First Nations Chiefs & Holt gov’t mum on fracking

Posted on June 28, 2026 by brucewark

By: John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: The Daily Gleaner
June 27, 2026

Allan Polchies, chief of Sitansisk or St. Mary’s First Nation. Photo: Wolastoqey Nation

More than a week after Premier Susan Holt held a closed-door meeting with New Brunswick’s First Nations chiefs, her Liberal government is still not saying anything about one of the main topics of discussion – the explosive issue of drilling for natural gas.

Brunswick News has talked to several chiefs who confirmed that the idea of exploiting the resource was part of the talks, a sensitive issue in a province where pushback from opponents, including Indigenous demonstrators, led to a moratorium on fracking that has been in place for a dozen years.

Allan Polchies, the chief of Sitansisk or St. Mary’s First Nation in Fredericton, said in an interview at a community event this week that natural gas was just one of several discussion points in the June 17 meeting with the premier.

“Well, of course, everyone’s going to have opinions on it. You know, definitely, we will have engagements with our citizens of our nation and have strong conversations about it. But, you know, that’s way, way down the road at this point.”

Polchies said his First Nation council would hold wider discussions with the community on the issue in the future. Asked for his personal opinion on whether gas should be drilled, Polchies smiled.

“I don’t decide for the people, the people decide for me,” he said. Then he made a joke. “You know I’m up for re-election in October, right?”

Sensitive issue

The idea of drilling for gas comes at a volatile time. The Liberal government is under pressure to fix its budget deficit, which at $1.4 billion is a record in the province, about one-tenth of its overall budget.

Natural gas exploitation could potentially win the province tens of millions of dollars in royalties. Geologists think New Brunswick has an estimated 70 trillion cubic feet of the resource underground, mostly in the Frederick Brook shale between Sussex and Elgin, although there are other pockets north of Fredericton and Moncton.

Prime Minister Carney has tried to position Canada as an energy superpower and talked about natural gas as a transition fuel that emits fewer greenhouse gases than oil or coal would when burned. One of his key cabinet ministers, Dominic LeBlanc, recently suggested the Government of Canada would enthusiastically support the New Brunswick government if it chose to lift the province’s shale gas moratorium.

At the same time, Holt has tried hard to improve relations between the provincial government and First Nations, building a lot of goodwill that former Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs, an ardent gas industry supporter, didn’t have.

But there are still huge environmental concerns. Opponents say shale gas drilling would still contribute to dangerous greenhouse gases that warm the planet at an alarming rate, pollute the air and deplete fresh water in vast amounts. They also warn of the chemical cocktail in the wastewater left behind.

More than a decade ago, hundreds of members from the province’s biggest First Nation, Elsipogtog, helped stop the American firm SWN Resources from doing exploratory work within what they consider their traditional territory near Rexton, not far from the eastern coast.

On Oct. 17, 2013, ongoing protests over the work led to an RCMP raid on blockades and an encampment that quickly turned ugly. Several police cruisers were torched. Dozens of people, many of them Indigenous, were arrested. When the Liberal government of Brian Gallant took over in 2014, it quickly imposed a moratorium on new exploration and drilling, stating it couldn’t be lifted until five conditions were met.

They include getting social licence through community consultations, First Nations buy-in, clear and credible scientific information on the impacts of fracking on water, air, and public health, proper wastewater management, and proof of the economic benefit.

‘Fighting over nothing’?

Brunswick News asked spokespeople from the Department of Indigenous Affairs and the premier’s office about the meeting with the chiefs, and for the provincial government’s perspective on the talks about the possibility of developing natural gas.

They acknowledged the request and then did not reply to several follow up messages. Holt is on vacation this week, but a request to interview Indigenous Affairs Minister Keith Chiasson was ignored.

Frank McKenna in 2023 during an interview with Warktimes

Former Liberal premier Frank McKenna, a huge supporter of natural gas development, told Brunswick News at a recent community event in Fredericton he could understand the Holt government’s delicate situation.

Asked if he had discussed the issue with Holt, he laughed and said he’d talked to every premier since he left office in 1997 about the need to develop natural gas.

McKenna said the world had changed since the moratorium was introduced in 2014.

“At a time when we’re running budget deficits of over a billion dollars a year, at a time when the entire country is trying to deal with this existential threat from south of the border, at a time where Europe desperately needs access to gas from sources other than Russia, I think it’s only natural that New Brunswick look at this issue and try to determine exactly how large your resource is. Because we may be fighting over nothing, or we may be fighting over something very substantial.”

McKenna, who sits on the board of Canadian Natural Resources Limited, one of the country’s largest independent crude oil and natural gas producers, said the Holt government would have to move step by step to try to lift the moratorium.

“First of all, we need to create the social license to move, and the premier seems to be systematically working at that. I think we need to gather intelligence. By that, I mean, we need to assess the nature of the resource, and at some point, we would need to have geothermal work done, and seismic work could determine what the resource looks like,” he said.

“Until we know that, we’re fighting over nothing.”

This story was written by Local Journalism Initiative Reporter John Chilibeck of Brunswick News.

Posted in Environment, Indigenous affairs, LJI stories | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Costly choices ahead for Wheaton Covered Bridge as town weighs its future

Posted on June 23, 2026 by brucewark

Interior shot of the Wheaton Covered Bridge showing holes in the roof and the closure sign installed in July 2024

Tantramar Town Engineer Jon Eppell painted a grim picture Monday as he outlined various options for the future of the 110-year-old Wheaton Covered Bridge on the High Marsh Road.

“There is a very significant cost to doing anything with this bridge and it is not a one-time cost,” Eppell told town council.

“These types of bridges require frequent maintenance, something significant every five years and something quite significant, much more costly to do, every 15 to 20 years,” he said, as he outlined four options if the town chooses to take ownership of the bridge from the province.

But he also warned that an engineering study that would cost about $75,000 would be needed before any options could be considered.

Eppell said restoring the Wheaton Covered Bridge as a recreational crossing for pedestrians and cyclists would probably cost more than a million dollars while repairing and moving it to a new location would likely cost significantly more.

He said the bridge could be dismantled with the wood reused as a gazebo or benches that would maintain some elements of its history.

He said the town could build a much smaller ‘replica’ covered bridge at another site, an option that could cost several million dollars or it could simply let the province retain ownership, remove the bridge and dispose of it.

Parallel bridge

Town Engineer Jon Eppell

Eppell noted that the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DTI) is planning to install a two-lane parallel bridge nearby that could accommodate road traffic and heavy farm vehicles.

DTI is close to purchasing the land that would be needed, Eppell said, and might build the parallel bridge next year.

“The reason that they have chosen to go on a parallel alignment is to allow Tantramar some time to sort out what we want to do as a community,” he said.

Deputy Mayor Josh Goguen suggested that moving the bridge onto the TransCanada trail might be a good idea.

“But I would like to see what the community wants to do with it before we come to some type of conclusion,” he said.

Councillor Alyssa Greene wondered what the people who built the bridge would want the town to do with it now.

“Would they say, ‘throw good money after something that’s broken’ or ‘construct something that’s serviceable to the community now?'” she asked, adding that she felt her forebears would say to build something useful, but preserve what they did in spirit and knowledge.

“I suspect the people that built that bridge would be amazed that it’s still around and that we haven’t replaced it with something more modern,” Eppell replied.

“It was fairly easy for them to build, but it was untreated timber out on the marsh very close to salt water and everything else and quite damp in those areas, so I think that this bridge has lasted 110 years is rather remarkable,” he said.

“We’ve gotten the money out of this one,” he added.

Mayor Wiggins-Colwell noted that it would cost DTI a million dollars to dismantle and dispose of the bridge and suggested that perhaps the town could use that money to restore it as a recreational bridge for pedestrians and cyclists.

“I think we need a lot more discussion on the Wheaton Covered Bridge,” she said.

Later, during the public question period, CAO Jennifer Borne acknowledged that the previous council had authorized the formation of a citizen’s committee to identify funding sources to restore the bridge and to integrate it into the town’s trail systems.

“Given the conversation this afternoon,” Borne said, “I hear from council that they’re still looking to form a committee.”

Symbol of old marsh

Logan Atkinson, past president Tantramar Heritage Trust

Logan Atkinson, past president of Tantramar Heritage Trust, says he’s glad to hear the town is still planning to form an ad hoc citizens committee.

“I would have liked to have seen the committee established in January or February, shortly after the resolution was passed by council,” he says.

“We do now have some time to get ourselves organized,” he adds, “but every month that goes by means the bridge is getting less and less secure and that’s a worry. So, let’s go, we’re ready to go.”

Atkinson says he would like to see the bridge restored for recreational use and as a tourist attraction along with the nearby TransCanada trail, the Campbell Carriage Factory Museum and one of the last hay barns on the High Marsh Road that is owned by Tantramar Heritage Trust.

“Package that together? Oh my gosh. You know, that’s a tourist mecca. Like, people on bikes and hiking and look, everybody would love that.”

Atkinson says that dismantling the bridge and using the wood to build something else would be like saying the old bridge itself has no value.

“Let’s not give up. This is one of the last remaining real symbols of the old marsh that we all inherited. And let’s really see what we can do with it.”

To read Jon Eppell’s written report on the Wheaton Covered Bridge, click here.

Posted in Town of Tantramar | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Shakeup at Sackville Fire & Rescue may clear path for return of 12 volunteer firefighters

Posted on June 20, 2026 by brucewark

Dan Dupuis, Tantramar’s new director of protective services at the Sackville Farmer’s Market

Tantramar’s new director of protective services says changes are coming to Sackville Fire & Rescue.

“We’re moving in a good direction,” Dan Dupuis told Warktimes today at the Sackville Farmers’ Market where the fire service had set up a display to promote fire safety.

“The future looks bright,” he says.

Although Dupuis could not comment on any specific changes in the department, Warktimes has learned from several other sources that Craig Bowser, his son Justin and firefighter Walter Allen are no longer on the Sackville fire department roster.

Acting Deputy Chief Wade Palmeter is now the department’s highest-ranking officer.

Those moves clear the way for the possible return of the 12 volunteer firefighters who turned in their pagers on January 5th.

After a meeting last night, the firefighters issued a statement expressing hope that the workplace turmoil is about to end.

“It shouldn’t have taken this long and it shouldn’t have come to this,” their statement said, “but the town has taken steps and things are finally moving in the right direction.”

The firefighters say they plan to meet with Dupuis on Tuesday to discuss returning to active duty, although they emphasize each will make his or her own decision based on their individual circumstances.

“We would like to thank Warktimes and the public for their continued support,” they said.

Dupuis, who oversees all three Tantramar fire departments as well as emergency management operations, bylaw enforcement and animal control, also says he’s hoping Sackville’s fire service is on the road to recovery.

“We’re in a good position right now for a positive outcome,” he says.

To read the town’s announcement about Dan Dupuis’ appointment and background, click here.

Posted in Sackville Fire & Rescue, Town of Tantramar | 3 Comments

Town won’t disclose actions taken after fire department investigation

Posted on June 19, 2026 by brucewark

Tantramar Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell in her new office at town hall

Tantramar Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell says she can’t say who is chief of the Sackville Fire Department.

“I’m not able to answer that at the time,” she said during a brief interview in her office at town hall.

She was commenting on a news release suggesting Sackville Fire & Rescue is finally on the road to recovery after the town administration, acting at the direction of council, took unspecified actions to resolve issues within the department.

The release says they were acting on the findings of a report from the Saint John law firm that investigated allegations dating back more than five years that included harassment, bullying, favouritism, failures of leadership and a poisoned work environment.

After 12 more volunteers turned in their pagers on January 5th, fire department membership fell to only 18 out of a full complement of 43.

Today’s release says the town administration will work with those 12 volunteers “to develop a return-to-work plan for members interested in returning to duty.”

But Wiggins-Colwell would not comment today on that plan or any other issues relating to personnel including whether Craig Bowser is still the fire chief.

The town’s release says that while the municipality recognizes “this situation is of significant public interest,” no further details will be released, “to respect privacy obligations and maintain the integrity of the personnel process.”

The town of Sackville took the same position five years ago when it received a report from the Montana Consulting Group in Moncton. Its 20 recommendations, which were never released to the public, did not resolve the workplace problems that continued to fester within the department.

Mayor Wiggins-Colwell says in today’s release that it’s been a difficult time for both the fire department and for the community.

“Now we can focus on recovery for Sackville Fire & Rescue, and on maintaining a safe, respectful workplace while providing exceptional fire service to Tantramar residents,” she adds.

‘Frustrated public’

Terry Jones addressing town council in March about the proposed Centre Village gas plant

Meantime, Terry Jones, who ran unsuccessfully for the Tantramar mayoralty, has written an open letter to members of town council, the CAO, and the new communications officer calling for the release of more information on the administrative actions that the town has taken.

“I, as a resident of Tantramar, feel that we the people deserve to be informed as to what these actions are,” she writes in a Facebook post.

“I completely understand that the specifics are confidential, however, we need to know if there has been restructuring, resignations or terminations. These allegations, if they have been proven, are serious and the public has a right to know just what steps are being taken to ensure that those at fault and those that were aware of the toxicity in the Department are no longer a part of the system,” Jones adds.

“As it sits right now the press release has created more gossip, upset and concern. Every member of Council, including the Mayor, campaigned on transparency and accountability. This press release did not inform the public as to what the appropriate administrative actions were, so once again, it is left to the imaginations of a very frustrated public,” she concludes.

To read the town news release, click here.

To read what Debbie Wiggins-Colwell and the other Tantramar mayoralty candidates had to say about the fire dept. crisis during the recent municipal election campaign, click here.

Posted in Sackville Fire & Rescue, Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 4 Comments

Mitton calls for data centre moratorium, but Holt Liberals say no

Posted on June 17, 2026 by brucewark

Anti-data centre protesters march at NB legislature. Photo: Facebook

About 150 protesters gathered at the New Brunswick legislature last week to protest against a proposed 390-megawatt AI data centre in an expanded industrial park near Lorneville outside Saint John.

They were also supporting Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton’s resolution that was being debated in the legislature calling for an immediate moratorium on the development of big data centres with warehouses full of computer servers designed to handle requests from millions of users at once.

“This plant, the plant for Lorneville, would emit 750,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, making it the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the province after the Irving refinery and the Belledune coal power plant,” Mitton told the legislature after introducing her resolution.

It called on the Holt government to stop the development of big data centres until it passes legislation to ensure they don’t increase the price of electricity, hurt communities or harm the environment.

Megan Mitton calling for a moratorium on data centres in the legislature last week

“We have to stop and pause and ask, ‘should we even build hyperscale data centres? Should we build those in New Brunswick? If so, how big and where?'” Mitton asked in her 20-minute speech.

“We should definitely not be building a 190 megawatt gas-powered plant that is going to harm the people who live near there, is going to cause air pollution and will negatively impact all New Brunswickers because it continues to contribute to the climate crisis,” she said.

The proposed Lorneville data centre is currently undergoing a provincial environmental impact assessment.

The project would be a joint venture between the U.S. firm VoltaGrid, which burns natural gas to generate electricity and its partner Beacon Data Centers of Calgary.

The VoltaGrid gas plant would generate 190 MW of electricity, but the data centre would also need an additional 200 MW from the NB Power grid.

“The environmental impact assessment for the project shows that 3.5 hectares of old-growth forest would be permanently lost during construction. On top of this, roughly 27 hectares of wetlands would be cleared and infilled to create space for the data centre,” Mitton said, adding the project would also affect a peat bog and salt marsh that are important for wildlife habitat.

“There’s also the concern of the noise for the people who live near these data centers. There’s a loud hum that comes from them. And the people who live near them have trouble living there,” she told the legislature, adding that the facility would increase the demand for power on a grid that is already under strain.

No moratorium

“This motion calls for a moratorium on the current and future development of AI data centres in New Brunswick. Mr. Speaker, this government’s approach is different. We believe in thoughtful, deliberate progress,” Liberal cabinet minister Luke Randall told the legislature after Mitton had finished speaking.

Among other things, Randall is the minister responsible for Opportunities New Brunswick, the province’s business development agency.

Luke Randall, the minister responsible for Opportunities New Brunswick

“We recognize the importance of carefully assessing every investment to ensure it delivers real economic value, respects our environmental commitments, and builds a stronger future for New Brunswick. That’s exactly how we’re approaching the issue of data centres,” Randall said, adding that it is both a necessary step and a strategic move to store Canadian data within the country’s borders.

He went on to say that Opportunities New Brunswick has been discussing the Lorneville project with Beacon Data Centres and although he acknowledged that questions have been raised about its use of water, he said he wanted to put the issue in perspective.

“The Beacon Data Centre would initially require the equivalent of the amount of water that would fill the Saint John Aquatic Centre pool one and a half times, and that’s the opening amount. After that, demand would drop to just 6,500 gallons of water per day, which would be roughly the equivalent of what a 100-seat local restaurant would use, or the amount of water needed to maintain a two-acre field,” Randall said.

He added that hyperscale data centres present economic opportunities in a new global industry as the demand for artificial intelligence, cloud-based technology and digital services continues to gather speed.

“Digital transformation is critical for businesses of all sizes and across all sectors,” Randall said.

“Embracing technology is no longer optional. It is foundational to whether businesses can compete, whether workers can become more productive, whether our economy can keep pace with the changes happening all around us.,” he added, while stressing, however, that any project would have to undergo rigorous environmental, energy and financial reviews.

‘Province should not rush’

Ian Lee, the Progressive Conservative MLA whose riding includes Lorneville, said he supported Mitton’s motion on behalf of his constituents who would be directly affected if the Beacon/VoltaGrid project gets built.

PC MLA Ian Lee

“New Brunswick has an opportunity to learn from the experience of other jurisdictions rather than repeating their mistakes,” he said, referring to Maine where lawmakers passed a bill in April halting the development of data centres over 20 MW for 18 months. Maine’s governor later vetoed the bill, the first of its kind in the U.S.

“While there is a continual promotion of AI as the future of innovation and economic growth, citizens are increasingly skeptical,” Lee said citing polls that he said showed a majority of Canadians and Americans do not view artificial intelligence as a force for good in society.

“The province should not rush into approving energy-intensive developments without fully understanding the long-term consequences for citizens, infrastructure and sustainability,” he said, adding that governments must listen to what people are saying.

“instead of just dismissing people, they need to listen to the communities. People want a voice in shaping the future of their regions,” he said.

Mitton asks for vote

When the time for the debate ran out at 6 p.m., Mitton asked for unanimous consent to extend the sitting so that the House could vote on her motion for a moratorium on new data centres.

When the Speaker asked, “Do we have unanimous consent?” several Liberal members shouted “no” and the house adjourned without voting. The next day the legislature began its summer recess.

To read an in-depth report from The Narwhal on the proposed Lorneville data centre, click here.

For a CBC report headlined “What’s behind the growing backlash toward AI data centres?”, click here.

To read a letter to Premier Holt opposing the Tantramar gas plant from doctors at the Sackville Memorial Hospital, click here.

Posted in NB Power, New Brunswick politics, Town of Sackville | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Festival organizer questions Tantramar tourism strategy; town confirms no tourism plan yet

Posted on June 14, 2026 by brucewark

Levee on the Lake artistic director Shelley Chase

A prominent Tantramar music festival organizer challenged the municipality’s approach to tourism promotion last week, arguing the town lacks a formal tourism strategy, has left advertising dollars unspent and has failed to pursue federal tourism financial support.

Shelley Chase, artistic director of Levee on the Lake, raised the concerns during a presentation to Tantramar Town Council last Tuesday.

She said she began examining the town’s tourism efforts after seeking information about external marketing that could help promote this year’s festival which is being held at the Sackville Music Barn from September 10-13.

“I reviewed the 2025 tourism project budget,” she told council based on figures she received from Treasurer Michael Beal.

“Of approximately $52,000 in spending, nearly $14,000 went to the highway tag signs,” she said referring to promotional signs placed along provincial highways to direct travellers to local events and attractions.

“The total advertising that reached beyond Amherst was only $7,000,” Chase said, adding that 22% of Tantramar’s tourism advertising budget went unspent.

She also questioned why Tantramar did not apply for an Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency tourism grant similar to one received by Salisbury and argued the municipality still lacks a formal tourism strategy three years after amalgamation.

“I would ask the department to explain why there is no tourism plan and how they measure their goals, expenditures and growth without one,” she said.

Town’s response

Jeff Taylor, Tantramar’s director of community and corporate services said he is responsible for coming up with a formal tourism plan.

“The tourism plan is set to be dealt with as part of the economic development plan,” he told council, adding that the Southeast Regional Service Commission has hired “a very expensive firm” to produce their economic development plan.

“So we’re waiting to get the results of theirs so we don’t have to spend a bunch of municipal taxpayer money on information that is in there,” he said.

Tantramar manager of tourism and business development Ron Kelly Spurles

Tantramar’s manager of tourism and business development Ron Kelly Spurles also responded by reading a long list of tourism-related activities carried out by his department including operation of the Visitor Information Centre, production of the annual visitor guide, tourism advertising, highway event signs, social media initiatives, tourism videos and participation in regional tourism organizations.

Kelly Spurles said tourism is only one part of his responsibilities and that he spends roughly half of his time on tourism and business development activities, with the remainder devoted to climate change initiatives, local food projects, grant applications and other municipal responsibilities.

Follow-up on Chase’s questions

Tantramar’s communications officer Sara Ericsson responded in an e-mail to questions from Warktimes.

She wrote that the 22% of the tourism advertising budget that went unspent refers to $3,847.50 that was allocated for a Tantramar tourism video project.

“The producing company hired for this project did not complete the video in time for these ad dollars to be spent before end of year. Rather than spend taxpayer dollars on a rushed project, Tantramar ended the year with that surplus,” she wrote.

“As the new communications officer, I am now collaborating with the team on a thorough review of advertising opportunities.”

Ericsson also confirmed that the town did not apply for an ACOA tourism grant.

Screen capture from Hub City Foodies video promoting Song’s restaurant in Sackville

“Tantramar is part of the Destination Southeast destination marketing organization, which uses significant funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) to run advertising programs for our region,” she wrote.

Ericcson said that Tantramar measures the effectiveness of its tourism promotion by gathering figures on how many people arrive at the Visitor Information Centre and where they are from; from the numbers of Visitor & Events Guides taken from the VIC; how many guides are distributed across New Brunswick and how many staff hand out at events.

“For the tourism-related social media content we create, we measure post engagement,” she writes. “This has been high on tourism videos, including on the 10-video series partnership with Hub City Foodies, which continues to generate reach for Tantramar.”

Chase responds

While town officials defended the municipality’s tourism efforts, Chase maintains that the central issue is the lack of a coordinated strategy aimed at promoting the new Town of Tantramar after amalgamation in 2023.

Jeff Taylor has been in his role for eight months and Sara Ericsson for a matter of weeks. This issue predates both of them,” Chase writes in an e-mail to Warktimes.

“A new tourism plan would be wonderful, no one is negating that, but it won’t be in effect until 2027,” she adds.

“Counting VIC visitors is foot traffic, not a measure of advertising effectiveness. Advertising is measured on reach and frequency, using cost-per-point and gross-rating- point analysis. It is because of my background, and working with other tourism departments and municipalities, that I started looking at our own,” she writes.

“I was disappointed to find no media mix. Highway signs on our own doorstep, memberships, a VIC and social media are not fulsome enough to achieve a measured return.

“Tantramar speaks about tourism as a strategic priority, but it is resourced apparently as a half-time responsibility. I would respectfully ask council to reconcile this and determine what level of commitment Tantramar’s tourism function requires, but more so deserves,” she concludes.

Town of Tantramar

Posted in Town of Sackville, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

NB Power wants to fast-track another multibillion-dollar gas plant

Posted on June 12, 2026 by brucewark

by John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter. Source: Telegraph-Journal
June 11, 2026

Brad Coady and Lori Clark answering questions at the legislature’s public accounts committee

NB Power’s CEO says her Crown corporation will build at least one more gas plant almost as soon as the controversial one in Tantramar is up and running. And she wants approvals to move quickly.

Lori Clark told reporters on Thursday that the public utility was still facing future electricity shortages. If billions of dollars more capacity isn’t added to the electrical grid, she warns that New Brunswick could be faced with brownouts and rolling blackouts.

“I do expect we will see more combustion turbines required in the future,” the executive said, adding that an additional 400 to 500 megawatts would likely be needed, the same amount as the Tantramar plant is going to produce.

“This is not unique to New Brunswick.”

Green opposition MLA Megan Mitton and other environmentalists are angry about the multibillion-dollar plants, warning they will spew out more greenhouse gases that threaten the world with climate change. They also worry they will pollute the air and water.

But Clark said New Brunswick’s neighbours, Quebec, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, are all considering building combustion gas plants to handle their growing electrical needs.

“There’s not a lot of options that can give us the reliable capacity that we need in the short term. So, gas is what we’re calling the transition fuel,” she said, a nod to NB Power’s commitment to have a net-zero electricity system by 2035, one that generates and supplies electricity with zero greenhouse gas emissions, unless they are cancelled out by certified carbon offsets.

Clark and another NB Power senior executive, Brad Coady, were grilled before the legislature’s public accounts committee for three hours Thursday.

Auditor General’s report

Politicians from all three parties demanded answers after receiving a report last week from the auditor general.

It found that NB Power executives had made critical choices without addressing the

significant financial and contractual risks of building a 500-megawatt plant in southeastern New Brunswick by 2028.

It’s a project that will cost NB Power’s 430,000 direct and indirect customers at least $2.8 billion, leading to future rate hikes for households and businesses.

The American firm PROENERGY will build, own and operate the so-called RIGS plant on behalf of NB Power, under a 25-year deal, subject to environmental approvals.

Auditor General Paul Martin testifying before the legislature’s public accounts committee earlier this month

Among his findings, auditor general Paul Martin said NB Power completed an analysis of alternatives to a gas plant only after the deal was signed.

No supplier quotes were obtained to justify NB Power’s assumption that it couldn’t build the project itself, even though Martin found the utility would pay up to $700 million more for the partnership it had chosen with the money-making firm.

Additionally, there was no backup plan if the provincial regulator had denied or delayed the project.

The report noted that the penalty would have been a US$55-million charge to NB Power, paid to PROENERGY, if the project had been scuttled, a huge risk to the utility’s customers.

In the end, the Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) approved the project last month.

Battery energy storage

Mitton, whose riding of Tantramar will be home to the new plant, is adamant it can still be cancelled and replaced with a huge battery project, which she insisted could be done more cheaply and just as quickly.

She warns that building another gas plant by 2030 – a date cited by NB Power officials – would add more fuel to the world’s climate crisis.

Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton questioning Auditor General on June 2

“I don’t think this is a done deal,” Mitton told reporters.

“Do I think that Premier Susan Holt wants this to happen? Unfortunately, I do. But there are a lot of New Brunswickers that don’t want this to happen, and that don’t want a gas plant built in Lorneville, either,” she said.

We need to change the way we’ve done things in New Brunswick and actually care about people’s health, actually care about our environment and our water.”

A proposed 390-megawatt data centre in Saint John includes construction of a 190-megawatt modular natural gas plant in Lorneville. The other needed 200 megawatts would be drawn from the NB Power electrical grid.

Risk of blackouts

During the committee session, Coady and Clark explained that they had no other choice but to bypass some of the utility’s normal procedures – such as its investment governance framework – to get the gas plant built quickly or risk rolling blackouts.

The plant will be NB Power’s first new major generator since the Belledune Generating Station went into service in 1993.

NB Power VP Brad Coady

Coady said there was no point in seeking quotes from manufacturers of dual combustion turbines because the “market is so hot” for them that they probably wouldn’t have even responded. Instead, NB Power relied on the expertise of a proven performer like PROENERGY that specializes in building and running such plants.

Clark, meanwhile, emphasized that the project had to be built speedily. The population boom following the pandemic – the province has grown by 11% since 2020 – meant that more people were drawing electricity, leading to all-time peaks for power usage in the province in 2022 and again in 2023 during a vicious cold snap in February.

If the power had failed, New Brunswickers would have been in deep trouble, as most people heat with electricity, she said.

Although NB Power bypassed some of its normal processes, Clark said it still made sure to run everything by the corporation’s board of directors and to seek approval from the EUB.

“When I look back at that moment, when the decisions were made to move forward with this energy security project, standing still was not the safest or best option for New Brunswickers,” she said.

“Doing nothing was a risk we were not willing to take on behalf of New Brunswickers. A safe, reliable, secure supply of electricity in New Brunswick, particularly in the coldest months of the year is non-negotiable.”

Pressed on why NB Power didn’t follow the investment framework, Clark told the politicians it would have added five years to the process.

Lack of public confidence

PC MLA Rob Weir

Rob Weir, a Progressive Conservative MLA on the committee, was willing to accept NB Power’s reasons for building the plant, but not the lack of documentation for proving its case.

He blasted Clark and Coady for hurting public confidence in the utility, already at a low because of rising electricity rates that have pushed residential bills up hundreds of dollars a year. In the last four years alone, prices have risen more than a quarter, well above the rate of inflation.

“So not only did they go around the process,” Weir told reporters afterward. “My problem was with they didn’t document why they did.

“I will accept them and their expertise that they needed to go around the process because of brownouts coming forward, and you’re screwed here. But my problem is, it would have been easy to document why, and that is their due diligence.”

Weir said he wasn’t satisfied based on the responses he heard.

“I’m not sure they did get the message, to tell you the truth, but they heard what I’ve said, and hopefully, it’ll sink in,” the politician from Riverview said. “When people are struggling to pay their bills, they’re going to get upset and I don’t blame them.”

Rules need to change

Given that NB Power has estimated it will need an extra 400 to 500 megawatts by 2030, even after the Tantramar plant is built, Clark said it was obvious the provincial government had to change the rules to allow the utility to spend huge sums for important projects more quickly.

“What got us here will not get us the right answers going forward,” she told Brunswick News.

“Things are happening much quicker than they have happened in the last 100 years. So, our processes need to be adapted, with the right level of oversight and governance included in those processes, but the processes need to be adapted to keep up with the changing environment that we’re working in today.”

Government house leader Marco LeBlanc

A Liberal member serving on the committee was willing to give NB Power the benefit of the doubt.

Marco LeBlanc, the government house leader, said he was glad the executives provided a better explanation as to why they bypassed normal rules on such a major project.

“Was it all the answers that I wanted to hear? Maybe not, but I believe they are going to continue to follow due process.

“I have confidence in NB Power.”

This story was written by Local Journalism Initiative Reporter John Chilibeck.

Posted in climate change, NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 2 Comments

NB Power still lacks Indigenous partner for $3.5-billion gas plant, CEO says

Posted on June 11, 2026 by brucewark

NB Power President & CEO Lori Clark testifying before the Public Accounts Committee

The President and CEO of NB Power says there is still no Indigenous partnership in the utility’s proposed 500 MW gas/diesel plant near Centre Village.

“They are working hard on it right now,” Lori Clark told the legislature’s Public Accounts Committee today during three hours of testimony.

She was referring to efforts by NB Power’s American partner PROENERGY to secure Indigenous investment.

“I can’t give you a timeline,” Clark said, “and we’ve had several conversations in terms of the timeline, but as you know, as First Nations would tell us, it will take the time it takes to get an agreement.”

She indicated that when the project was first announced, NB Power believed that PROENERGY had formed a partnership with First Nations.

“We found out later that was not the case,” she said.

Clark was responding to questions about a recent report from New Brunswick’s auditor general which points out that if PROENERGY is unable to form an Indigenous partnership by mid 2026, the U.S. company would be allowed to withdraw from the gas plant project.

“We’re working through it, with it (being) a priority right now,” she said.

Costly project

Clark confirmed the auditor general’s estimate that the gas plant project would cost $2.8 to $3.5 billion.

“I know that sounds like a lot of money,” she said, “but again, it’s a least-cost option. When we’re talking about generating facilities in the province, New Brunswick or anywhere,  we’re talking billions and billions of dollars.”

Throughout their testimony, Clark and NB Power Vice President Brad Coady stressed that combustion turbines fired by natural gas or diesel would cost less than alternative technologies such as wind and solar backed up by battery energy storage.

Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton pointed out that battery costs had fallen by 40% in recent years and that a battery system that would supply as much power as the gas plant would cost about $2.5 billion.

NB Power VP Brad Coady

“I would disagree on the characterization that it would be lower cost,” Coady replied. “Simply put, batteries are great for the first four hours, then you have to turn around and charge them.”

He added that NB Power needs technology that would supply electricity over extended periods especially during winter cold snaps and he also argued that batteries degrade over time, just like the batteries in older cell phones.

“At the Energy and Utilities Board, we presented evidence to show there’s roughly a 2% per year degradation. Over 25 years, that leaves you with almost no battery power left,” Coady said.

He added that diminishing battery performance over time needed to be factored into their overall cost.

“I do think batteries are part of our energy future,” he said.

“I think we owe it to New Brunswickers to continue to evaluate how do we solve the energy and capacity needs for this province in the most reliable, least-cost way that balances all the things that we need to balance,” he added.

Climate crisis

Mitton pointed to the costs of burning fossil fuels that contribute to climate change.

“One of the major flaws with this whole process is that our health, our environment, the climate crisis is not being prioritized in terms of decision making,” she said.

“The health-care costs, people’s wells being at risk, the damage to the road, all of those things,” she added.

Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton

“I want to also emphasize that you do not have social license to build this in my community,” Mitton said.

When Lori Clark pointed out that New Brunswick’s Electricity Act requires NB Power to pursue least-cost options, Mitton agreed that the law needs to be updated to include environmental and other costs.

“Of course people want reliable power; of course they want affordable power,” she said, adding that cheap renewables backed up by batteries can provide the solution.

“The technology exists to do all of this,” Mitton said.

“I’ve been reading this book, Still No Miracles Needed: How Today’s Technology Can Save Our Climate and Clean Our Air by Mark Jacobson,” she added.

“The technology exists.”

To read a CBC report on today’s testimony, click here.

Posted in climate change, Indigenous affairs, NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Advocate urges Tantramar council to act quickly to save Wheaton Covered Bridge

Posted on June 10, 2026 by brucewark

Logan Atkinson

Logan Atkinson, past president of Tantramar Heritage Trust, has called on the newly elected town council to help save the Wheaton Covered Bridge that has been closed for two years for safety reasons.

During council’s first regular meeting on Tuesday, Atkinson pointed to a resolution the previous council passed in January supporting the creation of a citizens’ committee to identify potential funding sources and to work on restoring the bridge so that it could be integrated into municipal trails and transportation routes.

“So far as I’m aware, no formal action has been taken to implement this resolution, so I’m asking council to direct staff to implement this resolution on an urgent basis,” he said during a five-minute presentation.

Atkinson noted that the provincial department of transportation and infrastructure (DTI) had been planning to build a new bridge nearby that could carry heavy farm equipment and emergency vehicles while preserving the existing 110-year-old covered bridge for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

He added, however, that the province has so far, not been able to acquire the necessary land and that soil testing at the preferred location appears to show that the ground is not up to the standards needed to support a new bridge.

Easy to knock bridge down

“So, they’re in a little bit of spot,” he said, adding it would be easy for DTI to knock the old bridge down and put a new one in its place.

“That would avoid any kind of environmental studies they’d have to do. They already own the ground. They know it would support the structure. And it’s a quick fix,” Atkinson said.

“I know that the farmers need that route and emergency services need it. So if I’m DTI, that’s what I’m looking at. And that’s why I’m really worried about it because we have to act right away if we’re going to save the old bridge,” he said.

Atkinson also told council that in the past, DTI has offered financial support to a community group equal to what it would cost to demolish an old bridge as a way of getting a renovation project started.

He said the community group would then raise the balance of the funds that would be needed.

“We have a casual estimate on the Wheaton Covered Bridge. not a formal estimate in writing, but a casual estimate from somebody who does know what they’re doing,” he said.

“They said that they think it would take probably a million dollars to bring it to a state where it could be used for recreational purposes. That’s a lot of money for this community, for anything. But I’m confident that if we put the right people in place, we could get it done.”

Hopeful signs

Town engineer Jon Eppell

Town engineer Jon Eppell said after Atkinson’s presentation that he has been discussing the bridge with DTI over the last several months.

“They are in fact working on a design for an alternate bridge structure,” he said.

Eppell added that he has been collecting information on the Wheaton Bridge including a structural assessment from 2017 and a report from 2024, the year it was closed.

“I am in discussions with a couple of consultants trying to collect information in order to bring an information report to Council hopefully later this month,” he said.

“It won’t have all the answers in it,” he added, but will hopefully give us a sense “of where we go with this.”

Deputy Mayor

At Tuesday’s meeting, council elected Josh Goguen as deputy mayor. He received six votes out of the nine votes cast: Councillors Greene, LeBlanc, Wells, Goguen, Hicks and Mayor Wiggins-Colwell.

Councillor Allison Butcher received two votes: Councillors Robertson and Butcher.

Councillor Tori Weldon received one vote: Councillor Weldon.

Posted in Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 4 Comments

New Tantramar council deals with fire department crisis in its first week on the job

Posted on June 4, 2026 by brucewark

Tantramar Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell wearing her chain of office shortly after Tuesday’s swearing-in ceremony

UPDATE: Tantramar Town Council met for just over two hours Friday to discuss recommendations from a Saint John law firm on how to resolve the ongoing staffing crisis within Sackville Fire & Rescue.

After the closed-door meeting, Mayor Wiggins-Colwell said that “for legal reasons,” the town wasn’t ready yet to say what steps it plans to take, but suggested an announcement could come this week.

Chief Craig Bowser was not at the meeting. He has led the department as full-time chief for almost 17 years.

****

Newly elected Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell says she is not “a fancy talker, but a good listener and I know right from wrong.”

She made that comment during a two-minute speech to a packed council chamber on Tuesday.

“Our priorities should be guided by impact and need and not convenience,” she added during a festive, swearing-in ceremony for Tantramar’s new council which consists of five new members as well as four who served on the previous council, including Wiggins-Colwell herself.

“I expect our administration to be proactive, responsive and focused on maintaining and delivering the essential services that the people rely on, as safety of the residents of Tantramar is our top priority,” she added in a possible reference to the ongoing staffing crisis within the Sackville fire department, a hot-potato issue that the new council is being asked to handle almost immediately.

Closed-door meeting

Members of council have been called to a special, closed-door meeting at noon on Friday where they are expected to review a report based on a four-month investigation into allegations first raised more than five years ago when Warktimes reported that at least 17 volunteer firefighters had resigned over a five-year period.

After 12 more volunteers turned in their pagers on January 5th reducing the fire department’s active-duty roster to 18 out of a full complement of 43, the town announced the hiring of a Saint John law firm that specializes in labour relations to conduct interviews with 31 members of Sackville Fire & Rescue.

According to a town news release, the scope of the investigation by VanBuskirk Law included:

  1. Any alleged violation of the Workplace Harassment and Violence Policy, whether in writing or verbal, including allegations related to harassment, workplace toxicity, poisoned work environment, psychologically unsafe environment, etc;
  2. Any allegations of favouritism;
  3. Any allegations related to a failure of leadership;
  4. Any alleged inappropriate behaviour that may or may not amount to harassment; and
  5. An overall conclusion as to the assessment of the workplace culture

Personnel matter

In 2021, the former town of Sackville hired the Montana Consulting Group to conduct a workplace assessment, but refused to release the $31,500 report or its recommendations to the public on the grounds that it concerned personnel matters that must remain confidential under New Brunswick’s Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

The town promised to adopt all 20 recommendations, but Warktimes has determined that at least some of them have yet to be implemented.

Friday’s closed-door meeting could provide the first indication of how the newly elected council intends to respond to one of the most contentious issues facing the municipality.

With volunteer firefighter numbers sharply reduced amid growing concerns about public safety, residents will likely be watching closely for signs that the long-running crisis is finally approaching a resolution.

Members of Tantramar’s new council. L-R back row: Haidee Robertson, Barry Hicks, Wayne Wells, Josh Goguen. L-R front row: Tori Weldon, Alyssa Greene, Debbie Wiggins-Colwell, Allison Butcher, Kristen LeBlanc. Photo: Jon Wolfe

Posted in Sackville Fire & Rescue, Town of Sackville, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Province still backing gas plant despite Auditor General’s warning on costs and risks

Posted on June 3, 2026 by brucewark

Provincial Indigenous Affairs Minister Keith Chiasson speaking in the legislature on Tuesday

New Brunswick’s Indigenous Affairs Minister Keith Chiasson says the province needs the 500 MW gas/diesel plant on the Chignecto Isthmus to help in the transition to intermittent, greener sources of electricity.

“We do recognize the Auditor General’s report on the cost of the project,” Chiasson says, adding however, that “as every province is looking to generate new electricity, the cost of actually putting something in place, a project, is actually very, very expensive.”

He was responding in the legislature Tuesday to questions from Green leader David Coon who pointed out that the Auditor General had criticized NB Power for failing to analyze the risks and benefits of alternatives such as battery energy storage systems.

“Will the premier commission an independent study into the risks and benefits of the alternatives to this diesel gas plant?” Coon asked.

Premier Holt, who was in the legislature, deflected the question to Chiasson who said that Nova Scotia wants to buy 100 MW from the Tantramar gas plant while planning, along with PEI, to install additional gas turbines of its own.

Chiasson added that the Liberal government relies on the Energy & Utilities Board to oversee such projects and to make sure they are cost effective, an apparent reference to the EUB’s approval of the gas/diesel plant last week.

Green leader David Coon raising questions about Auditor-General’s report in the NB legislature

“NB Power and the member opposite are conveniently ignoring the battery revolution that is upending conventional wisdom and electric power planning worldwide, replacing fossil-gas peaking plants and lowering power rates,” Coon shot back before asking Chiasson and the premier to “pause” the relationship between NB Power and PROENERGY, its American partner.

“I keep coming back to the fact that the RIGS project,” Chiasson replied referring to the gas plant, “and the minister of energy says it over and over, if it wasn’t for the RIGS project, NB Power would not be able to actually develop wind power that, obviously, that the First Nations are in on. It’s going to be used as backup power, and it’s actually very beneficial to NB Power and to us moving forward.”

AG answers questions

The question period exchange came a couple of hours after Auditor General Paul Martin told the legislature’s public accounts committee that there were “gaping holes” in NB Power’s analysis of the gas plant project because of the utility’s failure to fully weigh its costs and risks to customers or consider possible alternatives.

“It may be the right decision,” Martin said, “[but] how would you know?”

He said he recognized that NB Power felt its need for new power generation was urgent, but the utility had almost three years to investigate solutions, plenty of time to evaluate alternatives properly.

Auditor General Paul Martin testifying before the legislature’s public accounts committee

Martin criticized NB Power’s board of directors for failing to ask the right questions to challenge management decisions, adding that it’s not a new issue.

“We issued a report on NB Power’s early retirement plan,” he said. “We saw in that case that management actually changed the retirement package after the board approved it and did not go back for any approvals,” he added.

“Here we we see a major project that isn’t following the appropriate guidelines and I believe as a board they’ve got to elevate their oversight and responsibility in those board seats to better understand what is required of them and the oversight they have to bring to the table,” Martin said.

He added that, if for any reason, the project falls through, NB Power would be required to compensate PROENERGY for early construction costs of up to $55.1 million in U.S. dollars.

“I’m trying to understand how senior people that are in charge of this operation aren’t on top of this and where is the data, where’s the information, where’s the plan?”

Indigenous partnership?

Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton questioning Auditor General

When Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton asked about the apparent lack of an Indigenous financial or equity partnership, Martin said he didn’t have any more knowledge about it than she did.

“We do know that PROENERGY can potentially leave, withdraw from the project by mid 2026,” he said, referring to an agreement that would allow the American company to bail out if it can’t find Indigenous partners.

“I’d say we’re darn close to mid-2026 so I’m expecting we should know by this summer what’s going to happen there. Are they finding a partner or is this a dead duck?” he asked.

Posted in NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 5 Comments