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Acadian groups propose a new national park for the Chignecto Isthmus

An interpretive panel at the Beaubassin-Fort Lawrence National Historic Site. Photo: Erica Butler

Acadian groups have proposed a new national park on the Chignecto Isthmus, partially in hopes of securing federal support to protect the dykeland system from increasing risk of flooding due to extreme storms and sea level rise.

“It would be a really nice way to recognize our history and heritage,” says director of the Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick (SANB), Nicole Arseneau-Sluyter. “And for economic purposes, being the connection between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, for the rest of Canada.”

But there are some concerns the idea could complicate the protection of the Isthmus. Leon Landry, president of the Cumberland Acadian Society, likes the idea of a Chignecto Isthmus National Park, but is worried that attaching a new national park to the protection of the isthmus could “create more red tape.”

The SANB and their counterparts from Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada submitted a brief pitching the Chignecto Isthmus National Park to a Senate committee on Transportation and Community last month.

The groups say a national park on the Isthmus would have three benefits. First, it would involve multiple federal departments in the protection of the Isthmus against risks brought on by climate change. Secondly, it could allow two heritage institutions, Fort Beauséjour in New Brunwwick and Fort Lawrence in Nova Scotia, to be combined into one site. And lastly, it could preserve and promote the history and culture of the Mi’kmaq and Acadians of Beaubassin.… Continue

Council approves two major Dorchester projects, and commits to new fire hall by 2026

The Dorchester Fire Hall in September 2018. Image: Google Streetview

Last week Tantramar council approved over a million dollars in spending in Dorchester, with a tender awarded for the reconstruction of Station Road and an approval to buy a new pumper truck for the Dorchester Fire Department. But both purchases hit snags with budget limitations before they were approved.

The reconstruction of Station Road will see 115 metres of roadway rebuilt with curbs and storm sewers. The lowest bidder on the project was Bowsers’ Construction, but even their bid of roughly $312,000 (HST included) was about $50,000 too high for the allocated budget. Town engineer Jon Eppell told council he came close to recommending reducing the length of the reconstruction by one fifth, but Treasurer Michael Beal came up with a fix, thanks to some unspent funds in the municipality’s snow removal budget.

Last year, Tantramar decided to buy additional equipment in order to take on snow clearing in Dorchester. Previously, the village had relied on private contractors to do the work. Because staff weren’t sure if the equipment would arrive in time for the snow season, the town kept its budget allocation for contracted snow removal in this year’s budget. But the equipment did arrive in time, and so that money was not spent, which turns out to be good news for Station Road.

“Within the 2024 budget for the Dorchester sub-unit, we have $90,000 that is unallocated,” Beal told council last week.… Continue

Council rejects new begging and loitering bylaw, but balks at repealing old ones

At their meeting on Tuesday evening, Tantramar council voted down a newly proposed bylaw on loitering and begging, and then opted to keep two existing and similar bylaws on the books in Sackville and Dorchester.

The proposed bylaw is part of the review and consolidation of bylaws for the new municipality of Tantramar being carried out by the municipal clerk.

The Tantramar-wide bylaw would have made “asking for money, food, or help as charity” illegal, and also banned loitering, defined as “remaining in an area with no obvious purpose.” The new bylaw also included a ban on soliciting door-to-door, unless what’s being sold is a book that’s been previously approved by council. (That provision appears to be a call back to the former Municipalities Act, which set up exemptions to solicitation laws for publishers of encyclopedias, educational texts, and Bibles. While Tantramar council has no list of exempted books, the province did keep a list of specific books that were allowed to be sold door-to-door in the province.)

Councillor Josh Goguen was the first to speak on the proposed Tantramar-wide bylaw, and referenced issues that the city of Halifax has had with police street checks. In 2017, Halifax police street check data showed that Black people in the city were three times more likely than white people to be stopped by police.

“We’re basically saying to somebody that, you’re sitting down, and the bylaw officer can come up to you and say, What are you doing?… Continue

New owners for former Pizza Delight in Sackville

The former Pizza Delight property on Mallard Drive in Sackville has been sold.

A new numbered company (752259 NB Inc.) bought the property, and according to Service New Brunswick’s property online service, paid $645,000 for the building and land. That’s $95,000 more than was paid two years ago, in the summer of 2022.

The directors of the new company are Surendra Prasad Semwal of Stratford, PEI and Preetpal Sohi of McLeod Hill, just outside of Fredericton. They registered their New Brunswick company in January 2024, and also operate a New Brunswick company called Namaste FGC, which is opening a bar and grill at the Fredericton Golf Club.

According to the website NamasteBistro.ca, the pair also run restaurants in Miramichi and Charlottetown, under the names Namaste Miramichi and Taste of India.

CHMA has reached out to the new owners to learn about their plans for their Sackville property.

The property at 24 Mallard Drive includes the former Pizza Delight building, and a triangular lot that stretches down to the parking lot at the Sackville Visitor Information Centre.

Since the property last changed hands, Tantramar council has voted twice to expand the possibilities for the property.

In 2023, council voted to allow drive-thru restaurants in Sackville’s highway-commercial zone, and this year they approved starting the process to get rid of a development agreement on the property, which limits possible development to a single restaurant.… Continue

Sappyfest for Dummies wants you to create your doppleganger for this year’s festival

Graham Patterson and Shary Boyle lead an ‘idea jam’ at Struts Gallery for people considering participating in Sappyfest for Dummies. Photo: Erica Butler

Sackville-based artists Shary Boyle and Graham Patterson are working to convince Sackville residents to create dummies–modeled after themselves–that will be part of a special audience during the Sappyfest music and art festival this August.

The project is called Sappyfest for Dummies, and the artists held an ‘idea jam’ workshop last week at Struts Gallery. CHMA was there and spoke to Boyle, as well as some potential local dummy-makers.

Boyle says the plan is to gather as many Sackville dummies as possible into the Ralph Pickard Bell Library theatre over the festival weekend. It “will be a moment to remember,” says Boyle, “having as many members of the community self-representing their doppelgangers, avatars, or dummies, as we’re calling them, in the seats of the theatre.”

The project is not just for artists or skilled craftspeople. On Thursday Boyle and Patterson outlined a wide range of techniques that people can use, from basic stuffed-clothes porch dummies to more sophisticated structures with wooden frames. There’s also many options for heads and faces, including photocopied photos, papier maché, and simply drawing on a paper bag. Boyle herself created her dummy with torn corrugated cardboard and a hot glue gun, while Patterson’s features a found piece of wood which, with the right embellishments, bears a surprising resemblance to the artist.

Boyle and Patterson are collecting pledges from those who have expressed interest in the project, to commit them to following through with the project.… Continue

Café Tintamarre celebrates grand opening on Wednesday

Alice Cotton and Pete Stephenson, proprietors of Café Tintamarre, located in the Sackville Visitor Information Centre. Photo: Erica Butler

For the past few weeks, Sackville coffee partners Alice Cotton and Pete Stephenson have been plying their trade in a brand new location under a brand new name, and this Wednesday the couple will celebrate the official grand opening of their new venture, Café Tintamarre, located inside the Tantramar Visitor Information Centre.

“It’s been really a lot of fun,” says Cotton, about the first few weeks of ‘soft open’ for Café Tintamarre. “We’re having fun comparing week to week, and seeing it build.”

Cotton says the café sees all kinds of customers, including regulars from the Deus Ex Macina coffee truck at the Sackville Farmers Market (which still operates every Saturday), people walking through the Sackville Waterfowl Park, and travellers passing through Sackville, stopping for some tourist information or to use of the new bank of EV chargers recently activated by NB Power.

Cotton says the chargers are getting lots of use, and she’s been told they are a popular stop for EV owners, because “there are three of them, and there’s never a lineup.”

And Café Tintamarre is making efforts to improve the charging experience, beyond offering drinks for those waiting.

A DIY windshield washing station located between three NB Power EV chargers at the Sackville Visitor Information Centre. Photo: Erica Butler

“We’ve heard that the local EV community has issues because they’re charging at home or at these chargers, so they have no place to wash their windshields,” says Stephenson.… Continue

Sackville manslaughter case adjourned to July, Murphy to remain in custody

Tyler Murphy made a brief appearance in Moncton provincial court on Monday morning, but instead of discussing a date for a preliminary hearing, Murphy’s lawyer requested another four-week adjournment in the case. Murphy is charged with manslaughter in the stabbing death of another Sackville man, 44-year-old Shawn Mitton.

Defense lawyer Pierrette Allain asked the court for the extension so that she would have time to review disclosure from the Crown prosecutor which she had just received. “I dropped off my hard drive this morning and it’s being downloaded as we speak,” Allain told Judge Luc Labonté.

Labonté agreed to adjourn the matter until July 8. Murphy will remain in custody until then.

This is the second adjournment granted in order to wait for disclosure from the Crown.

Murphy was originally charged with second degree murder alongside his younger brother, Dylan Murphy. On March 27, 2024, the charge against Dylan was dropped, and the charge against Tyler Murphy was changed to manslaughter.

Shawn Mitton was found by police on the evening of March 16, lying on the side of Lorne Street in Sackville suffering from apparent stab wounds. The 44-year-old father of four was transported to hospital where he died as a result of his injuries.

Some of Mitton’s family members were in court on Monday.

According to his obituary, Mitton was “a family man who loved spending time with his sons.” Before he was killed, Mitton had recently moved his new upholstery business into a space on Main Street in Sackville.… Continue

Leaked emails, growing numbers, and renewed calls to investigate unexplained neurological symptoms

UPDATED with response from New Brunswick Department of Health, June 12, 2024.

New Brunswick’s unexplained neurological cases are back in the news.

The Guardian newspaper published a story by Toronto-based reporter Leyland Cecco on Monday describing leaked emails from a Canadian scientist dated as recently as October 2023, expressing concern about the cause of unexplained neurological symptoms being experienced by hundreds of patients in New Brunswick and beyond.

Cecco writes that he saw emails written by Public Health Agency of Canada senior researcher Michael Coulthart:

“Coulthart, a veteran scientist who currently heads Canada’s Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance System, did not respond to a request for comment by the Guardian. But in the leaked email, he wrote that he believes an “environmental exposure – or a combination of exposures – is triggering and/or accelerating a variety of neurodegenerative syndromes” with people seemingly susceptible to different protein-misfolding ailments, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

Coulthart argues this phenomenon does not easily fit within “shallow paradigms” of diagnostic pathology and the complexity of the issue has given politicians a “loophole” to conclude “nothing coherent” is going on.”

According to Cecco, Coulthart also said he had been “essentially cut off” from involvement in the issue, and that he believed the reason was political.

Then on Wednesday, the Times and Transcript published a story by Moncton-based reporter Sarah Seeley, describing an interview with Dr. Alier Marrero, the neurologist who first started reporting unexplained neurodegenerative cases in the province.… Continue

Tantramar Roadshow ‘a great step’ towards better communication, transparency

Sackville resident Percy Best came to Tantramar’s Municipal Roadshow to ask about pedestrian safety and heritage protections. Photo: Erica Butler

Tantramar’s municipal roadshow is “a perfect environment to voice concerns for the betterment of our town,” says Sackville resident Percy Best.

Best was one of a handful of residents who came out for the third edition of the Tantramar roadshow at the Civic Centre last Thursday. The next instalment takes place Thursday, June 13 at the Sackville Music Barn on Station Road in Upper Sackville.

Best says the roadshows are “a great step” by the municipality to open up lines of communication. “The path to talk to councillors has been greatly degraded over the last few years,” says Best, “and gets worse all the time.”

Best points to the end of public question periods during council meetings, a practice included in the former town of Sackville’s procedures, but not in those of the new municipality of Tantramar.

“We used to be able to even send in a written letter, and it would be brought up and attached to the package,” said Best. “Now it’s like a no man’s land. That’s one of the reasons we don’t go to council meetings. It’s like, why bother?”

Best hopes the roadshows will continue, and be hosted annually or twice a year across the municipality.

Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne speaking at a Tantramar Roadshow session on May 30, 2024. Photo: Erica Butler

Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne didn’t rule out future roadshow meetings, and says she has been pleased with the sessions so far.… Continue

New ‘Field of Dreams’ diamond opens during surge in minor baseball in Sackville

Members of the U10 Sackville Hurricanes watch the proceedings at the launch of their new field. Photo: Erica Butler

Minor baseball is experiencing an upsurge in participation in Sackville, and the Sackville Minor Baseball Association is working to meet the increased demand.

This week, dozens gathered to celebrate a newly refurbished “Field of Dreams” diamond behind Salem Elementary School, funded by the Jays Care Foundation and New Brunswick’s Regional Development Corporation. The diamond is on property owned by the Anglophone East School District, and will be maintained by Tantramar parks and recreation staff.

CHMA was there:

Local baseball player Kipling Cober threw the first pitch at the new ball diamond. The 13-year-old player says she’s pleased to see the new facility, and the fact that it is helping accommodate the surge in interest in baseball.

Kipling Cober started in Sackville Minor Baseball and now helps out with younger teams while playing for a AA team in Dieppe. Photo: Erica Butler

“I think it’s cool that there’s more in involvement in girls baseball happening recently,” said Cober. “I grew up playing only with the boys and now I’m glad that there’s more chances for the girls to play.”

Cober now plays AA ball in Dieppe and with the New Brunswick provincial team.

Sacvkille Minor Baseball’s Mike Reid has a long list a thank-yous to go around for the $70,000 refurbishment project, including Jays Care, the Regional Development Corporation, the school district, local contractors Eastern Fence and Beech Hill Landscaping, Payzant’s Home Hardware, who donated lumber for new players benches, and SMBA members who helped build and install equipment for the field.… Continue

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