On today’s CHMA local news:
- Mount Allison’s town hall is not open to the public;
- Concerns about barriers to online learning;
- Megan Mitton manages to spend Community Investment Fund, while Moncton MLAs struggle;
- Family and friends of mass murder victims march in Nova Scotia;
- Police investigate suspicious death in Waasis;
- 14-year-old boy dies in ATV crash;
- and the Maritimes COVID update.
No new cases in the Maritimes
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and PEI all reported no new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. There are three remaining active cases in New Brunswick, one in the south-east zone and two in the central zone. There are two active cases of COVID-19 in PEI, and just one remaining in Nova Scotia.
New Brunswick has declared the outbreak at a long term care facility in Atholville officially over. Regional medical officer of health Mariane Paquet says it has been 28 days since the last case within the facility was confirmed, and recently all staff and residents of the facility were re-tested. At its height, the outbreak consisted of 23 cases— 16 residents and seven staff.
Mount Allison town hall not open to the public
Mount Allison has clarified that its town hall scheduled for tomorrow morning will go ahead, but is not open to the public.
CHMA reported earlier in error that the Friday session was cancelled. The session will go ahead as planned at 10:30am Friday morning.
CHMA requested to attend the online video conference session where students and staff will get an update on enrolment and fall plans from university president Jean-Paul Boudreau.
Unfortunately, CHMA’s request to listen in on the town hall has been denied.
Mount Allison Board of Regents Chair George Cooper invited staff and students to attend two online or in-person town hall sessions, one this Friday, and one on August 6th.
University president Jean Paul Boudreau is expected to talk about the enrolment outlook, major initiatives planned for fall, recent appointments, and joint efforts by the Town of Sackville and the University to provide a safe and supportive environment for students.
Online learning may not be the barrier-free environment many think it is
Hannah Crouse is the Accessibility Affairs Coordinator for the Mount Allison Students’ Union.
She was one of many students who suddenly transitioned to online learning last month due to COVID-19.
Crouse is studying at Mount Allison part-time over the summer.
She says that there is “a significant difference between online learning and online learning during a pandemic.”
Click to listen:
“I think in March, there was a lot more anxiety around just like the unknown. There was kind of like no plans to base it off of right? Like, how would you do online learning? And how would these like self directed courses work, but since we were kind of just thrown into it in March, I think I have a lot more comfort with the courses that I’m taking now.“
Click to listen:
“Who would have known that we would have had a pandemic, right? Nobody could fathom that that was going to happen. So I think it was a huge stressful moment for everyone involved. So that doesn’t mean just students, I feel like that happens a lot of the time the stress is just kind of seen through a student’s eyes, but like staff as well, like the staff have to completely change like their syllabus or like how they’re doing the exams, that kind of thing. So it was stressful.“
Crouse says that the pandemic presents different barriers to students, and online courses need to acknowledge these new difficulties.
Click to listen:
“During this time of like online learning in this huge shift, I think transparency of what professors are expecting from students will be huge. And ideally, I would like a little more flexibility, just to make sure it’s more accessible, right?“
Crouse is concerned that online learning may not be as accessible as she hopes.
Click to listen:
“Accessibility is everything when it comes to learning. And with this huge shift in accessibility is certainly in question, if you will. There’s a lot up in the air about how accessible online learning is. So I think allowing flexibility to anyone, not even just students who have a disability or impairment, is huge and definitely should be everyone else’s ideal as well. And if that’s the case, then perhaps it should be actionized.“
Crouse warns against thinking of online learning as a “barrier-free environment.”
She says that ignores students who struggle with technology and internet access, international students living in different time zones, and those with children or unhealthy home environments.
Crouse recommends that students concerned about online learning for accessibility, mental health, or physical health reasons reach out to the Meighen Centre for accommodation within the university.
Staff are working from home, but are able to reach out by phone, video chat, or email.
Contact information is available on their website: mta.ca/meighen
For resources outside of the university’s jurisdiction, such as food security or employment, students can contact the Tantramar COVID-19 Task Force.
Contact information is available on their Facebook page.
Mitton manages to spend community fund, while Moncton MLAs struggle to find projects
The CBC’s Jacques Poitras reported this week that many MLAs have not been spending the money allotted in their Community Investment Fund—a new, fifty-thousand dollar pot of money allocated to each provincial riding.
The money is meant for projects by not-for-profit groups or local governments.
Two Moncton MLAs, PC Finance Minister Ernie Steeves and Liberal MLA Monique LeBlanc, didn’t allocate a penny of their respective funds.
Another Moncton member, Liberal MLA Cathy Rogers, spent just under three thousand of the fifty thousand dollar fund.
LeBlanc told CBC she had trouble finding projects that fit the program criteria.
MLA Megan Mitton didn’t seem to have that problem.
Mitton allocated just over forty-five thousand dollars of the Tantramar-Memramcook fund.
The biggest grant went to La Solitude de Pre-d’en-Haut, a non-profit retreat centre on the Peticodiac River near Memramcook.
The centre received $18,000 in funding for infrastructure.
The Cape Jourimain Nature Centre near the Confederation Bridge received ten thousand dollars for improvements.
The Sackville Food Bank and Memramcook Scout group each received about five thousand dollars.
Another four groups received between one thousand and twenty-three hundred dollars, including the Memramcook Food Bank, Westford Nursing Home, Open Sky Cooperative, and Live Bait Theatre.
The Community Investment Fund was created last year by the Higgs government.
Only two thirds of the 2.5 million dollar fund was spent this past year, meaning MLAs left $850,000 on the table.
Family and friends of Nova Scotia mass murder victims march to demand a public inquiry
About 300 people gathered in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia on Wednesday morning to draw attention to their demand for a public inquiry into the April mass shooting that left 22 people dead.
The group was made up of family members and friends of victims, and led by Darcy Dobson and Nick Beaton.
Dobson’s mother Heather O’Brien was killed the morning of April 19th.
Beaton’s wife Kristen was also killed that same morning.
Beaton and Dobson spoke with reporters before leading a march to the RCMP Bible Hill detachment.
Family members are calling for a public inquiry to look into the mass shooting and the response to it.
Dobson says the “RCMP has things to learn.”
Beaton told reporters one of his biggest frustrations is that anything he has learned so far has come from the media, and not from officials reaching out to families.
Beaton says a public inquiry is needed to begin to bring closure for families.
He said, QUOTE “it won’t bring them back, but we need closure, we need answers, we need the truth.”
Suspicious death in Waasis
The New Brunswick RCMP are investigating the death of a man in Waasis.
Police responded to a report of a home invasion in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
When they arrived on scene, they discovered the body of a 29-year-old man.
An autopsy will determine the cause of his death.
Police believe more than one person was involved in the home invasion, and that they were armed.
The investigation is ongoing.
Teenager dies in ATV crash
A 14-year-old boy from Hartford has died following an all-terrain vehicle crash on Tuesday evening outside Woodstock.
Police believe the teenaged driver lost control of the ATV and struck a tree.
The boy died at the scene as a result of his injuries.
There was no one else on the ATV.
The investigation into the cause of the crash is continuing.
CHMA Local News is produced by Erica Butler, with contributions from Bruce Wark, Meg Cunningham, Aura-Lynn Groomes, Geoff de Gannes, and James Anderson.
Are there stories you’d like to hear told on your local airwaves? CHMA wants to help bring you news about your community.
If you have questions or concerns about life in Sackville and the Tantramar area, get in touch with us at news@chmafm.com
Tune in to the CHMA Daily News at 8:30AM, 9:30AM, 12:00PM and 4:00PM.
