Interview Archives » Page 3 of 8 » CHMA, Voice of the Marshes

“We have fallen short.”

Mount Allison President Jean Paul Boudreau says he wants substantive and meaningful change in how the university handles sexual assault.

Hundreds of students gathered on Thursday, November 12, 2020 to demand changes to Mount Allison’s handling of sexual assault.

Earlier in the week, Mount Allison University president Jean Paul Boudreau promised students an action plan to tackle their concerns. Yesterday afternoon, a couple of hours after the protest wound up, he sent out an email to students outlining the initial steps the university will take.

One of those steps had already been taken on Thursday. The website for Mount Allison’s SHARE program (the Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education Service) is now offline, and redirects to a page saying, “Effective Nov. 12, 2020 Mount Allison has entered into an agreement with Crossroads for Women, an independent organization based in on Moncton, to provide support for survivors of sexual assault or partner violence.”

The university has also promised to hire a full time person to lead sexual violence prevention and survivor support services at the school. Currently, the SHARE coordinator is a part-time position.

Boudreau’s letter says the school will establish Sexual Violence Prevention Working Group, with student representation, and that a comprehensive third-party review of Mount Allison’s sexual violence prevention model, resources, policies, and procedures will take place.

I spoke with Dr Boudreau on Thursday afternoon to find out more.

Listen to the interview here.

TRANSCRIPT (lightly edited):

ERICA BUTLER:
Dr.… Continue

CHMA talks local history, with the Tantramar Heritage Trust

Kathy Bouska and Paul Bogaard of the Tantramar Heritage Trust, holding a life preserver from the Sackville.

Welcome to episode three of CHMA Talks.

This week, Erica Butler visits Paul Bogaard, Kathy Bouska and Karen Valanne of the Tantramar Heritage Trust for a wide-ranging conversation on the history and significance of the HMCS Sackville, and the continued work of the Heritage Trust in documenting, preserving, and sharing local history in the Tantramar region.

Items from the HMCS Sackville donated to the Town of Sackville, and recently transferred to the care of the Tantramar Heritage Trust.

The Tantramar Heritage Trust is currently holding an online auction as part of its annual fundraising work. … Continue

Seamus Gallagher stands in a spotlight on a stage with red curtains. They are wearing a red dress and a prosthetic mask with large ears. There are flowers surrounding the image of Seamus.

“Fruit Salad” features queer and gender-nonconforming art online

Note: A previous version of this article referred to this project by its previous name, which contained a transphobic term. The Owens and CHMA were alerted by the public that the term was transphobic, and the project has changed names. The article has been updated to reflect that change, and to prevent further harm.

Fruit Salad: A Series of Queer and Gender-Nonconforming Videos & Performances is available for viewing online.

The project is a collaboration between Owens Art Gallery and Struts Gallery & Faucet Media Centre, otherwise known as Umbrella Projects.

In an essay written by the co-curators Hannah Bridger, Emily Falvey, and Lucas Morneau, the project is described as “a mélange of videos and filmed performances that explore gender performativity and celebrate masquerade, personas, and other fluid forms of identity.”

Co-curator and director of the Owens Art Gallery Emily Falvey says Fruit Salad is a passion project.

Emily Falvey: I was part of a curatorial team made up of myself, Lucas Morneau, and Hannah Bridger. I would say that the project originated with me, in the sense that I knew that I wanted to do some programming in the fall around the idea of drag, costume, and persona, because it’s an interest of mine. I also felt like that would be something that would appeal to students. That was political without being really heavy, that it could be fun and joyful.… Continue

CHMA Talks: Dave Meslin on how to make elections better

Dave Meslin of Unlock Democracy, illustrates the results of the 2020 New Brunswick election. Image: Youtube

“If we looked at the entire history of Canada, we’ve only ever had one of two parties in power. The whole time, we’re just switching back, red and blue–for 150 years. It’s so uninspiring.”
Dave Meslin, Unlock Democracy

Dave Meslin runs Unlock Democracy, a grassroots, non-partisan, national campaign focused on democratic renewal and proportional government.

He puts together analyses of Canada’s elections after they happen, looking at the breakdown of how people voted versus how the seats get distributed and governments formed. But he doesn’t just make bar graphs and pie charts, Dave uses Lego to get his point across.

In this conversation with CHMA’s Erica Butler, Dave Meslin covers how the largest group of people in the last New Brunswick election was actually the group that didn’t vote for anyone, how a minority of New Brunswick voters ended up electing a majority government, and how things like ranked ballots could actually make our local elections more fair and diverse.

Hear the whole conversation right here:

And check out Dave Meslin’s Lego My Vote! breakdown of the 2020 New Brunswick provincial election.

… Continue

Divest Mount A and Indigenous Student Support Group members stand in a line holding protest signs for Mi'kma'ki.

Mount A Indigenous student support group on how to help Mi’kmaw fishers

Mount Allison president Jean-Paul Boudreau and the Mount Allison Students’ Union have released statements condemning the anti-Indigenous violence in Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia).

Second year voice student and Indigenous student support group (ISSG) secretary/treasurer Rowan White says the statements are appreciated, but more work needs to be done.

White, who is from the Qalipu Nation of Ktaqm’kuk in Mi’kma’ki, visited the Saulnierville wharf with the ISSG and Divest Mount A volunteers to provide support.

RW: So our group has been going down in person to help organize move supplies, document what’s going on. We’ve also been gathering financial donations, donations of physical goods and storing them and bringing them down, as well as pressuring both the student union and university administration to put out statements and in support, both of which have been done.

MC: Do you have any thoughts about either of those statements?

RW: I was super touched that we are the first university and the first student union to actually make a public declaration about what is currently going on all through Nova Scotia. So I was really proud. The student union has been working directly with us to be super, super helpful and we really appreciate that. And of course, there’s always things to be done. But it’s a great first step.

MC: What can those who live on the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people do to support the fishers at the moment?… Continue

CHMA Talks: Defunding the police with Asaf Rashid

Lawyer and activist Asaf Rashid. Photo: arashidlaw.ca

Asaf Rashid is a lawyer and community organizer, formerly of Ontario and New Brunswick, now living in Halifax.

Rashid has written about specific issues and cases surrounding defending the police on his blog. One particular piece, called “Disarming the police to save lives,” prompted CHMA’s Erica Butler to call up Rashid to get his perspective on the defunding movement and the issues surrounding it.

… Continue

William Njo and Michael Freeman stand outside on the sidewalk. They are each holding a bottle of hand sanitizer. The farmers' market is ongoing in the background.

Sackville Farmers’ Market considering pre-ordering, delivery during the winter

After a brief shut down in spring, the Sackville Farmers’ Market reopened in the Bill Johnston Memorial park this summer with new COVID-19 regulations.

With the days getting shorter and the air chillier, the market will not be able to stay outside for much longer.

Market manager Michael Freeman says that the market staff and vendors are busy brainstorming ways to stay open and stay safe as it gets colder.

More details on the plan as it stands to come, but first, here is how the farmers’ market fared this summer.

MF: Our vendor numbers went down, absolutely. You can see by looking at the market. We used to be, in a good year, a market that would have, depending on the weather, on a Saturday in the summer 30 to 45 vendors, I think 46 was our record. This year, we broke 25 a couple of times.
The composition of the market has changed significantly. Where we used to be about a third farmers, a third prepared foods and hot food to-go vendors, and a third artisans and crafters and artists. The non-primary product categories, the artisans and cooks have not been showing up in part because those are not often the larger businesses that have employees and need to operate because they’re people’s bread and butter and 100% of their income. But the farmer sector has grown, we’ve had a number of new farmers come on.

… Continue

Ashley Legere stands in front of restaurant booths. The floor is black and white tiles. The photo is filtered. Ashley is white with blue eyes, brown hair, and a nose ring.

Sackville pharmacy’s harm reduction program provides safe injection tools

Pharmacy assistant Ashley Legere is running a harm reduction program to help those who struggle with substance abuse.

She is working with the team at the Guardian Corner Drug Store to provide safe and free injection kits for those who need them.

Legere, who has been working in pharmacy for over eight years, says that her personal mandate is to help people in any way she can.

MC: How are pharmacies involved in opioid addiction? What is their role in opioid addiction?

AL: So it’s our place to provide an opioid replacement treatment therapy program, which involves either Suboxone or methadone. Suboxone is commercially available as a sublingual tablet. So we get that from the manufacturer, and methadone we actually make. The liquid comes pre mixed, 10 milligrams per mL in a bottle. Like if someone’s on say, 120 milligrams, then you drop 12 mLs, and you put that into every bottle, and then you mix it with Tang or crystallites or something. That’s just like the bare bones, that’s what we offer for medications. Otherwise, the pharmacists will counsel. We have access to resources. So numbers for treatment programs, numbers for detoxes, anything that we can do to support anyone who’s looking for help, we will. Generally, our job description doesn’t include those things. But it’s been, especially in a small community where we know everybody, we will do everything we can. If someone comes in looking for help, we will figure out a way to help them.

… Continue

Sarah Smith and Jett Belliveau stand next to each other. Jett has his hand on Sarah's shoulder. Sarah is white with long brown hair in a bun. She is wearing a red plaid shirt with brown work overalls. Jett is white and wearing a toque, a brown vest, a plaid shirt, and work vest. They are outdoors. The grass is green and there are no clouds in the sky. It is daytime.

Sweet Soil Organic Farm says NB food policy needs an update

Sarah Smith and Jett Beliveau struggled with selling their vegetables online this spring and summer.

Sweet Soil Organic Farm is usually present at the Sackville and Dieppe farmers’ markets, both of which shut down for extended periods of time when COVID-19 came to Canada.

SS: The CSA program is sort of an online program because people register online and we process payments that way, but we didn’t really want to start an online ordering platform. And we weren’t going to be part of the Dieppe virtual market, because it would have been too logistically complicated for our whole cooperative to be part of that.

They initially had produce available for sale on other farms’ online stores and Fridgee, but those methods could not replace the local farmers markets.

Beliveau expresses gratitude to have neighbouring farms, who they have a cooperative relationship with.

JB: It’s a very tight knit community around here, and we kind of have to be as Maritimers because elements of Mother Nature are throwing curveballs as well. This has been the driest season I’ve ever seen, one of the highest droughts, and so many people have crop failures. So without this tight knit community, we wouldn’t have been able to trade off certain crops. We didn’t do so well with this one year and then another farm kind of picked that up, and I like that everyone works together to keep us all going.

Beliveau says that when international and provincial borders began to shut down, he was uncertain about the future of food in New Brunswick.… Continue

Interview: Town Councillor Joyce O’Neil

“If a person thinks they can run for Council and get everything done the way they want it, that never happens. It’s not just the decision of one person. It’s the decision of many.”

Sackville town councillor Joyce O’Neil will wrap up over 16 years on council this Wednesday. O’Neil announced her resignation at council’s September meeting, along with mayor John Higham.

Erica Butler called up Councillor O’Neil for a final interview in her capacity as town councillor. Here’s their conversation:

Transcript:

ERICA BUTLER:
First off, I will ask you to tell me a bit about your career on Council. How long did you serve?

JOYCE O’NEIL:
I have served for 16 years and four months.

EB: Wow. When you started did you think you would be on Council for that long?

JO:
No I certainly did not. As a matter of fact, the first year I ran, it was for three year term, right up until almost the time of the election when the government decided that no, it was going to start being four year terms. So it’s been four year terms ever since. And after each term, then I would run again and get reelected.

EB:
And so what brought about your decision now to step away and not re-offer?

JO:
Well, after 16 years, I just decided that it was time I stepped down. My age doesn’t help any, although I feel well.
And it was just time I guess.… Continue

Category: Interview

Mount Allison President Jean Paul Boudreau says he wants substantive and meaningful change in how the university handles sexual assault.

“If a person thinks they can run for Council and get everything done the way they want it, that never happens. It’s not just the decision of one person. It’s the decision of many.”