Category: Community News

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:

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CORRECTION: This article has been edited (Dec 7, 10:40pm) to reflect a correction from Mount Allison University, clarifying that construction on the library renovation project is not imminent, as previously indicated.

Mount Allison says the designs for a renovated Ralph Pickard Bell Library are being finalized, and a timeline for the rollout of the project will be released early in 2024.

The university released the news as part of a profile on Board of Regents member Dave Shastri, who is a donor to the project.

The major renovation was a pet project of former university president, Dr. Jean Paul Boudreau, who stepped down from his post this summer after a five year term. Boudreau helped secure a $36 million commitment from the federal and provincial governments to go towards the project.

Years of planning and a salmon dinner lead to major public funding commitment to future of Ralph Pickard Bell library

The University’s news release says the “Hub for Innovation and Learning” project will “renovate Mount Allison’s R.P. Bell Library building to provide modern library services as well as facilities designed for collaborative study, entrepreneurship, and experiential learning with community groups.”

University spokesperson Renée Belliveau says that the school won’t share further information about the project now, but will issue a news release in the new year. “The University will keep the community informed of progress as soon as we have relevant information to share,” writes Belliveau.… Continue

The municipality of Tantramar and CUPE Local 1188 have extended their collective agreement a year ahead of schedule, with a new agreement extending to the end of 2027, according to a news release from the town of Tantramar. The current agreement was not due to expire until December 2024, but due to amalgamation the town says it conducted a “comprehensive wage review”, and then made a proposal to the union for an extension to 2027.

The new agreement includes a 10.75% wage increase over four years, including a 2.25% increase to take effect next month, as negotiated in the previous contract. Another 8.5% will be spread over the following three years, averaging 2.8% per year. The town says the new contract “aligns with our commitment to fair compensation.”

The wage increases are slightly higher than the last CUPE contract, which saw increases of 2% in 2022 and 2023. The New Brunswick consumer price index rose 9% from June 2021 to June 2022, and 2% from June 2022 to June 2023, according to Statista.

At the time of signing, CUPE Local 1188 represented 32 unionized town employees including civic centre attendants, accounting clerks, heavy equipment operators, mechanics, and other essential municipal staff. The 2023 budget allowed for 34 unionized positions, and that could increase to 36 in 2024, according to town treasurer Michael Beal.

Local 1188 president Cory Johnson is quoted in the town’s news release saying members agreed to the town’s proposal for a “3-year extension of the labour peace.”… Continue

Tantramar’s colourful new brand was unveiled at town hall on Tuesday. Consultants Tanya Duffy of The Details Design and Branding and Tom Bateman of Porter O’Brien talked councillors through the process to arrive at, and concept behind the new logo and brand identity.

“The new Tantramar logo is a simple, clean and modern crest comprised of several parts coming together to form the complete symbol,” explained Duffy. “Each element showcases the natural beauty, history and complexity of the region. The new brand does not seek to replace the identities of the communities that combine to make Tantramar, but rather to leverage the natural surroundings identified by the residents that make Tantramar a wonderful place to live work and visit.”

Duffy said the elements of the crest were inspired by what the consultants heard in surveys and in person sessions with Sackville residents. The elements include a sun (“it was something that came up again and again that the sunsets and sunrises are unlike anywhere else,” said Duffy), clear blue skies, a Mi’kmaq star (a “special request” from Amlamgog First Nation chief Rebecca Knockwood), reed grass, and a striped green section to represent agriculture and the Acadian dyke systems that define much of the region.… Continue

“We’re really excited about this transformation at the theater,” says director Valmai Goggin about the latest production out of the Mount Allison drama department, The Drowning Girls, which opened Wednesday night in the Mother-Fancy Theatre in Sackville. “The Drowning Girls is a play that takes place, mostly, in three bathtubs full of water. And the water really is central to the story,” says Goggin.

The Drowning Girls was written by three Canadians, Beth Graham, Charlie Tomlinson, and Daniela Vlaskalic, and tells the true story of three women who were married to, and murdered by, the same man, George Joseph Smith, in the early 1900s.

“There is definitely a dark and gothic undertone to the show,” says Goggin. “But it’s actually a show that is surprisingly full of light and joy. And what happens to these women in the show is that while they were strangers to each other in real life, the play puts them on stage together, and allows them to create this really incredible sisterhood.”

A cast of three student actors play the three main characters and dozens of others over the course of the show, says Goggin. Another eight to ten students are working backstage, making the magic happen. “They’ve learned more about plumbing than they probably had previously,” says Goggin with a laugh.… Continue

Since October, avid ice skaters have been able to dust off their blades on the rink at the Tantramar Civic Centre (with free skates most weekdays from noon to 1pm, and most Sunday afternoons), but once the deeper cold sets in, the opportunities will multiply as the region’s lakes, ponds and wetlands freeze over. Over in Dorchester, there’s an additional venue for the winter sport: a regulation-sized outdoor rink off School Street, beside the Dorchester Consolidated School. And this year, the rink will see some upgrades.

At a special meeting Tuesday, council approved a $55,000 contract with Fundy Environmental and Fabrication Services from just down the road in Middleton, to improve the surface area of the rink in advance of flooding it.

“Right now, it’s basically a muck surface,” Active Living director Matt Pryde told council at a meeting Monday. “It’s very difficult to make ice on it, let alone keep the ice throughout the winter. So step one to improve this facility is to basically dig that all up and level it out and with proper gravel and and tailings.”

Pryde told council the work would be one more step towards a future project that could include a concrete pad and ice plant for the outdoor rink. “With the climate the way it is right now, we thought it made the most sense to plan for the future,” said Pryde.… Continue

If all goes well, the final phase of the Lorne Street Stormwater Mitigation project will be finished in December, according to town engineer Jon Eppell. But there’s still a question mark around an upgraded aboiteau to connect the system to the Tantramar River.

The aboiteau is provincially owned, and the price tag for the replacement has come in about $3 million, above the $2.4 million that the province has committed to the project back in May. And so Eppell says he is now waiting to hear back on whether the province will top up their funding.

Council got an update on the project at their monthly Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday. Eppell told council that the project could still be on schedule, and he hoped to have more to report at council next regular meeting on December 12. “If DTI [the department of transportation and infrastructure] gets the information to us so that we’re in a position to award at the December 12 meeting, we will still be on schedule,” said Eppell.

If the funding goes through, staff are recommending awarding the contract to Caldwell and Ross, who had the lowest bid on the project, at $2,855,750, well below the three other bids which all topped $4.5 million. With contracted engineering services added in, the cost to the province would total $3,041,750.

The project was designed and intended to be done over the winter, Eppell told council.… Continue

This month, in advance of the next Conference of Parties meeting on climate change (COP28) which starts Thursday, the United Nations Environment Programme released its 2023 Emissions Gap Report, outlining still increasing global emissions and record breaking warming, and calling on all countries to take on rapid mitigation measures to lower and eliminate carbon emissions.

According to the report, this past September was the hottest recorded month ever, with global average temperatures 1.8°C above pre-industrial levels. And in the first nine months of 2023, there 86 days with temperatures over 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

The week before the stark report, the Angus Reid Institute released results of its latest survey showing how Canadians feel about one of the federal government’s key mitigation measures, the carbon tax. The economic tool has become a flashpoint for right-left politics in Canada and New Brunswick, and according to polling done by the Angus Reid Institute, 42% of Canadians would like to see the tax abolished.  But, Angus Reid also found misconceptions about the tax were common. 

In light of the increasing debate and confusion, CHMA called up local economics professor Craig Brett to take us back to basics on the carbon tax. Brett gives us a lesson in how the carbon tax works, what it’s meant to achieve, and the role it does or doesn’t play in the affordability crisis.… Continue