r/newbrunswickcanada 2d ago

N.B. appeals for calm after alleged assault on N.B. Power employee

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-power-assaults-on-exmployees-1.7501708
55 Upvotes

110 comments sorted by

130

u/ThatIslanderGuy 2d ago

Don't give a shit what your rationale behind it is, but taking your frustrations out on someone who has ZERO to do with the problem, makes you a scumbag.

41

u/Jonnyflash80 2d ago

These people that defend violence are no better. All scumbags.

"An N.B. Power post on Facebook about the assaults generated more than 600 public comments. Most appeared to defend the violence and blaming it on hardships caused by rising power bills."

An alarming number of the people of this province have become significantly entitled and aggressive over the most petty of minor inconveniences, or if they don't get their way. Change my mind.

28

u/RoseBengale 1d ago

My conspiracy theory is that covid did something to the part of people's brains responsible for emotional regulation/impulse control.

4

u/NotThatValleyGirl 1d ago

This makes so much more sense than I want it to...

3

u/OverlyCuriousADHDCat 1d ago

I had seen that covid can cause brain damage, so based on the part of the brain is affects...this could be plausible. Other viruses can have similar affects. And covid is still considered a new virus that we don't know the full long term effects of! https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/covid-19-traffic-accidents-covid-19-personality-disorder-caused-viral-damage-prefrontal-cortex-

2

u/all_fucksticks 1d ago

That's because it did. Everyone who's had a covid infection is walking around with brain damage. Fun thing is that covid actually attacks the lining of the blood vessels and so it can really attack anywhere you have blood vessels, which is your whole body. So it impacts the brain for everyone differently, meaning some people get nasty and mean, and others get forgetful. It also fucks up your immune system, that's why everyone is so sick all the time now. It's also completely airborne, but you would never know from our public health website.

1

u/Street_Tailor_8680 20h ago

I’m not sure if it’s the brain damage or that people have forgot how to interact with others after being locked up for so long. Maybe it’s both.

I try to stay away from people exactly for this reason because there’s so many unhinged people these days. Crowds give me anxiety.

1

u/Street_Tailor_8680 20h ago

It’s not just NB. Well to be fair, people in NB are the most friendliest and welcoming of all Atlantic provinces.

-9

u/DevOpsMakesMeDrink 1d ago

People are getting desperate… If you can’t imagine why they get into fight or flight after doing everything and still at risk of losing it all then you are privileged.

13

u/Jonnyflash80 1d ago

There is zero fucking excuse for this abhorrent behaviour. The fact that you defend this violence says a lot about you.

These workers have nothing to do with customers' higher power bills. How would you like it if some random person attacked you at your job?

-2

u/DevOpsMakesMeDrink 1d ago

I’m not defending it. I’m saying if you don’t understand why it’s happening you are lucky

10

u/NotThatValleyGirl 1d ago

Exactly... and anyone who has to perform house calls and outdoor work in Atlantic Canada in the winter has zero influence on NB power policy, guaranteed.

10

u/Imaged_for_posterity 2d ago

When buddy showed up a couple weeks ago to replace our meter I made it a point to be as welcoming as possible. These guys are contracted by NBPower - they are not employees (not that it matters) and they don’t deserve that crap for trying to do their job (which probably doesn’t offer benefits, etc.)

36

u/DogeDoRight 2d ago

Wtf is wrong with people?

30

u/LordBlackDragon 2d ago

Right wing nut thinking has infected may many people. It's a rot on this world. Always has been. Makes people think they are the center of the universe and whatever random thing pops into what passes as a brain is right and justified.

1

u/Any_Nail_637 1d ago

You cannot equate poor behaviour with people who are more right wing. There are lots of entitled idiots from all political spectrums nowadays. There are even idiots who do not pay attention to politics. Idiots per capita is going up in this country. People have forgotten how to interact with others. I see instances of it everywhere I go. Common courtesy and decency to others is becoming more rare all the time. I really feel sorry for people who work in customer service nowadays.

3

u/LordBlackDragon 1d ago

Eh. I can. And I did. The worst people I had the displeasure of interacting with while doing customer service almost always turned out to be right wing. Happens often enough I'm comfortable equating the two. It's almost like lack of empathy and selfishness go hand in hand with right wing politics and shitty behaviour towards customer service. Weird.

0

u/bailien_16 1d ago

And all of the issues you listed can be, at least in part, attributed to hyper individualism and lack of empathy that is being spread through right-wing online media.

-17

u/SilencedObserver 2d ago

What about this is right wing?

8

u/LordBlackDragon 2d ago

Randomly attacking a service worker for no reason. It's a favourite pass time of a lot of them. They like to feel big by attacking service workers. Usually it's limited to insults and verbal harassment but sometimes it escalates to violence.

0

u/SilencedObserver 7h ago

Interesting take.

In my experience it’s the left that enacts violence unnecessarily.

We live in very different realities.

1

u/LordBlackDragon 7h ago

I'm sure we do. Good luck with your fantasies. Hope you have the day you deserve.

0

u/SilencedObserver 7h ago

Every day is the day you deserve. Remember that.

1

u/LordBlackDragon 6h ago

Totally. Especially those Make a Wish kids. Getting everything they deserve. Or those people Russia bombed the other day. The countless people being genocide in Gaza. They are all monsters. Just getting what they deserve.

-18

u/MonctonDude 2d ago

lol what makes you think it's right wing?

It's left wing people who have been vandalizing the Tesla's of people who have no control over the issue.

It's not an apples to apples comparison but my point stands. Shitty people come from all walks of life.

10

u/Jonnyflash80 2d ago

The rudeness and lack of respect for anyone around them. I see it daily from the Convoy defenders.

-9

u/MonctonDude 2d ago

I see that on both sides.

5

u/Jonnyflash80 1d ago

I see it more so from Conservative supporters... every. single. day.

I don't drive around with F**k so-and-so stickers on my vehicles for everyone's children to see. Just one small example.

-2

u/DiggedyDankDan 1d ago

"bOtH sIdEs R dA sAmE!"

Sure they are.

1

u/MonctonDude 20h ago

You're the one using meme text rather than having a conversation.

1

u/DiggedyDankDan 20h ago

You're an imbecile.

2

u/CarsAndCamping 17h ago

Judging by this altercation, that's you.

1

u/DiggedyDankDan 3h ago

Mmmmhmmm.

"Lefties are mean to us for no good reason, whaaa!"

Another right-wing imbecile with a victim complex.

1

u/MonctonDude 20h ago

lol, tell me what I said that was wrong?

Resorting to insults and believing you're smarter than people... Prime example of the dunning kruger effect.

0

u/DiggedyDankDan 20h ago

Welp, if you can't figure it out at this point, there is nothing I or anyone else can do for you.

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-6

u/Master_Umpire_2932 1d ago

Exactly but say something on here and the obviously unhinged left will be on the attack!

1

u/MonctonDude 1d ago

Yeah this sub is a echo chamber for the left.

-14

u/Master_Umpire_2932 2d ago

We have a winner for stupidest comment of the day!

6

u/LordBlackDragon 2d ago

Don't be so hard on yourself. You're trying your best.

8

u/Jonnyflash80 2d ago

Case in point. Keep throwing those insults.

1

u/polerix 1d ago

"We're mad as he'll, and we won't take it any more"

9

u/Much_Progress_4745 1d ago

I’m all for peaceful protest and people pushing for change. Assaulting someone who’s going to work needs to be denounced 100% and prosecuted, whether it’s a worker out in the field or someone walking into an office building. Disgusting.

20

u/Elitsila 2d ago

I can’t even imagine the stress levels of their call centre staff right now. They’re some of the lowest-paid employees there and have to deal with this all day long when there’s nothing they can really do except escalate (and in those cases, it usually means just passing someone on to another agent).

0

u/Maverick197268 1d ago

There’s actually very little Canadian’s in any call center now, they are mostly imports.

2

u/Andravisia 1d ago

The call centre at NB Power is staffed by people living in New Brunswick.

0

u/Elitsila 1d ago

What do you mean by “imports”? As far as I know, the NB Power call centre is still based in Fredericton. Anytime I’ve called in, I’ve never heard an accent, and even if I did, who is to say they wouldn’t be Canadian? That being said, how the heck does this have any bearing at all on my pointing out that their call centre agents are probably on the receiving end of abuse? They’re all human beings on the frontline taking calls from angry customers.

0

u/Elitsila 17h ago

I’m weirded out that my comment is being downvoted.

52

u/ObsidianOverlord 2d ago

That's what happens when you coddle crackpots by constantly validating their nonsense, it emboldens more lunatics.

The government should be taking responsibility and educating people about how things work, not constantly scapgoating a public utility to save face. 

32

u/ImaginationSea2767 2d ago

It's getting harder than ever to educate people, though, because people don't want to seem to listen to the facts or statistics that the government tries to give them.

They would much rather learn from Karen on Facebook and her opinion and statistics she has tried to come up with.

-22

u/SilencedObserver 2d ago edited 2d ago

It is not the governments job to be providing facts and to think they’re a source of truth is the first misplaced expectation.

Edit to address the downvotes:

How to governments govern, you could ask?

By maintaining the monopoly on violence.

That’s it.

That’s governments.

The most powerful force in your local area set to enact greater violence than citizens themselves can in order to maintain their status quo.

What about that involves facts and truth?

If we had facts and truth from our governments Trudeau wouldn’t have been in office as long as he was, the Irving’s would have been shut down for polluting the local environment causing disproportionate sickness in the are, and the feds wouldn’t have locked up the CSIS reports for 99 years relating to Chinese influence in the cabinet.

This country and the one south of us are propped up by a pyramid of lies and to believe otherwise is the true foolishness.

The trick is blending enough truth with the lies so you can never prove what’s what.

Psychological violence is as effective as physical violence, and don’t be fooled into thinking governments aren’t anything but mechanisms of violence meant to create localized peace.

16

u/ObsidianOverlord 2d ago

It is not the governments job to be providing facts

...who let this child online?

-15

u/SilencedObserver 2d ago

If you think the government is a source for truthful and factual information, I think it’s clear who the child is.

Grow up.

9

u/HonoredMule 2d ago

Russia is so proud of you, you are all growed up. Now go forth and dismantle.

14

u/ObsidianOverlord 2d ago

The government gives plenty of accurate and truthful information; blind distrust is just as irrational as blind trust.

5

u/Jonnyflash80 2d ago

The words of a true conspiracy theorist.

0

u/SilencedObserver 7h ago

Keep your head in the sand, then.

5

u/Suspicious-Will-591 2d ago

You're so enlightened

1

u/BonusPlantInfinity 1d ago

He’s….. the silent observer

3

u/Suspicious-Will-591 2d ago

When I see Susan Holt, all I can think about is the violence she is capable of, I cower in fear of her aura, the iron fist she wields and uses to crush opposition.

2

u/bailien_16 1d ago

I understand the point you’re trying to make. But just because our current governmental system is predicated upon a monopoly of violence doesn’t mean we give up trying to build a better system that isn’t.

I also think your statement “it’s not the governments job to be providing facts” is what’s causing a sticking point for most people. While I get what you mean by this, the government should be providing the facts, even if they don’t always do that. We need to work toward a better system, which includes some form of government that educates its citizens and prevents the spread of misinformation. I know you and I both realize how much of an overhaul of the entire global economic system that would entail, but it’s still something we strive towards, no matter how far away we are from that goal.

1

u/SilencedObserver 8h ago

Appreciate your post.

As long as we continue to cling to ideals we’ll continue to be ruled by tyrants.

There is no government in the world throughout all of time that does not rule by violence. This is not a statement of the “current government”. As long as people will be disobedient towards the rights of others, whatever that collective agreement is, we’ll need governments to enact violence on those behaving violently towards others.

Right now, everyone should be rallying against Israel AND Palestine. The world is involved in a war citizens neither understand nor appreciate, and the violence is astounding.

4

u/Lushkush69 1d ago

Probably some of those sovereign citizens 🤣 Think they don't have to pay their bills. Got some letter from the Queen of Canada or some shit. And yes we DO have lots of those in NB. New Brunswickers bought that bitch a new RV and let her stay here for months.

3

u/Any_Nail_637 1d ago

A big difference is 30-40 years ago someone would think twice before going off on someone because they might get a punch in the mouth.

33

u/LPC_Eunuch 2d ago

"Stay off my property when asked!" +1000 likes on Facebook

Ok fucktard. NB Power will come and remove the meter so that it doesn't need to be serviced or read anymore. Then you can freeze your ass off in -30 C weather without the worry of that pesky low-level NB Power employee lurking.

11

u/Salt-Independent-760 2d ago

Don't even have to step on the property. It can be done on the roadside pole.

-6

u/LPC_Eunuch 2d ago

Not if it's an older meter attached to the house.

5

u/Picklesticks16 1d ago

They can still cut power at the pole...

-4

u/Salt-Independent-760 2d ago

So you're saying the meter is hardwired to the transformer? Um, ok Mr Linesman. They most definitely can disconnect at the pole. I've had it done numerous times bc of my work. You're talking out of your ass.

-6

u/LPC_Eunuch 2d ago

They need to read the values on meter. JFC dude...

I remember you now, you're that smart meter conspiracy theorist. Adios moron.

5

u/Jonnyflash80 2d ago

That's nice, but you're still wrong.

-1

u/LPC_Eunuch 2d ago

Nope. They cannot read the meter from the pole if it's mounted on your house lol.

6

u/Jonnyflash80 2d ago

But they can still disconnect you at the pole, duh.

-2

u/LPC_Eunuch 2d ago

Duh, but they still need to read the meter to bill you. It's also their meter lol.

3

u/rhOMG 2d ago

Not if it endangers the linesperson. They will disconnect at the pole and await RCMP to remove the meter at their leisure. The last reading will be recorded at the shop and any tampering reported to the police.

-3

u/LPC_Eunuch 2d ago

Lmao, okay dude. If you threaten the employee trying to read your meter, the police will get involved. No one is disputing that.

That doesn't change the fact that they can't read the meter from the pole.

7

u/rhOMG 2d ago

They don't need to read the meter to disconnect. Speaking of disconnects, are you ok? (There are very few meters left that can't at least be read with binoculars from the road, btw.)

-1

u/LPC_Eunuch 2d ago

They don't need to read the meter to disconnect.

You're arguing a point no one is making. This conversation has run it's course lol.

6

u/KnowledgeMediocre404 1d ago

The first commenter, who you started trying to correct, was literally talking about disconnecting the power of the person is violent.

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4

u/tikisummer 2d ago

Why hit a worker, some people are this stupid, it’s crazy in this time to hit someone that has no (none) authority in how NB Power is run.

7

u/MyLandIsMyLand89 2d ago

Crime rates go up during hard economic times. These acts of violence are pointless but we unfortunately are going to see more of this.

I hope NB power has the sense to send out minimum two people a job so they can protect each other at least.

5

u/Jonnyflash80 2d ago

That's no excuse. Both assaulted workers should have pressed charges, not just one. Send a clear message.

6

u/MyLandIsMyLand89 2d ago

I agree. I didn't say it was an excuse.

Just pointing out history repeats itself oddly enough. I don't call for any actions as this. Just it's hardly a surprise is what I am suggesting.

-1

u/chitomonkey 1d ago

Should have sold NB Power to Quebec when we had the chance.

-23

u/AerialReaver 2d ago

All this talk of tarriffs and costs going up. Our government puts this rate increase in after one just a few months ago. "We didn't do anything don't be mad at us be mad at Donald!"

25

u/TheLostMiddle 2d ago

This increase was approved long ago.

-5

u/AerialReaver 2d ago

Has it ever been denied?

17

u/ObsidianOverlord 1d ago

Yes. Frequently.

That's why we're in the position we're in.

8

u/Lushkush69 1d ago

Sure it has. Higgs wouldn't let them put it up last year when they wanted to because he didn't want it done until after his last election. Talk about political interference.

4

u/not_that_mike 1d ago

It is telling that you even have to ask that question

-5

u/AerialReaver 1d ago

"Tax me harder daddy!" it's fuckin amazing seeing people cheer for higher prices when it's their own government increasing the prices and not the ones down south. Great the tarriffs were approved months ago, doesn't make them right

5

u/moop44 1d ago

NB politicians forcing NBPower to sell power at a loss for generations is why we are here. Blame your parents and grandparents.

5

u/JesusMurphy99 2d ago

Did the government decide they needed a price increase or did the utility decide this? I'm not saying I'm happy about it but this increase has already happened in most other provinces and from what I read it's worse than what we are seeing. With the cost of everything going up all the time how do you expect them to continue without increased revenue. The way things are going the future price increases will likely be even more severe.

15

u/Andravisia 2d ago

The utility asked for the rate increase and it was granted by the EUB - a governing entity. This increase was approved back in 2023, when NBPower asked to get approval for two increases in a row. They got approval for a rate increase in 2024 and 2025.

8

u/Ok-Difficult 2d ago

Which is how it should work, because government meddling in rates is part of the reason the utility is in such a bad financial spot to begin with.

5

u/Suspicious-Will-591 2d ago

And now that the rates are finally being adjusted to where they should be the government is piling on NB Power talking about a sale.

2

u/N0x1mus 1d ago

The reason we are in the mess we are now is because the EUB listened to government and public influence in the past. They ignored data and facts and felt people couldn’t afford it at the cost of NB Power’s bottom line. They froze rates and only approved rates below the inflation rates. The meddling has gone far enough now and it was made worse with post covid inflation that it can’t be denied any longer. EUB finally realized it can’t take emotional responses into account when it comes to finances.