Tag: Sackville

‘Expect the previously unexpected’: Hurricane Fiona, rising sea levels show need to restore salt marshes for natural protection, says prof

A map shows critical infrastructure in the Sackville-Amherst area. Screengrab: Chignecto Isthmus Climate Change Adaptation Comprehensive Engineering and Feasibility Study, 2022/gnb.ca

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.

… Continue

These are your candidates for the first Tantramar mayor and council

A detail from Elections NB interactive map showing the five wards in the new town of Tantramar in light brown, with the old town of Sackville and village of Dorchester shaded in orange stripes.

Nominations have closed on the first elections for a new town of Tantramar mayor and council.

There are five contests for Tantramar elections, and one ward with no contest. The candidates are as follows:

Mayor, Tantramar

  • Andrew Black (incumbent Sackville deputy mayor)
  • Shawn Mesheau (incumbent Sackville mayor)
  • Bonnie Swift

Ward 1, Dorchester (one seat)

  • Debbie Wiggins-Colwell (incumbent Dorchester mayor)
  • Robert Corkerton (incumbent Dorchester deputy mayor)

Ward 2, West Sackville-Rockport (one seat)

  • Natalie Donaher
  • Barry Hicks
  • Wendy Epworth
  • Kevin J. Scott

Ward 3, Sackville (four seats)

  • Allison Butcher (incumbent Sackville councillor)
  • Alice Cotton
  • Joshua Goguen
  • Virgil Hammock
  • Charles Arden Harvey
  • Sana Mohamad
  • Sahitya Pendurthi
  • Mike Tower (incumbent Sackville councillor)
  • Bruce Phinney (incumbent Sackville councillor)

Ward 4, Upper Sackville-Midgic (one seat)

  • Sabine Dietz (incumbent Sackville councillor)
  • Matt Estabrooks (incumbent Sackville councillor)

Ward 5, Point de Bute (one seat)

  • Greg Martin (incumbent on advisory committee for Point de Bute Local Service District)
Screenshot from unofficial list on the Elections NB website, one hour after nominations officially closed. October 28, 2022.

There are a total of 21 candidates for all positions, including nine women and twelve men. Ten of the candidates are incumbents, already holding seats on council or local service district advisory committees.

CHMA hopes to bring you interviews with all candidates, as well as coverage of the All-Candidates’ Forum being held at the Middle Sackville Baptist Church on November 12, 7pm-9pm.… Continue

UPDATED: More candidates, just one ward with no contest unless more candidates come forward by Friday deadline

Updated at 10am Wednesday, October 26, 2022 to reflect new candidates

New candidates have put their names forward for Tantramar municipal elections to be held on November 28, 2022.  Nominations close on Friday at 2pm.

Barry Hicks and Wendy Epworth have both declared their candidacy for Ward 2, which includes parts of the old town of Sackville such as Frosty Hollow, as well as Westcock, British Settlement and the Rockport peninsula.

A detail from the Elections NB interactive map showing the five wards in the new town of Tantramar in light brown, with the old town of Sackville and village of Dorchester shaded in orange stripes. Shaded brown areas are parts of the new Southeast rural district.

Incumbent Sackville councillor Bruce Phinney has also put his name in the hat for central Sackville, Ward 3.  And on Tuesday, a new candidate, Charles Arden Harvey, entered the race in Ward 3, central Sackville. 

That means the four seats in Ward 3 will be up for competition between at least five candidates. 

Ward 5 Point de Bute is the one remaining ward with no contest. Candidate Greg Martin is in line to win the council seat by acclamation unless other candidates come forward before this Friday at 2pm.  

So far, there are five contests for Tantramar elections:

  • Mayor, Tantramar: Current Sackville mayor Shawn Mesheau and Deputy Mayor Andrew Black compete for the top job.
  • Ward 1, Dorchester: Current Dorchester mayor Debbie Wiggins Colwell is running against her deputy mayor Robert Corkerton.
… Continue

Anti-poverty advocates shine a light on homelessness, lack of services in rural areas

A crowd of approximately 75 people marched through downtown Moncton on Monday, October 17, 2022, to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Photo: David Gordon Koch
Janelle LeBlanc, provincial coordinator of the NB Common Front is pictured in downtown Moncton on October 17, 2022.

On Monday, the New Brunswick Common Front for Social Justice organized a march through downtown Moncton to renew their commitment to the fight against poverty and show solidarity with the poor. 

The event took place in an urban setting, but conditions of poverty also exist in rural and semi-rural areas like Tantramar.

“I live in a rural area,” said Janelle LeBlanc, provincial coordinator of the NB Common Front. “I’ve seen, in the communities around where I live, unhoused people on the street.”

It’s a phenomenon she never witnessed growing up. And it has happened in tandem with massive increases in rent that have affected tenants in cities and the countryside.

Earlier this year, the provincial government implemented a temporary rent cap that expires on Dec. 31, 2022.

Listen to the interview with Janelle LeBlanc, provincial coordinator of the NB Common Front:

Event organizers estimated that about 75 people showed up for the march from Riverfront Park to Saint George’s Anglican Church, which offers social services to homeless people in downtown Moncton. 

The event featured testimonies from people that have struggled with poverty, including a young woman with autism who experienced homelessness.

Senator Nancy Hartling.
… Continue

UPDATED: Here’s what we know so far about the first-ever election in the new Town of Tantramar

This article was updated at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022 to include new information.

Election Day is scheduled for November 28 across the province in communities affected by local governance reform, including the Town of Tantramar.

Also known as Entity 40, the newly-created municipality will mash together Sackville, Dorchester and other nearby communities.

Nominations opened last Saturday, and so far only one candidate for mayor has come forward, according to unofficial records from Elections NB.

Shawn Mesheau, currently mayor of Sackville, is running for the top job in Tantramar.

Detail from the new map for Entity 40, Tantramar. Source: gnb.ca

One eagle-eyed resident spotted Dorchester Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell on the list of mayoral candidates, but her name was later removed.

Josh Goguen, an admin for the Facebook group Sackville NB Community Chatter, posted a screenshot online showing her listed her as a candidate.

Two candidates in Ward 1

Two members of the Village of Dorchester council, including the mayor herself, are vying for a seat. Mayor Wiggins-Colwell and Councillor Robert Corkerton are both running for the Ward 1 council seat, according to an updated list of candidates.

Ward 1 is a large area hemmed by the Memramcook River on the west and a section of Highway 2 in the north. To the south, it includes a chunk of land around Johnson’s Mills Shorebird Interpretive Centre and it extends past Cherry Burton Road to the east. You can check out a detailed ward map here.… Continue

N.B. is changing the way it funds local government — what does it mean for Tantramar?

Reforms to local government funding received Royal Assent on Tuesday, after Minister of Local Government and Local Governance Reform Daniel Allain (right) introduced Bill 120 last week. Allain is pictured in Sackville on Friday, May 6, 2022. Photo: Erica Butler

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