved ballot measure can override the current map.
