Last day for public input on NB climate plan
Your chance to weigh in on New Brunswick’s next climate plan closes tonight at midnight.
New Brunswick’s climate change plan is just over five years old, passed in December 2016 under Brian Gallant’s Liberal government. It’s now due for a required five-year review, and in January the Higgs government opened up a month-long consultation period for New Brunswickers to give their input. That period closes tonight at midnight.
There’s not much to indicate that this consultation is a particularly important process for the province. There’s no roadshow of virtual or in-person community consultations, no discussion papers published. A standing legislative committee has heard from experts and officials, including the town of Sackville’s CAO Jamie Burke, but in terms general public input, there’s simply a link to an online form, and an email address to send further input. It’s not exactly an inspiring public consultation process.
But despite the low profile, Sabine Dietz says that public consultation is important. Dietz is director of CLIMAtlantic, a new Sackville-based clearing house for information and analysis about climate change in Atlantic Canada. She’s also a Sackville town councillor who ran on a platform calling for robust response to the climate crisis at all levels.
“It does matter,” says Dietz of the public input process. “It’s like you write a letter, and people and politicians know that there’s 10, 100 more people that think the same way.”… Continue