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Media advocacy group asks Canadians to go dark on Facebook and Instagram

The Friends of Canadian Broadcasting is calling for Canadians to go dark on Facebook and Instagram today in protest of Meta’s blocking of all news content for its Canadian users.

CHMAFM.com is included in the long list of national, provincial and local news sites blocked by Meta.

“It’s a small action,” says Sarah Andrews, director of government and media relations at the non-profit, non-industry advocacy group. “But at the same time, the more people participating in this, the stronger message we will send to Meta.”

Hear the full interview with Sarah Andrews here:

As of Wednesday night, the Friends campaign had just over 4,000 supporters sending letters to their MP asking them to join the boycott, and a number of organizations had signed on in support, including the Bloc Quebecois, the Canadian Media Producers Association, Québecor, and the federation of Quebec journalists.

“What we’ve been asking Canadians to do yesterday and today is to not post on Facebook and Instagram,” says Andrews. “And if they can, even choose not to go on the platforms at all.”

Because Meta makes money from user presence on its platforms, the company will take note of a drop in numbers, says Andrews. “By not being present on the platforms, we hope that it will send Meta a message that we won’t be pushed around, and that they should reverse course, and allow us access to news.”

Andrews believes Meta is aware of the boycott action, and that “a lot of Canadians across the country are not happy with what is happening, especially when you consider what’s going on in Western Canada with the fires, and the fact that people are not able to access local news on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.”… Continue

Mending Cafe makes space for people care and planet care, one hem at a time

Gathering for a Mending Cafe at the Sackville Visitor Information Centre. Photo: Ron Kelly Spurles

A skirt hem that needed fixing, some shirt cuffs coming apart, a pillow that busted a seam, the perennial holey sock, and a quilt with a patch or two wearing away. Those are some of the items that got some needed TLC at the last instalment of Sackville’s Mending Cafe, a monthly open-invitation get-together where folks can bring their mending and spend some time on it together.

On Tuesday from 7pm to 9pm at the Sackville Visitor Information Centre, people will gather to do it again. Organizers will have a sewing machine, an iron, and some iced tea on hand, and the rest is up to whoever shows up, whatever the skill level.

“People bring anything that needs mending,” says co-organizer Patricia Kelly Spurles. “They can mend it themselves, or they can get some instruction or advice or help from other people who are there.”

“You don’t have to be good at mending,” says Kelly Spurles. “In fact, you don’t even need to have mending, you can just come and hang out while other people mend.”

Some of the tools on hand at Sackville’s Mending Cafe. Photo: Patricia Kelly Spurles

The idea behind the cafe is two-fold. On the one hand, taking care of lost buttons and small tears can be a kind of self-care, doubly so when its done in a social setting. On the other, it’s care for the planet, in terms of keeping clothes from prematurely hitting the landfill, and reducing demand for new items.… Continue

Survey Says: With enough data, this researcher hopes to narrow down causes for NB’s mystery disease

A Mount Allison researcher is continuing his work exploring possible causes of unexplained neurological symptoms that have been noticed in New Brunswickers over the past 8 years, and also backing the latest call for the federal and provincial governments to formally investigate.

Dr. Matthew Betti is a Mount A professor of math and computer science who specializes in modeling disease spread. Last year, he started a research survey to help narrow down possible causes or circumstances related to the over 200 people who are reportedly suffering from an atypical, unknown neurological disease in the eastern parts of New Brunswick. And last month, he signed his name to an open letter written by Moncton medical student James Paddle, calling for an immediate public health investigation.

Paddle studied and later did a work placement with Dr. Alier Marrero, the neurologist who first identified patients with atypical neurological symptoms. Up until May 2021, Marrero’s work was being supported jointly by New Brunswick Public Health and Public Health Canada. But then, New Brunswick cut ties with Public Health Canada, and appointed a steering committee to review the cases they had on file, which had been capped at 48. That committee later concluded that most of the 48 cases were actually attributable to known causes, and New Brunswick Public Health closed the investigation.

But Marrero has continued to see more and more patients which he says have sets of symptoms he can’t explain.… Continue

Former Mel’s Tea Room begins transformation to something new

The exterior of the Mel’s Tea Room building on Friday, August 18, 2023. Photo: Erica Butler

For months the new owners of the Mel’s Tea Room building on Bridge Street in Sackville have been renovating the interior of the building, tearing out the iconic diner’s booths and counter, and walling off a section on the back left side of the space. But this week, the changes reached the exterior of the building. On Wednesday, the scripted lettering reading ’Mel’s’ on the green glass tiles above the front windows was removed.

The fate of the neon “Mel’s Tea Room” sign overhanging the Bridge Street sidewalk remains uncertain.

Mel’s Tea Room has been empty since last summer, when John Ernst and Tyler Gay bought the building, and restaurant operators Dave and Wendy Epworth tried in vain to sell off the business. For a brief period, Wild Carnivore Pet Store had plans to take over the space, but that fell through this summer. (Instead Sarah Honea and Diego Mora opened up their store up the road at 95A Bridge Street.)

A new tenant took over the space in August. Paul Sungchul An, owner of Song’s Chopsticks, is renovating the space in hopes of opening a Korean fried chicken restaurant. Sunchul An says he’s not quite ready to share his plans for the new restaurant, but will be able to share details by the end of August. He says the neon Mel’s sign will stay in place for the time being.… Continue

Mitton concerned over potential court battles as Lamrock report outlines legal issues with Policy 713

Sackville resident Jane Dryden is concerned policy changes don’t support kids, and possibly violates their human rights. Photo: Erica Butler

Recent changes to a New Brunswick Department of Education policy actually violate the provincial Human Rights Act, the Education Act and children’s charter rights, says the province’s Child and Youth Advocate, Kelly Lamrock.

The advocate released his report into recent changes to policy 713 on Tuesday, and it includes 20 recommendations to reform the policy, including that it, “affirm the universal right of all students, consistent with their capacity and whether for the purposes of gender identity or not, to choose how they wish to be addressed.”

The original policy 713 required teachers to use students’ preferred names and pronouns, and required informed consent before teachers would contact a students’ parents about their gender identity. The revisions implemented by education minister Bill Hogan this summer put an age limit on that protection, requiring them only for students aged 16 and up.

Lamrock’s recommendations also include a call for “language advising school personnel not to misinform or mislead parents, but instead affirmatively advise parents of the limits of school disclosure and the tools parents have for talking with their children about issues of gender identity.”

The 97-page report is entitled, “On Balance, Choose Kindness”, and summarizes feedback and interactions with experts, student and parents. It also provides legal analysis, and lays out an “advocate’s version” of the beleaguered policy.

“It’s good to have a lawyer actually go through and lay this out,” said Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton about the report on Tuesday afternoon.… Continue

‘Long awaited’ celebration of Quinze Août in Tantramar

Memramcook singer Tina Gautreau entertaining the crowd at Fort Beauséjour for an early celebration of National Acadian Day, or Quinze Août. Photo: Erica Butler

Tears came to a few eyes on Monday afternoon at Fort Beauséjour, as the first ever Tantramar celebration of National Acadian Day got underway. “The feeling I’m getting from the community is that it’s been long awaited,” said Sackville resident Jean Pascal Lavoie. “People are very excited to be here.”

Lavoie is an Acadian, and director of the Beaubassin Cultural Society based in the Sackville region. He said it was nice to see families with many generations out to the event, all feeling welcome. “Francophones have not had their place as much in the past,” said Lavoie, noting that events like the one on Monday are part of “a change of perspective on Francophone culture in the region,” in recent years.

Tantramar mayor Andrew Black, resident Jean Pascal Lavoie, and Amherst town councillor Leon Landry at Fort Beauséjour on Monday. Photo: Erica Butler

Lavoie points out the numerous events in and around Tantramar, including a number happening across the border in Nova Scotia, in Minudie, Parrsboro and Amherst. In fact, a contingent of supporters from the new Cumberland Acadian Society in Amherst were on hand to promote their new society, and an upcoming National Acadian Day event on Thursday in Amherst.

“It’ll be our very first Acadian festival,” said the society’s vice-president, Michel Gaudet. The event starts at 12:30pm with a parade from Amherst town hall to Victoria Park, and continues through to 6pm with live music, a barbecue, a petting zoo, a magician, caricatures, and and puppet show.… Continue

Dorchester’s Peep and Keep aims to create ‘old time sense of community’

The village of Dorchester is coming alive this weekend with its second festival of the summer, the Sandpiper Festival, running from Friday to Sunday with events at the Dorchester Veterans Community Centre (DVCC), the library, the Greater Dorchester Moving Forward Co-op, Palmers Pond, and of course, the Village Square. (Tonight’s concert in the square has been moved to the DVCC due to weather. The full schedule is available as a pdf here.)

It’s no coincidence that this weekend also marks the grand opening of Dorchester’s latest new business, the Peep and Keep Ecotique. Sandpipers—and their nearby migratory habitat on the mudflats off Dorchester Cape—feature prominently in the concept of the new shop, co-owned by longtime residents Kara Becker and Debbie Wiggins-Colwell.

The shop is dedicated in equal parts to environmental sustainability and cultural heritage, hence the “Peep and Keep” moniker. Becker says the pair wanted to “create that old time sense of community in Dorchester,” and also “celebrate our place in the Fundy biosphere.”

The shop provides information and support for the Johnson’s Mills Shorebird Reserve and Interpretive Centre, says Becker. As part of the Sandpiper Festival, this Saturday afternoon at 2pm, staff from the Nature Conservancy of Canada will make a presentation on sandpipers and shore birds at the Peep and Keep. That will be followed by a “mix and mingle” on the upper floors of the Bell Inn. “Folks can just get together and chat about everything that’s going on in the community,” says Becker.… Continue

Council to consider hiring Veolia to take on Dorchester water as well as Sackville

Jon Eppell, Sackville’s new town engineer, on the rooftop garden at Sackville Town Hall. Photo: Erica Butler

Town engineer Jon Eppell is recommending that Tantramar expand its contract with Veolia Water Technologies to include the operation of the Dorchester water treatment plant. Tantramar council will consider the proposal at its regular meeting tonight at 7pm in Sackville town hall.

At council’s committee of the whole meeting in July Eppell said a request for a change in position from the current staff person operating the Dorchester plant prompted the town to explore the outsourcing of the service.

“We went to Veolia who we’re all very familiar with in Sackville,” said Eppell. The global water treatment company has been operating the Sackville plant since 2007, and it also operates the Moncton water treatment system.

The Dorchester contract would cost the town an additional $2000 per week, or $104,000 per year, with additional costs for overtime and emergency services. There will also be about $12,000 in technological upgrades for Veolia to take over the Dorchester system. Tantramar currently pays about $245,000 annually for the Sackville Veolia contract.

The Veolia contract amount is not currently budgeted, but a staff report says the funds will come from “salary savings within the Dorchester portion of the Utility Budget,” for 2023, and then will be budgeted accordingly in 2024. Overall, this will be an increase in utility expenses, as the staff person currently operating the plant will be reassigned to other utility duties.… Continue

Development incentive for Lafford project could cost about $1.2 million over 10 years

Tonight at their regular council meeting, councillors will be asked to vote on approving a nearly $1.2 million dollar grant over ten years for developer John Lafford, for his proposed six-storey apartment building at 131 Main Street.

When John Lafford spoke to Tantramar council in favour of bylaw amendments that would make way for his 71-unit residential development, he floated mid-July as a possible start date for the project. The developer even requested a special meeting of council on July 19 for accelerated second and third readings of his requested zoning changes. Those changes were approved on July 19, but as of the end of last week, Plan 360 has yet to receive a building permit application for the project.

Instead, the project will be back before council on Tuesday night, to ask for approval on a grant that will rebate roughly 50% of the property tax on the new development over 10 years. The estimated financial cost of the grant is not included in the staff report to council, but after a media request, Tantramar’s director of Corporate and Community Services Kieran Miller shared the estimated cost of $1.185 million over the next decade.

The grant falls under the former town of Sackville’s Economic Development Incentive Program, passed in March 2020, which aims to attract and spur on new commercial, industrial or multi-unit residential projects.… Continue

Tantramar mayor Andrew Black talks calls for meeting on Chignecto isthmus, more federal funding, and insurance company interest

Mayor Andrew Black speaking to a member of the public during Committee of the Whole, June 27, 2023. Image: Tantramar Youtube channel

Tantramar mayor Andrew Black has been talking about the Chignecto Isthmus a lot lately. In the mayor’s report at last week’s committee of the whole meeting, Black mentioned conversations with his counterparts in the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, with an insurance executive concerned about reducing risk, and with former Sackville councillor and ClimAtlantic director Sabine Dietz, about hosting a discussion on how to protect the corridor between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

CHMA called him up to find out more:

Closing the information gap on the isthmus

Black told council last week that he and Mayor David Kogon of Amherst had met with ClimAtlantic’s Dietz to talk about an information sharing gap when it comes to the isthmus protection project.

In 2019, the province commissioned Wood Canada to study the isthmus and come up with options to protect it from rising sea levels and increasing frequency of severe storm events. That study was finally released in 2022, and the cost estimates it put forward have already more than doubled. Black says there’s more information out there, and considering that actual work on the isthmus is still years away, there’s plenty to discuss. Dietz has proposed a session involving municipal, provincial and federal representatives and various experts on how to protect the isthmus, and has asked the councils in Tantramar and Amherst for letters of support.… Continue

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Closing the information gap on the isthmus