Sackville prepares for Fiona
Hurricane Fiona has prompted a wave of cancellations and postponements as people prepare for high winds and heavy rain starting late Friday night and continuing through Saturday.
CHMA called up town of Sackville special projects manager Kieran Miller to find out what advice and information the town has to share:
Miller recommends people, “secure any loose objects on your property, clean up any downspouts and make sure that you have a 72 hour emergency preparedness kit on hand.”
She also recommends people sign up for the town’s new alert system, Voyent Alert.
“We hope never to have to use our emergency alert system, says Miller, “but we recommend all residents sign up.” Voyent Alert allows people to chose between alerts delivered via phone call, email, text, or through a smartphone app.
Sackville is prone to freshwater flooding, especially when high tides prevent freshwater from draining through existing aboiteaux into the tidal Tantramar River. High tides at about 11:15pm Friday night and 11:40am Saturday could be critical times for flooding risk, depending on when the heaviest rainfall arrives.
Miller says the town’s public works staff are, “in a state of readiness. They’re getting everything ready to go should they need to take action.”
In case of an extended power outage, the Tantramar Veteran’s Memorial Civic Centre on Main Street is equipped with a generator and could be put into use as a warming centre or emergency centre.… Continue
Gifted harpsichord makes its Mount Allison debut at the Sackville Festival of Early Music this weekend
Typically, every year when the Sackville Festival of Early Music rolls around, co-director Shawn Bostick drives to Halifax to pick up a harpsichord, hauling it back to Sackville for the festival, which specializes in music of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. But this year, that won’t be necessary.
Thanks to a gift from a longstanding patron of the festival, the Mount Allison music department now boasts its own harpsichord.
Joanna Manning has been coming to the Sackville Festival of Early Music for years, and last year she approached artistic director Linda Pearse to see if there was a concrete way she could support the festival, in thanks for all the concerts she had enjoyed with her late husband, Gary.
After some discussion, the two arrived at the idea of donating a harpsichord, and homing it with the Mount Allison Music Department, where Pearse is assistant professor. “Given our mutual dedication to teaching,” says Pearse, “it seems like the music department would be the best place to receive the harpsichord because they can take care of it, they have students who will benefit from playing it, and we have people coming through town and even faculty on staff who can also play it.”
‘There’s still so much that we’re not doing’: Divest MTA leads climate protest Friday
This Friday, the students of Divest MTA will lead the Mount Allison community in another Fridays for Future global climate strike protest. Divest MTA is a long standing collective movement that is demanding Mount Allison divest its endowment funds from fossil fuels companies. But Friday’s protest has a broader call, says Divest member Kate DesRoches.
“It’s definitely part of a bigger movement that pushes for comprehensive climate action,” says DesRoches. “Our main ask is still divestment, but the Fridays for Future strikes are part of a global movement that is pushing for climate action in general.”
Divest MTA is starting the academic year on the heels of some successes from last year.
“We have a lot of momentum right now, despite the pandemic,” says DesRoches. “This past year, we’ve received a lot of support from the Mount A community. Even the university president has publicly supported us.”
One feather in the cap of the Divest MtA collective was a university talk featuring David Suzuki in November 2021, when the long-time environmentalist lambasted the University for its continued refusal to divest from fossil fuels.
“I think it’s disgraceful that after seven years Mount Allison hasn’t divested,” said Suzuki.… Continue
Recalling the Queen in Sackville: ‘I think she thought I was pretty cute’
Erin Campbell was only six when she met Queen Elizabeth II, but she remembers it like it was yesterday. It helps that the event was a true family affair.
Back in 1984, the Queen toured New Brunswick to help celebrate the province’s 200th anniversary as a province. Sackville was chosen as a stop, and plans were underway for an event at Mount Allison’s MacAuley field.
Campbell’s father, Bill Campbell, was mayor at the time and the Queen’s organizers asked for a 6-year-old girl to present flowers to her majesty at the ceremony. “I happened to be six, and so I got the job,” recalls Campbell.
Campbell’s grandfather, a British WWII veteran, served as her escort, as Mayor Campbell and Erin’s mother Barbara were on stage with the Queen and gathered dignitaries. Campbell recalls her medaled grandfather “was quite proud to be waiting for me at the bottom of the steps.”
There were preparations before the big day. “I remember having to go to Convocation Hall to practice how to curtsy,” recalls Campbell. “I had to go practice walking the stage many times in shoes that I didn’t want to wear,” she says, “to practice how to curtsy and how to properly present myself.”
Updated: Government holiday for Queen’s funeral Monday, Mt A to remain open
NOTE: This story was update Wednesday, September 14, 2022 with further information from Mount Allison University.
The government of New Brunswick is joining the federal government in declaring a holiday for Monday, September 19, 2022.
The day is being called a National Day of Mourning in honour of the death of Queen Elizabeth last week. A government news release Tuesday afternoon says the holiday will, “honour the Queen and pay respect to her life of service to Canada and to the Commonwealth of Nations on the day of her funeral.”
Government offices and schools in New Brunswick will be closed for the day, but the provincial government did not extend the holiday across the board, leaving all other organizations and private companies to decide whether or not they remain open.
Unless specified under their contracts, workers will not be eligible for statutory holiday pay.
The holiday is a one-time event, not for annual recognition.
Mount Allison to remain open
Mount Allison will remain open on Monday, September 19, during a national day of mourning for Queen Elizabeth called by the provincial and federal governments.
University president Jean Paul Boudreau said in an email Wednesday that after “leadership discussions” on Tuesday, the school has decided to remain open, and classes and all other activities will continue as scheduled.… Continue
Councillors discuss whether or not they intended to suspend Phinney’s health benefits
There was some disagreement at Sackville Town Council on Monday as to whether the suspension of the health benefits of a councillor who was found to be in violation of town council’s code of conduct was properly approved.
Local journalist Bruce Wark reported last week on Councillor Bruce Phinney’s surprise at discovering the suspension of his health plan while visiting a pharmacy to fill some prescriptions.
During question period on Monday, Wark asked council about the specifics of the motion to suspend Phinney’s pay, and why the motion read aloud on July 12 differed from the motion as printed in the approved minutes from the same meeting.
CAO Jamie Burke told Wark that the suspension of Phinney’s benefits, though not specifically mentioned, was implied in the phrasing of the motion that was read.
“The commonly understood legal definition of remuneration income moods includes benefits,” said Burke. “So what’s happened, I guess, is that we’ve got a little error in the minutes that were approved, although the meaning of the motion doesn’t change.”
Councillor Michael Tower read Phinney’s suspension motion on July 12, and on Monday said he would not have done so had he known that the councillor’s health benefits were included.
“The benefits were mentioned during our discussion, and I didn’t agree with that part of it,” said Tower.… Continue
Film Society opens another fall season Thursday with a Leonard Cohen biopic, ‘Hallelujah’
The story of a one-inch tall shell named Marcel. Documentaries exploring the musical lives of Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, and the little-known women of electronic music. An animated feature inspired by the life of German-Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon, and a fiery love story told through archival footage shot by late volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft. Plus feature films telling stories of inter-dimensional ruptures, three thousand year old genies, and the fate of a factory in a small Spanish town (starring the likes of Idris Elba, Tilda Swinton, Michelle Yeoh, and Javier Bardem.)
It’s all packed into the new fall season of the Sackville Film Society, opening this Thursday at the Vogue Cinema in downtown Sackville.
The Sackville Film Society has been a stalwart of the local cultural scene for decades, even continuing to offer programming through difficult early pandemic years. CHMA called up director Thaddeus Holownia to ask what’s new:
After two years operating on a seasons pass system, the Society will be opening its box office for individual ticket sales, in addition to offering full season and six-pack passes.
“We’re cautiously going to reopen the box office, under guidance from people in the community saying that there are people who can’t afford a six pack” says Holownia. “And I’m sensitive to that.”
Holownia is still hoping for strong year in full membership sales, to put the Society on a solid footing.… Continue
Health care update: doctors needed for Sackville ED, acute care back in the fall, Coon calls for change
There are almost enough nurses hired to fill positions at the Sackville Memorial Hospital emergency department (ED), but the hospital has less than half the doctors it needs.
According to information released recently by Horizon Health Network, nine out of ten registered nurse (RN) positions in the Sackville ED are filled, but only three out of seven physician positions are filled.
The two most recent closures of the Sackville ED were due to a shortage of doctors available to work. At least two doctors stopped working in the department after a recent change by Horizon, which lifted a rule requiring them to work ED shifts in order to maintain a practice in Sackville. The change was meant to help make recruitment of new doctors to the Sackville area easier, since not all family doctors want to work in emergency.
Nurse practitioners and the return of acute care?
In his monthly report to council, Mayor Shawn Mesheau says that interim Horizon CEO Margaret Melanson recently re-affirmed the committment to return 24/7 service to the Sackville hospital ED.
Mesheau and other local mayors met with Melanson and newly appointed trustee Suzanne Johnston in August. Mesheau reported that nurse practitioners are now working alongside doctors in the Sackville ED to help cover primary care related needs. His report also says that several acute care beds are expected to be opening in the Brunswick Unit of Sackville hospital in October.… Continue
Shine Day 2022 is here: students hit the streets Saturday to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis research
On Saturday Mount Allison students will take to the streets in the annual Shine Day event, to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis research and support. This year’s chair of Shinerama, Sajid Bin Afaz, says the day will start early for students with a breakfast at Jennings Hall complete with a surprise guest speaker there to speak about their experience with Cystic Fibrosis.
“After that we split ourselves in different sites in Sackville,” says Bin Afaz. There will be some games at Bill Johnstone park, and a car wash beside the McDonald’s on Main Street, says Bin Afaz. “There will be volunteers and students all around Sackville with posters, with donation boxes, Bluetooth speakers playing some music, and asking for donations,” he says.
Depending on how many students end up joining Shine Day, there could be a mini-parade in the works, says Bin Afaz. “And we are ending the day with a pretty awesome party at Ducky’s,” he says.
Shinerama fundraising will continue into the fall, with the annual Garden Party happening later this month, and collaborations in the works with other clubs and societies at the school. “We also have collaborations with small businesses like House of Tarka and the Sip,” says Bin Afaz. Plans are also afoot for game nights during the football and cricket World Cups which are slated for this fall.… Continue
Investors target more apartment buildings; Mt A warns about the Red Zone; and sounds from Sackville’s End of Summer bbq
Listen to Tantramar Report for Friday, September 2, 2022: