Mayor’s controversial gas-plant statement survives tied Tantramar council vote

Posted on September 4, 2026 by brucewark

Tantramar Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell

In a tied, 4-4 vote, the motion to rescind Mayor Wiggins-Colwell’s controversial statement about the proposed Tantramar gas plant was defeated Thursday after a 35 minute council debate that revealed sharp divisions of opinion.

Councillors Alyssa Greene, Wayne Wells and Haidee Robertson joined by the mayor herself voted to uphold her statement issued on behalf of council last week shortly after Environment Minister Gilles LePage announced the province had given the gas plant its conditional approval.

Mayor Wiggins-Colwell’s statement called on the town to move forward in the expectation that the 45 conditions the province imposed would address all public concerns about its potential health, safety and environmental effects.

It also suggested council should stick to matters within municipal jurisdiction and let federal and provincial regulators take responsibility for the gas plant.

Councillors Allison Butcher, Kristen LeBlanc, Tori Weldon and Deputy Mayor Josh Goguen voted in favour of revoking the mayor’s statement mainly on the grounds that it did not reflect council’s official opposition to the 500 MW plant on the ecologically sensitive Chignecto Isthmus.

Councillor Barry Hicks was absent.

During the debate, the mayor said she issued her statement after she and Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne attended an online meeting the day before with Minister LePage and his officials.

She also promised that NB Power Vice President Brad Coady and PROENERGY Canada President John MacIsaac would soon appear before council to bring everyone up to date on the gas plant project.

‘Angry comments’

Deputy Mayor Josh Goguen

Deputy Mayor Josh Goguen said he asked for the meeting so council could discuss where to go from here.

“We need to be able to advocate for our municipality,” he said, adding the mayor could have waited a few days to consult council before issuing her statement.

“We could have probably saved a lot of angry comments and vocal people being really, frankly, pissed off, online,” he said.

“So yes, maybe you’re right there, Deputy Mayor Goguen, that maybe I should have went back and maybe let the council know,” Wiggins-Colwell replied, but then defended her statement.

“That’s not unusual for a mayor to sign these statements and put them forward to the public, because that’s our first interest is our public, how they perceive things, and I thought this may help them with understanding how this was going to be, and (how) this is going to be followed all the way through the project,” she said.

Council not consulted

Councillor Kristen LeBlanc

Councillor Kristen LeBlanc pointed out that this council and the last one had voted twice to oppose the gas plant and the mayor’s statement did not reflect council’s position even though she said she was speaking on behalf of council.

LeBlanc also expressed concern that council was not consulted.

“I do have an issue when I’m not provided the opportunity to participate in a democratic process that I’ve signed up for and I feel that was taken away from most of the councillors up here that may have a different opinion,” she said.

LeBlanc added that the mayor’s statement should be removed from the town’s Facebook page.

‘This is not a war’

Councillor Alyssa Greene said she agreed with the mayor that the municipality does not have jurisdiction over regulating the plant.

“This is not a war. We have to ensure as a council that what happens for the community is what’s best for the community,” she added.

Councillor Alyssa Greene

Greene suggested the town would benefit financially from the project and that fighting the province on it could have negative ramifications. Better, she said, to ensure that the company building and operating the plant was following the conditions the province imposed.

“I understand that you feel badly about it,” she said addressing people in the audience who were muttering in disagreement.

“We’ve had people coming in here using the word ‘bomb’ repeatedly during their presentations,” Greene said.

“That’s unsettling as a council member that there are members of the community talking about that, speaking that this is the next Oka going to happen here,” she added referring to the 78 day standoff in 1990 between First Nations, police, the Canadian army and government authorities that resulted in two deaths.

“I don’t want that kind of action in our community. I want to make sure that things work out well and that we have a peaceful movement through this, because that really is the best option for our community,” Greene said.

Peaceful protests

“I just want to put a little statement out there that Councillor Greene did say that people are referring to bombs and things like that,” said Deputy Mayor Goguen.

“I just want to say that everything that I’ve seen as protests have all been peaceful,” he added.

“I know you have the assumptions that it might get ugly, but I have to applaud. People have been very peaceful and have been very respectful, especially in the council chambers,” Goguen said.

So, I don’t think you can paint the whole group as that. And to me, that comment doesn’t sit well with the municipality or myself and is not a representation of the citizens in this municipality.”

Councillor Greene responded that the assistant clerk had also heard the word ‘bomb’.

“And the threats, which I would define them as that, that this will be the next Oka, I did report those concerns to the RCMP as well,” she said.

“Because yes, they have had peaceful protests. They can change quickly and we need to ensure that that does not happen,” she added.

“If people get very upset about a concern or an issue in our community, people can be incited by even a single invidual to behave in an inappropriate fashion and we want to ensure that we have good, clear headings moving forward on this and any other issue,” Greene concluded.

‘Official sources’

Councillor LeBlanc also took issue with the mayor’s statement last Friday encouraging Tantramar residents “to rely on official sources of information for updates” on the gas plant.

“A lot of information, unfortunately, that was provided way back at the beginning of announcement of this project, specifically from the proponent, was questionable,” LeBlanc said.

“So I’m not sure how we can ask the public to continue to rely on that information when it’s always been challenged,” she added.

“I know there’s a lot of groups that have done their research,” she said, referring to residents’ meetings with Premier Holt, Minister LePage and their presentations at Energy & Utilities Board hearings.

“They’ve just been there to present factual information and always have been there to challenge and present it to council to make sure that we have it.”

Baffled & disappointed

Pam Novak of AWI and PCIC

After council adjourned, members of the audience opposed to the gas plant expressed their concerns over how things had gone, including the tied vote against rescinding the mayor’s original statement.

“I’m baffled,” said Pam Novak of the Atlantic Wildlife Institute who also speaks for the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition.

“I think there should have been a clearer goal of what this meeting was supposed to be about,” she added.

Novak said the mayor’s statement last Friday was premature and its wording insulting to those who had pushed for the town to oppose the gas plant, especially since she issued it without the backing of town council..

She said she was shocked by Councillor Greene’s assertion that opponents were threatening violence over the project.

“I’m very taken back by who is it that she’s referring to, and why was it brought up in such a meeting that it seemed to be like a blanket type of statement meant to [include] everybody who apparently has been vocal about opposing this project from the beginning.”

“I’m disappointed that there wasn’t more resolve around the council table about how inappropriate the mayor’s statement was that she posted on Facebook,” said Logan Atkinson of Seniors for Climate Tantramar.

He added that the Local Governance Act gives the mayor the authority to speak on behalf of council.

“That means she can speak to the world about council’s position,” Atkinson said. “But there has to be a position and she misrepresented it.”

Peter Higham, also of Seniors for Climate Tantramar, said the council vote essentially meant nothing.

“Except that, well, I think the mayor understands now that she cannot do that again. She cannot issue a statement that is purportedly on behalf of council, when it clearly was not,” he added.

Centre Village resident Terry Jones

Centre Village resident Terry Jones,  who lives next to the gas plant property, was ruled out of order when she stood up during the council meeting to ask why Councillor Greene was using the word “bomb” in referring to opponents of the gas plant.

“It was very insulting and very degrading to our plan,” Jones said.

“Our plan is peaceful resistance, not bombs and dangerous situations in people’s lives and the reference to Oka made no sense,” she added.

“After the meeting, I spoke to the clerk and he denies he heard the word bomb,” she said.

“I’m not sure where she came up with that.”

Jones said Greene mentioned things that had nothing to do with the mayor’s controversial statement.

“And then she threw the bomb thing out, and I think that’s now on the public record, and that is inappropriate. I think she needs to send a retraction.”

To read the mayor’s original statement, click here.

Posted in NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Coalition vows to fight on despite provincial approval of big, Isthmus gas plant

Posted on September 2, 2026 by brucewark

Pam Novak & Barry Rothfuss speak for the PCIC

The Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition (PCIC) is calling on Tantramar Town Council to pass a resolution calling on the federal minister of the environment to review the environmental, health and social effects of the proposed 500 MW gas/diesel plant near Centre Village.

“That would be my only request to Tantramar Council to help us take the message to the federal government to ask the question, why isn’t this project being reviewed on the federal level?” says Barry Rothfuss, executive director of the Atlantic Wildlife Institute and spokesman for the PCIC.

He adds the project review should not be left to what he calls “an antiquated” provincial environmental impact assessment with much weaker standards than either the federal ones or standards set by the World Health Organization.

“Tantramar council is a public body and the federal minister can’t ignore them, but she can ignore private organizations like ours,” Rothfuss adds.

The 26 organizations that are members of the PCIC

Rothfuss and his partner Pam Novak say they’re also hoping to persuade Amherst Town Council and the Cumberland Regional Municipality to ask for a federal review because northern Nova Scotia would be directly affected if the gas plant gets built.

Rothfuss says research by Stantec, the consulting firm hired by the American company PROENERGY to conduct air quality assessments, shows that Amherst and a large area around it would be directly affected by emissions from the gas plant

He points to a Stantec table showing levels of nitrogen dioxide that are nearly three times higher than federal air quality standards and levels of fine particulate matter or microscopic soot particles that also exceed federal standards.

Gas plant emissions would also exceed Nova Scotia air quality standards, he says.

PCIC graphic showing prevailing winter winds that blow over the provincial border and the areas in both provinces most directly affected by gas plant emissions

Rothfuss and Novak say the 45 conditions New Brunswick imposed when it approved the gas/diesel plant last week are completely ineffective because most defer compliance until after the plant is actually built.

They point out, for example, that condition #37 authorizes the project to proceed without a liquid waste disposal plan deferring the requirement to secure a signed contract from a receiving treatment facility until an unspecified date “prior to the operational phase of the project.”

NB Power Vice President Brad Coady told Tantramar council in July that plans call for the wastewater to be trucked across the border into Nova Scotia for possible disposal in the Halifax area raising an additional transboundary environmental issue that Rothfuss says calls for federal review.

‘Disappointed, frustrated & angry’

“I am completely disappointed, frustrated and actually angry that they’re labelling this as an approval of the project when so many of the conditions don’t have to be met beforehand,” Novak says.

“Whether it’s the environmental management plan which includes the fire safety plan, the air quality monitoring plan, all of these are significant to how this facility would be operating and the province is giving a basic approval without having those plans in place,” she adds.

Novak and Rothfuss say they’re especially concerned that final approvals will be left to the director of the EIA branch of the department of environment and local government without any public scrutiny.

They note that in its latest newsletter, PROENERGY is promising to establish a six-to-eight member community liaison committee (CLC) to provide a forum for discussion, but predict its members will be handpicked by the company.

“The only information the members will be getting is what PROENERGY is going to feed them,” Novak says. “So now, we’re at the point where the box has been closed for any public input, and any information going forward is only going to come from the company.”

More hours of operation

Rothfuss and Novak also note that PROENERGY and NB Power have said repeatedly that the gas plant would burn fuel only about 6 to 7% of the time because it would be operating 93% of the time in synchronous condensing mode which does not need fuel.

The province, however, in condition #11 permits the gas plant to burn fuel up to “17% of total operating hours calculated on a rolling 12-month basis.”

Rothfuss points out that amounts to 1,489 hours per year for this plant, while NB Power has said it has plans to build a second plant in the Scoudouc industrial park if it is needed.

“So, how can they say they’re committed to more renewable generation when the numbers of hours for this facility keep increasing?” Novak asks.

“This battle is far from over,” Rothfuss says, referring to the PCIC’s court case challenging the fairness of the Energy & Utility Board hearings that will be heard in November.

(The EUB approved the project in May.)

The federal Competition Bureau is also reviewing PCIC complaints alleging, among other things, that NB Power and PROENERGY used deceptive marketing in claiming an Indigenous financial or equity partnership in the project that did not exist.

“We have a lot of both public and legal avenues to pursue,” Rothfuss says, “and I think we’re on the right side of this issue.”

Posted in NB Power, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Commentary: No Madam Mayor, we’re not dead yet

Posted on August 31, 2026 by brucewark

by Logan Atkinson, Seniors for Climate Tantramar

Tantramar Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell wearing her chain of office

Whatever you may think about municipal politics and local politicians, it’s hard to argue that Tantramar’s new mayor and council have been sitting on their hands.

Finally, it seems, we’re working towards a solution to the problems that have plagued Sackville Fire & Rescue. At long last, the province has promised to replace the Peck’s Cove Bridge in Rockport, and it appears as though a citizen’s committee will soon be struck to recommend what to do about the Wheaton Covered Bridge.

And while the premier was invited to visit Tantramar for months and months, it took our new mayor and council to get her here to listen to their, and our, concerns. Great!

But, oh, now this!

Mayor Wiggins-Colwell’s Facebook post just a couple of hours after the province announced its approval  of the Centre Village Gas Plant has raised urgent questions about how committed this council is to the well-being of our community.

To say her post was disappointing is a gross understatement.

It was uncaring, dismissive and patronizing, and may finally demonstrate what many of us have believed all along – that our municipal politicians simply do not understand the perils posed by the NB Power/ PROENERGY gas plant.

In a nutshell, Mayor Wiggins-Colwell said that we must now roll over, accept the gas plant, believe blindly that the province had our best interests at heart by approving it with certain conditions and that besides, such matters fall outside the town’s jurisdiction.

So in response, let me say this loud and clear: No, Madam Mayor. We’re not about to roll over and we’re not dead yet. Not even close.

Let’s go through her post point by point.

First: “On behalf of Council…” she begins. What does that mean really? Where does the mayor get the authority to make public pronouncements on behalf of council? Any deliberative body requires a resolution to authorize the senior officer to speak on behalf of it.

So, where is the resolution? And when was the public meeting that passed it?

We’d like to see a poll. How many members of council agree with the mayor’s statement?

Second: the mayor’s statement says: “…we recognize the significant public interest” in the gas plant project.

No kidding.

Of course there is significant public interest in this brainless project. The Centre Village gas plant is the most consequential proposal to come forward to this community in generations. If built, it would change just about everything about life on the Chignecto Isthmus, for many generations and maybe irrevocably, for humans, for plant life, for birds and animals.

Significant public interest?” We’re not talking about a dog park here.

Third: “…our residents hold a range of perspectives on the project.”

Huh?

Why is this relevant? Is this mentioned as justification for not doing anything? Is the mayor saying, “Our residents hold a range of perspectives, so therefore council can’t take a stand?”

But the council has already taken a stand by passing resolutions opposing the gas plant not once, but twice. Residents held a range of perspectives then, just as they do now.

Besides, there’s “a range of perspectives” on every issue that comes before council. A bylaw on open fires? A new dog park? A slaughterhouse in the industrial park? What about changing the Mixed Use Zone to allow seven stories in our downtown? Didn’t take long for that change to get approved, despite a demonstrated “range of perspectives.”

Every issue generates debate.

We elect our mayor and council to consider all viewpoints, determine the best interests of the community, and act accordingly. Their job is to show leadership.

Fourth: “…we must move forward with the expectation that all public concerns are reflected in the conditions” attached to the environmental approval.

Madam Mayor, have you read the conditions? Do you realize that many of them are mere window dressing, requiring PROENERGY to follow the law, for example, when of course, it’s required to follow the law in any case, whether it’s spelled out in a fancy list of conditions or not?

In the last 14 months, the arguments in favour of the gas plant have been thoroughly debunked by those of us resisting it.

We’ve enlisted economics experts, climate change experts, energy experts, ecologists, medical doctors, environmental scientists, lawyers. We’ve submitted bundles of documents to provincial officials refuting the proponents’ arguments, and in virtually every case we have received bland non-responses or none at all. Instead, NB Power, PROENERGY and provincial politicians continue to trot out the same tired arguments, over and over, as if our arguments were never made or held no weight at all.

Have you read the list of conditions Madam Mayor? Have you considered how embarrassingly vague they are? How ambiguous? How jam-packed with the apparently unfettered discretion of bureaucrats in Fredericton who, so far at least, seem impervious to anything like logic, caring, or concern for our shared future?

I ask again: Have you really read them?

Fifth: “As the development moves forward, Council’s role is to consider matters that fall within municipal jurisdiction.”

This sounds so much like former Mayor Black’s position, publicly stated more than once, when he said words like “We have no levers to pull,” or just as limply, “We must stay in our lane.”

“As the development moves forward…?” No Madam Mayor, we’re not dead yet.

Councillor Butcher famously suggested at a council meeting that we can’t tell the province what do do, akin to a child telling a parent what to do or an employee telling the boss how to run the company.

Well, let’s get this on the table in the hope that any uncertainty about this subject can be removed: We know that the town is not in a position to veto the Centre Village gas plant. No one has asked council to do this. No one expects such a miracle.

But what do we expect? What is within council’s jurisdiction?

Section 5 of the Local Governance Act sets out the purposes of the municipality. Pretty basic stuff. The fundamentals. The genesis, really, of everything that’s done at our town hall. What does section 5 say?

It says that one purpose of the municipality is to foster the social and environmental well-being of its community. Notice use of the word “foster.” This is an active verb, it requires action, it suggests that the council must identify what is consistent with social and environmental well-being, and then take steps to achieve it.

This is not about passivity, it’s not about staying silent so as not to offend the boss. It’s about having a vision for the future, about the environmental and social well-being of the community, and then about developing a plan to actively foster that well-being.

But what to do if social and environmental well-being is jeopardized? What if the very purpose of the municipality is threatened by an outside force?

Don’t you fight with everything you have?

Don’t you pound your fist on the table and on the doors to the legislature?

Don’t you find every possible forum to advocate for the well-being of your constituents?

Don’t you demonstrate, over and over and over again, in solidarity with your constituents, that you recognize the threat, that you understand your responsibilities, that you will insist time after time that the well-being of your community must be protected and advanced?

Sixth: In her post, the mayor “…encourages residents to rely on official sources of information for updates regarding the process.” At every meeting of council, and in keeping with the meeting protocols set out in the Meeting Procedures By-Law, we sit on our hands, we leave our signs and banners at home, we keep our mouths shut. We are very patient, respectful of those who appear before council, deferential to the rulings of our municipal leadership.

But relying on official pronouncements for information on this debacle? Really? When all we’ve received so far through official channels is bafflegab, doublespeak and mumbofudge? Non-answers to our questions. Deflection. Disingenuous clap-trap.

Are we being encouraged to abandon the organizations we have consulted and recruited across the country on this crazy project?  Many of Canada’s (and the world’s) leading thinkers on environmental health and climate change? Some of the top experts on energy economics? Many physicians and ecologists and environmental scientists? In favour of what? Are we being asked to trust the very authorities whose schemes would destroy the Chignecto Isthmus and the futures of our families along with it?

Did you really think this through Madam Mayor? Do you realize what you’re asking us to do?

No, Madam Mayor, we’re not dead yet.

The very essence of life in Tantramar is at stake here, to say nothing of the wider implications for the environment and climate change. The very essence of our community is in jeopardy.

If you don’t think this is something worth fighting for, something sufficiently important for each and every one of us to continue to raise our voices in opposition together, insistently and continuously, then I’m afraid we’ll understand why our municipal leaders avert their eyes when we meet them on the street.

Logan Atkinson, Seniors for Climate Tantramar scantantramar@gmail.com

Posted in Commentary, Environment, NB Power, New Brunswick politics, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 6 Comments

New banners, new book as Tantramar honours its military veterans

Posted on August 30, 2026 by brucewark

Master of ceremonies Garth Zwicker handed out two delectable prizes at this year’s veterans banner unveiling

“I thought I’d start off with a couple of door prizes,” Garth Zwicker said as he kicked off this year’s ceremony for the unveiling of 10 more military veterans’ street banners.

“You’ve got to be quick and you’ve got to know your stuff,” he warned the 65 people in attendance, adding that hundreds of pounds of a certain product were supplied to troops during World War II.

“Lobster?” someone called out. “Sugar?” “Rum?”

“OK, I’ll give you a hint. It’s not an unwanted message on your computer,” Zwicker said.

“Spam,” called out Logan Atkinson, past president of Tantramar Heritage Trust who won himself a shiny can of the luncheon meat and then a couple of minutes later, a box of Kraft Dinner, apparently another staple of military rations “but not necessarily in the same format,” Zwicker explained.

“So, we all know what Logan Atkinson is having for supper,” he said before thanking Graham Mesheau for designing the banners and the town for putting them up on street poles in Sackville and Dorchester every year.

Book of banners

Zwicker announced that, aside from unveiling the street banners this year, he was inviting people to pre-order a book he had compiled containing about 250 banners along with the family stories that go with them.

The book will be available later this fall. To pre-order it, click here.

The $35 book, published by Tantramar Heritage Trust, is expected to be launched in November.

One of the stories in the book is about the late Harold Johnson who served in the Royal Canadian Navy for 11 years and for three in the Royal Canadian Engineers.

“He joined in 1957,” said his wife Eleanor who attended this year’s banner ceremony with her nephew Lee from Alberta.

“Harold served on both coasts, BC and Halifax,” she said, adding that serving in the navy gave him the chance to see the world.

“He was to Australia and Fiji and New Zealand, Hawaii, Great Britain, all over the world,” she said.

“Then he became a truck driver after that.”

“I joined him in 1995 when I got my trucker’s license. We drove in all 10 Canadian provinces and in 46 of the 48 continental United States,” she added.

They were living in Sackville where she grew up when Harold Johnson died of cancer on June 3rd, 2025.

“It was just five days shy of our 41st wedding anniversary,” Eleanor said sadly.

Eleanor Johnson attended the unveiling of her husband’s veterans memorial banner with her nephew Lee Johnson

Trained boxer

The Belliveau brothers, Rod and twins Mark and Marcel attended the ceremony to witness the unveiling of their uncle Raymond Martin’s banner.

“He served in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment,” Rod said.

“He was the son of my grandmother and grandfather, Henry and Lil Martin of Mount Whatley and Aulac,” he added.

“He served mainly throughout the Cold War and did tours in Cyprus and Germany.”

Belliveau said his uncle was underage, actually only about 16 when he enlisted and that the military stretched things to let him in because they needed a trained boxer for regiment competitions.

“In fact, Bob Edgett trained him,” he said, adding his uncle won championships competing against the British army.

“He’s named after our great uncle, Raymond Ashe, who is from Springhill,” said Mark Belliveau.

“Raymond Ashe died in the Allied invasion of Sicily in the Second World War and there’s a plaque honouring him at Monte Cassino Cemetery in Italy.”

He added that his uncle Raymond Martin was working for a manufacturing company in London, Ontario when he died in an industrial accident in 1992.

“I was actually serving overseas, in Africa in the Congo at the time, or Zaire when I got the notice that he was killed,” Mark said.

Rod said he and his brothers served in C Squadron of the 8th Canadian Hussars (Princess Louise’s) based for many years in Sackville.

“Our cousin Greg Martin, was a sergeant major who was part of town council some years ago, and was one of the people that swore my twin brothers into the squadron, into the regiment,” he said.

The Belliveau brothers witnessed the unveiling of their uncle Raymond’s banner. L-R: Mark, Rod and Marcel Belliveau

Banner history

Garth Zwicker says he began thinking about installing street banners back in 2015 and the first ones went up the next year.

“The project has gone from 16 banners in the first year and then we went to 38 and we thought we were done,” he says.

“Then we went to 75 and 100 and 125 and 150,” he adds.

“Nobody ever expected it to hit that number.”

“There are almost 250 banners now,” Zwicker says.

“Each banner tells a story and represents sacrifice, courage and dedication,” Tantramar Mayor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell told the families attending the unveiling ceremony.

“It’s more than a display of banners. It’s a lasting commitment to remembering the men and women who served our country.”

Delicious door prize dinner

Tantramar Heritage Trust Past President Logan Atkinson displays the delicious ingredients he won for Saturday night’s supper. Sadly, Warktimes was not invited to partake in that feast

Posted in Heritage, Town of Tantramar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Province approves 500 MW gas/diesel plant in Tantramar with 45 conditions

Posted on August 28, 2026 by brucewark

Topaz Generating Station near Houston, Texas is similar to the one that PROENERGY wants to build near Centre Village. Photo: PROENERGY

The New Brunswick government has approved construction of a 500 MW gas/diesel plant near Centre Village subject to 45 conditions that require the U.S. company PROENERGY to monitor air and water quality and submit a net zero greenhouse gas emissions plan after one full year of operation.

Other conditions require the company to:

  • engage in on-going information sharing with the Elsipogtog First Nation throughout the project in relation to any impacts on plants or wildlife, including moose.
  • work with the Tantramar Fire Department in the preparation of an Emergency Management Plan and Fire Safety plan that specifically addresses the provision of a water supply for firefighting purposes for potential fires at the facility. Those plans must be submitted to the government before construction begins.
  • investigate any complaints from local residents about negative effects on the quality and quantity of the water in their private wells. If it’s determined that PROENERGY is responsible for any negative effects, the company would be required to provide a temporary water supply for short-term impacts or to repair, remediate, or replace any permanently affected wells which might include deepening a well or drilling a new one.

PROENERGY would also be required to operate the generating plant using natural gas as the primary fuel and notify the government when it is using diesel and for how long.

Although the conditions state that PROENERGY must operate the plant primarily in synchronous condensing mode that does not require burning fuel, it will be allowed to burn fuel to generate electricity up to 17% of the time calculated on a yearly basis.

Human health

Environment Minister Gilles LePage. Photo: Government of New Brunswick

During a 30-minute news conference, Environment Minister Gilles LePage said he is satisfied with the 45 conditions.

“Some of the concerns addressed in the conditions included potential risk to human health,” LePage said in his opening statement.

“A human health risk assessment concluded that risks are negligible to minimal. Air quality monitoring will be conducted to maintain compliance with regulatory standards during operations,” he added.

“I’m very confident that this project will minimize the impact on human health.”

When asked about local opposition to the project, LePage said he would reassure residents in Tantramar that the 45 conditions will address all of their concerns.

He also pointed out that one condition requires PROENERGY to inform the public regularly about construction activities and the project’s progress.

Indigenous support

When asked how the government could continue to support the project if there is no Indigenous investment in it or approval for it, LePage pointed to the requirement to share information with the Elsipogtog First Nation.

“So, it is not a condition or essential to the project that there be Indigenous investment or buy-in or approval?” a reporter asked.

“No, my role and our role as an EIA process is to evaluate a project on the environmental impacts on a proposed project on a certain site,” the minister answered.

“The business case, the financial part, we are not engaged in that aspect,” he said, adding that the question should be directed to PROENERGY.

‘Bad, expensive, polluting idea’

Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton says she’s not surprised the Holt government has approved the gas plant.

“It’s a bad, expensive, polluting idea,” she said in a telephone interview with Warktimes.

Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton at an anti-gas plant rally last spring

“PROENERGY is the proponent, but NB Power has invited them here and the Holt government is backing this up,” she adds.

“Certainly there’s a list of conditions and I think they tried to make it look like a really long list, but a lot of it is basically saying that the company must follow the law,” Mitton says.

She mentioned what she sees as the negative effects on air, water and human health.

“It’s extremely dangerous for them to move forward with these things, these projects, when we know we have other options and we are in a climate crisis and I didn’t even talk about the cost. $3.5 billion. Think of what else we could do with that.”

Mitton points to the premier’s announcement that the moratorium on fracking is under review, now combined with her government’s approval of the gas plant.

“It’s becoming very clear where Holt really stands on these things. And it’s very clear that the Greens are the only ones who are fighting for the right to a healthy environment, are fighting for a real energy transition, and are the only ones that really have progressive views and want to make sure we have a fair economy and a fair energy system,” she says.

“Unfortunately, the other old parties are stuck in their old ways and are continuing to really just crank out the same ideas from previous centuries.”

Mayor’s statement

Meantime, Mayor Wiggins-Colwell issued a carefully worded statement on Facebook.

“Both the former and current council of Tantramar opposed this project, but we must move forward with the expectation that all public concerns are reflected in the conditions attached to the certificate approval,” her statement says before encouraging residents “to rely on official sources of information for updates regarding the process.”

To read the mayor’s statement, click here.

For New Brunswick government’s complete list of 45 conditions for the project, click here.

To read the story by John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Reporter with Brunswick News, click here.

Posted in Environment, NB Power, New Brunswick government, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Tantramar council divided over proposed Wheaton Bridge committee

Posted on August 27, 2026 by brucewark

Interior shot of the Wheaton Covered Bridge showing holes in the roof and the closure sign that the provincial department of transportation & infrastructure erected in July 2024

Tantramar town council spent more than 35 minutes Monday discussing the membership and terms of reference for a committee that would investigate ways of saving the Wheaton Covered Bridge, but could not come to a consensus on how to proceed.

Councillors were considering a report from Matt Pryde, director of active living and culture, listing the names of nine Tantramar residents who had expressed interest in joining the committee.

The previous council voted to establish the committee on January 13th when it passed a motion directing town staff to “investigate options for preservation and long-term protection of Wheaton Covered Bridge and create an ad-hoc committee for funding sources, preservation, and recommendations on the structure.”

Committee too big

“The nine members seems a little bit large to me for a committee of this nature,” said Councillor Alyssa Greene.

“I think they may get bogged down. I think five members is perhaps a better option for us,” she added.

Councillor Alyssa Greene

Greene said there are people on the proposed committee she doesn’t know and asked for more information such as their letters expressing interest and their CVs.

“I’m sure they’re great community members, but it would be important that we be able to have informed decisions on approving who the committee members are,” she said.

Greene also questioned the committee’s terms of reference including its three year term and its requirement to report to council at least twice a year.

“In three years if we were waiting that long, there won’t be a bridge. So there won’t even be a conversation,” she said, adding later that the committee could be required to report to council in three months.

CAO Jennifer Borne said the committee’s terms of reference, including its three-year term and its requirement to report to council at least twice a year, are pretty standard ones. She added the terms can always be tweaked later both by council and the committee itself.

Borne said that bigger committees can also work well as the much larger Climate Change Advisory Committee has shown and that larger volunteer committees can more easily share the work among their members.

Options needed

Councillor Tori Weldon suggested the committee could be required to provide various options.

Councillor Tori Weldon

“Like what do we do if we want to save the bridge and what do we do if it’s determined that’s not what we’re going to do,” she said.

I just want to make sure we don’t have one thing on the table,” she added.

“I don’t know if this should just be exclusively how to save the bridge, but sort of how do we deal with the situation.”

Councillor Greene agreed that the committee’s terms of reference should spell out what council wants it to examine.

“Are we looking to make sure that the spirit of that portion of heritage is always commemorated, or are we actually looking to commemorate the actual physical structure?” Greene asked.

“We need to have very clear terms within this of what we want them looking at,” she said.

‘Consent agenda’

Councillor Barry Hicks

Councillor Barry Hicks said he would be voting against the motion to send the proposal to form a committee and adopt its terms of reference to council’s regular meeting next month.

In technical terms, the motion said the matter would be placed on council’s “consent agenda” which would mean it would be voted on with no further discussion or debate.

“I’d like to have more options than just saving the bridge or maybe a way that we make a replica or whatever,” Hicks said.

“I’d like to see the options before I vote for this.”

Urgent action needed

Councillors Allison Butcher and Kristen LeBlanc stressed the need to move ahead quickly.

“I think the group that we have right now listed here are very proactive individuals,” LeBlanc said referring to the nine people who expressed interest in joining the committee.

“I’ve known the majority of them most of my life,” she added.

Councillor Allison Butcher

“I feel like we really should be moving forward,” Butcher said.

“Our bridge is falling apart, it has been for a long time,” she added.

“We can’t take two, three months just to figure out who’s on our committee. We need to get moving with it, and I respect that these people have put their name forward, and they have been chosen or pointed out by staff who have the skill level to look through and see if someone has the ability to do this or not,” Butcher said.

“I think we need to put it onto the consent agenda and get moving with the hope of fixing our bridge.”

In the end, council voted 5-3 in favour of sending the matter to its consent agenda on September 8th.

In favour: Mayor Wiggins-Colwell, Councillors Kristen LeBlanc, Tori Weldon, Allison Butcher and Haidee Robertson.

Against: Councillors Alyssa Greene, Barry Hicks and Wayne Wells.

Deputy Mayor Josh Goguen was absent.

Posted in Heritage, Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 4 Comments

Tantramar announces independent review of its fire services

Posted on August 26, 2026 by brucewark

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

Dan Dupuis, Tantramar’s director of protective services says the town’s fire services will soon undergo an independent review.

He made the announcement during Monday’s town council meeting where he said staff are in the final stages of preparing a request for proposals from consultants who would conduct the review.

In an e-mail to Warktimes, Dupuis noted that municipal amalgamation in 2023 meant that Tantramar is now served by three separate fire departments in Dorchester, Point de Bute and Sackville.

“A comprehensive review of Tantramar Fire Services is needed to provide a clear level of service including operations, administration, training and fire prevention for our three fire departments,” he writes.

“Many factors have changed over the years including population growth, mid-rise apartment buildings, heavier traffic, rail services and aging infrastructure to name a few,” he adds.

He also told council that Sackville Fire and Rescue has 11 prospective recruits who have been invited to attend an orientation session in September and after that, suitable candidates will be selected as probationary firefighters.

Dupuis said the Sackville fire department now has 25 volunteers. Full strength would be 42 plus a full-time chief who has yet to be hired.

Rebuilding confidence

Becky Goodwin, the new Tantramar fire service manager of people & culture. Photo: Warktimes 2024

In her report to council, Becky Goodwin, the new human resources manager for Tantramar fire services, said a deliberate effort is underway to rebuild confidence between members and leadership in Sackville.

Her report included such steps as listening to members’ suggestions and acting on their recommendations as well as reinforcing a zero-tolerance policy for misconduct.

Goodwin outlined several steps for rebuilding trust within the Sackville department including regular check-ins with members, 24/7 availability for support, the development of anonymous feedback options and symbolic steps such as reintroducing the word “volunteer” on firefighting equipment.

“The Tantramar fire service is undergoing a deliberate and member-focused renewal,” she told council.

To read her report, click here.

Posted in Sackville Fire & Rescue, Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 1 Comment

Tantramar councillors & Premier Holt discuss taxes, roads, health care & rural services

Posted on August 24, 2026 by brucewark

Councillor Haidee Robertson asked the premier about property taxes that make homes unaffordable. Photo: Town of Tantramar

Aside from highly contentious issues such as the proposed gas plant and the plan for highway tolls, Premier Holt discussed a wide range of other issues with Tantramar Town Council last week including property tax reform, road safety and local health care.

“We’ve been going through a large property tax reform process,” Holt said during the 50 minute meeting last Wednesday.

“That’s partly why we froze property tax assessments last year because it’s a complex system to try and unravel and rebuild.”

The premier was responding to comments from Councillor Haidee Robertson who said the property tax system is making housing unaffordable.

“In the rural setting, the property assessments are so high now that seniors are being forced out of their homes because they can’t afford the tax bill,” Robertson said.

Holt responded that her government is bringing in a new system to ensure that when property assessments rise by more than the rate of inflation, the province will automatically lower municipal tax rates to stabilize the tax bills that property owners pay.

“The value of your house should not necessarily dictate what you pay in taxes,” the premier said referring to the present system under which as tax assessments rise, municipalities reap a windfall in revenues unless they lower their tax rates.

Starting next year, an automatic stabilizer will lower municipal tax rates if assessments in a community rise by more than the rate of inflation in any year.

Municipal councils would still be able to raise rates if they need additional revenue, but would have to take political responsibility for their decision.

Under the new system, there will also be higher property tax allowances for those on low incomes.

To read a detailed overview of New Brunswick’s property tax reform, click here.

Other council questions

Councillor Barry Hicks asked Holt about the start date for construction of the temporary, modular bridge at Peck’s Cove.

The premier replied that she did not have a start date, but had been told the project is 80% designed and plans call for the temporary bridge to be installed by the end of 2026.

Councillor Wayne Wells. Photo: Town of Tantramar

Councillor Wayne Wells asked if the provincial veterinary service is still going to be cancelled.

“A lot of farmers in my ward want a provincial vet,” he said.

Holt replied that New Brunswick still intends to privatize the vet service.

“We don’t provide the maintenance guy for your truck, for your business, so it’s the same way that all of the provinces around us, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, PEI, run a private vet service. That’s what we’re doing,” she said.

Wells also asked about improved safety, including left turn and passing lanes on Rte. 16 from Aulac to the Confederation Bridge.

“It’s very busy, it’s very dangerous,” he said. “Me being in the fire department for 42 years, I’ve seen a lot of messes.”

He mentioned residents having to turn left onto Parsons Road and said the government would be receiving a petition seeking a left-turn lane on the highway from the people in Jolicure.

Holt indicated that she had noted his concerns.

Dorchester Penitentiary

Councillor Alyssa Greene referred to the federal government’s plan to build a $1 billion health centre at Dorchester Penitentiary.

She asked if the province could help lobby the federal government for money to upgrade the unpaved stretch of Walker Road that leads from TransCanada highway exit 500 to Dorchester.

Councillor Alyssa Greene. Photo: Town of Tantramar

“We don’t have an exit directly into Dorchester, and that would accommodate the traffic, the prison traffic, and also maybe commercial traffic,” she said.

“We spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to use political capital with the feds,” Holt replied.

“There’s lots of things happening with the feds right now. There’s different levers we can pull or push. We can’t pull every lever every time. And so we’re constantly asking ourselves, is this a fight that we want to take on?” the premier added.

Greene also noted that the province receives money from the federal government to cover municipal property taxes for Dorchester Penitentiary, but sends only part of it to Tantramar.

CAO Jennifer Borne said Tantramar receives between $600,000 and $700,000 from the province as a payment in lieu of property taxes.

“When it goes direct to the municipality, Spring Hill Institution, Cumberland County would receive a little over $2 million,” she said.

Premier’s priorities

Councillor Tori Weldon. Photo: Town of Tantramar

When Councillor Tori Weldon asked about her priorities, Holt said it was an easy question to answer.

“My number one priority is the health care system,” she said.

“And so when I think of Tantramar, I’m thinking about the clinic, I’m thinking about the hospital, I’m thinking about the doctors and nurse practitioners that are getting recruited here,” Holt said.

She noted that Horizon tells her that the 200 people still on the wait list will soon have access to a primary care provider, but said the health network needs to move more quickly on renovations and lease signings to provide needed space.

When Holt also mentioned Mount Allison University as an economic “driving force,” Councillor Weldon said she found talk of privatizing the university “pretty scary.”

“That wasn’t a real thing,” Holt said.

‘Very successful’ meeting

After council’s meeting with the premier ended, Mayor Wiggins-Colwell said she thought it had been very successful.

“She got a lot of information that she may or may not have known about Tantramar and I think that’s a good thing to have her informed about what’s going on and what our concerns were.”

When asked about what stood out for her, the mayor mentioned the discussion on property tax reform.

“I liked what she said about stabilizing taxes,”she said.

“I had just come from a meeting in Moncton on that and I thought she explained it really well. So that was my highlight.”

This is the third of three reports on Tantramar council’s meeting with Premier Holt. Warktimes was able to attend the meeting after Holt said she had no objection because this was council’s meeting and it was up to them to decide who could attend.

Posted in Health care, Mount Allison University, New Brunswick government, Town of Tantramar | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Premier Holt faces pushback from Tantramar council over Aulac tolls

Posted on August 22, 2026 by brucewark

Councillor Allison Butcher (R) questioning Premier Holt about the plan to put toll booths on the highway at Aulac

Premier Holt tried to defend her government’s plan to put toll booths on the TransCanada highway at Aulac near the Nova Scotia border as she answered persistent questions from Tantramar Councillor Allison Butcher and several of her council colleagues during a wide-ranging discussion Wednesday that lasted just over nine minutes.

“I am not sure if you’re aware, but Sackville, Cumberland, Amherst, Strait Shores, we’re really intertwined,” Butcher told Holt.

“There are many people who live here and work there and vice versa, where we share family members,” Butcher said, adding that two of her four siblings live in Amherst.

“People move back and forth across that [border] daily for work, for enjoyment, for business, all of that,” she continued.

“We saw what a huge difference it made for us when it was closed because of COVID,” Butcher said.

She added that she realized New Brunswick residents would not pay the tolls themselves, but they would affect families, businesses, people going back and forth for work and health care and even custody arrangements affecting children.

“Is there anything in the works to protect these people?” she asked.

Friends & family passes

“There are some things in the works, but I think there’s an opportunity for some creativity here,” Holt replied.

She suggested the Nova Scotia health authority could issue toll passes for professionals who work in Sackville but live in Amherst while New Brunswick could consider the concept of a friends and family pass or good neighbour’s pass.

“Something that’s dramatically less expensive,” Holt said, “you know a cost of, I shouldn’t even throw out numbers, like it’s $50 a year and that just gets you covered.”

“With all due respect, we don’t pay $50 now and there are many people living in our communities for whom $50 could make a huge difference,” Butcher shot back.

“We have university students travelling back and forth, we have the Irving Big Stop on the border. My daughter works there and she has as many co-workers from Amherst as from Sackville,” she said.

Butcher added that it may be fine for the Nova Scotia government to pay for health care workers’ passes, but what about patients who need to cross the border to get knee surgeries or other procedures at the Sackville hospital that the community here fought so hard to save.

“The cost of their tolls can get covered if that’s what you mean,” Holt replied.

‘Best location’

Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne questions Premier Holt as Mayor Wiggins-Colwell (L) listens

Mayor Wiggins-Colwell wondered if the government had considered installing the toll booths in Salisbury to avoid the disruptions they would cause to the closely knit communities on either side of the border.

“I believe that multiple locations were evaluated and this one was determined to be the best location where there was an alternate route,” Holt answered.

“You have to have an alternate route, that’s a requirement,” the premier said.

When Butcher asked about that alternate route, both Holt and Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne said it would be Rte. 970, the 11.4 kilometre road that connects a Nova Scotia highway at Tidnish Bridge to New Brunswick routes 15 and 16 at Port Elgin.

“It’s not even shouldered,” Borne said.  “It’s not adequate at all.”

“I think there’s lots of ways that we can work out options,” Holt said as the discussion returned to the effects on intertwined communities.

She suggested, for example, that residents who live near the border could be issued friends and family toll passes to give to their friends and family in Nova Scotia.

“The toll proposals have been kicking around for ages as ways to help us pay for infrastructure,” the premier said.

Borne suggested that trying to administer friends and family passes would be “a bit of a mess” because of everyone potentially claiming connections and she wondered about the financial impact of these passes on the $10 million the government is hoping to raise in toll revenues.

“We’ve just tried to recover from local governance reform,” Borne said.

“There’s fiscal reform, there’s property tax reform, so we’re going to tackle all of it,” she added before referring to the effects tolls would have on Tantramar.

“When you look at just these two themes, the economic impact, the social impact, mental impact on our community, we will not survive it.”

“So what are your suggestions?” Holt asked quietly.

“Not yours,” Borne replied as everyone around the table laughed.

This is the second of three reports on Tantramar council’s meeting with Premier Holt. Warktimes was able to attend the meeting after Holt said she had no objection because this was council’s meeting and it was up to them to decide who could attend.

Posted in New Brunswick government, Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 6 Comments

Give us proof Sisson mine won’t threaten waterways: local officials

Posted on August 21, 2026 by brucewark

by John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Source: Telegraph-Journal
August 20, 2026

Lawn sign being distributed by The Coalition to Stop Sisson Mine

The company that wants to build what the prime minister calls a “nation-building” mine in central New Brunswick has met again with the local government that has serious qualms about the large-scale project.

David Sweeney, the mayor of Nashwaak Rural Community, told Brunswick News his municipal council met virtually with officials from Northcliff Resources on August 11th.

The council includes the mayor and seven ward councillors, whose chief concern when it comes to the development of the Sisson mine is the Nashwaak River that flows through their rural community, centred around the old village of Stanley.

“Our council has always said the protection of the river is of utmost importance,” Sweeney said in an interview on Wednesday. “We want to protect it from any unnatural disaster.”

The politicians learned on the call the Vancouver company’s updated feasibility study on the mine, first expected in June, won’t be completed until September 30th, as previously reported by Brunswick News.

Sweeney said they didn’t hear much new information on the call, and the councillors only posed five or six questions. One of them asked if First Nations were being consulted, and Northcliff assured them private meetings were taking place with Indigenous groups.

First and foremost, the local politicians want proof the mine won’t threaten their waterways, including the Nashwaak and Tay rivers.

CEO Andrew Ing did not reply to a request for comment, nor did anyone else at Northcliff.

The firm, whose major shareholder on the project is the Todd Corporation, based in New Zealand, wants to build an open-pit tungsten and molybdenum mine, with a large tailings pond and earthen dam, near Napadogan, between the communities of Stanley and Juniper, 100 kilometres northwest by road from Fredericton.

Expensive project

On Monday, Northcliff announced it had settled a $7.3-million convertible loan agreement in the full amount plus accrued interest for a total amount of $7.6 million by issuing nearly 32 million shares to Todd Sisson (NZ) Limited. The deal was approved by the company’s board of directors on July 31st.

But that kind of money only scratches the surface. The last feasibility study, already 13 years old, stated that the project would cost more than half a billion dollars to build.

The federal and provincial Liberal governments back the mine, which would mostly dig up tungsten, a heavy metal whose market is largely controlled by China.

“What the world wants is Canada to be the reliable supplier of critical minerals,” Prime Minister Carney said in November 2025 when he announced Sisson would be on the federal government’s major projects list, a huge boost to Northcliff, which has struggled to get the mine up and running.

Talk of a mine opening in the area goes back to 1978, when exploration first took place. Nearly 50 years later, the project is still inching along.

Tungsten is used in heavy industry, largely for cutting and drilling, for military hardware, and everyday household products such as lights, ballpoint pens and cell phones.

Molybdenum is mostly used for steel alloys.

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

For previous coverage, click here.

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

Premier Holt hears Tantramar’s gas plant concerns, offers few answers

Posted on August 20, 2026 by brucewark

Tantramar council meeting with Premier Holt. Centre Right: Mayor Wiggins-Colwell, CAO Jennifer Borne, Premier Holt, Councillors Allison Butcher, Alyssa Greene, Deputy Mayor Josh Goguen, Councillors Kristen LeBlanc, Tori Weldon, Haidee Robertson, Barry Hicks, Wayne Wells [click on photo to enlarge it]

Premier Holt had little to say about NB Power’s proposed 500 MW gas/diesel plant Wednesday during a 50 minute meeting with Tantramar Town Council.

Her only promise during the nine minute discussion about the gas plant was that the provincial department of environment and local government would inform the municipality first before releasing the results of the ongoing environmental impact assessment (EIA) that began about a year ago.

“I was told that the department was going to reach out as soon as there are any developments,” Holt said, “[and] communicate with you (the mayor) and the municipality first.”

Councillor Kristen LeBlanc noted that NB Power VP Brad Coady had told council on July 14th that wastewater from the plant would be trucked across the border into Nova Scotia and she wondered if that would be enough to trigger a more comprehensive EIA.

“I don’t believe that that triggers a comprehensive assessment,” Holt replied.

“Does it make it a trans-boundary issue by any chance?” LeBlanc asked.

“Trans-boundary?” Holt asked, adding moments later that permitting systems are in place when waste products or dangerous goods are transported across provincial and national boundaries.

“There’s quite a bit of waste that comes from Nova Scotia into New Brunswick and from New Brunswick into Nova Scotia and vice versa in multiple directions,” the premier said before adding that’s not unusual.

Poor roads, risk of fire

Holt listened as councillors pointed out that Rte. 940 is already in poor condition even before the arrival of the heavy trucks and equipment that would be needed to build the gas plant.

She also listened and took notes, but did not respond when Councillor LeBlanc spoke about potential fire risks.

“I’m wondering I guess what idea you may have of resources that Tantramar has readily available to fight say, a forest fire that breaks out from these 10 turbines that are going in the middle of the woods?” LeBlanc asked.

“We are just rebuilding our fire department now in our municipality and actually going through a job posting of a full-time fire chief. So I’m wondering what incentive would the province maybe have to prepare for a gas plant in the middle of our woods if we have lack of resources now?” the councillor added.

Indigenous participation

Holt did respond to a question about whether there is any Indigenous partnership in the project.

“I believe that those negotiations continue to happen,” the premier said. “I haven’t heard of a final resolution to the commercial conversations that are happening there.”

After the meeting ended, she appeared to sidestep this question from The New Wark Times:

“NB Power is saying that an Indigenous partnership is not essential for the gas plant. What’s your view of that?”

“We’re doing a lot of work with First Nations communities around the province on a lot of different energy projects,” Holt said as she walked briskly toward her government vehicle and pulled several times at its locked door before it finally opened.

“It’s been a priority for us to restore those relationships and we’re advancing more wind projects with First Nations than New Brunswick has ever seen,” she added as she climbed into the passenger seat.

“I think we’re up to 600 megawatts, so it’s something our government is really driving,” she said before closing the van’s door.

Premier Holt talked to anti-gas plant activists briefly as she entered and left Tantramar Town Hall. L-R back row: Peter Higham, Harold Popma, Phyllis Wheaton. L-R front row: Meredith Fisher, Logan Atkinson, Barb Clayton, Terry Jones

This is the first of three reports on Tantramar council’s meeting with Premier Holt. Warktimes was able to attend the meeting after Holt said she had no objection because this was council’s meeting and it was up to them to decide who could attend.

Posted in NB Power, New Brunswick government, Town of Tantramar | Tagged | 1 Comment