Struts Gallery to host zine and craft fair
Print isn’t dead, at least not in Sackville.
People who create DIY publications known as zines will be gathering this weekend for the Sackville Zine and Craft Fair.
Organizer Patrick Allaby says about a dozen vendors are expected to sell hand-made books and other items ranging from pottery to popsicles.
Allaby, who ran the SappyFest zine and craft fair for several years before the pandemic, is also a graphic novelist whose works will be available at the event this weekend.
He spoke to CHMA about the event earlier this week:
The Sackville Zine and Craft Fair is happening Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at Struts Gallery. Face masks are mandatory at the event.
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Massive decline in bird populations, ‘degradation’ of avian habitat prompt calls for changes to forestry
Listen to Tantramar Report for Wednesday, May 11, 2022:
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Tenants’ advocate speaks out against rental discrimination
A Sackville man who is searching for affordable housing says he’s encountered roadblocks, including landlords who won’t accept him as a tenant because he has children.
But an advocate for the rights of tenants says that’s an example of rental discrimination, which is illegal under provincial human rights legislation.
“I think that it’s important to make [people aware] that is not legal, this kind of discrimination,” says Jael Duarte, a lawyer and tenants’ advocate for New Brunswick, employed by the Saint John-based Human Development Council.
The home rented by Reggie Beal, a father of three, is up for sale, and he’s been trying to find an affordable place to live with his three young children.
By Sunday, he was still searching for a home using online platforms like Kijiji and Facebook, and by word-of-mouth. So far, nothing’s worked.
“Basically, we’ve tried to find places that will accept, first of all, children,” he says. “And second of all, we’re trying to find places that is affordable.”
That means anywhere from $750 to $900 a month for the grocery store worker. He says the price of housing suitable for his family now tends to range from $1,100 to upwards of $2,500, not including utilities.
He’s a member of the Affordable Housing Initiative, which made a presentation at Monday’s public meeting of Sackville town council.
For more on this story, CHMA spoke to the Fredericton-based tenants’ advocate, asking her how widespread housing discrimination based on family status is in New Brunswick.… Continue
MLA calls on New Brunswick to resume masking in schools
NOTE: This article was updated on Friday, April 29, 2022 at approximately 3:20 p.m. to include a response from the provincial Department of Health.
Sackville’s MLA says the province should reinstate masking in schools, following a recommendation from the New Brunswick Child and Youth Advocate.
The provincial government removed COVID-19 protections on March 14 – including the mask mandate in public schools – just as children returned from March Break.
That’s when the province ended its state of emergency for the second time since the global pandemic hit New Brunswick more than two years ago.
On Friday, child and youth advocate Kelly Lamrock released a report calling for the government to “revert to the status quo that existed when the flawed decision” to lift the mask mandate came down, and to review the decision.
The inquiry found there was an “overreliance on following other provinces without providing evidence, projections and measurements that would justify the Public Health recommendation.”
For more on this story, CHMA spoke to Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton, the Green Party’s health and education critic.
Mitton said she’s been hearing from parents and teachers who are concerned about their health and safety since the province lifted the mask mandate. “There’s a real sense of feeling abandoned,” she said.
You can hear the full interview here:
In an email, Bruce Macfarlane, communications director for the Department of Health, provided the following statement:
“Health recognizes the importance of empowering children and families to make choices regarding when to wear a mask and accepting and supporting all children whether they wear a mask or not.… Continue
Higgs government attracts criticism over transit spending
On the streets of Sackville, area residents say public transit would benefit people including students and seniors.
“It would be a good investment, especially for students who don’t have cars,” said Alison Parrell, a student at Mount Allison University.
She said it could help people access services in Moncton, including medical appointments.
“It would be nice if there were something for those that don’t have any transportation,” said Susan MacDonald, who lives in Dorchester.
In that rural village, having a personal vehicle is practically a must, since public transit there is non-existent.
Public transportation advocates have criticized the Higgs government for walking away from federal public transit funding earlier in the pandemic.
Ottawa is now allowing New Brunswick to use federal funds earmarked for public transportation to pay for roads and bridges.
A town the size of Sackville should have public transport connections to Moncton “at last half a dozen times a day,” said Ted Bartlett, president of the volunteer-based advocacy group Transport Action Atlantic.
“If you don’t have a car, you can’t get to Moncton conveniently,” he said.
Aside from limited services offered by Maritime Bus, “you can stand out on the Trans-Canada with your thumb out – or you can have, I suppose, a very expensive cab ride,” he said.
Otherwise, transportation options include limited VIA Rail service and a volunteer-driven charity called Rural Rides Tantramar.… Continue
Municipal reform: Potential names for Entity 40 revealed
Tantramar or Beauséjour Township?
Those are two possible names for an area that will result from the merger of Sackville, Dorchester and other nearby communities.
The amalgamation will create a territory that’s been dubbed Entity 40, pending the choice of a new name.
Last month, the Elected Officials Advisory Committee formed a subcommittee to lead the naming process.
On Tuesday, a member of that group posted an update on social media, and asked for feedback on the potential monikers.
“We have spoken to the local historical groups and had input from the provincial topographers,” Dorchester village councillor Robert Corkerton said in a Facebook post.
The chosen name will be an “umbrella name for the entity,” and existing place names won’t actually change, he added.
“The local names of the areas in which we live are not changing, our postal addresses are not changing.”
The post included some background about the two choices. Tantramar has its roots in the French word tintamarre, meaning great noise.
“The first French Acadian settlers in the area who arrived around the last quarter of the 17th century are said to have heard great flocks of geese or maybe the incoming tide that made a great noise,” the post stated.
“They used the word tintamarre to describe this noise and, eventually, an Acadian hamlet was given the name Tintamarre before the expulsion of 1755. When anglophone settlers arrived in the region in the 1760’s, they kept the name, and after decades of different spellings, it became Tantramar in the second half of the 19th century.”… Continue
‘Deep concern about how the pandemic is being managed’: Local task force criticizes Higgs government
The Memramcook-Tantramar Community Task Force has published an open letter expressing “deep concern about how the pandemic is being managed” in New Brunswick.
The task force is a volunteer organization in the Sackville area created in response to COVID-19.
Their letter calls on the provincial government to “provide more incentives for people to get vaccinated,” reinstate masking in schools, and provide more information in weekly updates.
“We’ve heard from people who have loved ones who are considered more vulnerable to illness, who have been saying to us, they feel abandoned,” said task force co-chair Margaret Tusz-King in an interview.
That news comes as Public Health changes how cases of COVID-19 are reported.
The province has discontinued its online COVID-19 dashboard; instead, it has introduced new weekly reports on a government webpage called COVIDWATCH.
On Tuesday, the provincial government announced another nine COVID-related deaths – that’s a reduction compared to last week, when the province reported 13 deaths.
There have now been 358 COVID-related deaths since the pandemic began.
There were 78 confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations during the seven days that ended on Saturday.
That figure only reflects patients hospitalized for COVID symptoms, and it has increased by 31 compared to last week
There are nine people who are receiving intensive care, according to the latest report.… Continue
‘They feel abandoned’: Local task force criticizes Higgs government’s handling of COVID-19
Listen here to Tantramar Report for April 6, 2022:
‘People deserve a living wage’: Minimum wage increase not enough for decent quality of life, critics say
New Brunswick’s minimum wage goes up by one dollar today, to reach $12.75 per hour. And another increase is slated for October, when the minimum wage will reach $13.75.
In a video posted to social media this week, Minister of Labor Trevor holder acknowledged that “many New Brunswick families are struggling to keep up with the cost of living, and it’s getting worse.”
Until today, New Brunswick had the lowest minimum wage of any province or territory in Canada. Saskatchewan now holds that dubious distinction.
By October, New Brunswick is slated to have the highest minimum wage in the Atlantic region, against $13.70 per hour in P.E.I., $13.35 in Nova Scotia and $13.20 in Newfoundland and Labrador, according to the Retail Council of Canada.
It’s a far cry from last year’s widely-ridiculed five cent increase, based on changes to the Consumer Price Index.
At the time, Minister Holder said in a statement the policy would protect the “purchasing power of employees” while ensuring “predictability for businesses.”… Continue
Sounds of Sackville
March 26th. Ainsley, Annie and Maya. A radio show showcasing songs that connect Sackvillians to their community! Maybe it’s the song that was playing when you bought your wedding dress or the song you listen to every time you drive into town. Covid-19 has been a difficult time for all of us, maybe put a song that has been able to lift you up and keep you going during these difficult times!
Check out the full list of community submissions in this playlist:
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