The John Howard Society of Charlotte County is a St. Stephen, New Brunswick, based branch of the non-profit charity organization The John Howard Society of Canada, an organization which advocates for jail reform and provides support for current and former prisoners and their families. In its earlier years the association was primarily engaged with advocating for the widespread adoption of a rehabilitation-based philosophy in the design and function of jails in New Brunswick. It also advocated for work camps and projects for all prisoners, the segregation of prisoners according to sex, age, type of crime, and mentality, the psychiatric examination and treatment for sex-offenders, drug addicts, chronic alcoholics, and other prisoners facing mental health issues, the training of all young prisoners in a skill or trade, the improvement of legislation with reference to court procedure and penal administration in accordance with modern principles, and the enforcement of the Juvenile Delinquents Act in all of New Brunswick’s Counties. The society was also directly involved with the care of wives and families of inmates, the encouragement of hobby crafts in jails and correctional institutions, and the reintegration of former inmates into regular society. Although technically non-denominational, the society also considered opportunities to practice prayer and religious periods to be an important part of a prisoner’s process of reform, and that a lack of spirituality in one’s life could lead to crime.

The namesake of this society is John Howard, a prison reform advocate from England who lived from 1726-1790 who is considered the father of prison reform. Although not an advocate for rehabilitation-based prisons, he fought for cleaner and less corrupt prisons in his home country. He became the namesake for many prison reform organizations in several countries. The Canadian history of the John Howard Society begins with a group of church workers in Toronto in 1867. Their mission was to bring spiritual help to prisoners in a local jail, and in 1874 they formed a small organization called the Prisoners Aid Association of Toronto after recognizing that the prisoners needed more than spiritual aid. In 1915 this association became inactive as interest dwindled, but it was reactivated in 1929 by a citizens group lead by Toronto’s chief police General Draper. General Draper believed that the work of police officers was being undermined by the circumstances facing prisoners when they were released. The revived association of volunteers provided practical help to ex-prisoners with housing, clothing, and employment. In 1931 a similar organization was formed in British Columbia by Reverend J. Dinnage Hobden under the name of the John Howard Society. In 1946 the association in Ontario changed its name to the John Howard Society of Ontario, and between 1947 and 1960 most of the other Canadian Provinces formed their own John Howard Societies. The John Howard Society of New Brunswick was formed in 1953, with the Charlotte County branch being formed sometime shortly after.

Currently the John Howard Society of Charlotte County is a satellite office of the John Howard Society of New Brunswick’s Saint John branch. Today the organization more heavily emphasizes the social and skill development of prisoners and ex-prisoners, public education, government policy consultation, and research for policy development.

An association for fishermen in the Bay of Fundy region who engage in weir fishing. The aims of this organization are to provide a forum in which weir fishermen can associate, procure and share information on the latest developments in weir fishing technology and practices, to make rules for the regulation of weir fishing and the marketing of fish products, and to function as a body that can take united action upon maters arising in respect to the fisheries. This association was founded in 1973 when weir fishermen in the Charlotte County region of New Brunswick decided they needed an organization that could represent them in talks with the Government of Canada and New Brunswick concerning fishery regulations. The first president of the association was an experienced weir fisherman named Ernest Wentworth. The association also aimed to serve as a representative to processors concerning the prices and quality of fish catches. It was officially incorporated in 1979, with Walter Kozak serving as the association manager after it’s incorporation.

Aside from what was mentioned earlier, the Fundy Weir Fishermen Association had other aims. One of these was to elevate the social welfare and standing of the weir fishermen who made up the association. An early endeavor by the association along these lines involved the establishment of a catch insurance plan for weir fishermen. The idea was to create an insurance plan which weir fishermen could buy into which would compensate them during a bad year of catches. This endeavor had to be abandoned after 3 years due to a lack of funds.

The Fundy Weir Fishermen Association also sponsored and organized research projects that could yield valuable data to improve the weir fishery. For example, from 1988 to 1989 the association undertook a research project to examine whether halibut could be successfully grown in a weir pound or in a submerged cage.

Since 2015 the Fundy Weir Fishermen Association has been managed by the Fundy North Fishermen’s Association. This association supports Fundy Weir’s current mission to regulate fisheries with the aim of ecological sustainability and the cultural and economic enhancement of local fisheries.