Political leaders gather to call for urgency on Isthmus fix, and build awareness for bill S-273
Two mayors, two MLAs, and representatives from Acadian and Mi’kmaq groups gathered in person and virtually in Amherst on Tuesday afternoon to get an update from Canadian senator Jim Quinn about the future of Bill S-273, “An Act to declare the Chignecto Isthmus Dykeland System and related works to be for the general advantage of Canada.”
Quinn sponsored the bill, which would claim the Isthmus dykeland system under federal jurisdiction, but not commit specific funding to the project. It passed the Canadian senate in June and is expected to make it to the floor of the House of Commons this fall, with Conservative MP Stephen Ellis from Cumberland-Colchester as a sponsor.
Quinn says he believes S-273 has a shot to make it through the House of Commons if enough MPs are aware of it. He’s hoping the bill will at least make it past first and second reading and into committee, where witnesses can be called to talk about the risks.
“Now’s the time to start educating,” says Quinn, “because that’s what it was like in the Senate process. [It] was educating my colleagues on this area. We’re often forgotten, and a lot of people don’t know where the Chignecto Isthmus is.”
‘Profound disappointment’ in lack of ceasefire resolution from Tantramar council
On Tuesday night, about 50 people gathered outside Sackville town hall for a vigil remembering the victims of Israeli bombings in Gaza, and asking the Tantramar councillors meeting inside to back a resolution in support of a ceasefire.
Sackville Ceasefire Coalition member Sarah Kardash told the crowd gathered that she was profoundly disappointed in Tantramar council for not taking up the call, but the group continues to ask for a resolution from council. “Municipal governments have a moral obligation to speak up, represent their communities, and collectively call for urgent action from the Canadian government,” said Kardash.
“Ceasefire is a popular demand that people the world over are being asked to take up by Palestinians in Gaza,” said Kardash. “Yet there is no notice of motion on the council’s agenda tonight.”
Kardash said that several councillors responded to the group after a presentation last month which laid out their case for a resolution, but none were willing to put forward a motion. While Councillor Allison Butcher responded positively to the coalition’s presentation in January, Kardash said she later told the group by email that she was “unconvinced that [their resolution] would do much to alter world affairs.”
Councillor Mike Tower emailed the group to say he shared their concerns about the loss of life and the suffering happening in Gaza, but didn’t believe their motion was the answer.… Continue
Dispatching solution expected in coming months after meeting between mayors, Ambulance NB, dept of Health
It’s been eight months since Ambulance NB stopped dispatching emergency medical calls to the Memramcook and Dorchester fire departments, as well as another ten departments across the province. Last week, officials from the New Brunswick Department of Health and Ambulance New Brunswick met with local mayors and representatives from the province’s municipal associations to discuss the issue, and the delay in solving it.
CHMA spoke with Village of Memramcook mayor Maxime Bourgeois to find out more:
“The folks on the call were fairly optimistic that they were going to find a solution,” says Bourgeois, and one that could be in place by October, and apply across the province. “They want all the fire departments to have that opportunity to be able to be called and dispatched,” says Bourgeois.
“In our communities, as you know, if something does happen, it can take up to 45 minutes before a paramedic arrives on the scene,” says Bourgeois. Local fire departments, on the other hand, are typically under 10 minutes away. “So it’s the fire department calls that can definitely make the difference between life and death in certain situations,” says Bourgeois.
The decision to end medical first responder dispatching appears to be a resource issue. In March, Ambulance NB spokesperson Christianna Williston told CHMA that the “improvised solution” by which a dozen departments received calls was determined to be “no longer sustainable”.… Continue
Tantramar mayor Andrew Black talks calls for meeting on Chignecto isthmus, more federal funding, and insurance company interest
Tantramar mayor Andrew Black has been talking about the Chignecto Isthmus a lot lately. In the mayor’s report at last week’s committee of the whole meeting, Black mentioned conversations with his counterparts in the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, with an insurance executive concerned about reducing risk, and with former Sackville councillor and ClimAtlantic director Sabine Dietz, about hosting a discussion on how to protect the corridor between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
CHMA called him up to find out more:
Closing the information gap on the isthmus
Black told council last week that he and Mayor David Kogon of Amherst had met with ClimAtlantic’s Dietz to talk about an information sharing gap when it comes to the isthmus protection project.
In 2019, the province commissioned Wood Canada to study the isthmus and come up with options to protect it from rising sea levels and increasing frequency of severe storm events. That study was finally released in 2022, and the cost estimates it put forward have already more than doubled. Black says there’s more information out there, and considering that actual work on the isthmus is still years away, there’s plenty to discuss. Dietz has proposed a session involving municipal, provincial and federal representatives and various experts on how to protect the isthmus, and has asked the councils in Tantramar and Amherst for letters of support.… Continue
Special meeting called for Lafford zoning requests; controversial building could be finished as early as fall 2024
Lafford Properties will not have to wait until August to find out if Tantramar council will give final approval on zoning changes that would make way for the company’s proposed development at 131 Main Street in Sackville.
Mayor Andrew Black has scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday, July 19 at 12pm to consider the third and final reading of the bylaw changes that will rezone a portion of 131 Main Street to higher density R3, and then change the R3 zone to allow for buildings up to 65 feet in height. The first and second reading of the changes were approved on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.
Under normal circumstances, three readings of a bylaw amendment are spaced over two regular council meetings at least a month apart, but in this case a special meeting will happen just eight days after the first and second readings.
Black says John Lafford requested the special meeting through the Clerk’s office on Wednesday afternoon. Council’s procedural bylaw says special meetings are called by the mayor, without any detail on what cause or reason the mayor might require.
If and/or when the amendments pass, Lafford says he will be ready to start construction on the property as soon as possible. The developer will still need to get building permits and approvals through Plan 360.
Lafford estimates the construction phase could take 14-16 months to complete. That means a project starting this month could be complete by fall 2024.… Continue
Black on why it’s not a good idea to give Minister Daniel Allain veto power over municipal by-laws
In today’s Tantramar Report we talk to Tantramar mayor Andrew Black about his concerns with the provincial government’s new Bill 45, which critics say gives Minister Daniel Allain too much power over municipal by-laws. We also check out the Environmental Trust Fund awards that will go towards projects in the Tantramar region, including another year of funding for Tantramar’s climate change coordinator. Plus more news briefs…
No discussion of proposed drive-thru change; council to decide on process on June 13
When it meets again in three weeks, Tantramar council will decide whether or not to entertain a proposal to change Sackville’s zoning by-law to allow drive-thru restaurants in highway commercial zones at exits 504 and 506.
The owner of the former Pizza Delight building on Mallard Drive (a numbered company owned by Rashaid Tufail) made the application for the by-law change through Plan 360.
On Tuesday afternoon at council’s committee of the whole meeting, CAO Jennifer Borne presented a brief report on the proposed zoning change written by planner Lori Bickford, who was absent. After the report, Mayor Andrew Black instructed councillors to limit their questions to clarification purposes only. Black told councillors that the motion to either “start the process or kill it immediately” would come at their next regular meeting. But although councillors will face that decision on June 13, Black indicated “any bigger questions about what this means for that location will be asked in a public engagement session through the planning process, if it gets to that point.”
In a later interview Black acknowledged those instructions seem to be in contrast to the goal of committee of the whole meetings to allow for open discussion by councillors. He explained that his instructions came out of concern that with neither the proponent nor planner Lori Bickford present, answers to questions might not be available.… Continue
Years of planning and a salmon dinner lead to major public funding commitment to future of Ralph Pickard Bell library
The Ralph Pickard Bell library just took a giant step closer to a renewal project that has been in the works for years. On Tuesday afternoon, dignitaries, media, and members of the Mount Allison community gathered for a joint announcement from the provincial and federal governments of a combined $36 million in funding to help make the renovation a reality.
MP for Beauséjour and federal minister of infrastructure Dominic Leblanc announced $26 million towards the project coming from the green infrastructure stream of the Canada-New Brunswick bilateral infrastructure agreement. “There were a number of hundreds of millions of dollars that had not been allocated in the existing Canada-New Brunswick agreement,” said Leblanc after the announcement on Tuesday. “This is one example of the decisions that we made with the government of New Brunswick to access that funding, to do important infrastructure projects around the province.”
Leblanc says the project fits under the green infrastructure stream since the renovations will make the Ralph Pickard Bell Library “world-leading in terms of its environmental footprint.”
Two of New Brunswick’s provincial ministers also attended Tuesday. Minister of Health and Mount Allision alumnus Bruce Fitch was there, along with Post-Secondary Education minister Trevor Holder, who announced New Brunswick’s contribution to the project.
“I’m incredibly proud to announce today a $10 million commitment from the provincial government to support the programming needs here at Mount Allison University,” said Holder, to applause from those gathered.… Continue
Tantramar finally gets a look at its budget, but it lacks details
It was six days into the existence of the new town of Tantramar before staff received the first budget for the town, and the document remains “incomplete” according to mayor Andrew Black. “It’s just a bunch of numbers,” said Black after a first Tantramar council meeting on Tuesday. “There’s no separation of services. There are some services that we know are shared services within our community, there’s some services that are local. But with just a number, we have no idea where we’re at,” said Black.
Black says that five different tax rates are listed in the budget document, but there’s no specifications about which rate applies to where. He says the budget is devoid of comments or explanation.
“We have requested more information as rapidly as possible,” said Black, so that he and town staff can, ”figure out where we stand, where everybody stands.”
As with the initial bylaws governing Tantramar, the first year’s budget was created by amalgamation facilitator Chad Peters. Though provincial deadlines for budget date back to mid-December, Tantramar staff did not get their first peek at the budget until Friday, January 6.
“We’re working with the province to receive what we’re calling the working documents,” said CAO Jennifer Borne on Tuesday. “Right now it kind of just gives a high level overview, so we’ll be working to kind of dig into each cost centre and get more information on line items.”… Continue
Andrew Black looks back on the successes of 2022, and forward to the challenge of governing a new, bigger municipality
Newly sworn in mayor of Tantramar Andrew Black has had quite a year, starting out as Sackville deputy mayor during the final year of the town’s legal existence, and then being elected to head up a brand new amalgamated town of Tantramar.
CHMA called him up in mid-December to take a look back at 2022:
Black says for him, 2022 was marked by the growing crisis in housing, and he sees that issue as something that the new town of Tantramar will be more actively involved with in 2023. He also noted Sackville council’s year-long process dealing with local government reform in 2022, and stood by his decision to participate in that process and then step back from a hiring process he felt was unfair.
Black says there’s some good people on the new Tantramar council, and is excited to get started governing the new municipality.… Continue