Relations between First Nations and Higgs government ‘extremely poor’ as Mi’kmaq chiefs withdraw from commission
Listen to Tantramar Report for Wednesday, June 22, 2022:
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‘You can never afford to buy them’: EVs out of reach for struggling taxi businesses
The owners of Sackville’s two taxi businesses say they’re struggling with the high price of gas, but electric vehicles remain out of reach financially.
“This is not Irving Oil that makes a million dollars a day,” says Larry Parsons, owner of Sackville Cab. “You make enough to have a car that’s fit for the road.”
His company has a fleet of four Mazda5 compact minivans. The four-cylinder engine vehicles seat six people, and he says they’re dependable. One of those vehicles isn’t being used at all as demand has dropped for taxis.
Danny Mitton, owner of Squires Courtesy Cab, is the sole driver for his small business.
His fleet includes two Toyota Priuses. He keeps one of the hybrid vehicles on standby, filled with gas.
He says gas and insurance prices are killing his business, but he isn’t convinced EVs are a viable solution, at least for now..
For one thing, he says they’re too expensive even with a rebate program introduced by the provincial government last year.
New Brunswick followed other provinces in introducing a rebate of up to $5,000 for eligible vehicles, to match a federal rebate, for a total of up to $10,000 in rebates.
CHMA asked the provincial government whether those efforts should go further to protect people from runaway energy costs.
In an email, government spokesperson Nick Brown said: “We understand the impact that rising energy costs have had across New Brunswick and will continue to look for ways to help mitigate these rising costs.… Continue
‘You’re not making it’: Local cab companies feel the pinch of high fuel costs
Listen to Tantramar Report for Thursday, June 16, 2022:
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Tap into your mind and tune out of the world.
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Urban/Rural Rides aims to buy hybrid vans with wheelchair ramps to help ‘isolated’ rural residents
A volunteer-driven transport organization that serves southeast New Brunswick hopes to purchase a fleet of wheelchair-accessible hybrid minivans.
“Our service is designed to improve the quality of life for people with little or no access to transportation,” said Kelly Taylor, executive director of Urban/Rural Rides NB, during a recent presentation at Sackville town council.
Urban/Rural Rides NB is a charitable organization that offers transportation services for “a fraction of the cost of a taxi.”
It started off in 2014 in Salisbury and Petitcodiac, when it was known simply as Rural Rides.
It has grown in size to include the Tantramar region since 2017, and throughout Westmoreland and Albert counties since 2018.
In Sackville, the group completed 210 rides last year, Taylor told town councillors.
This year, its services expanded to officially include communities in the Fredericton area.
Its clients include seniors, people with moderate disabilities, low-income people and newcomers. But the group doesn’t have the ability to transport people in wheelchairs.
Now, they hope to buy more than a dozen vans retrofitted with wheelchair ramps, with financial assistance from Ottawa.
The goal is to have one vehicle each of the 13 “entities” in southeast New Brunswick that will be created as part of local governance reforms that are currently underway.… Continue
‘There is a complete absence of accessible transportation’: Volunteer-driven group hopes to buy vans with wheelchair ramps
Listen to Tantramar Report for Tuesday, June 7, 2022:
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Historian tells the story of the Tantramar River dam, and the organization that built it
Listen to Tantramar Report for Thursday, June 2, 2022:
UPDATE: Car abandoned in Bay of Fundy was stolen the previous night: RCMP
This story was updated on June 1, 2022, to include information from the Sackville RCMP.
An abandoned car found in the Bay of Fundy had been stolen the previous night, according to police.
The Hyundai Elantra was found partially submerged near Rockport, about 25 minutes south of Sackville, on Friday, May 27.
“This vehicle was stolen from Dieppe the night before,” Cpl. Brian Villers of the Sackville RCMP said in an email on June 1. The soaked sedan was reported by a Lower Rockport resident.
“It had been submerged at least to the windows at high tide and hence there was nothing for our Identification Section to examine,” he said. The vehicle was towed from the scene.
Sackville Fire and Rescue were also dispatched to the scene, according to Deputy Chief Mike Green. In an email, he said “the tide was going out and the car was on the mudflat.”
The person who called emergency services about the vehicle had already waded out to the car, and found that nobody was inside.
Green added that when the RCMP showed up, the Mounties checked the plate and told firefighters they were no longer needed at the scene.… Continue
Entity 40 likely to be named Tantramar or Beauséjour, despite last minute information from minister
The committee of elected officials that will recommend the future name of Entity 40 will meet Wednesday to discuss the results of their informal survey on two proposed names: Beauséjour Township and Tantramar Township. Their final recommendation is due to the province by Monday, May 16, but some councillors are wondering if that deadline is more flexible than it appears.
At Monday’s council meeting, Councillor Michael Tower brought up a new piece of information imparted by Local Government Minister Daniel Allain at a closed meeting with public officials on Friday.
Tower said Allain, “was alluding to the fact that we didn’t have to get into the voting of those two, that we could actually call it either Dorchester-Sackville, Sackville-Dorchester, and let the new council decide.” Tower said that would allow more time for the decision, and also “let the new council approach the citizens for a vote.”
Recently another amalgamated entity—Entity 51—announced its new name, chosen by a vote conducted by its municipal staff. The Town of Grand Bay-Westfield is merging with a portion of a neighbouring local service district named Westfield West, and residents chose to stick with the status quo, naming the new entity Grand Bay-Westfield.
The name of Sackville was considered by a sub-committee looking at potential names, but was struck off the list because provincial guidelines required that no names of persons be used to name the new entities. (Sackville is named for Lord George Sackville, a British politician with “friends in high places”, according to the Tantramar Heritage Trust.… Continue
Local governance reform minister Daniel Allain to meet privately with elected officials in Sackville Friday
Local government minister Daniel Allain is coming to Sackville town hall this Friday to meet with councillors and representatives from Sackville, Dorchester and surrounding areas, but the meeting will be closed to the public.
News of the private meeting with Allain was shared Monday night at Sackville town council’s monthly discussion meeting, after Councillor Bill Evans prompted Mayor Shawn Mesheau to mention it. The mayor had just finished his update on municipal reform without mentioning the meeting with the minister, when Evans chimed in to ask if he planned to mention it.
“Minister Allain’s office has reached out and has requested a meeting with members of council, members of Dorchester council and the other members who participate on the elected officials Advisory Committee,” replied Mesheau. “It won’t be a public meeting. It’ll be a private meeting with ministers.”
Secrecy has been a hallmark of the amalgamation process so far. Though the appointed facilitator for the process, Chad Peters, is authorized with creating a new budget and employment structure for the new Entity 40, he is not authorized to speak with media. And ever since the forced amalgamation was announced, neither Allain nor Peters has held a meeting open to citizens of the future Entity 40.
That doesn’t sit right with some town councillors.
Councillor Sabine Dietz told council on Monday that she would sit out the meeting in protest.… Continue