On today’s show, we revisit a trip to the Tantramar Wetlands Centre last month to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the nature education centre with its own wetland behind the Tantramar Regional High School. Plus in briefs: Google agrees to help fund Canadian news, Dorchester gets a (temporary) traffic light, and Anglophone East School District moves to take the province to court over Policy 713. … Continue
Three actors portray dozens of characters in The Drowning Girls. (Rear to front): Emma Etheridge, Maya Noëlle, and Phoebe Rex. Photo credit: Galen Juliusson. Costume and set design: Ian McFarlane.
“We’re really excited about this transformation at the theater,” says director Valmai Goggin about the latest production out of the Mount Allison drama department, The Drowning Girls, which opened Wednesday night in the Mother-Fancy Theatre in Sackville. “The Drowning Girls is a play that takes place, mostly, in three bathtubs full of water. And the water really is central to the story,” says Goggin.
The Drowning Girls was written by three Canadians, Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson, and Daniela Vlaskalic, and tells the true story of three women who were married to, and murdered by, the same man, George Joseph Smith, in the early 1900s.
“There is definitely a dark and gothic undertone to the show,” says Goggin. “But it’s actually a show that is surprisingly full of light and joy. And what happens to these women in the show is that while they were strangers to each other in real life, the play puts them on stage together, and allows them to create this really incredible sisterhood.”
A cast of three student actors play the three main characters and dozens of others over the course of the show, says Goggin. Another eight to ten students are working backstage, making the magic happen. “They’ve learned more about plumbing than they probably had previously,” says Goggin with a laugh.… Continue
On today’s show, we talk with Mount Allison drama instructor Valmai Goggin, who is directing the latest production out of the department, The Drowning Girls. The technically challenging, true crime play opened Wednesday and continues to Saturday night at the Motyer-Fancy Theatre. Plus in briefs: the RCMP release a bit more information about their operation on Pond Shore Road last week, and Tantramar’s winter parking ban goes into effect overnight tonight.… Continue
Image distributed by the RCMP featuring seized materials for Sackville residence on November 22, 2023.
The RCMP have yet to lay charges after a series of arrests stemming from a police operation at a home on Pond Shore Road on November 22nd.
The 6am police raid by the RCMP Emergency Response Team blew out the windows of the home at 106 Pond Shore Road, and resulted in seven arrests, according to a previous police statement.
In a news release Wednesday afternoon, about one week after the incident, the RCMP say they were executing a search warrant in connection with a drug trafficking investigation that began on November 15. The statement goes on:
“During the search, police seized, significant quantities of what is believed to be cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, methamphetamine pills, hydromorphone pills, and a large amount of money. Police also seized nine unsafely stored firearms including a prohibited rifle and a restricted handgun. Nearly 55,000 contraband cigarettes, and drug trafficking paraphernalia were also seized.”
Wednesday’s release says just three men were arrested at the scene on November 22. A 39-year-old Sackville man was remanded into custody on outstanding warrants, and is scheduled to appear in court on December 28. The other two men, a 37-year-old from Sackville and a 40-year-old from Nova Scotia, were later released from custody.
The investigation was led by the RCMP’s Provincial Crime Reduction Unit, which focusses on “disrupting and dismantling the trafficking of illegal drugs”.… Continue
Active Living director Matt Pryde at a Tantramar council committee of the whole meeting on November 27, 2023. Image: Youtube screencap
Since October, avid ice skaters have been able to dust off their blades on the rink at the Tantramar Civic Centre (with free skates most weekdays from noon to 1pm, and most Sunday afternoons), but once the deeper cold sets in, the opportunities will multiply as the region’s lakes, ponds and wetlands freeze over. Over in Dorchester, there’s an additional venue for the winter sport: a regulation-sized outdoor rink off School Street, beside the Dorchester Consolidated School. And this year, the rink will see some upgrades.
At a special meeting Tuesday, council approved a $55,000 contract with Fundy Environmental and Fabrication Services from just down the road in Middleton, to improve the surface area of the rink in advance of flooding it.
“Right now, it’s basically a muck surface,” Active Living director Matt Pryde told council at a meeting Monday. “It’s very difficult to make ice on it, let alone keep the ice throughout the winter. So step one to improve this facility is to basically dig that all up and level it out and with proper gravel and and tailings.”
Pryde told council the work would be one more step towards a future project that could include a concrete pad and ice plant for the outdoor rink. “With the climate the way it is right now, we thought it made the most sense to plan for the future,” said Pryde.… Continue
On today’s show, we listen in as consultants present the final Tantramar brand and logo design to Tantramar council, and talk to Corporate Services director Kieran Miller about the next steps for the new design. Plus in briefs, CUPE and the town of Tantramar have come to a new collective agreement, and a new charitable program at Mount A doles out on-campus food credits to students in need.
CHMA’s 2023 listener survey is live! Share your thoughts with us, and get a chance to win a $50 gift card for a local business. Fill out the form here.… Continue
The new Charles Street Retention Pond, in late October, 2023. Photo: Erica Butler
If all goes well, the final phase of the Lorne Street Stormwater Mitigation project will be finished in December, according to town engineer Jon Eppell. But there’s still a question mark around an upgraded aboiteau to connect the system to the Tantramar River.
The aboiteau is provincially owned, and the price tag for the replacement has come in about $3 million, above the $2.4 million that the province has committed to the project back in May. And so Eppell says he is now waiting to hear back on whether the province will top up their funding.
Council got an update on the project at their monthly Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday. Eppell told council that the project could still be on schedule, and he hoped to have more to report at council next regular meeting on December 12. “If DTI [the department of transportation and infrastructure] gets the information to us so that we’re in a position to award at the December 12 meeting, we will still be on schedule,” said Eppell.
If the funding goes through, staff are recommending awarding the contract to Caldwell and Ross, who had the lowest bid on the project, at $2,855,750, well below the three other bids which all topped $4.5 million. With contracted engineering services added in, the cost to the province would total $3,041,750.
The project was designed and intended to be done over the winter, Eppell told council.… Continue
On today’s show, we get the update on Sackville’s stormwater control project, including the increase in provincial funding needed to complete the project with a new aboiteau to drain into the Tantramar River. Plus we recap some of the stories from Monday’s Tantramar council committee of the whole meeting, including re-appointments to Tantramar’s climate advisory committee, plans to improve the outdoor skating rink in Dorchester, and an update from the Sackville RCMP on impending charges related to arrests last week on Pond Shore Road. … Continue
Dr. Craig Brett is an economics professor at Mount Allison University in Sackville. Image: mta.ca
This month, in advance of the next Conference of Parties meeting on climate change (COP28) which starts Thursday, the United Nations Environment Programme released its 2023 Emissions Gap Report, outlining still increasing global emissions and record breaking warming, and calling on all countries to take on rapid mitigation measures to lower and eliminate carbon emissions.
According to the report, this past September was the hottest recorded month ever, with global average temperatures 1.8°C above pre-industrial levels. And in the first nine months of 2023, there 86 days with temperatures over 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
The week before the stark report, the Angus Reid Institute released results of its latest survey showing how Canadians feel about one of the federal government’s key mitigation measures, the carbon tax. The economic tool has become a flashpoint for right-left politics in Canada and New Brunswick, and according to polling done by the Angus Reid Institute, 42% of Canadians would like to see the tax abolished. But, Angus Reid also found misconceptions about the tax were common.
In light of the increasing debate and confusion, CHMA called up local economics professor Craig Brett to take us back to basics on the carbon tax. Brett gives us a lesson in how the carbon tax works, what it’s meant to achieve, and the role it does or doesn’t play in the affordability crisis.… Continue
Sackville’s Christmas Tree lit up in Bill Johnstone Park for Moonlight Madness, November 17, 2023. Image: Town of Sackville on Facebook
As the days grow colder, the region’s charitable organizations are gearing up for another season of supporting area residents facing economic challenges as well as outright poverty. Sackville’s Christmas Cheer program and Port Elgin’s Christmas Box campaign collectively help hundreds in the region celebrate the holidays.
PEDVAC Foundation director Jodi MacRae says the organization’s annual Christmas Box campaign provides families with “three days worth of food along with all the food required for a traditional Christmas meal, including a turkey or ham. We also provide all gifts for all members of the family right up to and including the pets.” The program is made possible through donations of money, toys and food from community members and local businesses.
Hear Jodi MacRae on Tantramar Report:
This year, McCrae says she expects 75 families to take part in the program. “It is a big number,” says McCrea. “And I know that each year it has grown.” Five or more years ago there were about 40 families making use of the support, she says. “So it has almost doubled. And we’re certainly seeing new families or an increase in use on a monthly basis.”
In addition to the Christmas Box program, the PEDVAC foundation also runs a food bank, a range of social programs, and a second hand boutique.
In the Sackville area families have been relying on the Christmas Cheer program to provide extra support during the holiday season, in the form of food and gifts.… Continue
