Fredericton Names its New Man for the North

Benjamin Shingler
Telegraph-Journal


BATHURST - The Liberal government has chosen the man that will spearhead its new plan for the north.

Roger Robichaud, an economic development professional with a long career in northern New Brunswick, has been appointed the new assistant deputy minister for Business New Brunswick.

Robichaud will lead the new, Bathurst-based, northern office being set up to implement the province's northern economic strategy, which is expected to be released later this month. He begins work in his new post next Monday.

"My job is to work with everyone involved to help carry out the province's new plan," Robichaud said in a brief interview Monday, prior to a luncheon in Bathurst.

Business New Brunswick Minister Victor Boudreau announced the appointment during his luncheon speech, which focused on the merits of the proposed sale of NB Power.

"Roger is a veteran of economic development in northern New Brunswick," Boudreau said in an interview prior to the speech.

"He knows government very well, he knows the projects," he said. "We wanted someone who could hit the ground running."

Born in Petit-Pokemouche, Robichaud has served as regional director of the Regional Development Corporation in Tracadie-Sheila since 2005.

He served previously as executive director of Entreprise Péninsule, the development agency for the Acadian peninsula, and worked for 12 years as an agronomist for the Department of Agriculture in northern New Brunswick.

While Robichaud declined Monday to give details about how he plans to run the office until the Liberal government releases its northern strategy, interviews with his professional associates reveal a man with a wide range of knowledge about the region's economy, and one who emphasizes action over theory.

"He's very proactive," said Brian Donovan, executive director of Enterprise Miramichi, adding that Robichaud has been one of his main contacts with the Regional Development Corporation.

"I think there is a comfort level between Roger and the enterprise agencies," he said.

Betty-Ann Mercier, executive director of Enterprise Restigouche, is hoping Robichaud and the new office can help create a more positive economic climate in the north.

"Unfortunately sometimes we hear more of the negative than the positive," she said.

But Robichaud will need to be more than just a cheerleader, one expert says, as he is faced with the giant-sized task of suppring economic growth across the region - and communicating with provincial officers in Edmundston, Dalhousie, Miramichi and Tracadie-Sheila.

David Campbell, an economic development expert who recently authored a report on northern New Brunswick, has high hopes for the new position.

"I think it's a big and important job," he said.

"I think the person should be a figurehead for the economic revival of northern new Brunswick."

Campbell is hoping the new plan sets out an overarching strategy for the region as a whole, something he believes provincial governments of both stripes haven't done effectively in the past.

"It seems to me the plan is every time a mill closes, they set up a new fund and sprinkle money around," he said.

"It's become politically feasible to sprinkle the money around, but that hasn't really led to any new sectors."

According to Donald Arseneault, minister responsible for the Northern New Brunswick Initiative, the new plan is designed to rectify that problem, by setting detailed benchmarks for job creation, economic growth, and zero in on specific areas for development.