New BrunswickAn apology has been issued by the Codiac Regional Policing Authority board chair over a contentious budget vote last month.Riverview called for apology over councillor prevented from casting vote on $66M budgetShane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Oct 31, 2025 4:39 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesDon Moore, chair of the Codiac Regional Policing Authority board, during a meeting Sept. 11. (Shane Magee/CBC)An apology has been issued by the Codiac Regional Policing Authority over a contentious budget vote last month.The civilian board oversees the Codiac Regional RCMP, which polices Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview. A Riverview councillor who has been on the board for almost a decade was unable to vote on the $66.5-million budget for 2026 during a meeting Sept. 11. The town had given notice John Coughlan was reappointed to the board, but chair Don Moore says the language was in the future tense. Coughlan left and was not able to cast a vote on the budget, which passed 5-4. The budget calls for a $9.5 million increase in spending and the addition of 15 more officers. Coughlan hasn’t said how he would have voted.”I have personally expressed my apology to the member involved for any misunderstanding that may have occurred, and I do so again publicly today,” Moore said in a statement released Friday afternoon. He said it was unrelated to a board member’s request this week for Public Safety Minister Robert Gauvin to launch an investigation of the policing authority over allegations of political and procedural interference. The specifics of that investigation request have not been made public, and it’s not clear which board member made the request. Riverview’s Mayor Andrew LeBlanc had called for an apology from the board over the budget vote, which LeBlanc described as invalid. Moore told CBC earlier this month there was no plan to issue an apology. Moore told CBC on Friday afternoon the board held a private meeting Thursday where he apologized to Coughlan. He said a public statement was requested.The statement Moore issued Friday says there was “never any intent to prevent or block any member of the Board from exercising their right to vote,” describing it as a “misunderstanding” over Coughlan’s reappointment. Moore’s statement says the notice the board received was interpreted to mean Coughlan had yet to be formally reappointed, and therefore could not participate in the budget vote. “I fully acknowledge, however, that this interpretation — and the way it unfolded during the meeting — caused frustration and confusion for both the member involved and the broader community,” Moore said in the statement. “For that, I sincerely apologize. It was never the intention of the [policing authority] or its chair to create any perception of exclusion or procedural unfairness.” CBC News has requested a comment from the town and Coughlan. Moore is scheduled to present the policing budget to Moncton council Monday. The budget calls for adding 15 more RCMP officers next year which is at odds with council motions saying no additional officers will be approved without crime data that has yet to be gathered.ABOUT THE AUTHORShane Magee is a Moncton-based reporter for CBC News.
Apology issued over policing budget vote
