‘Expect the previously unexpected’: Hurricane Fiona, rising sea levels show need to restore salt marshes for natural protection, says prof
With sea levels rising and weather patterns becoming more volatile, the storm that wreaked havoc in Atlantic Canada last month might be a mere sampling of things to come.
In the wake of Hurricane Fiona, Prof. Jeff Ollerhead of Mount Allison University says decision-makers can reduce the risks of catastrophic flooding in the Tantramar area by restoring salt marshes.
“Are we seeing storms? Are we seeing impacts? Yes. Fiona has just reminded us of that,” he said. “And do we have the ability or the capacity to do something about this? Yes, we do.”
Ollerhead made those comments during a recent talk with the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership, described as a “virtual Institute” open to people interested in the well-being of the bay.
CHMA tuned into the talk to bring you highlights. Ollerhead started by talking about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and how things appear to be changing faster than predicted.
N.B. is changing the way it funds local government — what does it mean for Tantramar?
The provincial government says changes to local government funding will “provide financial stability to local governments and rural districts,” but changes to the law have prompted a backlash.
Bill 120 received Royal Assent on Tuesday, effectively freezing local government funding across the province at its current level of about $76 million for the next five years.
Megan Mitton, the MLA representing Memramcook-Tantramar, said municipal reform will download more responsibility from the province onto local governments without funding them adequately.
“Municipalities want there to be stability, but not stagnation,” Mitton told lawmakers in the provincial capital last week.
Liberal MLAs also criticized the law. Jacques LeBlanc, who represents Shediac-Beaubassin-Cap Pelé, said in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday it will force municipalities to raise taxes.
Opposition members also criticized the government for rushing the legislation through the Legislative Assembly.
Formula changing
The current formula has been in place since 2013, and includes so-called equalization and core funding.
The equalization system, which dates back to 1967, involves the redistribution of tax revenue across the province so that less prosperous communities can still offer a certain level of services.
Under the new system, equalization payments remain in place, but will be adjusted annually by a maximum of three per cent, through a comparison of local and provincial tax base growth. … Continue
From the archives: Bird population decline linked to forest ‘degradation,’ but solutions exist, says N.B. researcher
Listen to Tantramar Report for Monday, August 15, 2022:
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
Friday on TR: New system to report sexual misconduct; municipal reform committee meets; storm wallops N.B.
On today’s Tantramar Report:
Mount Allison University has launched a new way for people to report sexual misconduct, harassment or assault on campus.
The move comes as part of an ongoing effort to respond to decades-long concerns about sexual violence on the Mount A campus.
In November 2020, then-student Michelle Roy posted an image of herself on social media, in graduation attire and holding a sign accusing the school of supporting rapists.
Since then, the university has brought in a third-party organization to respond to and support survivors of sexual violence, commissioned an independent review of its practices, and hired Sexual Violence Prevention and Education Coordinator, Dr. Tasia Alexopolous.
CHMA reporter Erica Butler called up Dr. Alexopolous this week to find out more about REES, and how it might impact sexual violence on campus.
Also on today’s show: Sackville town council’s municipal reform committee held its first ever-meeting this week. Erica Butler was there and brings us some highlights.
Plus more local news and information:
Tantramar Climate Change Week
The 10th annual Tantramar Climate Change Week starts on Saturday with an information booth at the Sackville Farmers’ Market.
A series of free online events organized by Eos Eco-Energy takes place throughout the week, including a climate change virtual trivia night next Friday, Feb. 11. You can find the full schedule online at eosecoenergy.com.
Friday on TR: Amalgamation process begins; NB returns to Level 2; First Nation asks for help finding missing woman
Today’s feature on Tantramar Report:
The province has appointed the facilitator who will oversee the amalgamation of Sackville, Dorchester and surrounding areas.
Chad Peters is currently CEO of a Moncton-based communications firm, and former manager with Southwestern Energy Resources, the company behind controversial fracking exploration in New Brunswick in the early 2010s.
Peters is also a former staffer in the Progressive Conservative legislative office, and ran for the PCs in a provincial by-election in Moncton East in 2007. He had announced his candidacy for mayor of Moncton in January 2020, but did not run in the 2021 election. Peters had his first meeting with Sackville staff and council this week.
CHMA’s Erica Butler called up Sackville Town Councillor Bill Evans, who has been a vocal opponent of amalgamation, to hear about the first meeting.
Also on Tantramar Report:
Missing woman from St. Mary’s First Nation
Saint Mary’s First Nation has asked for support in locating Erin Maureen Brooks.
The 38-year-old woman was last seen on Dec. 27 at St. Mary’s Smoke Shop in Fredericton, according to the Indigenous community.
She’s described as five-foot-two-inches tall and 115 pounds, with multiple tattoos, including the word “Boo” on the left side of her chest.
In 2018, Brooks shared a post on social media as part of a campaign for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, stating that if she ever went missing, “someone took me against my will or worse.… Continue
Tantramar Report: Black Duck to open a specialty grocery store, incoming Mount A students must declare vax status on campus
Locals on Bridge Street have been eying a mysterious new “Quality Grocery” sign hanging next to the Black Duck Café. The storefront, which is also owned by the co-owners of the Black Duck (Sarah Evans and Alan Barbour), has been vacant for years. Barbour and Evans have been working away at the space, with the blinds closed, but Barbour says that Sackvillians can expect a soft opening of a new specialty grocery store any day now. The store, so far unnamed beyond “Black Duck Quality Grocery,” will be stocked with frozen or refrigerated foods from the Black Duck’s kitchen, specialty food products, and local farmers’ unsold produce from Saturday’s market. Barbour also dreams of using any leftover produce in the Black Duck’s kitchen, to prevent food waste.
The Sackville Memorial Hospital is back open as of 8am this morning, but will be closed overnight this Monday, September 6th, due to a lack of available physicians.
Students at Mount Allison University are required to disclose their COVID-19 vaccine status both online through the Connect portal, and in person at a drop-in verification site. Mount Allison passed a mandatory mask and vaccine policy weeks ago, which required all students and staff to get the jab or be required to undergo regular testing and increasing public health measures. Before October 1st, all students need to indicate whether they’ve had two shots or not, which will determine what their everyday classroom experience will look like.… Continue