Possible Tornadoes

New Brunswick officials say there may have been tornadoes during a violent storm that hit the province Thursday night, ripping roofs off and pulling down power utility poles.

Robert Duguay of the province’s Emergency Measures Organization says it’s lucky no one was injured in the powerful storm that unleashed fierce winds, lightning and then downpours on a wide swath of the Acadian Peninsula.

The causeway and bridge linking Lameque and Miscou islands to Shippagan was closed to all traffic except emergency vehicles after more than a dozen power lines were knocked down and fell across the sole link to the mainland.

RCMP Labour Code Trial

A defence lawyer has told the R-C-M-P’s Labour Code trial in New Brunswick that the force took time arming officers with high-powered carbine rifles because it was doing “due diligence” on the deadly weapon.

Ian Carter told Moncton provincial court that the R-C-M-P had to analyze the issue thoroughly for the sake of public safety.

Carbine rifles were not available to general duty officers who responded to a June 2014 shooting rampage in Moncton that left three Mounties dead and two others wounded.