The Codiac Regional RCMP made arrests and handed out several tickets after an incident involving unsafe driving in Moncton, N.B., Saturday night.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Luc Picard said police responded to numerous calls on Mountain Road for a large gathering of people associated with the Atlantic Nationals car show.
“Throughout the evening, members conducted traffic enforcement and responded to concerns involving unsafe driving behaviours and public disorder,” said Picard in an email.
Picard said a small number of people were arrested, but wouldn’t say how many.
Around 57 tickets were issued under New Brunswick’s Motor Vehicle Act.
Codiac Regional RCMP Superintendent Benoit Jolette addressed the issue at a Moncton city council meeting on Monday and said members responded to complaints of people doing burnouts and racing.
Jolette said they’ve taken a “measured approach” to policing organized and non-organized events related to the car show over the past few years, but won’t be doing that anymore.
He said some residents and some non-residents that showed up over the weekend were not there to have fun.
“They were here to cause issues and some people almost got seriously hurt, residents getting run over by people that were driving erratically, extremely fast, extremely dangerously,” said Jolette.
“What I will say to Moncton council is we will not be tolerating that next year and we will come in force and obviously the measured approach did not work. Specifically, for those non-organized areas.”
Councillor Kate Doyle asked for a debrief and specific details of what happened on Saturday night.
Doyle referenced videos circulating online of a large crowd that had gathered on Mountain Road who shouted obscenities at police and people who were taken to the ground by RCMP members.
“This can’t happen again. It was incredibly troubling to watch,” said Doyle. “Seeing kids walking in the street with cars driving by, regular traffic going by. We are so lucky nothing worse happened than it did.”
Doyle added the whole incident captured on video and shared on social media “wasn’t a good look” for Moncton.
Jolette agreed and said they’ve already started planning for next year’s car show and the non-organized events that take place during the evenings.
“It will not happen again because we have a duty to preserve public safety and order and it was on the cusp of losing control on Saturday. It didn’t get there, but it was pretty close,” said Jolette.
‘Our people had a rough night’
Jolette was asked by Mayor Shawn Crossman what his reaction was to the crowd yelling “(expletive) the police” in the videos.
“Our people had a rough night,” said Jolette, but added they get yelled at frequently and all the members got up the next day and went back to work.
Picard said the incident remains under investigation and police will not be providing additional details for now.
Thousands of people attended the car show at Moncton’s Centennial Park on Saturday and the five-day event is one of the largest tourist attractions for the region every year.
The city says it worked closely with event organizers and public safety partners throughout the planning process.
“Organizers and the City of Moncton’s Events team have worked together to refine the official cruise route over the years. The current route, which remained in place for the 2026 event, was designed to provide a more centralized and controlled downtown experience, allowing the public to better view the vehicles while enhancing overall safety,” it said in a statement to CTV Atlantic.
“The incidents referenced did not occur within the event grounds.”
Jolette said the organized events at the annual car show are “always fantastic” and he praised the volunteers.
“But there’s a stark difference with the non-organized activities and that’s where all the issues happen,” said Jolette.
On Tuesday, Doyle told CTV News she thinks Jolette’s response to council was satisfactory, but she would like to know more.
“It’s fair to say that it didn’t work and we’re going to do better. I was happy to hear him say it will not happen again. I think that’s incredibly important and I will trust that will happen. But I will also ask that we see what went wrong and how it went sideways,” said Doyle.
Doyle said it’s hard to say what could have been done differently, but she thinks the gathering should have been shut down sooner.
“I would say folks seemed to be quite intoxicated. I would say the crowd got too big, too out of control,” said Doyle.
‘The disrespect... is just unacceptable’
Atlantic Nationals Chair Bill Doherty said he and his whole committee are deeply saddened and in disbelief about what happened and stressed it was not part of the show in any way.
“That event was just completely counter to anything we’ve ever done. The disrespect for police, the disrespect for the city, the disrespect for our participants and for the community at large is just unacceptable,” said Doherty. “We’re just heartbroken.”
Doherty isn’t sure what the committee’s next steps are and he doesn’t know what impact the incident will have for next year’s show.
“It’s early to say. The city remains very supportive. They recognize it was not our doings,” said Doherty. “At a time when I’m trying to get the show wrapped up for the year, I’m finding myself doing interviews and explaining and talking to sponsors and supporters.”
Doherty has also seen the videos circulating on social media and said almost all of the participants involved had nothing to do with the Atlantic Nationals.
“There are a couple that were and, if we can positively identify them, they will be banned forever from any participation at our event,” said Doherty.
Doyle said she was deeply disappointed about Saturday night’s events.
“The Atlantic Nationals is super important to Moncton and it’s unfortunate to see a few folks take advantage of the good vibes that are happening in the city to cause mayhem and trouble, on one of our public streets,” said Doyle.
Despite what happened on Mountain Road, Doherty said the event was a big success with over 1,600 cars from all ten provinces at Centennial Park this past weekend.
“Everything in the park and everything with the show went great,” said Doherty. “Everything just clicked. Everything worked well.”
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