Former football Mounties Lucas Cormier and Reece Martin in training following CFL draft
Two athletes from Mount Allison University are in training after being drafted into the Canadian Football League.
The 22-year-old athletes join the league through the Mounties football program.
Sackville-born defensive back Lucas Cormier was drafted in the second round by the Ottawa Redblacks, as the 10th overall pick.
Reece Martin, a defensive lineman, was chosen by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the fourth round as the 31st pick overall.
CHMA reached out to both players and spoke to Cormier this weekend, between practices in Ottawa. Cormier said he always aspired to join the CFL, and he believes the Grey Cup is within sight this year.
Listen to the interview from CHMA:
Protest expected as Mount Allison goes ahead with plans to honour ambassador
Activists plan to hold a protest on Monday as Deborah Lyons, Canada’s former ambassador to Israel and Afghanistan, receives an honorary degree during convocation ceremonies.
A peaceful demonstration will take place outside of Convocation Hall, while inside the building, “students and faculty will also be making their opposition known,” according to an update from Lara Khattab and Krista Johnston.
The two Mount Allison professors launched an online petition last month demanding that Mount Allison rescind the honorary degree.
CHMA’s interview with Lara Khattab and Krista Johnston:
The petition states that, as ambassador, Lyon helped whitewash human rights violations by the State of Israel.
It also criticizes her for cooperating with the Taliban when she represented the United Nations in Afghanistan. The petition had gathered 1,181 names by Sunday afternoon.
University to abide by decision
A spokesperson for Mount Allison confirmed this week that the university is following-through with a decision by its Senate to honour the career diplomat.
The Senate selects recipients from a list recommended by its Honorary Degrees Committee, according to acting media relations officer Renée Belliveau.
That committee “consists of representatives of Senate, students, and Board of Regents,” according to the university website.
“Deborah Lyons was nominated in 2020, and her nomination received the support of a majority of Senators, as required under the procedures,” Belliveau said in an email. … Continue
Tenants’ voices, rural focus missing from housing summit: critics
A housing summit organized by the Higgs government — in partnership with an association representing realtors — took place in Saint John this week, attracting protesters who believe the provincial housing strategy is bound to fail if it doesn’t include a rent cap.
Critics say the event, which took place on Tuesday in Saint John, was heavily weighted towards business interests, leaving tenants’ rights advocates feeling steamrolled.
Listen to the report from CHMA:
“I found out when we got there that it was actually the New Brunswick Real Estate Association that co-hosted this summit,” Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton said in an interview with CHMA.
“Real estate and developers are part of the conversation when we talk about housing. But for those voices to be there, but then not other voices, is extremely problematic, especially because… what’s at stake is people’s lives, and people’s housing. And there are literally people who are dying outdoors.”
She said the event was also marked by a lack of focus on rural homelessness.
“Sometimes the issues around being unhoused can be more hidden in rural areas,” she said. “And sometimes people end up moving to urban areas because they don’t have services in rural areas. So it’s all connected.”
The Government of New Brunswick says it’s using information from the summit to create a housing strategy that’s expected to be released in June, just a few weeks from now. … Continue
Workers fed-up with declining standards of living, says labour leader; former Ambassador to Israel shouldn’t receive honorary degree: petition
Listen to Tantramar Report for Monday, May 1, 2023:
This edition of the show was updated at approximately 11:20 a.m. on Monday, May 1, 2023, to include up-to-date information about a tentative agreement between the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the federal government. … Continue
Fake profiles, con artists and blackmail: Online scams proliferate in troubled times, says prof
A Sackville resident’s Facebook profile was recently duplicated, or spoofed, in an apparent failed attempt at a confidence scam.
The social media platform soon removed the fake account, after users reported the case of identity theft to Facebook.
But it’s just one of the online scams that proliferate during troubled times, according to an expert in identity theft and fraud.
“So often they’re playing on people’s emotions in their darkest hours,” said William Kresse, a professor at the Governors State University near Chicago, Ill.
Listen to the report from CHMA:
CHMA News has agreed not to disclose the identity of the man whose identity was fraudulently duplicated in the attempted scam.
The fake account appeared to be an exact double of the original, using his name, profile picture and banner photo: a picture of his grandchildren.
The spoofed account attempted to add at least some of the man’s contacts as friends. This reporter was among those who received a friend request. The spoofed account then initiated a chat using Facebook Messenger.
‘Gradient community outreach’
It started out with small talk, but the conversation quickly took a strange turn when the scamster asked about something called the “gradient community outreach support program.”
This kind of scam is well-documented online.
Typically the fake account claims that the intended victim is eligible for a large financial assistance grant worth tens of thousands of dollars, but they have to pay a fee. … Continue
Food insecurity among children ‘an ongoing concern,’ says school district; Provincial, federal initiatives to address hunger in schools too slow, says MLA
The provincial and federal governments have said that they want to make sure kids are getting the nutrition they need during the school day.
But progress is happening too slowly, according to Megan Mitton, the MLA representing Memramcook-Tantramar.
“This is a constant issue that I’ve seen whenever I’ve visited or spoken to teachers,” the Green Party MLA said in an interview on Tuesday.
Listen to the report from CHMA:
“It’s frustrating for things to move so slowly, because what we’re talking about here is about making sure children have eaten.”
The question of school food programs came up Tuesday during a legislative committee meeting in Fredericton, at a time when inflation has put additional pressure on household food budgets.
During a testy exchange with Mitton, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Bill Hogan said the government’s goal is to have a food program in every school. “We know children that are hungry cannot learn,” Hogan said.
He indicated that approximately 245 of New Brunswick’s schools have some kind of food program, but that another 50 do not.
There are breakfast programs at “pretty well” all of those 245 schools, with lunch or take-home food at some, depending on what kinds of community partnerships those schools have developed.
He said the provincial government is currently working with the other 50 schools to “make sure that they have a food program.” … Continue
Upgrade dikes ‘as quickly as feasible’ before major flood hits Chignecto Isthmus, Amherst mayor tells provincial governments
This article was updated at approximately 9 p.m. on April 14, 2023, to include a comment from the Government of Nova Scotia.
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia say they’re negotiating with Ottawa over the financing of a multi-million dollar infrastructure project that would protect the Chignecto Isthmus from flooding.
The Chignecto Isthmus is the narrow strip of land that connects the two provinces.
Upgrades could cost up to $300 million, according to a study published last year. The feds have offered to pay half that amount, but both provinces say talks are still ongoing about how the project should be financed.
And New Brunswick’s Minister of Infrastructure Jeff Carr reportedly stated last week the $150 million offer isn’t enough.
Mayor David Kogon of Amherst, N.S., says the provinces should quit haggling and speed up the process before it’s too late. Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black has also called for the provincial government to take swifter action.
Listen to the report from CHMA:
The dikes were built in the 1600s by Acadian settlers to hold back floodwater from the Bay of Fundy. Officials from both provinces say the current height of the dikes is no longer sufficient because of the effects of climate change.
CHMA spoke to the Mayor of Amherst this week after he met with the Daniel Allain, New Brunswick’s Minister of Local Government. … Continue
Fundraising continues for people affected by devastating fire in downtown Sackville
Fundraising is ongoing to support people affected by a devastating fire in downtown Sackville.
The blaze destroyed Joey’s Restaurant and the apartments of four students and a university staff member that were located upstairs. No injuries were reported.
The fire began on Friday morning. Local roads were closed as firefighters fought the blaze, using water brought in water from Silver Lake in addition to municipal fire hydrants.
A newly-purchased excavator from local contractor Beal & Inch Construction was brought in to tear down the building to keep the fire from spreading.
Mount Allison said in a Facebook post that university officials were in contact with the people whose apartments were destroyed and would provide them with short-term accommodations and other necessities. The university also offered counselling on Saturday.
The university also said that about 20 students living in the area were affected.
They left their homes due to the smoke and it was unclear when they would be able to return home. The university said it was in contact with many of those students and would stay in touch to determine how it could support them.
The university set up an intake centre in the basement of the university chapel to accept donations from the community such as clothing, personal hygiene items and gift cards. … Continue
Environmental group maps herbicide use in N.B. forests, tells province to stop spraying protected watersheds
An environmental group has launched two online maps showing areas of forest that have been sprayed with herbicide or approved for herbicide treatment, including some sections of protected watersheds.
Sackville’s drinking water supply wasn’t directly targeted for herbicide spraying, at least last year, but the provincial government approved herbicide spraying by forestry giant J.D. Irving Limited on land a few kilometres north of that area, according to one map.
A volunteer from Stop Spraying New Brunswick pieced together the maps using publicly-available data from the provincial government. The group says the government should do a better job of making the information available, and the responsibility shouldn’t fall on the shoulders of a volunteer-run organization.
“If protected areas are being sprayed, I think the public has a right to know,” said Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy, the group’s chair. CHMA has reached out to the Department of Environment and Climate Change for comment.
Listen to the interview with Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy:
One of the maps shows areas of Crown land that have been treated with herbicide from 1969 up to the present date. Private land isn’t included because that data simply isn’t available, according to Lubbe-D’Arcy.
A second map shows areas of land where the government approved spray licenses during the 2022 spray season for both public and private forests. … Continue
Online ‘toolkit’ to help communities facing coastal erosion and flooding
A Sackville-based organization has launched a new Internet-based “toolkit” to help people in Atlantic Canada to adapt as the climate crisis results in increasingly erratic weather and rising sea levels.
CLIMAtlantic, a regional hub that provides information to help people deal with the effects of climate change, started operations in 2021 with funding from the federal government.
On Tuesday, the group launched the Coastal Adaptation Toolkit, which is mean to “help Atlantic rural coastal communities and property owners plan for the effects of climate change.”
Users respond to a series of questions about conditions at a specific site, such as as natural or human-made features that may offer some protection from flooding.
The system also queries users about policies that are in place locally, such as an emergency management plan.
The answers to those questions result in an automatically-generated report with a detailed list of possible measures to address the risk of flooding and coastal erosion.
It’s not a substitute for professional advice, but can serve as a first step for people facing extreme weather events like Hurricane Fiona, which hit Atlantic Canada last September.
“This is for educational purposes and information purposes,” said Sabine Dietz, executive director of CLIMAtlantic, in an interview with CHMA.
During the online launch, CLIMAtlantic also screened a new 12-minute documentary highlighting adaptation actions in the region.… Continue