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In today’s local news:
- The Mayor’s roundtable on climate change plans to grow;
- Moncton wants residents to report tenters on city property;
- Wolastaqey nation chiefs renew their call for a public inquiry;
- Nova Scotia premier Stephen McNeil steps down;
- and the Maritimes COVID update.
Two more new cases in New Brunswick
New Brunswick reported two news cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bring the total active cases in the province to six.
Like the four cases reported Wednesday, the two new cases are also temporary foreign workers who arrived in Moncton and began immediately self-isolating.
One of the people diagnosed may have been infectious while travelling into the country.
Individuals who were on either of two flights are being asked to self-monitor for 14 days after the flight for symptoms.
The flights are Air Canada flight 8918 from Toronto to Moncton on July 25th, and Air Canada flight 1232 from Cancun to Toronto on July 24th.
Neither Nova Scotia nor PEI had new cases to report yesterday.
There are now eight active cases in the Maritimes, two in Nova Scotia and six in New Brunswick.
The Mayor’s Roundtable on Climate Change proposes to grow with $125k annual budget
In Sackville, the Mayor’s Roundtable on Climate Change plans to seek an annual budget of $125,000 including money to hire a full-time co-ordinator.
During Monday’s Council meeting, retired wildlife biologist Richard Elliot said the Roundtable has already benefited from the work of a summer student.
But he said it now needs professional help to pursue priority projects such as reviewing existing municipal climate change plans, revising the climate change “lens” it uses to advise the town on its spending, and developing training for new councillors.
“We’d like to hire a dedicated staff person who’s an expert on climate change to enable us to keep on moving in this direction.”
He asked the town to contribute seed money to help the Roundtable raise most of its funds from other sources such as the federal departments of environment and natural resources, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the New Brunswick Environmental Trust Fund.
Elliot, who serves on the Mayor’s Roundtable with about 30 other members, said the group hasn’t come up with a definite figure, but suggested the town’s annual contribution could be about $25,000.
“We’re asking town council to confirm its current commitment to support for the Roundtable. We feel that we’ve demonstrated that our activities are relevant and useful and kind of unique. I don’t think other communities have been able to do what we have in less than a year. And then we’ve identified up to six activities or areas that we think we can demonstrate our commitment together–council, staff and the roundtable–by assigning a small operating budget for next year.”
Aside from advising the town on its capital budget, the Roundtable organized a public forum in February that attracted about 70 participants and has continued promoting a variety of projects including installation of electric vehicle charging stations.
Councillor Bill Evans thanked Elliot and fellow Roundtable presenters Quinn MacAskill and Barb Clayton.
“We’re now being asked to put our money where our mouth is. I think this is our number one priority other than continuing to operate and so, I just want to say thank you and you are receiving a positive response from me.”
Councillor Allison Butcher agreed.
“I’ve always been in support of this and I look forward to Sackville continuing to be a leader in this respect,” she said.
Moncton asks residents to report tenters
The City of Moncton has started a social media campaign asking residents to report people tenting on municipal or private property.
The ad posted on the City’s Facebook page says residents “have a role to play in keeping our community safe and taking care of our neighbours.”
The ad gives an email address — socialissues@moncton.ca — where residents can report people tenting.
The post has had a flood of negative comments from residents saying that reporting people tenting is not a solution to homelessness in Moncton.
One commenter said, “The people with no choice but to turn to tents are also our community, and our neighbours. We should be keeping them safe and taking care of them too, not pushing them into further harm.”
“It’s now a matter of when,” for a public inquiry into systemic racism, say Wolastoqey chiefs
The six chiefs of the Wolastoqey nation in New Brunswick are renewing their call for a public inquiry into systemic racism in the justice and policing systems.
The call came in response to an interview with Aboriginal Affairs Minister Jake Stewart published in Brunswick News, in which he said he disagrees with the Premier and feels that a public inquiry is necessary and should be led from the provincial level.
After the Premier met with Wolastoqey chiefs on July 9th,
he told reporters that systemic racism is a national issue, and that an inquiry should be under federal jurisdiction.
The chiefs statement this week states:
“We have put forth a reasoned framework for an Indigenous-led inquiry. We advanced aggressive timelines and targets. We have done the spade work.
Statement From The Wolastoqey Chiefs: Stepping Up For Justice, August 5, 2020
Unfortunately, the Higgs’ government position against an inquiry remains stubbornly the same.”
But the chiefs’ statement has a glimmer of hope. They say that the dissenting opinion from Minister Stewart, “represents a turning point” in the campaign to end systemic racism in New Brunswick.
The statement goes on:
“The mere fact the premier’s own point person on the file disagrees with him gives us hope that change is coming. It is now a matter of when.”
Statement From The Wolastoqey Chiefs: Stepping Up For Justice, August 5, 2020
Nova Scotia premier steps down
Nova Scotia’s premier, Stephen McNeil, announced yesterday he would be “stepping down and leaving public office.”
McNeil says he is leaving after 17 years in politics in part because it is not a lifelong career.
He had planned to make the announcement in the spring before the pandemic hit.
He will stay on working as Premier until a new Liberal leader is chosen, which could take months.
Other provincial leaders have chimed in with well wishes for McNeil, including New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs.
Higgs said in a statement that McNeil had “demonstrated admirable leadership, particularly during difficult times such as following the tragic shooting that took place in Nova Scotia in April.”
That’s it for the CHMA local news. Special thanks for Bruce Wark for his contributions.
Tune in to CHMA every weekday for local news and voices at 9am, noon and 4 pm.
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