Category: Front Page

EOS Eco-Energy is inviting residents from around Sackville, Port Elgin, Baie Verte and Murray Corner to take part in a water testing blitz on Friday, August 9. 

At four different locations throughout the day, EOS will hand out water sample bottles to residents who will then go collect samples and return them for same day testing at the government-owned RPC lab in Moncton.

The testing is paid for through a grant from the New Brunswick Environmental Trust Fund, and EOS watershed intern Rachel Francis says the group is hoping to get as many volunteers as possible, collecting samples from a variety of brooks and streams.

Testing for the August 9 blitz is limited to e. coli, a key indicator of water safety for recreation.

“If someone has their own specific fishing place or a little down-low swimming area, we can test that for them so that they know where they’re hanging out and fishing and swimming is safe for them as well,” says Francis.

Francis is also responsible for more extensive water testing at 12 different sites throughout the Tantramar, Memramcook and Cape Tormentine watersheds, as part of the EOS watershed monitoring program.

Francis says water close to pastures or agricultural areas, as well as sewage systems are particularly vulnerable to e. coli.

The town of Tantramar currently tests for e.… Continue

It’s that time of year again. The New Brunswick Day long weekend has arrived, and Sappyfest is setting up on Bridge Street for the 19th annual festival of music and art. 

CHMA sat down with Sappyfest board member Amy Segal outside of Struts Gallery on Thursday, as three artists from OSO planning + design started construction of WEAVE, an outdoor installation which they describe as “part woven sculpture, part seating and part performance.”

Segal says that over 100 community volunteers, including a working board of directors, contributes to making the three day music and art festival a reality. There’s also cooperation from local businesses. “Bagtown is lending their space for band food to take place. Ducky’s is going to be hosting a concert,” says Segal. “Of course, there’s music at the Legion, and everyone from young people who are teenagers to older people who are retired are jumping in to make this festival happen.”

The music for Sappy kicks off on Friday evening with some local youth performances (The Drama Queenz + Kids Corner Power Jam) and continues into the night with Absolute Losers, Puberty Well, and Sick Puppy, ending with ‘dance party music’ from Ontario with Slash Need.

Segal says there’s musicians coming “from near and far to participate in the festival,” including Baie Verte’s Jon McKiel and band performing a new album, retro country band Nicolette & The Nobodies from Guelph, Sappyfest veterans Dog Day from Halifax, and Papal Visit from Saint John.… Continue

Quinn MacAskill wants people in the Tantramar region to dream big and use their imaginations.

“We’re at a time when we really need our imaginations more than ever,” says the student and community organizer, “because if we want a different future than the one that we’re headed towards, which I think most people do, then we need to imagine a different possibility.”

MacAskill is home in Sackville after her first year in the Environment, Sustainability and Society program at Dalhousie University. In cooperation with EOS Eco-Energy, she is hosting two Climate Imagination Sessions this month, in Dorchester on July 31 and Sackville on August 14 (rescheduled from August 10).

CHMA spoke with MacAskill last week to find out more:

The sessions will start off with a brief presentation from MacAskill, “to make sure everyone’s on the same page about the climate emergency, knows what the impacts are going to be globally and locally, [and to] give people some ideas for some frameworks that they could use to think about a sustainable future.”

And then, says MacAskill, “I’m just going to turn it over to people, give them the opportunity to just use their imaginations, dream big, brainstorm.”

MacAskill says that for this session, there are “no real limits or boundaries” to the ideas and vision that people can bring to the table. “At this point, we’re just imagining what the future of Tantramar could be.”

MacAskill acknowledges that the climate crisis is “often framed as kind of an insurmountable problem,” which can lead to anxiety and despair.… Continue

Teams of high school students from around Canada and the world competed last week for the best pitch for a new permanent location for the Sackville Farmers’ Market.

Six teams of SHAD program students shared their ideas with a panel of local judges last Thursday evening in Tantramar council chambers. SHAD is a month-long enrichment camp for high school students held at 26 university and college campuses across Canada, including Mount Allison.

The event was hosted by Tantramar director of community and corporate services Kieran Miller, and the judging panel included Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne, Sackville Business Improvement Area president Sahitya Pendurthi, Tantramar recreation programmer Jessica Wilson, and Sackville Farmers Market manager Danielle Latour.

Six different teams of students made their pitch, tackling not only the question of what a permanent market site should look like, and but also where should it be located.

The night’s winning pitch proposed a new building at 63 Main Street, the site of a former Ivring Gas Station, across the street from the Bill Johnstone Park, the current summer home for the market.

The lot at 63 Main Street is owned by Arcadia Sites Limited, an Irving-owned real estate holdings company.

The proposed building would include a multifunction recreation space with one wall that would open up to the outside, to help maintain the summer market atmosphere. The building would including a rock climbing wall, studios for dance and exercise, and a community kitchen space.… Continue

Some community leaders are calling on Tantramar council to take steps to access federal and provincial funding that could help build infrastructure needed for new housing growth in the region.

“New housing requires adequate infrastructure,” resident Natalie Donagher told Tantramar council at their July 9 meeting. “However, we understand that infrastructure funding dedicated specifically toward affordable housing, is not being accessed by Tantramar.”

Donagher was reading from a letter signed by Pat Estabrooks and Margaret Tusz-King, the co-chairs of the Tantramar-Strait Shores Community Task Force. The letter refers to provincial funding available through the Regional Development Corporation, and also the federal Housing Accelerator Fund.

“Only the municipality can apply for [this funding],” said Donagher. “If this funding is not applied for by the municipality, the added costs for new infrastructure will have to be paid for by current taxpayers through property taxes and municipal borrowing. Or, the new affordable housing might not happen at all.”

HAF now closed to new applications

Unfortunately, one of the main programs that Donagher referred to is closed to new applications, at least for the time being.

The federal government announced their Housing Accelerator Fund in March 2023, a $4 billion dollar fund to help “build the housing we need, faster” according to the program’s tag line.

Dozens of projects across the country have been approved under the program, including 16 in New Brunswick.… Continue