Tantramar mayor Andrew Black after the first meeting of council on January 10, 2023. Photo: Erica Butler
On this holiday edition of Tantramar Report, CHMA sits down with Tantramar mayor Andrew Black to talk about the past year and the year ahead. Black weighs in on the experience of Tantramar council’s first year in charge of the new amalgamated municipality. He also comments on extra-municipal issues like health care, housing, and the effort to protect the Chignecto Isthmus from catastrophic weather events.
This is part of a CHMA year end series talking with local leaders, reflecting on 2023.… Continue
About two dozen households on Pickard Place, West Avenue and Sawdon Street are under a boil water advisory until further notice. Image: Google maps
The town of Tantramar says that due to a watermain break on West Avenue, a number of households on West Avenue, Pickard Place, and Sawdon Street are on a boil water advisory until further notice. The advisory took effect on December 20, and affects civic addresses #1-#40 on West Avenue, all homes on Pickard Place, and civic #2 Sawdon Street.
The town advises that “all water destined for drinking, preparing infant formulas and juices, making ice cubes, washing fruits and vegetables, cooking, brushing teeth and dental hygiene is held at a rolling boil for 1 minute.”
Showering and bathing is safe, as long as swallowing water is avoided, and so the town recommends that toddlers and infants be bathed by caregivers. It is safe to wash dishes and laundry in tap water, either by hand or by machine.
The town says if there are any concerns with the advisory, residents can call the public works department at 364-4960, between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00pm.… Continue
Chelsea McKenney and Justin Baird outside the Moncton provincial court house in October, after McKenney’s first appearance in court. Photo: Erica Butler
On June 23, at about 10:20 pm, someone called the 911 dispatch in New Brunswick to report a disturbance in progress at an apartment in Sackville. At about that same time, Chelsea McKenney and Justin Baird were settling in for the night, after putting their 6-year-old son to bed. Within about half an hour, McKenney would find herself handcuffed and sitting in the back of a police cruiser, after having been tackled and arrested in her own hallway.
The incident in McKenney and Baird’s apartment on June 23 has had several repercussions. McKenney herself has filed a formal complaint with the independent agency known as the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP. She is also working with Nova Scotia-based organization PathLegal to file a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. At the same time, she is facing criminal charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. The 31-year-old mother of two has been denied legal aid, and is now considering whether to appeal that decision, represent herself, or somehow find money to pay a lawyer. She is due back in Moncton provincial court to enter a plea on January 3.
Hear this story as reported on Tantramar Report:
What happened on June 23?
The incident began with a 911 call for what police called a “disturbance in progress.” … Continue
Sackville resident Molly Tomlik remembers doing lantern walks as a kid, to celebrate the winter solstice, the shortest day–and longest night–of the year. When she had a family of her own, she decided to continue the tradition. “I remembered how magical they were,” says Tomlik, “and so I wanted to do that with my kids.”
Tomlik is also a member of the Tantramar Outdoor Club, and when the group expressed interest in creating some family friendly events to get folks outside, Tomlik suggested taking the solstice tradition to the community. “We thought this would be awesome to share with everybody,” says Tomlik. “And it was event you could do outside during the pandemic.”
Last year was the first publicly advertised Solstice Lantern Walk inviting local residents to participate, and the reaction was enthusiastic. Tomlik says there were about 85 people carrying lights in the darkness, snaking through the Waterfowl Park and past the Drew Nursing Home. This year, she’s hoping for even more. The town of Tantramar is co-hosting the event.
Lanterns can be homemade or store bought, and not everyone needs a lantern in order to join the walk, says Tomlik. “It’s really cool to have your own lantern, but when you go in a group and you see everybody else’s lanterns all around you, and you see the light bobbing from across the Waterfowl Park, it’s a really neat experience,” says Tomlik. “And we’re hoping that some photographers might come out and capture some of the images this year as well.”… Continue
Ed Knuckles in his shop on December 7, 2023. Photo: Erica Butler
Chocolate fans of Sackville and the region will be disappointed after Christmas, when Knuckles Truffles of York Street doesn’t reopen again after its usual Christmas break. The owner of the shop, Ed Knuckles, has announced his retirement from the small business which he’s run for about ten years. Knuckles’ last day will be Saturday, December 23.
CHMA stopped by to talk with Ed Knuckles, and asked about how he came to find himself in the chocolate business:
Knuckles retired to Sackville in 2011, after a career in opera and musical theatre, that among other things took him on tour with the production Show Boat for five years. About eight months into his retirement, Knuckles knew he had to take on a new project. He had been making chocolate truffles since first discovering the recipe in 1979, and decided to take it to the next level. “I had been making chocolates for over 30 years, and I thought, okay, let’s give it a try.”
After doing some market research among his neighbours, Knuckles started his business at the Sackville Farmers’ Market. “I was there for a year when two other vendors came up to me and said we’d like to open a shop with you,” recalls Knuckles. As it turned out, those partners didn’t last, but Knuckles did. He’s now been in his shop on York Street for about a decade.… Continue
An issue with a boiler in the Sackville Memorial Hospital is under repair today, and the facility is relying on a backup boiler until it is fixed, says hospital executive director, Christa Wheeler-Thorne.
The hospital is operating normally today, with no disruption of services, says the Horizon manager.
In an email response to CHMA, Wheeler-Thorne says hospital staff reported a strong smell emanating from one of the building’s boilers on Sunday evening. The hospital staff moved “a small number of admitted patients away from the area as a precaution,” says Wheeler-Thorne, and called local firefighters and Horizon facilities personnel.
A service technician identified a mechanical issue with the boiler which is now under repair.
Reports of a gas leak at the hospital on a local Sackville Facebook group were simply not true, says Wheeler-Thorne. “Horizon wishes to stress that the situation was in no way related to a gas/fuel leak, and we would like to sincerely thank our patients and their families for their cooperation while this incident was investigated,” says Wheeler-Thorne.
Sackville Fire chief Craig Bowser confirmed that Sackville Fire & Rescue responded to a call at the hospital Sunday evening for a diesel smell. “The smell was identified, and the remainder of the building was searched with negative results,” explained Bowser via email.… Continue
Councillor Josh Goguen at Tantramar Council on November 14, 2023. Image: Youtube screencap
Tantramar council gave the green light for town staff to move forward on two longstanding requests from community members on Tuesday. Staff will now start discussions with the provincial government about a land use agreement for the Trans Canada Trail within town boundaries, and also start to pursue additional funding for a pedway to re-connect the trail where it is bisected by the highway. In addition, council asked staff to form a committee with local groups to work on planning and funding a new multipurpose facility that could serve as a permanent home for the Sackville Farmers’ Market.
Both motions came from Councillor Josh Goguen, who was visibly pleased on Tuesday. “I’m glad that my fellow councillors saw the value in what I was bringing to the table,” said Goguen. “And for wrapping up my first year on council, I think it’s a win.”
Trail motion ‘not promising anything’
While the vote on Goguen’s first motion was unanimously in favour, one of the selling points seemed to be that it didn’t commit the town to any specific agreements or projects. Here’s the motion as read by Goguen:
“I move that council request staff to engage with the provincial government to discuss a land use agreement for the existing Rails to Trails system within the Tantramar boundary, and explore capital funding for a proposed new pedway over the Trans Canada Highway, leveraging the $1 million donation.”
Bill Costin and Rob McLeod are the driving forces behind the Tintamarre Community Concert Band, formerly the Sackville Citizens Band, which regrouped this year and are back with their annual winter concert at Brunton Auditorium this Thursday, December 14, at 7:30pm.
“Everything we do is a celebration,” says McLeod, the band’s music director. “We get together we play something, we celebrate. The audience in the community comes together, we celebrate. And everybody walks around celebrating how unbelievably lucky we are to live here, and to have the ability to gather and play music in a safe environment, and just focus–for however long it is you can focus–on beauty and wonder.”
Costin and McLeod stopped by CHMA studios to talk about their upcoming concert and recent changes to the band, including their new name.
The Wallace McCain Student Centre at Mount Allison University in Sackville NB. Photo: Erica Butler
Last Thursday night, during or after an end-of-classes event in Mount Allison’s student centre, someone vandalized the school’s Black Resource and Information Centre (BRIC), and left behind what school officials have called “hate speech”.
Mount Allison vice-president of student affairs, Anne Comfort, addressed the incident in a video message on Instagram on Friday, saying the centre was “the target of hate speech and vandalism,” and that “this is one of a series of events that have occurred on our campus.”
The school has not shared further details about the nature of the incident on Thursday.
The BRIC is a new space which just opened this fall in the student centre. It offers a dedicated safe space and resources for Black students to gather or study.
In her social media message, Comfort went on to call for support for Mount Allison’s Black community members, saying “there is no place at Mount Allison for discrimination, for hate, or any forms of harassment.”
In an email to students on Friday, university president Robert MacKinnon said, “there will be zero tolerance for acts of hate speech, discrimination or harassment,” at the school, and that anyone found to have violated the school’s anti-racism policy would face disciplinary action. The school also says it has contacted the RCMP to help investigate the incident.
The school offered a counselling session on Friday afternoon, though the email from the president announcing both the session and the incident itself went out after the session time had started.… Continue
Retired Sackville doctor Ross Thomas is one of the people advocating for a town takeover of the Trans Canada Trail. Photo: Erica Butler
CHMA takes a walk on the Trans Canada Trail with retired Sackville doctor Ross Thomas, to talk about his support for an upcoming motion by Councillor Josh Goguen to see the trail come under the town’s management, and to pursue further funding for a pedway to connect it across the Trans Canada highway.
Thomas is part of a group of citizens who have come forward with an anonymous $1 million dollar donation to go towards a pedway, with the goal of finding more funding to complete the project. Regional trails coordinator for Plan 360, Mark Léger, has told council in the past that there are possible funding avenues for trail improvements and a pedway connection.
Thomas says the trail surface has been damaged by increasing ATV use in recent years, due to lack of replacement of signs and gates meant to keep drivers off the non-motorized trail. He says the trail is a ‘rural sidewalk’ and provides opportunity for exercise and green transportation in Tantramar, especially if it is protected from motorized use, and safely connected across the highway.
Goguen’s motion is expected at Tantramar council’s next meeting on December 12, 2023.
To hear the full interview with Ross Thomas, click below:
