Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

15 June 2016

Hits: 10284

• wildlife habitat
• protected areas
• wilderness
• Maliseet
• Established for provincial parks and protected areas
• mount carleton
• friends of mount carleton
• NB parks
• crowd funding

Fredericton - When push comes to shove, as it has in the case of pending developments in New Brunswick’s only wilderness park, it’s always good to have allies with deep pockets.

Such allies are being courted by concerned citizens who are taking the Province of New Brunswick to court over its management of Mount Carleton Wilderness Park near Nictau, N.B. 

The proposal entails extending a network of snowmobile trails to the summit, park electrification and a gas bar, things the group opposing the project believes will damage the natural area and its wildlife.

“We’ve turned to Go Fund Me, a crowd-source fundraising website, to gather the $15,000 needed to stop this development in court,” said Jean Louis Deveau, former park manager at Mount Carleton. 

“The plants and animals cannot speak for themselves,” Deveau said. “With everything around the Park being clear cut, we cannot stand by and let this sanctuary be destroyed. We've raised over $13,000 in the past week so this clearly resonates with people.” 

Grand Chief Ron Tremblay of the Traditional Maliseet Government has reached out to media outlets to cover this story. In an interview on CBC radio this week he argued strenuously that snowmobiles should not be allowed to expand their range in the park.

“The commodification of this wild place through snowmobile tourism is not only incompatible with our values, tradition, and culture but will inevitably lead to conflicts between those who, like the Gallant Government, see the park as a place of business and those who, like us, see it as sacred,” said Tremblay. 

A provincial court justice will hear arguments at the end of June in Moncton. Donors are urged to go to GoFundMe.com and search for ‘Plants & Animals Take on NB Gov’t’ to contribute towards the group's court expenses.

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

10 June 2016

Hits: 9787

• wildlife habitat
• Maliseet
• Established for provincial parks and protected areas
• mount carleton
• friends of mount carleton
• Wolastokok

La version française suit la version anglaise.


Funding appeal by the Plants, Swimmers, Flyers, Crawlers, and Four-legged creatures of Mount Carleton Provincial Park

We are the plants, swimmers, flyers, crawlers, and four-legged creatures of the park, whose ancestors have lived in this part of Wolastokuk (Maliseet homeland) for thousands of years.  Our wish for now is to have a New Brunswick court of law designate this part of Wolastokuk—our homeland—as our sanctuary.

Members of our extended families, the Kci-Putuwosultihtit Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet Grand Council), will bring our case before the court later this month. The Wolastoqewiyik (Maliseet people) have been, and always will be, our protectors. The Grand Chief of the Kci-Putuwosultihtit Wolastoqiyik, Ron Tremblay, will be joined by Jean Louis Deveau, a co-founder of the Friends of Mount Carleton and former manager of the park, who will intervene on our behalf. Our lawyer is Gordon Allen from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. 

The struggle to preserve our home for All Our Relations by challenging in court the decision to turn our home into a snowmobile hub will take thousands of dollars of the plastic money used by two-legged creatures. The economy of the land, air, and water where we live, however, is based not on plastic money, but on sunlight. So, we don’t have plastic money used by two-leggeds and will need the help of friends like you to win this court challenge.

So, this a special appeal to those of you compassionate two-legged creatures, who understand that we are all interconnected in the circle of life and who are sympathetic to preserving our way of life, here and/or elsewhere in Wolastokuk homeland, to donate your kind of money to help pay for our legal fees in court.

Posted by Nature Moncton

Category: News - Nouvelles

03 June 2016

Hits: 8014

Be Happy for Sparrows

Workshop and Field Trip with Roger Leblanc

Saturday June 11, 2016

It’s a fact that when you are starting out in birding there are some groups of birds that are harder than others to wrap you mind or binoculars around. Some beginners don’t even want to talk about flycatchers or gulls. And it’s true that some birds could drive you to get interested in plants! But there is a much easier group of birds that still gives people a lot of problems. The sparrows or LBJs (for “little brown jobs”) are birds that are relatively easy to find, don’t tend to hide that much, show fairly good field marks, and have recognizable songs. But still, identifying them will give most people a hard time at first. Why? Well as the LBJ nickname suggests they don’t have a lot of colors, they are relatively close to each other in size and there are a fair number of species to pick from.

But don’t despair -- help is on the way. Nature Moncton is offering a hands-on workshop on sparrows. Starting with a short one-hour indoor refresher on the sparrows of NB we will then head outdoors to the Riverview Marsh where we will concentrate on sparrows to try to put in practice what you have learned inside. The objective will be to find in the field as many as we can of the 7 or 8 species that can be found fairly easily in the region at this time of the year. Our own Roger Leblanc will lead this workshop / outing and will share with us the tricks of the trade that he has honed over the years for putting names on the pesky LBJ’S. Things like song, habitat, behavior and head pattern will be pointed out and studied in the hope that the LBJs will become ETCs (easy to call).

And in addition to sparrows, there are always many more other birds, including lots of waterfowl, on the marsh – so we may be surprised by other interesting species!

Saturday June 11, 8:00 to 9:00 (workshop); 9:30 to 12:00 (field)

**Workshop will be held in Community room at the Riverview Sobey’s, 1160 Findlay Blvd., Riverview

Registration with Louise Nichols at nicholsl@eastlink.ca. 

Phone: 939-9054.

Cost of workshop/field trip is $8 payable at the door . All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

Posted by Raissa Marks

Category: News - Nouvelles

02 June 2016

Hits: 6421

The federal Commissioner of Environment and Sustainable Development released her spring report this week.  In it, she addresses:

• Federal Support for Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure
• Mitigating the Impacts of Severe Weather
• Chemicals in Consumer Products and Cosmetics

Read the full report here.

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

20 May 2016

Hits: 6569

Tuesday, May 18 2016

(Fredericton, NB) To celebrate May 22, the UN International Day for Biological Diversity, groups in New Brunswick are demonstrating the high value they place on the province’s natural beauty and wild spaces with the launch of a new logo.  The logo, with the words ‘Live Wild: Together for New Brunswick Biodiversity’, will help to mainstream biodiversity in the province, which is exactly in line with the Day’s theme for this year.

The logo was developed to create awareness of the importance of New Brunswick’s diverse wildlife and to build public interest in preserving it.  This logo can be used by groups and individuals to celebrate biodiversity and demonstrate a collaborative spirit in advancing conservation and stewardship.  The logo was developed by groups involved in the Collaborative Effort on Biodiversity in New Brunswick.

“There are many different groups in the province working to preserve our diversity of life whether it is through habitat conservation, advocacy, research, stewardship, education or other means,” says Jessica Bradford of the Nature Trust of NB.  “We want to bring awareness to these efforts and unite them and show solidarity around the common goal of ensuring a wide variety of plant and animal life for a sustainable future.  We encourage all groups with projects related to biodiversity to use the logo in their communications materials and resources.”

Many groups in the province are showing their support for this initiative by displaying the logo badge on their website, putting it on publications related to biodiversity, and sharing it on social media with informative messages about biodiversity and our rich natural heritage.  In addition, New Brunswick Provincial Parks will be incorporating the logo into the Green Book, an outdoor education resource.

“The concept of biodiversity is broad and can be difficult to communicate to people,” says Vanessa Roy-McDougall, Nature NB.  “Variety in nature is absolutely critical to healthy environments and healthy people, so it is important for the various groups working to advance biodiversity to work together and spread the message in a cohesive way.”

Examples of groups using the logo include:

• Nature Trust of NB is featuring the logo in the rolling photos on their main web banner. They are also using it at the bottom of every page of their website.
• Nature NB made a new section on their website devoted to biodiversity and featuring the logo.
• Conservation Council of NB is using it on their social media and outreach materials.
• Fundy Biosphere Reserve added the logo to their website. 
• Meduxnekeag River Association, Inc. added the logo to their website.
• Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance has posted the logo on their website, along with a blog and a promotional FaceBook post.
• Vision H2O has added the logo to the trail signs at the EcoParc Cormier-Village and they will be promoting the logo during events this summer.
• Société d’aménagement de la rivière Madawaska et du lac Témiscouata, Inc. added the logo to the biodiveristy program section on their website.
• Southeastern Anglers Association is hosting the logo at the bottom of their home page.
• Falls Brook Centre has added it to the education and biodiversity sections of their website and will be featuring a blog post on biodiversity’s importance in agriculture.

In addition, to celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity and this collaborative initiative, the Nature Trust of New Brunswick, Nature NB, and the Conservation Council of New Brunswick are hosting an event together with award-winning wildlife photographer and photojournalist Nick Hawkins and experienced herpetologist and research associate with the New Brunswick Museum Greg Jongsma on Wednesday, May 25, in Fredericton.

“We are fortunate to see whales breaching in the Bay of Fundy and eagles along our rivers.  We get to hike alongside ancient pines, and explore wetlands bursting with wildlife of all kinds, from tiny dragonflies to giant moose,” stated Nadine Ives of the Conservation Council of NB.  “The International Day for Biological Diversity gives us a great opportunity to reflect on, and celebrate, nature.”


About Biodiversity: Biological diversity, or biodiversity for short, refers to the variety of all living things, as well as the ecosystems and natural processes that support them.  The province of New Brunswick has a provincial strategy that focuses on conserving biodiversity and using biological resources in a sustainable manner.  The provincial strategy aligns with the Canadian Biodiversity Strategy established to support Canada’s obligations to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which provides a Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, including the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, for the 2011-2020 period.

About the Collaborative Effort on Biodiversity in New Brunswick: The Collaborative Effort on Biodiversity in New Brunswick is a multi-stakeholder effort to address the protection of biodiversity and species-at-risk.  The aim of the collaborative is to work together to enhance stewardship activities on the ground and provide a comprehensive approach to the protection of biodiversity in the province.  Involved agencies are diverse; the collaborative brings together citizens’ conservation and environmental groups, federal, provincial, and municipal government, academics and researchers, rural and municipal planners, and businesses to work in a spirit of mutual cooperation.

Media Contacts
·         Mary Ann Coleman, New Brunswick Environmental Network, 506-433-6101, coleman@nben.ca
·         Raissa Marks, New Brunswick Environmental Network, 506-855-4144, marks@nben.ca 

Bilingual interviews
·         Vanessa Roy-McDougall, Nature NB, 506-459-4209, director@naturenb.ca·        
·         Nadine Ives, Conservation Council of NB, 506-458-8747, nadine@conservationcouncil.ca
·         Megan de Graaf, Fundy Biosphere Reserve, 506-459-4209, director@fundy-biosphere.ca
·         Christine McLaughlan, Petitcodiac Watershed Association, 506-384-3369, executivedirector@petitcodiacwatershed.org
·         Johanne Paquette, Vision H2O, 506-577-2071, info@visionh2o.com
·         Joanie Dubé, Société d’aménagement de la rivière Madawaska et du lac Témiscouata, Inc., 506-739-1992, jdube_sarmlt@nb.aibn.com
·         Darlene Elward, Southeastern Anglers Association, 506-576-2118, aprse@nb.aibn.com 

English interviews
·         Jessica Bradford, Nature Trust, 506-457-2398, communications@ntnb.org
·         Simon Mitchell, Meduxnekeag River Association, 506-238-4429, simon@meduxnekeag.org
·         Michelle Lavery, Falls Brook Centre, 506-454-5480, media@fallsbrookcentre.ca

Posted by Caroline Lubbe-D'Arcy

Category: News - Nouvelles

17 May 2016

Hits: 9999

• wildlife habitat
• forestry
• NB forestry
• sustainable forestry
• glyphosate ban

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (French follows)

Total signatures presented: 12,686!
 
MEDIA RELEASE

May 17, 2015

11,000 Signature Petition Presentation To Stop Herbicide Spraying in New Brunswick Public Forests and NB Power right-of-ways

FREDERICTON - On Wednesday, May 18, 2016, 11,868 signatures will be presented to MLAs for tabling at the Provincial Legislature to stop spraying of public forests and NB Power right of ways in New Brunswick. This second petition represents communities from every part of the province including francophone, anglophone and Indigenous communities. The petition drive will continue with future presentations planned later this year. 

A delegation of community organizers representing “Stop Spraying in New Brunswick” (SSNB) will be travelling to Fredericton from communities across New Brunswick to present a petition with (NUMBER) signatures to provincial politicians:

Petition Presentation:  Stop The Spraying of Glyphosate Herbicides
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
12:00noon - 1:00pm
In front of the Provincial Legislature Buildings
706 Queen Street
Fredericton, New Brunswick

The Stop Spraying NB movement has been growing rapidly since the recent hunting season found that there are almost no deer in our public forests. A catastrophic deer collapse was underway, with the deer population now one-quarter what it was 30 years ago.  A petition campaign which was started on December 16, 2015 with an initial submission of almost 1200 signatures from Kedgwick.

Two MLAs, David Coon (Fredericton South) and Gilles Lepage (Restigouche West) will be meeting SSNB representatives to accept and table the petition at the Legislature. They have both stated that they will sign the petition as well.

Recent data from Maine Inland F&W, Quebec Chasse et peche, NSDNR and NBDNR shows that hunting numbers in NB are now 15% of what they were in 1985, whereas in Quebec the numbers have increased threefold and in Maine they have stayed relatively stable over the same period of time. The combination of increased clearcutting and glyphosate spraying of monoculture softwood plantations are eliminating a very large amount of deer food, removing enough browse to feed 32,000 deer each and every year.  People who live near or in the woods have noticed the effects on the deer population in New Brunswick themselves.
 
David Ward, an avid outdoorsman and writer for the on-line magazine Wilderness Obsession has noticed the effects on the deer population in NB and draws a correlation with the fate of monarch butterflies : “It is time that we, as caring citizens of New Brunswick, recognize the monarch butterfly as the proverbial “canary in the coal-mine” that it truly is!  Just as using glyphosate to remove milkweed has destroyed an entire population of butterfly, removing hardwoods and shrubs from our forests in favour of new growth monocultures is having a devastating effect on Whitetail Deer and a number of other species.  We need to stand up and recognize how important this is, before it’s too late.”

Wildlife guide Leo Goguen from Rogersville is out in the woods all the time and says,  "Our livelihood depends on hunting wildlife and fowl. Irving not only poisoned the meat we eat but destroyed multiple game habitat that this game depends on to reproduce and strive. We are losing revenue on recreational activities and our families are being robbed of healthy food."

“The spraying of glyphosate converts our mixed Acadian Forests into boreal forests, consisting of conifers only. “ says André Arpin, retired canoe-outfitter from Kedgwick, “This kind of vegetation is more at risk of forest fires like we saw latety in Fort McMurray. With climate change, If we favour only one monoculture and if our new climate doesn't choose conifers, the risk of ruining our provincial economy is greater."

Charles Theriault lives in Kedgwick, one area of the many affected by glyphosate spraying. Charles is connected to many New Brunswickers all over and says, “If government does not address these petitioners concern, they can expect a ramping up of upheaval in this province.”

The acting Chief Medical Officer of New Brunswick, Dr. Jennifer Russell has been contacted by various groups including Stop Spraying NB on the status of the glyphosate report which was started by Dr. Eilish Cleary before she was terminated in the Fall of 2015. New Brunswickers deserve to know.


 Please arrange to meet members of Stop Spraying New Brunswick and other New Brunswickers who are alarmed about the continued use of these sprays outside the legislature buildings on Wednesday May 18, 2016 at noon. All political leaders and MLA's are invited to attend.


- 30 -

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Peter Gilbert, Smithfield: (506)261-1840
Dr. Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy, Fredericton: (506)292-7503
André Arpin, Kedgwick : (506)284-2769/(506)284- 0054



PETITION TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NEW BRUNSWICK
TO THE HONOURABLE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NEW BRUNSWICK, ASSEMBLED:
 
Whereas approximately 13,000 ha of New Brunswick Crown forest are sprayed every year with herbicides to kill hardwoods and plants that compete with seedlings in plantations;



Whereas spraying herbicides to kill broad leaf trees and shrubs in young conifer plantations destroys the food source and habitats of forest wildlife;



Whereas glyphosates, the herbicide used in New Brunswick Crown forest silviculture, has been labelled a probable human carcinogen by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2015;



Whereas the province of Quebec, with approximately 90 per cent of its forested land under public ownership, banned herbicide spraying of its public forest in 2001 in light of public health concerns;



Whereas replacing the use of herbicides in Crown forest with thinning crews of people working in the woods
- as Quebec has done since 2001 - would ensure more jobs from our forest resource;


Whereas the Auditor General of New Brunswick attributed the annual forest deficit ($7-$10 million for each of the last five years) to the costly silviculture program in a report tabled to the N.B. Legislature in June 2015.  At a cost of about $1,000/hectare, herbicide spraying contributes to N.B.'s annual forest deficit and prevents natural forest regeneration;
 
Whereas there is a widespread public opposition to the spraying of the forest in New Brunswick.  Three petitions against spraying the forest have been tabled in the New Brunswick Legislature in just over ten years.
 
The petition of the undersigned requests that NB MLAs support a ban on the spraying of glyphosates in Crown forest management in New Brunswick.


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POUR DIFFUSION IMMÉDIATE

 
COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE

 
17 mai 2016

Présentation de plus de 11000 signatures de Pétition de Stop Spraying NB/ Arrêtons l’arrosage NB pour l’arrêt de l'arrosage d'herbicides sur les forêts publiques du Nouveau-Brunswick ainsi que sur les droits de passage d’ Énergie NB.

FREDERICTON - Le mercredi 18 mai 2016, 11856 signatures seront présentées aux députés pour le dépôt à l'Assemblée législative provinciale pour arrêter l’épandage d’herbicides sur les forêts publiques du NB et sur les droits de passage d’Energie NB. Cette deuxième pétition, provenant de toutes les régions de la province, inclue les régions francophones, anglophones et les communautés autochtones. La campagne pour ramasser des signatures de cette pétition se poursuivra avec des présentations futures prévues plus tard cette année.

Une délégation d'organisateurs communautaires représentant « Stop Spraying NB/Arrêtons l’arrosage NB », provenant de partout dans la province, se rendra à Fredericton pour présenter une pétition de 11856 signatures aux politiciens provinciaux:

Présentation de la pétition: Arrêtons l’arrosage des herbicides glyphosate
Mercredi 18 mai 2016
12:00(midi) - 13:00
Devant les bâtiments de l’Assemblée législative
706, rue Queen
Fredericton, Nouveau-Brunswick

Le mouvement Stop Spraying/Arrêtons l’arrosage NB a connu une croissance rapide depuis la dernière saison de chasse qui a démontrée qu'il n'y a presque plus de chevreuils dans nos forêts publiques. Un effondrement catastrophique du cheptel de chevreuils est en cours, la population du chevreuil étant maintenant le quart de ce qu'il était il y a 30 ans. Une campagne pour ramasser des signatures de pétition a alors débuté le 16 Décembre 2015, avec le lancement de près de 1200 signatures provenant de la communauté rurale de Kedgwick.

Deux députés, David Coon (Fredericton-Sud) et Gilles Lepage (Restigouche-Ouest) ont accepté de rencontrer des représentants de Stop Spraying/Arrêtons l’arrosage NB et de déposer cette pétition à l'Assemblée législative. Ils ont tous deux déclaré qu'ils vont également signer la pétition.

Des données récentes du Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife , Québec Chasse et Pêche, Ministère des ressources naturelles de la N.E. et du N.B. démontrent que le nombre de captures au Nouveau-Brunswick sont maintenant 15% de ce qu'elles étaient en 1985, alors qu'au Québec, les chiffres ont triplé et dans le Maine, ils sont restés relativement stables au cours de la même période. La combinaison de l'augmentation de la coupe à blanc et de l’arrosage de glyphosates dans les plantations de monocultures de résineux éliminent une très grande quantité de nourriture de cerfs, soit l’approvisionnement en nourriture de 32,000 chevreuils et cela, chaque année. Les gens qui vivent à proximité ou dans les bois ont, eux-mêmes, remarqué les effets sur la population du chevreuil au Nouveau-Brunswick.

David Ward, un amateur de plein air et écrivain pour le magazine en ligne Wilderness Obsession, a remarqué les effets sur la population de cerfs au Nouveau-Brunswick et en tire une corrélation avec le sort des papillons monarques: "Il est temps que nous, en tant que citoyens bienveillants du Nouveau-Brunswick , reconnaissons le papillon monarque comme le «canari dans la mine de charbon" qu'il est vraiment! Tout comme l'utilisation du glyphosate pour éliminer l'asclépiade a détruit toute une population de papillons, enlever les feuillus et les arbustes de nos forêts pour favoriser la croissance de nouvelles monocultures a un effet dévastateur sur le cerf de Virginie et un certain nombre d'autres espèces. Nous devons nous tenir debout et reconnaître à quel point cela est important, avant qu'il ne soit trop tard".

Leo Goguen, guide de la faune de Rogersville, passe une bonne partie de son temps en forêt et dit: "Notre subsistance dépend de la chasse de la faune et de la volaille. Irving a non seulement empoisonné la viande que nous mangeons, mais détruit l'habitat multiple de jeu dont ils dépendent pour se reproduire et survivre. Nous perdons les revenus sur ces activités récréatives et nos familles se font voler de la nourriture saine".

"Le glyphosate transforme nos forêts acadiennes mixtes en forêts boréales, composées uniquement de conifères.", dit André Arpin, opérateur touristique retraité de Kedgwick, "Ce type de végétation est plus à risque d'incendies de forêt, comme nous l'avons vu dernièrement à Fort McMurray. Avec les changements climatiques, si nous favorisons une seule monoculture et si notre nouveau climat ne choisit pas les conifères, le risque de ruiner l'économie provinciale est plus grande."

Charles Thériault vit à Kedgwick, une des nombreuses zones touchées par l’arrosage du glyphosate. Charles est en lien avec de nombreux Néo-Brunswickois partout dans la province et dit: "Si le gouvernement ne répond pas aux préoccupations de ces pétitionnaires, ils peuvent s’ attendre à une montée en puissance de bouleversement dans cette province."

Le médecin hygiéniste en chef par intérim du Nouveau-Brunswick, le Dr Jennifer Russell, a été contacté par divers groupes, y compris Stop Spraying/Arrêtons l’arrosage NB, sur l'état du rapport de glyphosate qui a été commencé par le Dr Eilish Cleary avant qu'elle ne soit mise à pied à l'automne 2015. Les Néo-Brunswickois ont le droit de savoir.

S'il vous plaît prendre des dispositions pour rencontrer les membres de Stop Spraying/Arrêtons l’arrosage Nouveau-Brunswick et d'autres Néo-Brunswickois qui sont énormément préoccupés par l'utilisation continue de ces herbicides, à l'extérieur des bâtiments à l’assemblée législative le mercredi 18 mai 2016 à midi. Tous les dirigeants politiques et les députés provinciaux sont invités à assister.

PERSONNES CONTACTS

Peter Gilbert, Smithfield: (506)261-1840

Dr. Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy, Fredericton: (506)292-7503

André Arpin, Kedgwick : (506)284-2769/(506)284- 0054


PÉTITION À L’ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DU NOUVEAU-BRUNSWICK
À L’HONORABLE ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DU NOUVEAU-BRUNSWICK

Attendu qu’approximativement 13,000 hectares des forêts des terres de la Couronne sont arrosés chaque année avec des herbicides pour tuer le bois dur et les plantes qui rivalisent  avec les jeunes pousses des  plantations;


Attendu que l’arrosage d’herbicides pour tuer les feuillus et les arbustes dans les plantations de jeunes conifères détruit les sources de nourriture et les habitats des animaux sauvages;


Attendu que le glyphosate, l’herbicide utilisé  sur les terres de la Couronne au Nouveau-Brunswick, a été déclaré un cancérogène probable pour les humains en 2015 par le Centre international de recherche sur le cancer créé par l’Organisation mondiale de la santé;

Attendu que la province de Québec, avec approximativement 90 pour cent de ses forêts qui sont publiques, ont interdit  l’arrosage sur ses forêts publiques en 2001 à cause des préoccupations au niveau de la santé;


Attendu que remplacer l’utilisation d’herbicides sur les forêts de la Couronne par des équipes de travailleurs en forêt-tout comme l’a fait le Québec en 2001-assurerait plus d’emplois provenant de nos ressources forestières;


Attendu que la Vérificatrice générale du Nouveau-Brunswick a attribué le  déficit annuel de nos forêt ($7-$10 millions pour chacune des 5 dernières années) au coût du programme actuel de sylviculture dans un rapport remis à l’Assemblée législative du Nouveau-Brunswick en juin 2015. Au coût d’environ $1,000/hectare, l’arrosage d’herbicides contribue au déficit annuel des forêts du Nouveau-Brunswick et empêche la régénération naturelle de la forêt;


Attendu qu’il y a une vaste opposition du public à l’arrosage des forêts du Nouveau-Brunswick: trois pétitions contre l’arrosage de la forêt ont été remises à l’Assemblée législative du Nouveau-Brunswick dans les derniers 10 ans.

Les signataires de la pétition demandent  que les Membres de l’assemblée  législative du Nouveau-Brunswick supportent d’interdire l’arrosage de glyphosates dans la gestion des terres de la Couronne au Nouveau-Brunswick.

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

03 May 2016

Hits: 8085

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 3, 2016 Conservation Council's ecologist set to help NB teachers who want to take their classes outside (Fredericton) — The Conservation Council’s Learning Outside Coordinator, Nadine Ives, will join Emma McIntyre of Nature NB for an in-depth nature education training session for New Brunswick elementary teachers in Moncton this week. Thousands of teachers will participate in three different professional development days across the province on May 6 organized by the New Brunswick Teachers Association. The Elementary Council Day takes at the Bernice MacNaughton High School and Wesleyan Celebration Centre in Moncton and Ives says she is looking forward to one of her favourite days of the year. “This will be the third time I’ve helped take our shared Great Minds Think Outside professional development training to the NBTA’s Council Day participants,” said Ives, who has a PhD in ecology and has been involved in nature education in various forms for over 20 years. “Feedback from participants is always very positive and I expect the same creative responses from our teachers this week, “says Ives. “I have found that our NB teachers are enthusiastic leaders when it comes to building outside activities into their lesson plans. “ The Conservation Council’s Learning Outside program helps New Brunswick’s children re-connect with nature by developing creative ways to integrate nature into the teaching of all subjects through the development of outdoor learning spaces and provision of teacher training opportunities. Great Minds Think Outside is a hands-on, curriculum-linked, outdoor professional development program that gives teachers and educators the skills, tools, and resources they need to teach their students outside in nature. Launched in September 2015 by members of the NB Sustainability Education Alliance, the training is offered in both official languages and can be tailored to teachers of all grade levels. -30- More information Photo Caption: CCNB's Nadine Ives and elementary students explore the scents of the forest.  To learn more about the Conservation Council’s Learning Outside project, check out the website atwww.learningoutside.ca To learn more about the Great Minds Think Outside program, see www.nben.ca/greatminds. To learn more about the NBTA’s Elementary Council Day program, see http://www.nbta.ca/councils-online-2016/elementary/pdfs/2016_EC_program.pdf To arrange an interview, contact: Nadine Ives, 458-8747. Email: nadine.ives@conservationcouncil.ca

Posted by Marie-Pierre Poirier

Category: News - Nouvelles

28 April 2016

Hits: 6360

On March 1st 2016, the NBEN, in partnership with the NB Food Security Action Network and Farm to Cafeteria, hosted a provincial conference to explore the links in between food security, education and sustainability.

Food security is a new theme for the Sustainability Education Alliance of New Brunswick (SEA-NB), but was extremely well received. Over 80 participants representing schools, school districts, postsecondary institutions, NGOs, local food banks, and provincial government departments attended the event.

Over the course of the day, the participants got the chance to hear about some of the exciting educational initiatives around food security that are happening in the province, played and learned outside with the “Great Minds Think Outside” team, and left with heads full of ideas on ways to expand education around food security in NB following great discussions and a fantastic keynote address from Michael Carr.

Thanks to our partners and to everyone else that contributed to the planning and organizing of the event.

You can read the report here! 

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

22 April 2016

Hits: 9793

• democracy
• Energy East
• pipeline
• Transcanada
• Fredericton
• oil and gas industry
• bitumen pipeline
• #TakeBackTheLetter

FREDERICTON – A citizens’ group in Fredericton is asking why Mayor Brad Woodside and City Council sent a Letter of Support for the proposed TransCanada Energy East Pipeline Project to the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and kept it secret from the citizens of Fredericton.

Fredericton’s drinking water would be at risk from an Energy East pipeline spill as identified in the Drinking Water Report released on April 6th. A detailed analysis of the proposed Energy East pipeline route shows that across Canada the project could lead to the contamination of crucial sources of drinking water not identified in TransCanada’s application.

“Our City Councillors have a duty of care to ask about the risks and impacts of this export tar sands pipeline proposed to cross over or beside our rivers, bays, and drinking water supplies,” says Garry Guild, a member from the Fredericton chapter of the Council of Canadians.

“We are disappointed to learn that our City Council approved and sent this Letter of Support for this very controversial issue in the absence of an open and transparent debate during a regular Council meeting in which Frederictonians are allowed to attend,” says Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy, a member of the Fredericton chapter of the Council of Canadians. “This is more than just about a pipeline. It’s about public trust and the integrity of our elected officers. Decisions affecting the public being made secretly behind closed doors have no place in 2016.”

The decision also contradicts the position of the Wolastoq Grand Council which recently announced on February 8th their opposition to the Energy East pipeline. The pipeline would traverse their unceded traditional homeland through the Saint John River watershed, including the headwaters of the Nashwaak River which is north of Fredericton.

To date, the following one-sentence statement is the only response that members of the local chapter have received from the City Clerk’s Office of the City of Fredericton:

“The City of Fredericton was approached by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce for a letter of support in relation to Trans Canada’s Energy East Project; and a letter was sent by Mayor Woodside, on behalf of City Council, to the Prime Minister of Canada confirming support.” (City Clerk’s Office, e-mail received April 05, 2016)

“With impending municipal elections (Monday, May 9th), the citizens of Fredericton need to vote for a Mayor and Councillors who are both accountable and transparent. This is how they gain our trust”, says Joan Green, a member of the Fredericton chapter of the Council of Canadians.The Fredericton chapter of the Council of Canadians has launched a ‘Publicly Take Back The Letter’ campaign asking Fredericton City Council to publicly withdraw the letter before or at their Monday, April 25th meeting @ 7:30pm, the final Regular Meeting of City Council prior to the May 9th municipal election.

Posted by Marie-Pierre Poirier

Category: News - Nouvelles

19 April 2016

Hits: 6125

On February 12, 2016, over 60 climate change adaptation practitioners from all across the province and beyond met to exchange and share information about tools and adaptation work. In the context of the recent global focus on climate change, the conference also provided a platform for groups to think strategically about upcoming opportunities.

Throughout the day, the participants heard about some of the fantastic adaptation initiatives that are happening in NB and were able to get a better sense of the opportunities for collaboration on climate change adaptation at the regional, provincial, and federal level.

It is also a very exciting time for the Climate Change Adaptation Collaborative as more concrete actions are starting to happen around the priorities that were identified at previous workshops. During the day, the participants discussed how they could work together on the following priorities:

-Maintain a network and support partnerships to advance climate change adaptation in the province.

-Ensure that appropriate research, data, and tools are shared among Collaborative partners and widely across sectors.

-Support education and communication approaches focused on climate change adaptation.

-Encourage and support mainstreaming of planning at all levels to account for climate change adaptation and the need to include economic, social, cultural, and ecological values.

-Promote green infrastructure as viable options for adaptation.

There are now three active teams under the umbrella of the Collaborative: Green Infrastructure, Education, and Planning. 

The event was organized in collaboration with the members of the Steering Committee of the Climate Change Adaptation Collaborative. Thanks to the presenters, the participants, and the committee members. You all contributed to making the day a success.

You can read the report here!

Posted by Jon MacNeill

Category: News - Nouvelles

11 April 2016

Hits: 9093

• NB
• green jobs
• renewable energy
• green energy development.
• green economy
• Greenhouse gas footprint

Select Committee engages all New Brunswickers in growing the green economy

FREDERICTON — Establishing a Select Committee on Climate Change is an excellent step toward engaging all New Brunswickers in the important work of growing our economy and protecting our communities from extreme weather and sea level rise.

The Legislative Assembly voted unanimously in support of a motion to establish the all-party committee on Friday, April 9. The Conservation Council applauds the members of the House and looks forward to participating in this public process.

“This is an opportunity to let all New Brunswickers get involved in the plan to move us smoothly and successfully toward a low-carbon economy,” says Executive Director Lois Corbett.

Select committees are a way for government to include all New Brunswickers in the investigation of important subjects. Select committees report to all members of the legislative assembly and typically hold public hearings where citizens, government officials and expert witnesses are invited to appear.

The motion, introduced by Environment Minister Brian Kenny, states: “The government recognizes that investing in clean technology solutions, especially in areas such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, and cleaner energy production and use, holds great promise for sustainable economic development and long-term job creation.”

It also recognizes climate change as the single most significant challenge of our generation, stating: “New Brunswick is already experiencing impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, extreme rainfall events, coastal and inland flooding, more coastal erosion, heat waves, some migration of invasive species, and diseases.”

The motion asks the Select Committee to hold public consultations and gives it the power to meet, hold hearings, and release a report whether the House is sitting or not.

While commending government for introducing the motion, Corbett urges legislators and committee members to move quickly on this important work. “The committee should focus on putting New Brunswick’s best foot forward as the federal government continues work on the national climate plan,” she says.

“As Minister Kenny says in his motion, acting on the challenge of climate change won’t just protect us from the impacts communities are already experiencing — it’s the best course of action to create jobs in our province,” Corbett concludes.

The Select Committee on Climate Change is composed of: Andrew Harvey (Lib), the Member for Carleton-Victoria; Bernard LeBlanc (Lib), the Member for Memramcook-Tantramar; Monique LeBlanc (Lib), the Member for Moncton East, John Ames (Lib), the Member for Charlotte-Campobello; Wilfred Roussel (Lib), the Member for Shippagan-Lamèque-Miscou, Jody Carr (PC), the Member for Oromocto- Lincoln, Brian Keirstead (PC), the Member for Albert; and David Coon (Green), the Member for Fredericton South.

Read the motion here.

To arrange an interview, contact: Jon MacNeill, Communications. Officer: 458-8747; Cell: 261-1353; Email: jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca

Category: News - Nouvelles

04 April 2016

Hits: 7527

• obituary
• Ken Hardie

Ken Hardie passed away on April 1, 2016.  Ken was dedicated to NB forests and worked tirelessly for improvements to forest policy. Through this work, he built strong links with people in the environmental community from across the province. He was executive director of the NB Federation of Woodlot Owners, and involved in the Southern New Brunswick Wood Co-op, the SNB Marketing Board and the SNB Working Woodlot program. Ken was a founding member of the New Brunswick Community Land Trust. Ken will be profoundly missed by all who are working on forest issues. Our condolences go to his family and friends.

---

Obituary

Kenneth Thomas Laing Hardie
1953-2016

Ken Hardie of Kars, NB, loving husband of Deborah Boles, passed away peacefully on April 1, 2016 at Saint John Regional Hospital. Born August 22, 1953, in Montreal, Ken was the son of John Laing Hardie (Selkirk, MB) and the late Alice Thompson.

Ken grew up in Dollard des Ormeaux, QC, attended high school in Pointe Claire, and university at Sir George Williams in Montreal. In 1971 Ken migrated east to study science and play varsity football at UNB where he made lifelong friendships. After university, Ken put down Maritime roots. He remained in Fredericton where he managed the UNB Student Union and played for the infamous Atlantic Rentals hockey team. However, his life soon changed when he fell in love and married Deborah Boles in 1981. The newlyweds moved to a 230 year old farmhouse in Kars on Belleisle Bay. It was here that Ken found his passion - the forest. He developed a Fundy Model woodlot on his farm and began a storied career in forestry in which he held many positions: executive director of the NB Federation of Woodlot Owners, and leadership roles in the Southern New Brunswick Wood Co-op, the SNB Marketing Board and the SNB Working Woodlot program. Ken was a proud founding member of the New Brunswick Community Land Trust.

Ken Hardie was a humble man of character and integrity who possessed a fine sense of humour. He earned the respect and admiration of all who knew him. He was passionate about environmental stewardship, nature and wildlife. His love of animals, especially his many hounds and cats, was legendary, but above all it was Deborah, his friends and family that mattered most. He will be missed. Ken was predeceased by his cherished Bernese Mountain Dog, Addie.

Besides his wife of 35 years, Ken is survived by his father; sister, Margaret (Gerald Beaudoin) of Havelock, QC; brother, Robert Hardie (Lynn Charette) of Halifax, NS; and brother-in-law, David Boles of Fredericton. Ken was the loving uncle of Mathiew and the late Jean-Luke Beaudoin; and Tyler, Jordyn and Austyn Hardie. He was much loved by cousins, Anne Maura and Mary Alice.

A memorial gathering will be held at McAdam’s Funeral Home on Wednesday, April 6th, 2016, from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. Word of remembrance to celebrate Ken’s life will occur at 3:00 pm followed by a reception. For those who wish, donations may be made in Ken’s memory to the New Brunswick Community Land Trust, the SPCA or a charity of the donor’s choice.

www.mcadamsfh.com

Posted by Vanessa Roy-McDougall

Category: News - Nouvelles

24 March 2016

Hits: 8211

Join Nature NB as we help researchers from across Canada in tracking changes in our Natural Environment! The PlantWatch program enables citizen scientists to get involved by recording flowering times for selected plant species and reporting these dates to researchers, who work to identify ecological changes that may be affecting our environment. No experience needed!
For more information on how to participate, visit our website:


Joignez Nature NB à aider les chercheurs de partout au Canada à suivre les changements dans notre environnement naturel. Le programme AttentionFlore permet à des citoyens scientifiques de participer et d’agir en enregistrant la période de floraison d’espèces de plantes sélectionnées, et en communiquant ces dates aux scientifiques. Aucune experience nécéssaire!
Pour plus d'information visitez notre site web.

Posted by Vanessa Roy-McDougall

Category: News - Nouvelles

24 March 2016

Hits: 8127

The 2016 Festival of Nature Schedule is now available. Discover Restigouche county and surrounding areas the weekend of May 27-29th 2016.

L'horaire du Festival de la Nature 2016 est maintenant disponible. Découvrez comté de Restigouche et ses environs le week-end du 27-29 mai 2016

Schedule/horaire: http://www.naturenb.ca/about-us/2016-festival-of-nature/
Register/inscription: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/2016-festival-of-nature-festiva…

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

22 March 2016

Hits: 10921

• watershed
• water
• indigenous treaty rights
• water commodification

“Strengthen, not weaken, the protection of our rivers, bays and drinking water”, says New Brunswick groups questioning the government’s Water Strategy

FREDERICTON, N.B. –  On World Water Day, March 22^nd,  several citizen groups joined the Wolastoq Grand Council and held a Press Conference today in Fredericton to call on the Gallant government for the immediate halt to the hastily-planned review process for the New Brunswick’s new Water Strategy.  

“The process is a sham.”, says Mark D’Arcy, New Brunswick Energy East Campaigner for the Council of Canadians.  “The Gallant Government is proposing a new strategy to manage our drinking water and waterways with industry and to replace our current water classification regulation.  The process is not democratic.  The process would weaken, not strengthen, our protection of water.  And the process ignores the reality of climate change, that peoples’ lives and communities are at stake.” 

The process is not democratic. 

Brian Kenny, NB Minister of Environment and Local Government, released the Discussion Paper entitled ‘Working Together to Build a Water Strategy for New Brunswick” on March 6^th.  Less than two weeks later, six Open Houses in rapid succession have been scheduled to gather people’s input with written feedback welcome until April 29th (see link below to government website).

“Why has there been limited advertising for these Open House consultations and why is the lead time for this input so rushed?,” asks Mark D’Arcy. “Why is the government conducting secret stakeholder meetings with watershed groups and municipalities that excludes the public? And why is there a third tier of secret stakeholder meetings only with industry. You can’t have a democracy with secret meetings. Is this to pave the way for large-scale projects such as Energy East, Sisson Brook, and shale gas fracking? Premier Brian Gallant needs to halt this process now and start an open and meaningful public process.” 

Ann Pohl, Chair of the Council of Canadians – Kent County Chapter says, “We endorse this call for an open, transparent, engaged and valid process to determine water protection policy and regulations.”

Sharlene Paul, Clanmother speaking on behalf of the Wolastoq Grand Council, says, “It is wrong of Premier Brian Gallant to release any Water Strategy without first initiating discussions with our people.  Our recent declarations here in our non-ceded Wolastoq Homeland – the ‘Water Declaration’ last May 2015 in Red Head, and our ‘Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth’ in February 2016 - are very clear about the importance of water:  The inherent right to water as a source of life.”

The process is going to weaken, not strengthen, our protection of water.

Lawrence Wuest, a retired scientist who lives in the Nashwaak River watershed, asked, “Why is the government disempowering and dismantling at least six (6) current volunteer watershed organizations along the Saint John River?  The new water strategy proposes to exclude from provincial legislation almost all the individual watersheds directly impacted by the Energy East Pipeline, the Sisson Tungsten Mine, the Minco PLC Woodstock Manganese Project, and shale gas development in the great swath of New Brunswick currently under gas and oil exploration license and lease."

Mr. Wuest emphasizes, "This would remove local community control, monitoring and advocacy in the Nashwaak Watershed, the Meduxnekeag Watershed, the Cannan River/Washademoak Lake Watershed, the Belleisle Bay Watershed, the Kennebecasis Watershed, the Hammond River Watershed, and all other existing sub-watersheds of the Saint John River.”

“Why won’t they implement the Watershed Classification System? “, asks Bill Ayer. “This is the same system successfully used by the State of Maine, which would allow NB and ME to easily exchange data on their shared Transboundary watersheds in the St. Croix and St. John River Basins.”

“We must listen to our Ombudsman,” says Margo Sheppard, member of Council of Canadians – Fredericton chapter. “Ombudsman Charles Murray ruled in 2014 that the province’s Water Classification Regulation was legal and that it was reckless not to put it into practice. Ombudsman Murray stressed that this Water Classification was made a strong legal tool by an amendment of the Clean Water Act on December 19, 2008.”

 “The language in the discussion paper with respect to the management and control of water by industry, including ‘water management partnerships’, is too vague and is also very troubling”, says Susan Linkletter, Vice President of the Organic Crop improvement Association, and former Executive Director of the Petitcodiac Watershed Alliance, “The Water Strategy is proposing a triple bottom line, that is, of managing water for people, nature, and business.  Why, when we know the value of clean drinking water, is the Province laying a foundation that would allow for the bulk transport of water between watersheds in New Brunswick, as well as the export of water out of New Brunswick?”, says Jean Louis Deveau, Chair of the Council of Canadians – Fredericton chapter. 

The process ignores the reality of climate change.

“The new Water Strategy ignores the focus on water in the recent NB report of the Commission on Hydraulic Fracturing”, says Maggie Connell, past Co-chair Council of Canadians – Fredericton chapter.  “The Commissioner detailed steps to protect surface water and groundwater, including the “comprehensive mapping and monitoring of New Brunswick’s groundwater aquifers” and “to mitigate the impacts of climate change-related effects, such as extreme weather, on New Brunswick’s watersheds, coasts and land base”.

Our group has consistently warned Premier Gallant and his Ministers of the need to stop the unsustainable forest clear cutting and the destruction of our wetlands,” says Connell. “The environmental protection of our forests and watersheds must be an urgent priority in order to protect downstream communities.”

Marilyn Merritt-Gray a resident of Kars, one of the Belleisle Bay communities hardest hit by the Fall 2015 rain storm, says “We know all about bad roads down here, spring flooding and washouts, but the September storm was overwhelming. The government says they have already spent $15 million on bridge and road reconstruction, but even with that in our roads in places remain barely passable and other roads remain closed. For weeks the river in front of my house ran brown.”

Halt the current Water Strategy process and start over.  

“It’s important that we halt this current process and start over with a more evidence-based document and with an open and transparent process, a process which includes all Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in New Brunswick and the Chief Medical Officer of Health,” says Russ Letica, First Nation Consultation Coordinator from the Wolastoqiyik Nation.

The last planned meeting for ‘invitation-only stakeholders’ is in Fredericton on Wednesday, March 23rd from 2:00pm-4:00pm at the Fredericton Inn.  The Open House follows at 4:30pm-6:30pm, also at the Fredericton Inn.  We encourage the general public to attend these meetings, ask these important questions and your local concerns about the protection of our water, and ask the Gallant government to halt the current Water Strategy process.  The process should start only after Premier Gallant properly answers these questions.  


                                                       - 30 -

References: 



Managing Water Resources, 3pp - Released March 1, 2016

http://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/env/pdf/Water-Eau/WaterStrategy-StrategieSurLeau/ManagingWaterResources.pdf



Working Towards a Water Strategy for New Brunswick, 24pp – Released March 6, 2016

http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/elg/environment/content/water/content/water_strategy.html

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

22 March 2016

Hits: 10907

• water
• natural resources
• watersheds
• water safety
• water strategy,

At the Peace and Friendship Alliance (PAFA) meeting of March 19th, Lawrence Wuest introduced us to the Gallant government’s proposed new water strategy which is meant to replace our current Water Classification Regulation, NB Regulation 2002-13.

The following is an attempt to explain the differences between the two.

The proposed new water strategy may be found on all of two pages, that is, on pages 17 and 18 of a discussion paper called Working Together to Build a Water Strategy for New Brunswick. It consists of four main goals.

Goal no. 2 of this new water strategy, as quoted from page 17, is: “to manage and use water responsibly by protecting drinking water and eco-system [sic] health while allowing economic opportunities (my emphasis).”

Of concern is that, compared to our current water policy, water will be used for economic development, “now and in the future.” An example of this would be to use water for fracking. In short, the use of water for economic development is now entrenched in the draft water strategy and so on equal footing with the traditional use of water which is to maintain the health of our environments. These two objectives are diametrically opposed. Plus, there is no indication on how water allocations would be made and who would be making those decisions other than that it would be a shared responsibility amongst the consumers, be it corporations or people, large or small.

On page 6 of the new water strategy, the Government stated that it is committed to engage First Nations communities in the discussion and that information will be sent to those communities. According to discussions held at the PAFA meeting, on March 19th, First Nations were not involved in drafting this new water strategy before it was released to the public. And since the provisions of the Government’s own policy on the Duty to Consult Indigenous Peoples requires that First Nations be consulted at the outset, as opposed to after such a policy has been drafted, the government is already in contravention of its own rules and regulations, not to mention Supreme Court of Canada rulings from which their consultation policy is a derivation of.

Our current water classification system as specified in A Guide to New Brunswick’s Water Classification Regulation, and albeit never implemented, has been in existence since 2002. It is designed to protect aquatic life. This is accomplished by way of engaging with community members to collect data on the quality of water in the streams, rivers, and lakes of their respective communities. This data is then used to classify these bodies of water according to three different classes of water: A, B, or C, where class A consists of the highest quality water. Each body of water would then be managed according to its classification. Nobody is permitted to do anything to change a body of water’s classification without receiving permission from members of the local community, thereby making local communities responsible and accountable for the care and use of their water. This is by far one of the most progressive policies in North America yet risks being dismantled by the Gallant government in exchange for their watered-down policy which is the subject of this notification.

There has been a great deal of interest demonstrated from New Brunswick’s communities in classifying bodies of water. Since 2000, more than a million dollars has been dispensed by the Environmental Trust Fund to non-governmental organizations, such as the Nashwaak Watershed Association and the Groupe du bassin versant de la region du Cap Pele, to collect data needed for the classification of some 19 rivers in New Brunswick.

Whereas our current water classification system is focused on a single bottom line of ensuring that the conditions necessary to maintain aquatic life are being met, as illustrated in Table 1 above, the triple bottom line of the new water strategy, that is, of managing water for people, nature, and industry is problematic for at least three reasons. First, the incorporation of water as a means for economic growth ultimately leads to the commodification of water.

The commodification of water means that water could be traded on the free market like oil, gas, and other commodities. Should our water become entangled in free trade agreements, this would undoubtedly lead to conflicts on who should have priority over its use: people, nature, or industry. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, corporations trump all else. Second, the transferring of the responsibility for the care of our water from communities into the hands of consumers, be it people or corporations, means that not only have local communities lost control over their water but that whoever has the most power and influence, in terms of corporations and or other consumers, gets to decide who uses our water. Third, this way of managing our water is not in keeping with the government’s obligations of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples who view water as sacred and who would never accept water being used for economic development.

My second point is about the lack of transparency over this issue. Despite the importance and gravity of this major policy change in water use, public consultations on this new water strategy have been occurring with little to no advertisement, thus making it nearly impossible for interested citizens to become engaged. Appearing in the Gallant Government’s last throne speech, and in a press release which was not picked up by the media, public notifications have not been widely distributed. To date, four open houses have occurred, with only two left to happen this week: Monday in Saint John and Wednesday in Fredericton. The meetings are also happening during supper time, that is, between 4:30 pm and 6:30, making it difficult for many people to attend, particularly those who finish work at 5:00 pm and those with young children in daycare. By way of comparison, the 2012 Citizen Engagement tour for the new oil and natural gas standards were well advertised and took place between 6:30 and 8:30 pm.

And finally, I wish to refer to a comment on page 13 of the new water strategy made in reference to the deficiencies of the current water classification system.

[Department of Environment and Local Government] was advised that deficiencies within this regulation prevented its use to classify surface waters and the program was put on hold. Furthermore DELG received legal advice that suggested attempting to fix this regulation would equate to an entire rewrite of that part of the legislation.

Charles Murray, our Ombudsman did not agree with the concerns expressed above by the Department of Environment and Local Government as stated on pages 5-6 of his report:

At this point, it should be noted that no court has ruled upon the Regulation. Accordingly, the suggestions that the Regulation is void or unenforceable are thus far opinion— perhaps correct, but not having the force of law...The suggestion that there continues to be unaddressed issues about the legality of Regulation 2002-13 12 years after its coming into force strains credulity.

To conclude, the Government is now developing policy that would transform water into a vehicle for economic development. Consultations with Indigenous peoples have not yet occurred and public open houses will have been completed by the time most New Brunswickers will have heard anything about this, leaving the majority of us with few options to make our voices heard on what is undoubtedly our most important and precious resource—water. The closing date for comments on the new water strategy is April 29th and so the time to act is now.

Posted by Sam Arnold

Category: News - Nouvelles

21 March 2016

Hits: 8350

Creating a regenerative economy in N.B.

KEiTH HELMUTH


What kind of economy will New Brunswick have in the new energy future? A renewable energy platform is clearly coming and new energy platforms create new economies. The extraction and refining of hydrocarbons launched a new energy platform, which has created the modern economy and its many benefits. However, the growth of the hydrocarbon economy has now developed to such a scale that it has burst through the safe operating limits of earth’s geochemical and ecological boundaries, with increasingly negative effects. This is an unwelcome thought. We used to think that hydrocarbon energy paved the road to a better life. Up to a point, this idea made sense, but a threshold of reversal has been crossed.

Crossing this threshold means that, from a certain point on, the negative effects of burning hydrocarbons will be greater than the benefits. The danger of these negative effects is now so serious that it has brought almost all national governments on earth into agreement on reducing and limiting carbon emissions.

The message from the Paris climate agreement is clear: the energy platform of the economy must shift from reliance on carbon releasing fuels to a diversity of non-carbon emitting, renewable energy sources.

Fortunately, renewable energy innovators have been at bat, and it now looks like the most important public policy question is how fast this transition can be made without upsetting the apple cart of the economy.

In N.B., we are fortunate that the government has recently announced an excellent program to facilitate this transition -- Locally-Owned Renewable Energy that is Small Scale (LORESS). It’s a small start, but it’s heading in the right direction.

This transition is enormously attractive. We have the tools, materials, and knowledge to create a clean, rapidly growing, and sustainable energy platform. And the clincher is this: the renewable energy platform has the potential to help create a regenerative economy that builds up steady-state prosperity.

What might this mean for N.B.? Currently, the government seems to have one foot firmly on the hydrocarbon dock and the other stepping gingerly into the renewable energy boat. Will government grasp the economic potential of renewable energy and get fully on board?

What comes after the last use of the Energy East pipeline (if built)? What comes after fracked-out shale gas wells (if drilled)? When these projects have faded, and the jobs they created have vanished, what will they have contributed to a sustainable, self-regenerating economy?

The renewable energy industry, on the other hand, is creating a fast growing sector of sustainable, community-based employment.

Statistical analysis shows that for every $1 million invested in the oil and gas industry two jobs are created. For every $1 million invested in renewable energy 15 jobs are created. For every $1 million invested in upgrading the energy efficiency of buildings 14 jobs are created.

(See www.bluegreencanada.ca/more-bang-for-our-buck)

One of the key factors about the shift to renewable energy is that it triggers a new way of thinking about security and prosperity. It shifts thinking about the economy from the extraction of resources to the cultivation and regenerating of resources.

For example, policies that support the expansion of local food production and marketing will help build up a regenerative economy. Can we imagine a N.B. that produces at least 50 per cent of the food it needs?

Likewise, policies for woodlot and Crown land management that improve biodiversity and insure the longterm harvesting of high quality timber would move the forest industry from extraction to regeneration, and help build up a steady-state prosperity for forest-based livelihoods.

Will government catch the opportunity to facilitate a regenerative economy? This depends on whether the smart, renewable energy platform is placed at the centre of the province’s economic development future.



Keith Helmuth is a member of the Woodstock Sustainable energy Group

Posted by Raissa Marks

Category: News - Nouvelles

14 March 2016

Hits: 7216

• climate change
• auditor general,
• national climate plan,

While the first ministers may take some time to agree on a national climate plan, there is some federal-provincial collaboration already in the works. Canada's federal and provincial auditors general are joining forces to come up with the first comprehensive national audit of climate change actions. Julie Gelfand, federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, is heading up this national initiative that will be completed in 2017.  

Ms. Gelfand was appointed as Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development in March 2014. She previously served as President of Nature Canada, and has worked in the mining sector.  

Read more here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-provincial-auditors-combine-forces-1.3453346

Posted by Raissa Marks

Category: News - Nouvelles

03 March 2016

Hits: 7036

• climate change
• Minister Kenny,
• water strategy,

The NBEN organized a meeting yesterday with 15 environmental groups and the Minister of Environment and Local Government and his senior staff. It was a great meeting during which we explored ways to work more closely together on water, climate change, regional planning, and other issues. Thank you to everyone who attended!


Photo: Ann Pohl

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

29 February 2016

Hits: 9424

• water
• First Nations
• climate change
• shale gas
• fracking
• clean energy
• Council of Canadians
• hydraulic fracturing
• social licence

KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – The Council of Canadians and its four New Brunswick chapters are calling on the Gallant government to recognize it has no choice but to extend the fracking moratorium, after the report it commissioned demonstrated that its five conditions for lifting the moratorium have not been met.

“Based on the Commission’s report, the government of New Brunswick must commit to a legislated moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the province. All five conditions, including social licence, have not been met and will require a lot of work,” says Denise Melanson, Council of Canadians’ Kent County chapter media spokesperson. “To give the people of this province some peace of mind and some security, the government should close the book on this industry.”

“We stand with our Indigenous allies including Ron Tremblay, Grand Chief of the Wolastoq Grand Council. This report clearly recognizes the constitutional duty to consult Indigenous peoples, highlighting a critical reason a legislated moratorium is needed,” says Maggie Connell, co-chair of the Council of Canadians’ Fredericton chapter.

Angela Giles, the Council’s Atlantic Regional Organizer based in Halifax, added “The Commission report highlights the need for a transition to clean energy for New Brunswick’s future energy mix. Given the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, shale gas cannot be part of the future. We need to focus on real solutions to the climate crisis in New Brunswick and beyond.”

Representatives from the Council of Canadians’ Fredericton and Kent County chapters attended the private briefing as well as the public release of the Commission’s report this morning in Fredericton.

-30-

The report is available on the NB Commission on Hydraulic Fracturing website.

Posted by Jon MacNeill

Category: News - Nouvelles

26 February 2016

Hits: 9155

• shale gas
• NB shale gas

Commission’s Fracking Report Shows Moratorium Remains Smartest Policy And That Time Is Right To Begin New Brunswick’s Transition to Low-Carbon Economy

FREDERICTON — The report released today from the New Brunswick Commission on Hydraulic Fracturing provides more evidence that the provincial government made the smart policy decision by putting a moratorium in place and throws down the gauntlet for N.B. to start the transition to a thriving low-carbon economy.

Consider what the Commissioners say in their report:

• The challenge and opportunity for economic development today is in clean and low-carbon technologies as governments across the world — including New Brunswick — prepare to deal with the opportunities and challenges of climate change. The Commissioners say New Brunswick must transition away from the old-world economies of resource extraction into a new value-added and knowledge-based era driven by new forms of energy, stating: “The world is shifting towards integrated energy systems that will be supported by a variety of advanced technologies, most of which will not require fossil fuels.”
  
  

• The environmental protection and energy regulatory system in New Brunswick is prone to conflicts of interest. The Commissioners highlight significant gaps in the current framework, such as the lack of understanding and mapping of our groundwater system, and highlight pieces that are broken entirely, such as the failure of the Water Classification regulation for protecting rivers and streams. The current approach means a government department has to have two heads, meaning ministers serve two masters — one that promotes energy projects and another that regulates them. This system leads not only to confusion, anger and distrust but also creates too many unanswered questions, especially with respect to the cumulative effects of energy projects on water, air and public health.
  
  

• Nation-to-Nation communication with First Nation communities is sorely lacking and needs years of repair and capacity-building for all involved.
  
  

“The Commissioners rightly point out that the world shifted with the signing of the first universal climate agreement and that the real opportunities for jobs and economic growth comes from clean energy and energy efficiency,” says Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick. “The economic case for renewables grows stronger every month and energy efficiency has long been recognized as a tool for creating jobs and keeping electricity affordable.”

Corbett continued: “It’s clear from the Commissioners’ report that New Brunswick’s regulatory and oversight system is prone to conflicts of interest and is at best years away from being ready to handle shale gas. If we spend 90% of our effort and New Brunswickers’ ingenuity focused on building the clean energy transition then we’d all be much better off than continuing an endless conversation about fracking.”

Corbett concluded: “The moratorium was the smart public policy decision in 2014 and it remains the right public policy well into the future. The Commissioners outline the crossroads our province — and the world at large — is facing, and it’s hard to imagine a future for new shale gas development in a world committed to protecting our families from climate change. Our best bet for creating jobs right now in New Brunswick is through energy efficiency and clean power technology. That’s the road we need to take, and it’s the road that doesn’t put our drinking water or communities’ health at risk.”

The report will be available on the Commission's website.

Read the submissions the commission received from groups and individuals here.

Read the commissioners’ blog here.

To arrange an interview, contact: Jon MacNeill, Communications Director. Office: 458-8747; Cell: 261-1353; Email: jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca

Posted by Fundy Biosphere Reserve

Category: News - Nouvelles

23 February 2016

Hits: 6594

• education
• climate change

Free Videos and Lesson Plans About Climate Change in Atlantic Canada!

(For use in middle and high school classrooms in New Brunswick.)

Students learn about climate change from experts and locals with decades of first-hand experience (such as beekeepers, farmers, snowplow drivers, fishers, gardeners, and First Nations elders). 

View the classroom materials here: http://www.fundy-biosphere.ca/en/projects-and-initiatives/education.html

Schools can request a free presentation and training session for their teachers by Fundy Biosphere staff on how to use the education materials in their classrooms.

Contact Megan de Graaf by email at info@fundy-biosphere.ca.

Book your training session before March 31st 2016!

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

11 February 2016

Hits: 10888

• water
• Energy East
• Transcanada
• wildlife habitat
• indigenous treaty rights
• air
• land
• oil and gas industry
• bitumen pipeline
• Irving Oil Ltd.

Wolastoq Grand Council Addresses the Energy East Pipeline

The Wolastoq Grand Council represents the non-ceded homeland of the Wolastoqewiyik who occupy the homeland and waterways as follows: North - Wolastoq River (aka St.John River which flows from Maine to the Bay of Fundy), South - Kenepek River (aka Kennebec), East - Supeq (aka Atlantic Ocean), and West – Wahsipekuk (aka St. Lawrence River).

As members of the Wolastoq Grand Council we unanimously oppose the Energy East Pipeline Project in order to protect our non-ceded homeland and waterways, our traditional and cultural connection to our lands, waterways, and air. The Wolastoq Grand Council has serious concerns for the safety and protection of the animals, fish, birds, insects, plants and tree life that sustains our Wolastoq Nation.

The Wolastoq Grand Council recognizes and values the statements made by the Federal Government on January 27, 2016 to consult with Indigenous Nations with respect to the project of our Ancestral Homeland. The Wolastoq Grand Council is willing to meet with the Minister of Natural Resources Jim Carr and other senior personnel in critical discussions that are consistent with our Peace and Friendship Treaties in a Nation-to-Nation relationship. There is a legal duty of the Crown to address and support our concerns due to the inadequacy of the National Energy Board process.

The Wolastoq Grand Council will expect from the appropriate Crown delegate and provincial representative, a written acceptance of our traditional philosophy, and our rejection of the Energy East tar sands pipeline as soon as possible.

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

11 February 2016

Hits: 10521

• forest
• foresterie
• Crown Lands and Forests Act
• NB forestry
• Acadian forest
• community forests
• sustainable forestry
• public forest

OBITUARY OF THE ACADIAN FOREST - With great sadness we mourn the sudden, tragic death of more than 12,600 acres/year of Acadian Forest which, until this year, had been placed in the care of its Trustee, the Province of New Brunswick, for heritage conservation purposes. The death was caused by a routine case of what the Province of New Brunswick calls “carefully managed clear cutting." The amount cut is equivalent to cutting Mactaquac Provincial Park 10 times every year and for the next 25 years.

This part of New Brunswick's forest had been entrusted to the Province for perpetual care by rural and urban residents alike for the benefit of all generations. Felled by the tens of thousands, primarily along rivers and streams, the premature and suspicious death means this forest will no longer be able to provide much needed water flow, temperature and flood control.

Along with more severe soil erosion and increased flooding in its communities, this tragic 'death by clear cutting' will further reduce fish populations, notably that of the pride of New Brunswick rivers, the Atlantic Salmon. As well, thousands of deer and countless other species of animals and plants associated with Old Growth Forests will now die because the shelter and food they need to survive that had been provided by the forest was, of course, also destroyed by the clear cut.

The Acadian Forest is survived by a very distant relative, the Tree Plantation, unable to provide the same type of life-giving function of its now dead relative. Meanwhile, yet another 'unnatural death by clear cut' in New Brunswick is prompting calls for an inquest into what has been called the reckless endangerment of all the New Brunswick Forests by their Trustee, the Province. In a stunning admission, the Province of New Brunswick has admitted to openly colluding with serial clear cutters. Adding to the concern is the fact that the Forest estate was stripped of assets by 'serial clear cutters' before its death and so left nothing to the residents of New Brunswick.

The dead forest, more than 10,000 years old and now gone forever, was predeceased by northern cod stocks off the Atlantic coast who also fell victim to "careful management" by their Trustees.

In lieu of flowers and other tokens of mourning for this beloved member of New Brunswick's Natural Family, letters, e-mails, tweets and other expressions of outrage directed to Premier Brian Gallant, Natural Resources Minister Denis Landry, and your MLA are requested.

Rest in peace Acadian Forest.

Category: News - Nouvelles

28 January 2016

Hits: 5904

• biodiversity
• protected areas

Monday, February 22, 2016, 9:00 - 4:30
Fredericton Inn

·           What can we learn from other Canadian jurisdictions?
·           What resonates with the public in NB? With decision-makers?
·           What works well? And what doesn’t work at all?
·           How do you balance conservation with recreational and educational opportunities?

Highlights
-          Protected Areas: Lessons from Across Canada – Hear from Nova Scotia, Quebec, Alberta and others!
-          Increasing public support in NB – a panel of home-grown experts share their experience and know-how.
-          Establishing Coastal and Marine Protected Areas in NB - What are the challenges and how can support be built?
-          Building a case for protected areas in NB – throughout the day, work with others to identify what will resonate in NB and build the case!

Join us! For more information and to register, click here!

Hosted by the NB Biodiversity Collaborative. Brought to you by the Planning Committee:
-          Al Hanson, Canadian Wildlife Service
-          Barb Brown
-          David MacKinnon, Nova Scotia Environment
-          Eric Tremblay, Kouchibouguac National Park
-          Paula Noel, Nature Conservancy of Canada
-          Peter McLaughlin, NB Department of Environment and Local Government
-          Renata Woodward, Nature Trust of NB
-          Roberta Clowater, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, NB Chapter
-          Steve Gordon, NB Department of Natural Resources

With thanks to the NB Wildlife Trust Fund, Department of Natural Resources and the Canadian Wildlife Service.

Posted by Jon MacNeill

Category: News - Nouvelles

28 January 2016

Hits: 9202

• federal government
• Energy East
• pipeline
• bitumen pipeline

Jan. 27, 2016

Statement on critical changes to pipeline/energy project assessment

FREDERICTON — Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, issued this statement following the announcement today from Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr and Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna:

“We want to congratulate Ministers Carr and McKenna for using both common sense and a comprehensive understanding of the urgency we need to tackle carbon pollution by requiring major oil production projects, like TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline, to undergo a science-based assessment, including First Nations' traditional knowledge, as well as direct and upstream greenhouse gas pollution linked to the project.   

It was naive and foolhardy not to include greenhouse gas analysis in oil pipeline projects but in its sheer stubborn determination to rush tarsands oil to export markets and damn the climate consequences, the former government did exactly that. One take-away lesson for decision makers everywhere today is that short cuts in environmental assessments are usually anything but.

We also welcome the Ministers' intention to ensure the public’s right to participate in project reviews. That means the input of people from Edmundston, to the Tobique, all along the St. John River through to communities along our Bay of Fundy must be respected, instead of ignored. We look forward to working with this government in the near future to ensure that the climate analysis and other new requirements are robust.”

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:

Jon MacNeill, Communications: 458-8747 | 261-1353 | jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca

Posted by Kim Reeder

Category: News - Nouvelles

04 January 2016

Hits: 8174

$100 DISCOUNT UNTIL DEC 31 

On March 7th, 8th and 9th there will be an opportunity for hands-on training into the planning and application of climate change considerations for forest managers. This training is designed for all natural resource managers across the Maritimes who are interested in actively enhancing the ability of forests to cope with changing climate conditions. individuals and small teams can participate in this training. The training enables participants to incorporate applicable adaptations into a current or developing forest management plan. The workshop will take place in Fredericton. Space is limited to 40 participants.

Registration:

Registration cost includes lunch, refreshments, dinner on Monday evening, evening activities and a complete set of digital resources. Visit our website at ARPFNB | AFANB – Fees and Payments to reserve your space now with a credit card. Cash/cheque will also be accepted by Lori Curtis 506-452-6933 info@arpfnb at the ARPFNB office; please contact her to make arrangements.

ARPFNB member                         $175

Non-member before Dec. 31         $175

Non-member after Dec. 31            $275

Posted by Raissa Marks

Category: News - Nouvelles

17 December 2015

Hits: 6225

• Sustainability education alliance
• education plan secretariat,

Over the past six weeks or so, the NBEN has brought together groups from across the province to develop a joint submission to the Education Plan Secretariat that focuses on integrating sustainability education into our K-12 education system.  We are super excited about the resulting document, which provides a great framework for transforming our education system for a sustainable future.

This idea was born out of the most recent Sustainability Education Alliance conference, which was held at the end of October.

Click here to read the submission.

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

11 December 2015

Hits: 10934

• democracy
• wildlife habitat
• clearcutting
• forestry
• science
• Dr Eilish Cleary
• glyphosate ban
• fish
• deer

The following letter was sent to the Minister today....

Hon. Denis Landry 
Minister of Natural Resources


As a resident of the Province of New Brunswick, I am deeply concerned that the spraying of our forests is a very dangerous practice that is irresponsible, reckless and potentially affecting the health of its residents. 


As the President of the Moncton Fish & Game Association, I am also concerned that spraying is also killing our wildlife. Animals in the forest and fish in our waterways are allegedly suffering the negative effects of the spraying of our woodlands. We know that the practice is legal and permissible in our province however we need to ask ourselves should it continue? Should companies be allowed to spray to prevent hardwood growth? Should they be allowed to spray to prevent the spread of berries and other nutrients that wildlife eat? 


As a province that relies very heavily on its natural resources, (which by the way include generations of hunters and fishermen all of which bring in tens of millions to our NB economy), we all should be deeply concerned. There is a fine line that we have to respect when dealing with Mother Nature. She is not very forgiving at times and it may take many many years to correct the wrongs of previous generations. While current forestry practices permit vast clear cuts and the related spraying of these chemicals, all of these activities must be analysed. 


Potentially, a moratorium on spraying could be put into place until more scientific information is available. We know that this government is not opposed to moratoriums as is evident by the current one on fracking. Rather than point fingers at companies which will garner the whole cause no credibility at all, we as residents and people who enjoy the outdoors, people concerned for our own health and the health of our children, we all need to band together and question the government in a relentless, credible yet organized public campaign to end this practice once and for all. 


Forestry activities will continue and as a manageable resource they rightfully should continue; however, neighbouring Provinces of Nova Scotia and Quebec are doing very well with their forestry practices, both enjoying great revenues which belong to the taxpayers and they are NOT spraying. If they can do it then why are we not able to continue forestry operations without spraying and potentially harming people, wildlife and fish? 


The Moncton Fish & Game Association has taken an official stance that we do not support the spraying of our woodlands. 


Thank you and I look forward to a response.


Robert Snider, 

President

Moncton Fish & Game Association

Posted by Mary delavalette

Category: News - Nouvelles

09 December 2015

Hits: 8062

OPEN LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF N.B.



Our Chief Medical Officer of Health has been fired.   No cause given.   No reason given.



Dr Eilish Cleary is an ethical, courageous, hard-working, award-winning doctor and perhaps the best CMOH this province has ever been fortunate to have.   She has worked tirelessly to protect the health of the people of N.B..   She has been a wonderful ambassador for Canada in her selfless service in West Africa during the Ebola Crisis.   She has brought decent health care for the first time to First Nations.       Why, then, was she fired ?



Liberal officials are refusing to talk.   Do they even understand the meaning of Public Service ?



Was her error to put the health of the people of N.B. first  ?   Was her commitment to researching the issues more information than our government wanted ?   Was her bravery in speaking the truth on health matters too much for our “bought-and-paid-for” government  ?   Did Industry pull the strings ?  



Are politicians once again showing their true colours?   If so, they have opened a can of worms.   The outrage is growing.   Something is rotten in New Brunswick.

Posted by Jon MacNeill

Category: News - Nouvelles

04 December 2015

Hits: 9458

• conservation council
• conseil de conservation
• watershed
• water pollution
• watersheds
• Sisson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015

FREDERICTON — Stephanie Merrill, Director of Freshwater Protection with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, issued the following statement in response to the Department of Environment’s approval of the Sisson Mine Environmental Impact Assessment:

“I’m surprised by today’s announcement considering it’s been made in a vacuum. Final approval of this project is a joint process between the provincial and federal government — but we’re still waiting on the review from the feds, and there are outstanding parts of that review that we’re committed to participating in.

The province also has not released the summary of the Independent Review Panel to the public, as it’s required to do by law. The summary needs to be released right away for the sake of transparency, otherwise our government is playing fast and loose with the rules that let people participate in this process.

The company behind the mine proposal, Sisson Mines Ltd, is still far from securing the financing needed to move forward with the project, and no public financing accounts have been released. At best, today’s announcement is a signal that the province is open to business, but in reality, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.

The conditions of approval are vague when it comes to critical issues like emergency planning, the security of the tailings dam, and liability. Most striking, we’re letting the fox guard the henhouse by leaving the responsibility to protect the Nashwaak River and watershed directly in the hands of the company. Even the International Council on Mining —  composed of the world’s largest companies — said yesterday that the control standards for tailing facilities are inadequate and the council would be reviewing and revising its standards.

We’ve seen at least three major tailings disasters in the past year and a half — at Mount Polley in B.C., the Buenavista del Cobre mine in Mexico, and most recently in Brazil,  where 16 people died and the Brazilian government announced yesterday a $5.2 (billion) USD billion lawsuit against the company responsible.

First and foremost at this point, we call on the province to release the summary report of the Independent Review Panel so New Brunswickers know what the experts in the scientific community have to say about this project proposal.”

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:

Jon MacNeill, Conservation Council of New Brunswick: 458-8747 | 261-1353 |jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca

Posted by Jon MacNeill

Category: News - Nouvelles

04 December 2015

Hits: 8970

• conservation council
• conseil de conservation
• cop21,
• Paris2015,

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick has released a new special edition of its membership magazine, EcoAlert: <2° — Making it Happen at COP21 in Paris.


This special edition will help you cut through the jargon and technicalities of international climate negotiations to understand: What the heck is COP21 in Paris? What’s it all about? What does the fight against climate change mean for me, our province, and Canada as a whole?

• In this issue: • the road to locally-made clean energy in NB • charting the course toward a low-carbon economy • a brief history of international climate negotiations • best and the rest: countries’ climate plans heading into COP21 • how you can live greener and cleaner at home and work • and more
  
  

Click here to download a PDF version of this issue, or head to our archives for past editions.

Category: News - Nouvelles

04 December 2015

Hits: 5322

The Communications Team of the Biodiversity Collaborative has been working hard to develop a logo – and the final product is gorgeous. The logo was developed to help create awareness of the importance of New Brunswick’s biodiversity and to build public interest in preserving it. This logo can be used by all collaborative partner organizations to demonstrate solidarity and connect various efforts to advance biodiversity conservation, stewardship, and education. The logo is intended to supplement organizations’ brands by demonstrating a collaborative spirit.

Everyone is invited to use this logo!

• Put it on your website and highlight your biodiversity work
• Raise awareness through your social media and enhance your brand
• Use it in your education materials and celebrate nature

Kudos to everyone who was involved in developing this logo!

Check out all the versions – and then get on board to build a brand for NB biodiversity!

Posted by Jon MacNeill

Category: News - Nouvelles

26 November 2015

Hits: 6219

• conservation council
• conseil de conservation
• forest
• Crown lands
• Crown Lands and Forests Act
• wildlife habitat
• NB Crown lands
• nature nb

FREDERICTON — A broad range of public interest groups and experts in New Brunswick says new legislation is needed to ensure our public forests are being managed to meet the needs of all New Brunswickers.

The group, which includes representatives from wildlife organizations, the scientific community, private woodlot owners, environmental and conservation organizations, is calling for the urgent development of a new Crown Lands and Forests Act.

In a statement sent to the provincial government today, the group says the existing act, which came into law in 1980, fosters an outdated approach to forest management and fails to reflect the interests of the whole province. Forest management has become more complex, and New Brunswickers now expect forests to be managed for water, wildlife, recreation and other uses as well as jobs and revenue.

The statement referenced Auditor General Kim MacPherson’s June 2015 report on forest management, which stated our public forest should be managed for economic, environmental and social values, and highlighted that the province has lost money from the management of public forests for at least the last five years.

The group says new forest legislation should:

(1) State clear principles for managing public forests to protect the range of life in the forest, nature’s benefits, a wide variety of sustainable, forest-based business opportunities, and recreational values all in the context of climate change;

(2) Clarify and reinstate government as the trustee responsible to the public for the stewardship of Crown lands;

(3) Ensure transparency in setting forestry goals and objectives, and in achieving them, including a robust system of public involvement and consultation throughout the process;

(4) Respect the Peace and Friendship Treaties and establish mechanisms for consultation through free, prior, and informed consent with indigenous peoples;

(5) Support diversification and value-added processing within New Brunswick’s forest products sector; and,

(6) Ensure that private woodlots provide a proportional share of the wood supply and promote productivity from private woodlots through stronger management, pricing and marketing measures.

Read the group’s statement and background information here.

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“Our membership is convinced that opening more conservation land to harvesting of trees in sensitive, stream buffers could endanger vulnerable Atlantic salmon populations by damaging the habitats upon which they depend. It is appalling that such a sweeping change to the forest management regime was forced upon us without any discussion with the concerned watershed groups and conservation groups.   We have deepened our commitment to work cooperatively with the provincial government, First Nations, the forest industry, scientists, conservation organizations and other interest groups to better manage our Crown resources,” says Debbie Norton, President of NB Salmon Council.

“What’s really significant here is the broad range of people who are coming together and saying, ‘this act doesn’t work for us anymore — it doesn’t work for the good of the province. Our forests are very special to New Brunswickers, so when this many people and different types of experts are saying something is broken, it’s time to fix it,” says Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.

“Naturalists from across New Brunswick are very concerned about the lack of attention the province pays to wildlife and habitat in our public forests. We see the consequences of this every day, we are ready to work with government in developing a new act that better protects New Brunswick nature,” says Vanessa Roy-McDougall, Executive Director of Nature NB.

“NB lags behind all provinces in Canada except PEI when it comes to protecting nature. New legislation could carefully craft new directives about how to balance investments in forest conservation and other economic interests,” says Roberta Clowater, Executive Director of Canadians Parks and Wilderness – New Brunswick.

“The fundamental flaw in the act is that industrial consumers of wood were made managers of crown land and not customers, there are conflicts of interest, that can only be resolved by creating a new CFLA.Wood lot owners believe that the people harvesting crown wood should have a common interest with us in getting fair market value for  logs and other forest products. It is time to correct the mistakes of the past for the good of all N.B.,” says Andrew Clark of the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners.

“The New Brunswick Wildlife Federation supports the use of public forests in the province to provide a variety of social and economic benefits. However, those uses should not compromise the integrity of natural habitats and biodiversity,” says Charles LeBlanc, President of the New Brunswick Wildlife Federation.

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:

Jon MacNeill, Conservation Council of New Brunswick: 458-8747 | 261-1353 | jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca  

Sabine Dietz, Nature NB: 536-1260 | 536-7560 | sabine.dietz@bellaliant.net (bilingual)

Andrew Clark, New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners: 459-2990 | 324-3380 | andrewclark@xplornet.com

Peter J Cronin, NB Salmon Council: 444-9012 | 238-4616 | pjcronin18@gmail.com

Roberta Clowater, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, NB Chapter: 452-9902 | rclowater@cpaws.org

Rod Currie, New Brunswick Wildlife Federation: 458-5643 | racurrie@nb.sympatico.ca

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

17 November 2015

Hits: 10054

• water
• oil & gas industry
• wildlife habitat
• shale gas
• fracking
• indigenous treaty rights
• shale oil
• aboriginal treaty rights
• Maliseet
• forests
• hydrofracking
• Indigenous Peoples
• New Brunswick Hydraulic Fracturing Commission

Attention: The New Brunswick Hydraulic Fracturing Commission

Ancient Voices

We are totally dependent on the Earth for life, and because of the arrogance of a superiority attitude, western society is headed in the wrong direction. As a consequence, climate change is here and people are in a panic. Grandchildren are asking, “What will happen to me?”

What 200 year old prophesies said has now come to pass. People have disobeyed the natural laws of the universe, and are stubbornly determined to ignore the voices of reason and truth. The Earth governs all life here, and she will have no mercy.

The Wolastokewinobk (Maliseet Grand Council) is the traditional decision-making structure of the Wolastokewiyik - the people of the beautiful river. We are the river people, indigenous to the entire St. John River watershed. Our Grand Council is made up of our clans, from the oldest to the youngest. We send these words to your commission on behalf of our extended families, as well as the deer, the moose, birds, fishes, and all other living things within our traditional territories. Our lands and waters have never been ceded or surrendered, therefore we are still the title holders.

Canada, New Brunswick and big business have and continue to exploit and expropriate our traditional lands and resources amounting to categorical infringement on our right to use our land and hunt, fish, and gather. Currently the following industries are infringing on our Aboriginal and Treaty Rights:

• All attempts to further the industry of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in our territory must stop immediately.

First of all our people have not been adequately consulted, and in fact we have been abused and punished for taking a stand to protect our sacred lands and waters. Secondly, traditional stories in our language tell us of a time when there was great flooding on the river and the reversing falls was caused by an ancient earthquake. There is also historical evidence of major fault lines through the centre of our territory from earlier earth quakes which is what caused salt water lakes to form all the way up to central parts of the Province of New Brunswick. It is well known that ‘fracking’ causes earthquakes to happen, because of the lubricated, chemically laced cocktail that is pumped into the ground under extremely high pressure. There is too much of a risk to allow fracturing to take place here and we do not support this destructive industry. We request that you to put a stop to this detrimental activity in our homeland.

• The Irving Forestry Companies have not only clear cut our forests, they are also spraying poisonous carcinogenic herbicides such as glyphosate all over ‘our land,’ to kill hardwood trees, and other green vegetation. Both human and animal health is at serious risk, not to mention leaving no food for the animals.

Streams, brooks and creeks are drying up, causing the dwindling of Atlantic salmon and trout. Places where our people gather medicines, hunt deer and moose are being contaminated with poison. We were not warned about the use of these dangerous herbicides, but then cancer rates have been on the rise in Maliseet communities, especially breast cancers in women and younger people are dying from cancer.

• Open Pit Mining for tungsten and molybdenum is another infringement on the rights of our people – archeology shows that our people have been there around 7000 years – the oldest period found in the heart of New Brunswick.

This is Maliseet traditional territory and we have not been consulted. Open pit mines require tailing ponds, this one designated to be the largest in the world. It is well known that all tailing ponds have a high probability to breach their bounds, and definitely will seep out into the environment. A spill or leak from the Sisson Brook open pit mine will permanently contaminate the Nashwaak River, which is a tributary of the Wolastok (St. John River) and surrounding waterways. This is the only place left clean enough for the survival of the Atlantic salmon.

• Oil pipelines and refineries are also among the current abominable schemes, bent on contaminating and destroying the very last inch of (Wblastokok) Maliseet territory.

The above mentioned industries are just another layer of infringements on the aboriginal and treaty rights of the Wolastokewiyik. Rivers, lakes, streams, and lands have been contaminated already to the point that we are unable to gather our annual supply of fiddleheads, and medicines. This territory has never been ceded or surrendered by our people – yet not an inch of our land has been spared for our traditional use. Government and industry blindly and carelessly proceed to exploit and misappropriate Indigenous lands and resources to the point of extreme damage and destruction, and continue to ignored the concerns and protests of Indigenous peoples in New Brunswick.

The Supreme Court of Canada has stated that all levels of government have a “duty to consult with aboriginal people” prior to the beginning of any project, or any other kind of land use, that would cause an infringement on the Indigenous rights of our people.

The Wolastokewiyik (Maliseet People) - the Title Holders - have not been consulted on any of the above projects. Therefore governments and/or companies do not have our consent to proceed with hydro-fracturing, open pit mining, or the building of pipelines for gas and oil bitumen, on or across our traditional lands and waters.

The duty to consult has become a meaningless process. Companies meet with INAC Chiefs, who’s jurisdiction is limited to within each of their respective reserves. Individuals are given a power point presentation, and then told the next step is accommodation. Question: then to the chief - What do you want?

The majority of the people do not go to these meetings due to the manipulation of the process, and the lack of regard for collective rights. Collective rights require collective discussion and collective decision-making. The closest interpretation of our treaty and aboriginal right to consultation is written in international law: Free, Prior and informed consent.

In conclusion, humans are supposed to be responsible and intelligent beings, who were given instruction on how to live on the earth.

One of the oldest teachings about how to live on the land – “ wihkwelan tehpo eli powalbkw wblam keti sepowsowipbn” itbm Kelowbskap.” Take only what you need in order to live. Maintaining the balance of nature is the way to live on the earth. Arrogance is why we are going in the wrong direction. If we do not follow the spiritual laws of the universe, nature will take over. There will be no mercy in nature, only law.

It is the Earth that governs life here – all life comes from the earth. You can have no value for resources that have been stolen. Greed, selfishness, and foolishness have taken over, and they have no value at all for life. Why else have become the enemy of the earth?

Business as usual is over. Oil and Carbon is over. We will pay for damages by what is coming. Economies will be wrecked. If we continue to disregard the laws of nature the Earth will bring about the balance herself, through diseases, crisis events – etc. We have to change the way of living.

Sincerely,

Alma H. Brooks
Grandmother, The Maliseet Grand Council

October 15, 2015

Posted by Raissa Marks

Category: News - Nouvelles

16 November 2015

Hits: 5908

• donald killorn,
• eastern charlotte waterways,
• samaqan award,
• jocelyne gauvin,
• pays de cocagne sustainable development group,

For Immediate Release
November 16, 2015

New Brunswick Citizens Presented with Environmental Awards

On Saturday, November 14, 2015, two environmental awards were presented to New Brunswick citizens in honour of exemplary service to their community. The prizes, awarded by the New Brunswick Environmental Network (NBEN), recognize significant efforts by citizens and citizen groups toward the protection and restoration of New Brunswick’s environment.

Jocelyne Gauvin, of the Pays de Cocagne Sustainable Development Group, was honoured with an Environmental Achievement Award for her passion for sustainable development and her commitment to her community. According to Raissa Marks, Executive Director of the NBEN, “For many years, Jocelyne has dedicated her limitless energy to environment and sustainable development issues in her region with the Pays de Cocagne Sustainable Development Group. As she moves towards semi-retirement, we felt that it was an appropriate time to honour her work and efforts.”

The Samaqan Award, for those who have dedicated their efforts to the waters, was presented to Donald Killorn “for his tireless commitment and innovative approaches to the conservation of freshwater ecosystems.” Killorn is the Executive Director of Eastern Charlotte Waterways, a group whose purpose is to promote responsible management and development of the environment through community based actions.

The awards were presented during the Annual General Assembly of the NBEN, which was held in Saint John on November 14, 2015.

The New Brunswick Environmental Network is a non-profit communications network of over 90 citizens’ environmental groups from across the province. The goal of the Network is to encourage communication among groups and between groups, government and other sectors.

- 30 -

Media Contact:
Raissa Marks, 506-855-4144

Posted by Leanne L Sutton

Category: News - Nouvelles

16 October 2015

Hits: 10524

• NB
• federal government
• election
• water
• video
• New Brunswick
• Energy East
• pipeline
• environment
• environnement

October 15, 2015



PRESS RELEASE



TransCanada blocking local residents from attending their Energy East Pipeline Community Liaison Committee meeting



SAINT JOHN – This week, nine local residents and landowners requested to sit in as observers at TransCanada’s Energy East Pipeline Community Liaison Committee meeting held at the Hampton Inn, Saint John, on Wednesday, October 14.  Blocking their entrance, a security guard informed them that only members of the Committee were permitted at the meeting.



Residents then asked to speak with a TransCanada representative. A short discussion took place with Pamela McKay, Trans Canada’s community consultant, which was videotaped. Ms. McKay informed the residents that TransCanada did not have a policy to allow observers at their Energy East community liaison meetings and that the residents would not be permitted to enter the meeting room.



https://youtu.be/a4hdSWxq1Pw

TransCanada blocking local residents from Community Liaison Committee in Saint John, Oct 14, 2015 (12:26)



“Unlike other local industrial committees, TransCanada denies entry to local citizens,“ said Saint John resident David Thompson who was part of the group kept out of the meeting.  Mr Thompson has a long history of participating in industrial liaison meetings, and presently sits on two other industrial community liaison committees in Saint John.  “We simply wanted to sit quietly and listen to tonight’s committee meeting.”



“Open, transparent, and democratic public participation should be the operating principles of each and every community liaison committee,” added Thompson. “The National Energy Board should be required to practice this.”



 “It’s a straw horse; it’s dishonest that TransCanada will go to National Energy Board and use this Community Liaison Committee as fulfilling part of their community outreach and consultation,” remarked Colin Seeley after being refused entry.  “As a person with a proposed pipeline running across my property, I have not been contacted since it was announced that the project was being delayed for 2 years.  Meanwhile, TransCanada has been pushing ahead with work on the project such as the recent borehole testing in Red Head.”



Leslie Hillman, Red Head resident and member of Red Head Anthony’s Cove Preservation Association (RHACPA), was also disappointed to be refused entry, “TransCanada should respect the interests, the health, and the well-being of the residents and make the meeting open to the citizen observers.”



Teresa Debly, a Red Head resident whose family property has already been impacted by industrial development in the area, says, “Several residents who have considerable experience with other industrial community committees, including myself, have repeatedly requested to be accepted as Committee members, but have been denied each time by TransCanada.  Back in February, I was utterly shocked when TransCanada hired a retired police officer to prevent landowners from attending these meetings.  We are calling upon TransCanada to immediately open up their Community Liaison Committee meeting.”



A copy of this News Release and the web link to the video is also being sent to the National Energy Board. 



Media contacts: David Thompson, Saint John, 506-635-1297 and Leanne Sutton, Red Head Anthony’s Cove Preservation Association, 506-654-7857

Category: News - Nouvelles

15 October 2015

Hits: 5282

This year marks the 10th anniversary for the NB Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative!  And to feature this event, we are hosting a workshop "Children's Health, Equity and the Environment: Creating Action" which looks at the issue through a new lens that brings together health, equity and the environment.  The workshop is themed around the questions:

What are the links between social inequity, the environment and children’s health?
What actions can happen, now on the ground, to immediately improve health outcomes for NB children?

Highlights

·         Experiential learning – a child-led tour of where North End Saint John children live and play
·         Children’s Health, Social Equity and Environment Fair

Speakers

·         Children's Health and the Environment - The Problem and the Solution, Philip Landrigan, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics and Dean for Global Health, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY
·         Serious about equity? Thinking and working differently, Jeffrey Masuda, Director,  The Centre for Environmental Health Equity, and
Associate Professor, School of Kinesiology and Health Studies and Department of Geography, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
·         Making our towns and cities healthier, Anne Roué Le Gall, Professor, Ecole des hautes études en santé publique, Rennes, France
·         NB Snap Shot: Associations and Trending, Michelina Mancuso, Executive Director of Performance Measurement, NB Health Council

Round Table

How is equity linked to children's health, socially, economically and environmentally?
What can be done?

Moderator: Bernard Richard

Round Table Contributors:
·         Jennifer Carhart, Principal, Princess Elizabeth School
·         Randy Hatfield, Executive Director, Human Development Council
·         Rob Moir, Professor of Economics and the Chair of the Department of Social Sciences, UNBSJ
·         Silvia Borsic, Executive Director, Saint John Family Resource Centre

Join us as we envision a different future for children’s health in New Brunswick. We will dream, and then we will get down to brass tacks and work together to determine real actions.

For more information and to register: http://www.nben.ca/index.php/en/cycling-article-event-01-nb-children-s-environmental-health-workshop

Brought to you by the organizing committee:

Barb McKinnon, NB Lung Association
Brigitte Lapointe, Health Canada
Céline Surette, Université de Moncton
Karen White-Masry, Scott Giffin and Todd Arsenault, NB Department of Health
Mary Ann Coleman, NB Environmental Network
Mary Britten-Belding, VON- Healthy Baby and Me
Mélanie LeBlanc, NB Department of Environment
Sharon Murphy, PEACE-NB

Posted by Fundy Biosphere Reserve

Category: News - Nouvelles

14 October 2015

Hits: 5965

• climate change

MONCTON, NEW BRUNSWICK – Wednesday, October 14, 2015 – The UNESCO-designated Fundy Biosphere Reserve (FBR) is celebrating National Science and Technology Week (October 16-25,  2015) with a new classroom resource that will facilitate climate change education and foster environmental awareness and scientific literacy among students.

“Students in New Brunswick classrooms tend to learn about complex or major scientific events in the context of the United States or in the tropical rainforests of Brazil,” says FBR Executive Director, Megan de Graaf. “The Fundy Biosphere Reserve wants to change that. And one of the most pressing issues right in our own backyard is climate change.”

Climate Change in Atlantic Canada is an impressive multimedia project showcasing thought-provoking interviews with experts and locals who have decades of first-hand experience with the local climate, such as beekeepers, farmers, snowplow drivers, fishers, gardeners, and First Nations elders.

In 2011, with funding from the NB Environmental Trust Fund, FBR Conservation Program Manager Ben Phillips began to interview local climate knowledge-holders. The project also included some climate data analysis to explain local trends in our weather, such as temperature highs and lows, snow fall and melt dates, number of drought days, and rain event amounts and duration. The project rapidly evolved into an exciting collaboration between the Fundy Biosphere Reserve and Dr. Ian Mauro (previously the Canada Research Chair in Human Dimensions of Environmental Change at Mount Allison University, now Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Winnipeg). Working with Mauro’s team, a year’s worth of video footage was carefully assembled into short documentary films, which aim to increase awareness about the real world experiences of Atlantic Canadian coastal communities, and how they are on the front lines of climate change and responding to it.

The Fundy Biosphere Reserve then researched and developed lesson plans to go along with each video in the series, so that the videos could be used as a teaching tool in middle and high school classrooms.

De Graaf explains: “We worked with specialists in pedagogy to see where within the New Brunswick curricula our materials were best suited and how we could effectively deliver them. The result has been engaging lesson plans and materials for teachers to use with very little preparation needed. We’re now ready to disseminate the materials as widely as possible throughout schools in New Brunswick - as well as throughout the Atlantic provinces.”

Teachers can access the Climate Change in Atlantic Canada videos and classroom lesson plans - at no cost - by visiting www.climatechangeatlantic.com. The materials are available under the "Education" tab (password: climateeducation). Schools can also request a free presentation and training session for their teachers by Fundy Biosphere staff on how to use the education materials in their classrooms by contacting FBR Executive Director Megan de Graaf atinfo@fundy-biosphere.ca. More information on the project is also available on the Fundy Biosphere Reserve’s website at fundy-biosphere.ca/en/projects-and-initiatives/education.html.the most pressing issues right in our own backyard is climate change.”

Climate Change in Atlantic Canada is an impressive multimedia project showcasing thought-provoking interviews with experts and locals who have decades of first-hand experience with the local climate, such as beekeepers, farmers, snowplow drivers, fishers, gardeners, and First Nations elders.

Posted by Fundy Biosphere Reserve

Category: News - Nouvelles

14 October 2015

Hits: 5662

• education
• climate change

Students in New Brunswick classrooms tend to learn about complex or major scientific events in the context of the United States or in the tropical rainforests of Brazil. The Fundy Biosphere Reserve wants to change that.

We’re pleased to present Climate Change in Atlantic Canada.

Read more ...

Posted by Jon MacNeill

Category: News - Nouvelles

08 October 2015

Hits: 9594

• NB
• sustainability
• conservation council
• conseil de conservation
• food security
• farming
• farmer
• buy local

At the height of the harvest season and just in time for Thanksgiving, the Conservation Council of New Brunswick is releasing its new, free BuyLocalNB™ smartphone app!

Our user-friendly app helps you find delicious and wholesome locally-grown meats and alternatives, fruits, vegetables, grain products and more — all grown or produced right here in New Brunswick! 

Looking to prepare a local-infused Thanksgiving feast with all the fixings this year? Use the BuyLocalNB™ to source your ingredients within minutes.

But it’s not just for local food! Looking for furniture with that authentic, hand-carved feel? Or are you on the look-out for a thoughtful gift idea, like the perfect hand-made artisanal craft? Maybe you want environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies or soaps? The BuyLocalNB™ directory has it all, and our new smartphone app puts everything right at your fingertips.

We also want to help you experience the local food economy through our smartphone app. Use the ‘Visit a Farm’ feature to find a local producer near you — maybe a sugar shack, apple orchard or dairy farm — and arrange a first-hand look at what they do to provide our families with fresh, wholesome, local products. You’ll also find the dozens of farmers markets and local markets adding life and vibrancy to our communities.


The BuyLocalNB™ initiative launched at the Conservation Council in 2009. In 2011, we developed an online local food directory that became and instant favourite of local foodies, with chefs and retailers using our directory to source their products and ingredients.

We revamped our online food directory last fall, adding a user-friendly searchable database of local growers, producers and retailers.

Today, the online directory and complementary smarthphone app feature more than 280 local farmers, craftspeople and businesses, with more becoming listed each day!

The BuyLocalNB™ app is currently available as an Android download. It will be available in iOS soon. (Are you an iOS user who is anxious to try out our new app? Check out the directory at buylocalnb.ca for a preview of what the app can do!)

 Download App

Why should you shop local with our new BuyLocalNB™ app?  Easy! Supporting local food: 

•   Supports the provincial economy and the family farm;
•   Keeps N.B. money in N.B. communities by circulating our food dollars locally;
•   Protects the environment by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation;
•   Strengthens our communities by letting New Brunswickers get to know their local farmers and learn about where their food comes from; and
•   Proactively increases our public health by providing better access to healthy nutritious food

Get the new BuyLocalNB™ smarthphone app to download local food to your table today!

Posted by Fundy Biosphere Reserve

Category: News - Nouvelles

18 September 2015

Hits: 7051

• NB
• conservation
• nature

Have you visited the Fundy Biosphere Reserve's Amazing Places? 

Read more ...

Posted by Fundy Biosphere Reserve

Category: News - Nouvelles

18 September 2015

Hits: 6748

• NB
• forest
• climate change

The UNESCO-designated Fundy Biosphere Reserve (FBR) has released the long awaited results of research into climate change-resilient tree species in southern New Brunswick.

The FBR recently completed an analysis of which native tree species has the most chance to prosper under changing climatic conditions over the next 100 years, as well as those that will most probably merely persevere, and which could even decline. Northern trees species like spruces, fir, birches, and poplars will likely face more insects, disease, extreme weather, and competition, which would lead to slower growth and higher mortality. By contrast, southern species such as maples, oak, pines, beech, hemlock, and cherry should have a longer growing season and thus, faster growth. 

The FBR has created a pamphlet that describes the eight ‘winners’ for the changing climate.  It describes the trees and their preferred growing conditions, so that woodlot owners, foresters, municipalities, and the general public are armed with the right information about what to plant and where

As the climate changes and less-resilient species begin to decline and disappear, the Acadian Forest composition in southern New Brunswick (as well as throughout the Maritimes) will also change. This means that the forest as we know it today will later contain fewer of those northern species, and probably more of these “winners”. But the forest will need help from residents of the region, notably in planting these resilient species.

By planning ahead for climate change and planting tree species that have a better chance to thrive, we can help ensure that there will be healthy and beautiful trees in our neighborhoods and parks as well as in the forest, to be enjoyed by generations to come. An informative brochure has thus been developed to help 

The other component of this research is related to forest corridors. As climate change and deforestation affect the forest, wildlife can become cut-off.  The FBR is working with other organizations to try and establish forest corridors based on areas with climate change resilient trees, helping plants and animals move freely around the FBR or to and from Nova Scotia.

Posted by Roberta Clowater

Category: News - Nouvelles

18 September 2015

Hits: 8000

• wilderness
• parks
• CPAWS
• outdoor education
• NB parks

NEWS RELEASE

September 10, 2015


Parks groups concerned about potential harm to Mount Carleton by proposed snowmobile trail


Fredericton – A plan to widen a walking trail up the Maritimes’ highest peak and open it for snowmobile use within New Brunswick’s only designated Wilderness Park has the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, New Brunswick Chapter (CPAWS NB) and the Friends of Mount Carleton Provincial Park deeply concerned.

“We’ve recently learned about this trail proposal for Mount Carleton, which is part of a plan for increasing snowmobile trails in northern New Brunswick. The government appears to be ready to agree to this proposal without an environmental analysis or any public consultation. It would see a walking trail up Mount Carleton cleared to double its width to 12 feet wide, and the canopy over it removed to a height of 12 feet,” says Roberta Clowater, Executive Director of CPAWS NB.

“This type of development will fragment the habitat of wildlife species including moose, flying squirrels, and American marten. Sustained motorized access on this trail is also likely to compact the soil, causing fast rain runoff and erosion. Grooming the trail will encourage increased motorized vehicle access that could lead to them continuing up to the fragile mountain top. This is completely inappropriate within a designated wilderness park,” adds Clowater.

“For over eight years, the Friends of Mount Carleton Provincial Park Inc. has worked diligently to promote, preserve and protect the Park’s natural wilderness setting and its ecosystems. We have worked to develop, what we thought, was a good working relationship with the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture. The snowmobile hub infrastructure announcement came without any forewarning or consultation with our group,” says Susan Mulherin, President of Friends of Mount Carleton Provincial Park Inc.

“The Friends are committed to working cooperatively with the Department, while also ensuring that stewardship of the Park is maintained, and the protection of the environment, animal habitat and heritage is reflected in all policies and programs. We are concerned that in this case, that is not happening. Surely a compromise can be found that respects our protected areas and meets snowmobilers interests,” adds Mulherin.

No Public Discussion Whether Snowmobile Trail is Compatible with Wildest Parts of Wilderness Park

Mount Carleton park is New Brunswick’s only “Wilderness Provincial Park”, having been classified as such in revisions to the Parks Act in 2014. Those same revisions mandated the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture to develop Resource Management Plans for the provincial parks, outlining the recreational uses that would be compatible with conservation of the park natural areas.

“We are very concerned that the Department would consider making an irreversible decision such as this before the Resource Management Plan and the associated zoning are discussed publicly and approved. The Department is poised to, by default, decide that motorized vehicles are allowed in conservation zones in a wilderness park, setting a precedent from which it will be hard to back away.

“Allowing motorized recreation in one of the wildest parts of a wilderness park is inconsistent with how wilderness zones are generally managed in this level of park across Canada and the US. If the trail that goes up Mount Carleton is groomed for use by snowmobiles, it will prevent its use by people who want a wilderness experience of snowshoeing or cross-country skiing in that part of the park,” says Clowater.

“It’s important to tourists who are attracted to wilderness that the marketing of Mount Carleton Provincial Park as a wilderness destination be backed up with management that is consistent with a wilderness experience,” adds Clowater.

“This is one of the first tests of the revised Parks Act, which our organization has been applauding as a good step forward for the modernization of New Brunswick’s approach to parks management. If this trail is approved with no public engagement process or environmental analysis, in our view the government will have failed this first test of our new legislation,”adds Clowater.

CPAWS is recommending that the provincial government take the time to assess the potential impacts of this proposal, undertake public and stakeholder consultations, and then determine whether Mount Carleton is an appropriate location for such a development.

-30-

For more information, contact: Roberta Clowater, rclowater@cpaws.org; phone: 506-452-9902

Founded in 1963, CPAWS is Canada’s only nationwide charity dedicated solely to protecting our public land and water, and ensuring our parks are managed to protect the nature within.Learn more at www.cpawsnb.org.

Posted by Jean Louis Deveau

Category: News - Nouvelles

18 September 2015

Hits: 8047

Wolastoq Grand Council is hosting a Peace and Friendship Alliance Gathering on September 25, 26 & 27 at THE NICTAU LAKE CABINS, Mount Carleton Provincial Park.  
This historical place is where the Wolastoq and Mi’kmaq Traditional Chiefs once met to unify the nations and discuss important issues in a true democratic manner.

This will be an historical event where the two nations and their allies will reaffirm the Peace and Friendship treaties that our Ancestors signed during the 1800 century.

All members of the Wolastoq - Mi’kmaq Nations and ally groups are welcomed to attend this historical gathering.

There will be 6 cabins that will house approximately 35 Elderly people.

CAMPSITES ARE available for the younger attendees.



Items to bring

• air mattress

• bedding – sleeping bag, pillow

• toiletries

• Flashlight/HEADLIGHT

• Warm clothing/rain gear (check the weather for the area before you come)

• Plate, bowl, cup, glass, cutlery

• Towel, soap, shampoo, etc…
Meals will be provided

* RSVP by Sunday, Sept. 20th so we'll know how much food to purchase as this is a catered event.

Posted by Marie-Pierre Poirier

Category: News - Nouvelles

17 September 2015

Hits: 5690

September 15th, 2015
For immediate release


Innovative outdoor education program launched


Moncton - The Sustainability Education Alliance of New Brunswick (SEA) is launching Great Minds Think Outside, a hands-on, curriculum-linked, outdoor professional development program for teachers and educators. 

  “This program is the first if its kind in New Brunswick. It will give the teachers and educators the skills, tools, and resources they need to teach their students outside,” said Raissa Marks, Executive Director of the New Brunswick Environmental Network.  “This program will empower youth to become leaders in building sustainable communities through learning and increased environmental awareness,”.

 The workshop sessions will be delivered by a team of highly qualified and experienced professionals from all around the province who specialize in outdoor education, nature education, and environmental education. “There are many benefits to teaching outdoors for both the students and educators. Mental and physical health and wellness improve, and disruptive behaviours have been shown to decrease significantly. Spending more time outside also develops a stronger connection with nature and leads to a more active lifestyle,” stated Roland Chiasson, one of Great Minds Think Outside’s trainers.  “Any and all learning outcomes can be met outside with hands-on creativity. Our role as trainers is to ensure the perceived barriers to teaching outside are addressed and overcome through the relevant teaching methods”. 

According to Marcy Malloy, Community School Coordinator at Cambridge-Narrows Community School, “This program is a great opportunity to maintain the bridge between the school and the community. The skills you learn when teaching and learning outdoors are reflected in your behaviours and actions outside of the classroom. This program will help develop more environmentally-conscious communities.”

Half-day and full-day professional development sessions are available. The topics include approaches of “how” to teach outside, as well as “what” to teach outside. Limited subsidies are available. For more information on Great Minds Think Outside and to book a session, visit www.nben.ca/greatminds or call 506-855-4144. 


Start the new school year on the right foot! 

Contact: 

Roland Chiasson, Aster Group Environmental Services Cooperative, 506-536-1260

Serge LaRochelle, Groupe de développement durable du pays de Cocagne, 506- 576-8247

Raissa Marks, New Brunswick Environmental Network, office: 506-855-4144, cell: 506-588-2980.

Posted by Nature Moncton

Category: News - Nouvelles

16 September 2015

Hits: 5656

The Fossils at Joggins

Workshop with Dr. Melissa Grey

Sunday September 27, 2015







The Joggins Fossil Institute is a not-for-profit charitable organization that manages the Joggins Fossil Cliffs UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Cliffs represent a time over 300 million years ago wherein club mosses could grow over 30m tall, dragonflies had a meter wing span, and millipedes were the size of humans! In this presentation, participants will learn about why the Joggins beach is such a special place and what the Institute does to foster earth history education and conservation.




Dr. Melissa Grey is a palaeontologist with a background in Biology and Zoology. She obtained her doctorate in Geological Sciences at the University of British Columbia, her Masters in Zoology from the University of Guelph and her Bachelors in Biology from Acadia University. She has lived and worked across Canada, but is happy to be back in her home province studying fossils.




Sunday September 27, 1:00 to 3:00 pm

Tankville School, 1665 Elmwood Dr., Moncton

Registration with Judi Berry-Steeves at jbsteeve@nbnet.nb.ca or phone Judi at 387-4778.

$8 payable at the door.

All are welcome, Nature Moncton member or not.

Posted by Jon MacNeill

Category: News - Nouvelles

03 September 2015

Hits: 9900

• NB
• First Nations
• environment
• renewable energy
• environmental cooperative
• renewable energy NB

FREDERICTON — On Wednesday, Sept. 2, Donald Arseneault, Minister of Energy and Mines, released the draft regulation to allow small-scale renewable energy generation projects in New Brunswick.

The regulation is available online for 30 days of public input.

Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, issued the following statement:

“I’m pleased to see the Minister release this new regulation, following so closely on the heels of the Premier’s announcement of new strong targets to reduce carbon pollution from N.B. sources. Providing the means and the market for renewable energy projects here at home is a welcomed and sensible action.

I encourage the leaders in environmental and renewable industries and local champions of projects that protect their communities to take a look at this package and submit their comments.”

The regulation sets out explicit policies devoted to the task of making sure N.B. gets at least 40 per cent of its electricity from clean renewable sources.

It sets out the criteria for co-ops, First Nations, non-profit groups and local communities to put on their thinking caps about how they can lead the charge to reduce carbon pollution by installing solar, wind, and tidal technologies.

The regulation also requires NB Power to report its progress every year from now to 2020 in a transparent and public manner.

Over the past five years, solar-module costs have dropped by 73 per cent. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, there are 2.5 million people working in solar PV jobs worldwide. In Canada, the number of people working in the renewable energy industry rose by 37 per cent between 2009 and 2013, and the sector now employs more Canadians than the oil sands in Alberta.


For more information or to arrange an interview, contact: Jon MacNeill, Communications Officer | 458-8747 | 261-1353 | jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca

Posted by Raissa Marks

Category: News - Nouvelles

03 September 2015

Hits: 5424

According to a recent survey, cross-sectoral collaboration is increasingly regarded as the key driver of progress towards sustainability, more so than public-private partnerships, leadership and innovation forums, and other approaches. Here in New Brunswick, the NBEN brings together partners from a wide variety of sectors to address the complex sustainability issues we face. The sum is greater than the parts – by working together, more can be achieved than by each organization working in its own silo.

Another interesting finding from the survey is that experts believe that multinational companies will be the key drivers of broad-scale collaborations to advance sustainability. I wonder if this will be the case in New Brunswick?

The survey also compared and contrasted corporations and NGOs and the drivers that propel each to become involved in sustainable development.

Two groups in the US, Sustain Ability and Globe Scan surveyed sustainability experts from around the world. The resulting report came out in February.

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

28 August 2015

Hits: 5799

(FREDERICTON) A coalition of 22 community and environmental groups have issued a joint letter which has been sent today by registered letter to TransCanada, the National Energy Board, and appropriate heads of government departments at the Federal, Provincial and Municipal level.
 
A 6-page work plan has come to their attention which shows TransCanada is days away from borehole testing off the shore of Red Head, New Brunswick in the Bay of Fundy.  One of the large barges necessary for this work is already being put into position.
 
"TransCanada has not informed the residents at the end of the line in Red Head in Saint John,” says Lynaya Astephen, spokesperson for Red Head Anthony’s Cove Preservation Association.  “No testing of wells or foundations has been done.  And this is prime time for migratory birds and the endangered right whale.  There's a lack of transparency with this company."
 
"Notice of the imminent work was kept from our people," confirms Ron Tremblay, spokesperson for the Wolastoq Grand Council.  "As a member of the Wolastoq Grand Council and Wolastoq Nation, I stand firm on the protection of our lands, water and air. The area that the proposed testing will take place is our tradition land and shoreline where our people fished, gathered and flourished from the vast supply of food and medicine. Additional damage to the area will further destroy the traditional territory of the Wolastoq People. I strongly oppose any testing or industrial disaster in our homeland."  
 
“The regulatory and consultation process appears to be missing,” says Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy, past Co-chair and member of the Council of Canadians – Fredericton chapter.  “If TransCanada has failed to follow due diligence with all necessary government agencies, this really is a wake-up call for how this entire Energy East project may proceed.”
 
In their joint statement, the 22 groups urge TransCanada and appropriate government agencies to act immediately, “Given the lack of consultation and long list of concerns we are requesting that all work on borehole testing be stopped until these concerns are addressed. Why would TransCanada conduct this work just as migratory birds and whales are coming into the Bay of Fundy in increasing numbers in August & September?”

Link to joint letter

Posted by Joannie Thériault

Category: News - Nouvelles

26 August 2015

Hits: 7759

Bulletin de nouvelles de l'Association des Bassins Versants de Tracadie été 2015

Posted by Raissa Marks

Category: News - Nouvelles

17 August 2015

Hits: 6301

• pipeline
• energy
• energy strategy
• canadian energy strategy

Last month, the Canadian Energy Strategy Working Group, of which NB Premier Brian Gallant is one of the co-chairs, announced the Canadian Energy Strategy. The intent of this strategy is to provide a framework for provinces and territories to work together on common energy-related interests.

While the strategy speaks to climate change quite a bit, it does so in a rather non-committal manner. For example, energy efficiency and conservation is an area of focus in the strategy, but so is “Develop and enhance a modern, reliable, environmentally safe and efficient series of transmission and transportation networks for domestic and export/import sources of energy”. Sounds like pipelines to me. The strategy also discusses transitioning to a lower-carbon economy (not a low-carbon economy). 

What does all this really mean? To me, the strategy is so broad that it could mean anything to anyone. But, don’t take it from me. Check it out for yourself here.

Posted by Nature Trust of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

06 August 2015

Hits: 7208

(Fredericton, NB) The Nature Trust of New Brunswick, in partnership with the Office of the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, is seeking nominations for the 2015 Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Excellence in Land Conservation. This award is presented annually to an individual or an organization who has made a difference in the field of conservation in the province of New Brunswick through volunteerism, donation of land, stewardship, or other means. Nomination forms can be accessed here, and can be submitted now until Monday, Aug. 31. The Honourable Jocelyne Roy Vienneau, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, will present the award at a ceremony taking place at Government House on Thursday, Nov. 25. Nominations are to be submitted to Communications Coordinator Jessica Bradford at communications@ntnb.org.

The award was created to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Nature Trust of New Brunswick and its ongoing efforts to preserve ecologically significant areas within the province. Nominees must fulfill at least one of several requirements for evaluation for the award, including contribution to conservation efforts over time, involvement as a past or present volunteer, steward and/or member of the Nature Trust or other conservation organization, or involvement as a corporate or community partner of the Nature Trust or other conservation organization. The nominations may also be made as a posthumous recognition of an individual’s significant contributions to conservation over time. 

Dr. Don Floyd represents the Atlantic Regional Board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) as one of the members of the award’s selection committee. Floyd notes the importance of acknowledging the commendable work of conservationists in the province:

“The Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Excellence in Land Conservation is an important way to recognize and give thanks to conservationists in New Brunswick,” says Floyd. “In addition to organizations like NCC and the Nature Trust of New Brunswick, there are many other conservation-minded groups and individuals who are making a difference in their communities to preserve natural landscapes for the future,” says Floyd. “This award is a way to recognize and give thanks to those who are leaving legacies to be enjoyed for generations to come.”

The Meduxnekeag River Association was the recipient of the award in 2013, recognizing the difference the organization has made in the Meduxnekeag river valley since 1995 and for the ongoing commitment to acquiring and protecting land in the area for present and future generations. 

 “The Nature Trust of New Brunswick's recognition of conservation in New Brunswick via the Lieutenant-Governor’s Award was gratefully received by the Meduxnekeag River Association Inc. in 2013,” says Stephen Wilson, President of the Meduxnekeag River Association. “Our continued engagement with the Nature Trust of New Brunswick and the many others that make our conservation efforts possible is much appreciated, and continues to raise the profile of the unique habitats of the Meduxnekeag region.” 

The Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Excellence in Land Conservation provides an opportunity to recognize the dedication and long-term contributions of environmental conservationists in the province. The Nature Trust of New Brunswick thanks its partners in the award selection committee, including the Honourable Jocelyne Roy Vienneau, the Atlantic Regional Board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the New Brunswick Minister of Natural Resources, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and Angee Acquin, First Nations representative. 

About the Nature Trust of New Brunswick

Established in 1987, the Nature Trust of New Brunswick is a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to preserving the province’s ecologically significant landscapes. To date, the Nature Trust has conserved over 6,000 acres (2,400 hectares) in more than 40 beautiful and diverse nature preserves in New Brunswick. For more information, visit www.naturetrust.nb.ca.

Posted by Marie-Pierre Poirier

Category: News - Nouvelles

06 August 2015

Hits: 5186

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment has recently published an Implementation Framework for Climate Change Adaptation Planning at a Watershed Scale.The Framework lists seven steps through which a group of individuals can come together to assess and manage vulnerabilities and risks stemming from climate change at a watershed level. 

It is expected that the impacts of climate change on Canada’s water resources will be significant. Whether you are involved directly or indirectely with climate change adaptation and/or watersheds, or are just concerned about our water resources' well being, it's definitely worth checking out! 

Click here to consult the framework. Also available in the Climate Change Adaptation section of our Reference Library (under the "Resources" tab).

Posted by Mary delavalette

Category: News - Nouvelles

23 July 2015

Hits: 8841

• clean energy

TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL July 22/2015

Premiers’ energy strategy lacking  

The recent premiers’ conference in Newfoundland illustrates how firmly the oil and gas industry has our politicians in its pocket.   Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, who hopes to turn Saskatchewan into another tarsands province, was the most obvious. The irony is that he is presiding over a province consumed by wildfires which are a direct result of climate change which is a direct result of our use of fossil fuels. And he wants to produce more?   Climate change was given lip service, but there were no definite commitments.   This is insanity. If our premiers had our welfare at heart, they would be doing all in their power to support, encourage and subsidize renewable energy, instead of giving enormous taxpayer subsidies to the oil and gas industry. Many studies also prove that renewable energy -- solar, wind, water – would create many more jobs than the highly subsidized oil and gas industry.   A fossil fuel future guarantees chaotic weather patterns leading to crop losses, farmer bankruptcies, homeowner disasters, food scarcities, water shortages and health catastrophes. The pollution of rivers and waterways -- such as the July 17 spill of five million litres of tarsands bitumen at Fort MacMurray and exploding tarsands oil trains, such as in Lac Megantic, contribute to a general breakdown of all ecosystem services that make life on Earth possible.   I don’t want to believe these premiers are stupid -- but there’s only one alternative -- -that they have sold out.   Mary de La Valette   Porter Cove

Posted by Marie-Pierre Poirier

Category: News - Nouvelles

22 July 2015

Hits: 5593

Are you interested in knowing more about the various projects linked to climate change adaptation around the province this year? Look no further! 

On June 24^th, the NBEN held a workshop for ENGOs around climate change adaptation. A total of 12 ENGOs as well as a few other organizations were represented. Over the course of the day, the participants were able to map out adaptation in the province, network with other climate change adaptation enthusiast to exchange tools and resources, and to make the links in between the various projects to be implemented over the next year.

Posted by Roberta Clowater

Category: News - Nouvelles

22 July 2015

Hits: 9184

• parks

Fredericton – In its latest annual report released in advance of Canada Parks Day, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is calling Canada out for falling behind most other countries in protecting its land and fresh water.  CPAWS’ 2015 report, Protecting Canada: Is it in our nature?, assesses whether our governments are on track to meet their collective international commitment to protect at least 17% of our land and fresh water by 2020, and to improve the quality of our protected areas.
“Based on our assessment of progress since Canada endorsed the UN Convention on Biological Diversity 10-year plan in 2010, it would take us 50 years from today, not five, to meet our commitment to protect at least 17% of our land and fresh water. And 17% is only the next step we need to take towards protecting at least half to ensure Canada continues to have healthy, functioning ecosystems,” says Alison Woodley, national director of CPAWS’ parks program.
“In New Brunswick, we are particularly worried that New Brunswick is so far behind most of the other provinces in Canada, there is no plan in place to catch up, and no commitment to add any new protected areas,” says Roberta Clowater, Executive Director of CPAWS New Brunswick.
“Furthermore, the opportunities for creating more protected areas in the future are quickly being foreclosed due to the province’s new Crown Forestry strategy. There will be fewer and fewer wild forest options left to add to the protected areas systems over time.”

Slow to no progress since 2011

CPAWS found that the current percentage of lands and inland waters protected varies dramatically across Canada, ranging from just under three percent in Prince Edward Island, to more than 15% in British Columbia.  Since 2011, the area protected in Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Yukon Territory has not grown at all, and all other provinces have increased protection by less than 2%. B.C.’s progress is undermined by its 2014 Parks Act amendments that allow industrial research in parks and boundary changes to accommodate pipelines and logging.

Reasons for optimism

“Some of Canada’s provinces and territories and Indigenous communities are making impressive efforts to advance protected areas. Quebec and Ontario have committed to protecting half of their northern territories, although implementation of these commitments is very slow. Nova Scotia has ramped up efforts and appears to be on track to reach 14% protection, Manitoba has committed to creating 15 new parks and protected areas and to expanding others, and Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut all have land use planning processes underway that could lead to new, large protected areas,” says Woodley.

At the federal level, a large new national park called Qausuittuq in Nunavut (11,000 km2) was just finalized in June, and two more could be announced within the next year. These include an area called Thaidene Nene around the East Arm of Great Slave Lake, NWT, where approximately 30,000 km2 could become a combined national and territorial park shortly. Similarly, the process for finalizing the 10,700 km2 Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve in Labrador is nearing completion, with an adjacent 3,000 km2 provincial park still at the early stages of establishment.
Local Indigenous communities are playing a significant leadership role and partnering with federal, provincial, and/or territorial governments to protect many of these large areas.
CPAWS calculates that if existing plans for creating new protected areas were implemented, along with other commitments for which specific sites have not yet been confirmed, Canada could meet its obligation to reach 17% protection by 2020.

Government leadership needed In New Brunswick

Over the past 20 years, New Brunswick has only moved from 1.3% to 4.7% of the province in permanently and legally designated protected areas.
“We’re looking for New Brunswick to take on leadership to help meet Canada’s 2020 protected area commitments. To start, the New Brunswick government needs to revise the Crown Forestry Strategy to allow space for new forested protected areas across the province, and needs to commit to an ambitious  plan to establish new protected areas around ecologically important forests, coastal shores, cliffs, wetlands and river headwaters. We cannot maintain the current slow pace of protection, because we are losing opportunities to protect our wild nature at an even faster rate,” says Roberta Clowater.



View executive summary and full report at: http://cpaws.org/uploads/CPAWS_Parks_Report_2015-Single_Page.pdf
For interviews, contact: Roberta Clowater, rclowater@cpaws.org; phone: 506-452-9902
Founded in 1963, CPAWS is Canada’s only nationwide charity dedicated solely to protecting our public land and water, and ensuring our parks are managed to protect the nature within.

Posted by Raissa Marks

Category: News - Nouvelles

20 July 2015

Hits: 6643

• New Brunswick
• food security
• buy local

Do you buy local? Wish there were more options for local food and beverages?

The provincial government is developing a local food and beverage strategy and they are looking for input from New Brunswickers about their local food buying habits. The survey includes questions about the importance of supporting local producers, where local food is purchased and what can be done to improve accessibility of local food and beverages for consumers.

Check out the survey here and background information about the government’s buy local initiative can be found here.

Posted by Mark D'Arcy

Category: News - Nouvelles

02 July 2015

Hits: 6051

• climate
• we >tar sands
• 350.org

For immediate release

July 2, 2015


16 groups confirm support for Fredericton climate event as part of community-organized 'March for Jobs, Justice & the Climate' in cities across Canada on July 4th

Fredericton – A coalition of 16 community and environmental groups have issued a joint statement of support for the 'March for Jobs, Justice & the Climate' event that will be held this Saturday, July 4th, 1:00pm-1:45pm in downtown Fredericton, New Brunswick. 

The public is invited to meet in front of the Legislature Building, 706 Queen Street, Fredericton at 1:00pm, and then take a short walk to the pedestrian Train Bridge for a photo-op over the Saint John River (the Wolastoq).  There will be lots of banners and RED 'JobsJusticeClimateAction' signs for everyone. This will be a great photo opportunity on the bridge to show our support for a just transition to a clean energy future.

Fredericton will join communities across Canada with climate events on July 4th, including St. John's, Annapolis Valley, Halifax, Québec City, Lac Mégantic, Hudson-Oka, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Nelson, and Vancouver.  The weekend will culminate in a large rally planned the next day in Toronto on July 5th which will feature prominent leaders from labour unions, Indigenous communities, and divestment groups.

In their joint statement, the 16 groups urge our political leaders to take action on climate, "This is the moment to come together like never before, to massively invest in green infrastructure and clean energy and create hundreds of thousands of climate-friendly jobs. We join together with communities standing up to tar sands pipelines and with student divestment organizers fighting for a safe climate future. We unite with workers being laid off by the thousands in the Alberta oil patch and with Indigenous communities working to build clean energy solutions on the frontlines of extraction."

The international divestment organization, 350.org, is co-ordinating and promoting the events across Canada.  On their website, 350.org highlights the Fredericton event by stating, "In Fredericton, at the iconic walking bridge that towers over the St John/Wolastoq river, people will assemble to show they are ready for an economy that works for people."  And 350.org also highlights, "These mobilizations are striving to take leadership from First Nations communities that are on the frontlines of fossil fuel extraction and the climate crisis."

- 30 -

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Mark D'Arcy, Council of Canadians - Fredericton Chapter, (506) 454-5119 
Maggie Connell, Council of Canadians - Fredericton Chapter, (506) 459-8081
Leanne Sutton, Red Head-Anthony’s Cove Preservation Association, 506-657-6721

Read the full statement from the 16 groups

See 350.org article '4 Reasons to Get Excited about July 4th'

See the Facebook Event Page: March for Jobs, Justice & the Climate (FREDERICTON)

Posted by Grailing Anthonisen

Category: News - Nouvelles

17 June 2015

Hits: 6505

• NB
• environment
• conservation
• Branch Out Make Waves
• trees
• shoreline

The NBEN’s Branch Out, Make Waves is a province-wide challenge that encourages youth and community groups to team up and take on a tree-planting and shoreline clean-up conservation project. To help raise awareness on conservation in the province, the youth groups participated in a photo and video challenge.

Together, the groups from around the province planted 1351 trees and cleaned 18 hectares of shoreline!

While the challenge ended on June 15^th, you can still support them! The prizes categories are Challenge Favourite, Most Creative Artwork, Best 2 minute eco-documentary, Weirdest Item Cleaned up, and Best Teamwork. We want you to vote for Challenge Favourite!

Vote by clicking the “up” arrow at the bottom of the post for Challenge Favourite. The more votes a project has, the higher up on the page it will be. On the deadline, the publication at the top of the page will win a special prize. Voting for Challenge Favourite closes on June 22^nd, so make sure your voice is heard!

Category: News - Nouvelles

15 June 2015

Hits: 6434

• NB
• environment
• biodiversity
• Conference Reports and Presentations

On March 30, 2015, New Brunswick citizens representing a wide range of sectors met in Fredericton to develop ideas and discuss opportunities for forest management options in New Brunswick. The report from that conference is now available online.

The event was organized in response to concerns about potential biodiversity loss under the Forest Management Strategy that was announced in March 2014. Simply put, the goal of the conference was to identify opportunities, solutions, and next steps and to provide these to the government.

During the day, the level of expertise and know-how about both the forest economy and biodiversity was impressive, for its depth and its breadth. The highlight of the day was the Round Table, a panel of experts who raised key questions and generated new ideas. Throughout the course of the day participants contributed to expert ideas and it was exciting to see fresh thinking get posted on the wall! Throughout the course of the day opportunities were identified in three key areas:

• protecting forest biodiversity in NB;
• improving the economic approach to forests; and
• modernizing public policy for Crown lands.



The event was hosted by the Biodiversity Collaborative Steering Committee. Thank you to all the presenters, participants and those who volunteered on site during the day. 

Click here to read the report.

Category: News - Nouvelles

15 June 2015

Hits: 11745

• nature sauvage
• mount carleton
• mount sagamook
• hiking
• friends of mount carleton
• A for Adventure
• NB parks
• nature

Despite the declaration in last Saturday’s Telegraph Journal, there are several folks willing to declare that Mount Carleton is not the toughest trail to climb in Mount Carleton Park. The trail up Mount Sagamook is definitely a much more challenging hiking trail. The trail is steep and rocky for most of the distance, if you hike up the right hand trail to the outcrops that are most often featured in photos of the park.

On Friday, June 5th a group of hikers consisting NB Parks staff, a Friends of Mount Carleton representative and three members of a group named A for Adventure. “A for Adventure is all about inspiring people to get outdoors and experience adventure.” The members of the group endeavour to go on adventures, large and small, and by taking their message to the media, they hope to encourage others to get outside.

In August 2013, Jan LaPierre and Graham Carter had just finished a 200 km plus kayak paddle to Cape Sable Island. “Paddle to Sable” raised funds and awareness to create a camp for kids struggling with mental health issues at Brigadoon Village. “

On the trip home from their epic paddle, Jan began to recite a poem he was thinking up. He asked his friends if they could put together an adventure children’s book. They were all so enthused with the concept, that they stopped the car and went on a hike to discuss the idea. On that hike a book was born.

“A is for adventure, as you will come to see.
Like hiking or biking or climbing a tree,

Or taking a plane to a far away land,

Or a trip to the beach to play in the sand. “

The idea took flight and currently their group includes not only Jan LaPierre and Chris Surrette, but a recent addition is photographer Brad Sayeau. Christopher Hoyt agreed to illustrate their book, “A is for Adventure”, which is due out this month.

Meanwhile the group are taking in as many adventures as they can, in the hopes of encouraging folks young and old to get outside and see and experience the world around them. Many of their adventures are in our parks and last week they came to Mount Carleton Park, where they helped to paddle a large canoe on Little Nictau Lake and climbed Mount Sagamook. They agreed that the challenging climb was well worth the effort, once they took in the panoramic view offered from the iconic rock outcrops at the top of Sagamook. Despite the threat of rain, it held off until the group reached the parking lot at the foot of Mount Sagamook, insuring that all the camera gear was kept safely dry.

When asked for his opinion of Mount Carleton Park, Jan LaPierre summed up his experience there by saying;”Mount Carleton Park is one of those places that can’t be summed up in words. And I’m so grateful for that. It’s a place that needs to be seen, but more importantly, felt. Where, because of its authentic beauty you can” let go.”

Jan feels so passionately about his experiences in the park, that since his trip last Friday he has been talking about the park nonstop, to anyone who will listen. Jan’s only regret is that he had not come to the park sooner, but a return trip to the park is definitely in his near future.
A for Adventure advocates for a fitter population by declaring; “Get outside and do any kind of adventure, large or small. Adventure can be right in your own backyard.”
You may soon log on to their Facebook and website, to access more information and photos taken on their trip to Mount Carleton Park.


John Connell, Bernadette Michaud, Ian Smith and Brigitte Clavette
from NB Parks

Labrador tea

L-R John Connell, Jan LaPierre, Chris Surette, Brad Sayeau,Ian Smith,
Brigitte Clavette, Susan Mulherin

Little Nictau Lake

Paddle

Outlook on Mount Sagamook

Purple trilliums on the trail

Stunted birch near the top of Mount Sagamook

Sumi on the summit

Top of the Mount Sagamook Trail

Posted by Lynaya Astephen

Category: News - Nouvelles

09 June 2015

Hits: 10828

• NB
• pipeline
• NB pipelines
• pipeline de NB

How do you stop a pipeline when one family owns both the oil and the media?

By: Lynaya Astephen, member of Red Head Anthony's Cove Preservation Association, read the original here

Pipeline opponent’s op-ed rejected by Irving-owned newspaper in New Brunswick

Editors’ note: Saint John’s Telegraph-Journal refused to publish this op-ed, written by a local resident to explain why over 700 people gathered on the shores of the Bay of Fundy this past Saturday to oppose Energy East, TransCanada’s proposed 1.1 million barrel per day pipeline. Like nearly all print media in the province of New Brunswick, the Telegraph-Journal is owned by the Irving family, whose company, Irving Oil, has partnered with TransCanada to build a maritime export terminal for the proposed Energy East pipeline.

I am a proud resident of Red Head, Saint John, a small rural community with quiet roads and beautiful coastal views.

TransCanada is proposing a 1.1 million barrel per day pipeline from Alberta to Saint John. After travelling almost the entire length of the country, it would end at a new deep water port on the Bay of Fundy. The Energy East project also includes a massive tank “farm” to store the oil that would be loaded onto waiting ships — across the street from my home.

• Confronting Irving Oil and TransCanada at the end of the line in New Brunswick

• VIDEO: New Brunswick residents talk about their concerns with Energy East

• Ten questions for NDP energy critic Guy Caron about Energy East

Why do I oppose Energy East?

I’m worried about the air we breathe.

Saint John is highly industrialized, and residents are already exposed to increased health risks from air pollution, not to mention the oil smells near Irving’s new rail facility. We have, among other industries, Irving Oil’s export terminal and the Canaport LNG terminal. We have 38 times the industrial pollution of Fredericton and 243 times that of Moncton. A recent study found lung cancer rates 30 per cent higher in Saint John than in either of these communities. The health experts I’ve spoken to say that existing regulations for air pollution as inadequate. Yet TransCanada says air pollution from Energy East would not be significant.

I’m worried about the prospect of a spill or fire at the tank storage farm.

The deputy fire chief in Burnaby, B.C., has issued a scathing report on the risks presented by a similar oil tank storage facility on the West Coast. The chief warned that a fire at the expanded tank farm could create a “nightmare scenario” resulting in a massive urban evacuation.

I am having trouble trusting TransCanada and Irving Oil. Despite several requests, TransCanada has refused to hold a public meeting with Red Head residents with an open question-and-answer period.

A recent Reuters investigation of the New Brunswick Department of Energy found that since 2012, Irving’s export terminal has experienced at least 19 accidents classified as “environmental emergencies.” In 2013, Irving received a formal warning for taking more than a day to report a storage tank leak at the Canaport facility.

According to National Energy Board statistics, TransCanada has had more pipeline ruptures than any other company in Canada. The company’s electronic monitoring equipment won’t even detect a spill that is less than 1.5 per cent of the pipeline’s capacity. This means over 2 million litres can spill before anyone is alerted.

My concerns don’t stop at the end of my driveway.

The Energy East project would see 115 oil tankers in the Bay of Fundy — and potentially far more now that the Cacouna, Quebec, port has been cancelled. The endangered North Atlantic right whales in the Bay of Fundy are already vulnerable to ship strikes and low-frequency ship noise, both of which Energy East threatens to worsen. Moving in and out of port for export, Energy East tankers would carry 1 to 2 million barrels of oil each.

Energy East would ship diluted bitumen from the tar sands. Sticky and heavy, bitumen from Alberta’s tar sands separated from the diluents (chemicals) and sunk in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River during a pipeline spill in 2010. This cost Enbridge more than $1 billion to clean up, yet submerged oil remains on the river bed to this day.

One federal study found diluted bitumen sunk and formed “tar balls” in marine conditions similar to the Bay of Fundy. A major spill that occurs during loading of the tankers or when the tankers are leaving wouldn’t just threaten whales. It could be a serious blow for all ocean-dependent economies and jobs.

A draft federal report accessed through freedom of information admits that not enough is known about the potential toxic effects of tar sands crude in our waterways. Energy East passes through or comes near more than 300 waterways, including at least six of the St. John River’s main tributaries.

I want to do my part in helping protect future generations.

The Energy East pipeline would create more climate pollution than any single Atlantic province.

A recent scientific report says 85 per cent of Canada’s tar sands need to stay in the ground if we are to avoid the worst of climate change. Industry wants to double production by 2030 and will pursue both pipeline and rail expansion to export their product. Filling the Energy East pipeline would allow a close to 40 per cent increase in tar sands production.

We can do better. This export pipeline puts so much at risk for such short-term benefit. There is much more at stake than profit.

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

05 June 2015

Hits: 7098

• Energy East
• red head
• march
• end of the line

Posted by Raissa Marks

Category: News - Nouvelles

04 June 2015

Hits: 6847

• New Brunswick
• environment
• green pages
• world environment day
• networking
• environmental movement
• non profit

June 4, 2015
For immediate release

NB Green Pages Launched for World Environment Day


Moncton – In celebration of World Environment Day on June 5, the New Brunswick Environmental Network (NBEN) is launching Green Pages, a searchable on-line directory of more than 80 non-profit environmental groups in New Brunswick.

“Green Pages is the who’s who for New Brunswick environmental issues. It will help people across the province connect with community environmental groups in their region,” said Raissa Marks, Executive Director of the NBEN. “We are launching this on World Environment Day as an invitation to all New Brunswickers to step forward and join with groups in their region.”

Community-based environmental groups are found in every corner of the province. These groups work hard to protect and restore the environment and educate the public, but also have fun enjoying nature with one another. “Nature NB has eight affiliated clubs in the province,” said Vanessa Roy MacDougall, Nature NB, a member group of the NBEN, “and Green Pages will help the public get involved with us.”

“Green Pages is going to be very helpful to young people like myself who are interested in environmental issues,” said Chloé Mélanson, of Vertige, the student environmental group at Mathieu-Martin High School. “It will now be so easy to find a group to volunteer with or to join.”

“Green Pages will help people become more involved in environmental issues, and in their local communities,” said Amanda Marlin, of EOS Eco-Energy in the Tantramar area. “Whatever their environmental interests, and wherever they are in the province, New Brunswickers will be able to find a group with which to connect.”

“It’s surprising to find over 80 community-based environmental groups in a small province. From my perspective, this is because we are a rural province and people have deep connections to the land and their communities. They want to preserve and protect them. For the NBEN, supporting this drive to preserve and protect is key to our mission,” stated Marks. “Green Pages will provide an important link. What issue is close to your heart? Use Green Pages to find others who are like-minded.”

Green Pages is searchable by organization name or acronym, environmental issues addressed, location and geographical scope, and language of service. For each group, contact information is provided, as well as its purpose, activities, and services available to the public. Green Pages can be accessed at http://db.nben.ca/.

The New Brunswick Environmental Network (NBEN), established in 1991, is a communication network that links together non-profit environmental organizations. Its mission is to encourage and facilitate networking and communication among member groups in order to advance their work to protect the Earth and to promote ecologically sound ways of life, and to strengthen the environmental movement in New Brunswick.

— 30 —

Contact:
Raissa Marks, New Brunswick Environmental Network, office: 506-855-4144, cell: 506-588-2980

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

04 June 2015

Hits: 13169

• health
• public health
• herbicide
• glyphosate
• legislative assembly
• health canada

Biologist Rod Cumberland sent this letter to all members of the NB Legislative Assembly

Dear NBMLA:

I have just reviewed the 323 page Health Canada re-assessment of glyphosate. It was due in 2014 but was completed April 13, 2015.

Rather than simply take whatever comes out of this process at face value, I believe you need to be informed of the pitfalls of this present review.

It is VERY evident that there are huge problems with this process and I would like to make you aware of them before we blindly assume that this review is unbiased and "scientific". Please allow me to elaborate on my two main shortfalls of this review:

First - There is an obvious lack of relevant research; and
(Without recent and relevant research that CLEARLY reveals numerous health and wildlife hazards associated with glyphosate, the assumptions that it is safe are erroneous).

Second - the inclusion of the economic and social benefits of glyphosate.
This document presumes to use “a science-based approach”, therefore this is no place for economic and social benefits that have little relevance when considering the science behind the impacts and safety of a compound to human health.
The shortcomings of this review are as follows:

1. The Health Canada review of glyphosate has not considered the actual product sprayed and used across Canada with the adjuvants and emulsifiers that make it the effective product it is – If glyphosate was used by itself for the benefits purported in both agriculture and forest based applications, then a review considering the impacts of glyphosate alone may be appropriate. However, the effectiveness of this compound is only possible in formulation. It is therefore the FORMULATION that must be considered in the review of glyphosate because indeed, this is what is sprayed across the country, not glyphosate alone.

2. This review has not included volumes of recent worldwide literature that reveals huge issues with glyphosate in formulation. In any scientific review, literature review or published paper, the strength of the paper is only as relevant as the research upon which it is based. In other words, using outdated and short-term studies on a compound that has been continually modified and that has long term consequences is either knowingly biasing the process and results, or worse, pleading ignorance to the advancement of science and emerging research. Neither is appropriate in this re-evaluation and this process relies on outdated, short-term research when long term and relevant research is readily available that shows markedly different results than they report.

For example, 78% of all industry-supplied research is between 10 and 40 years outdated. Further, the majority of these (a full 80%) are more than 15 years removed from currently published material. I forwarded (and have appended here) over 30 papers published within the past 10 years on glyphosate and glyphosate formulations that suggest markedly different results and reveal glyphosate and its formulations are the cause of many modern human diseases, are carcinogenic and are the cause of cell malformations in numerous types of human and animal cells, but most problematic are its problems associated with gastrointestinal systems and reproductive cells specifically. And the review doesn’t even begin to address all the relevant research on GMO’s and their problems.

Discouragingly, but likely explanatory to the present proposed conclusion is that a mere 9% of the papers used in the review are recent publications. I do not understand on such a controversial topic as glyphosate use and it’s proven health concerns why more effort was not expended to find current research from around the globe to give a much better review of this chemical. It would definitely impact this assessment. This very biased approach is clearly covered in Antoniou et.al 2012.

I would also like to comment on several specific concerns within the document:

a) On page 3 it states that “pesticides are registered for use in Canada only if the level of exposure does not cause any harmful effects”. Therefore, if there is current research that DOES show harmful effects, particularly of a chemical in the state it is sprayed in throughout the country, by their own admission it MUST NOT recommend it for use. I contend that the attached research is clear evidence that the decision must be reversed.

b) Glyphosate formulations pose negligible risk to freshwater fish and amphibians. This conclusion has been proven incorrect by modern research (Annett et.al 2014, Vera et.al 2010). It shows harmful effects and would invoke a nation-wide ban on the use of glyphosate.

c) Under 3.1 it is stated that studies were available to satisfy data requirements, yet it is not specified what these requirements are, nor what studies are applicable, when they were done, etc. to justify these statement. This is poor science and format for a review document with the intent of public review, unless of course the intent is to limit the amount of intelligent and scientific comment.

d) Cardiovascular malformations are mentioned on page 14 as serious side effects in one study (again, no specifics) but regardless, how can it be concluded that glyphosate is safe? Once again, these results disagree with the suggestion that glyphosate “does not cause harmful effects” and would rather corroborate modern research linking glyphosate and its formulations to a huge list of environmental, human and wildlife ill effects (research attached).

e) Dietary exposure can be mitigated by changes in use patterns. This begs two questions – if there are no harmful effects, why suggest mitigation? Next, mitigation is suggested, this implies harmful effects. More Problems are that this document does not suggest how these mitigative steps will be enforced to ensure compliance. Therefore, it is a hollow recommendation that affords NO protection of health.

f) On page 29 “major incidents of human exposure” are reported, however, no qualification is provided for the word “major”. Further, these exposures to “Highly toxic ingredients” or the adjuvants and emulsifiers I suggest MUST be considered. This again highlights that some of their research, along with most modern research, that glyphosate in formulation is HIGHLY TOXIC. Back to point 1 – how can such a review conclude glyphosate does not cause harmful effects unless on the grounds of semantics by separating glyphosate from its formulations, a formulation that is rarely used commercially??

g) On page 30 they reference common incidents in wild animals where these formulations cause death in wildlife. Once again, totally contradicting statements and research that suggests this assessment is incorrect and will jeopardize human, wildlife and environmental health and safety. How could a toxic substance causing death NOT warrant changes in labels at the least, or more responsibly a ban on the product?

h) The statement “Glyphosate is rarely detected in drinking water” proves the weakness and ignorance of the process and data. I include papers that show glyphosate, even at residual levels, shows up in soil, water, human urine, cattle tissue, other cells, etc. Therefore, based on modern research the present suggested evaluation must be reconsidered in light of science.

i) You assume “risk to mammals is low”. Again, research from Montana, Australia, Denmark, Germany and Egypt directly linked malformations in ungulates to the mineral chelating effect that glyphosate has and the resulting mineral deficiencies in their food and systems from the use of glyphosate; More erroneous data, more erroneous conclusions.

j) This review states there is no reproductive risk to glyphosate. Current research again proves this point outdated and erroneous (see attached research).

k) This review states glyphosate has no effect on fish. The appended research proves that herbicides are endocrine disruptors (which glyphosate is) and federal research scientists have proven they cause many problems in fish including high at-sea mortality.

l) Quite disturbing is the assertion on page 42 that one of the benefits of glyphosate is its ability to be more effective when combined with other chemicals. It is hypocritical to in one breath dismiss the impacts of glyphosate in formation because only the compound glyphosate is being reviewed, yet when it’s convenient, this very argument is used to weigh the scales in favour of the compound.

m) The wordsmithing in the section referencing OECD countries not prohibiting ALL uses of glyphosate is correct only grammatically. For the record, there are municipalities within Canada, Provinces within Canada and many countries that have prohibited the use of glyphosate (Columbia and Holland in the past few weeks) due to the health hazards and risks you purport are not present. Interesting play on words, but in no way reflects reality and concerns around this compound. Statements like these drip with bias, and ignorance – whether purposeful or not – to current research.

n) Maximum levels in foods – this raises another point that MUST be considered by Health Canada. In light of emerging research and glyphosates link to modern disease, it is Health Canada’s responsibility to request labels on all foods that have been sprayed at one point or another in the growth process by glyphosate so the public can protect themselves from ingestion of this substance. If the use of this toxic chemical is not revoked, at the very least there must be a means by which the public can make informed decisions on the purchase of these contaminated foods.

o) If the only change from Health Canada’s former review of glyphosate is several labeling changes, how does Health Canada ensure these label instructions are followed? What are the penalties for failure to heed them? Once again, this is a broken system and in NO WAY protects the health and welfare of humans, wildlife or the environment. These are serious deficiencies in this review and therefore, we cannot be expected to take this re-evaluation seriously.

In closing, I was very disappointed with this re-assessment. This appears another bureaucratic process that only provides lip service and opportunity for input just to say it was done. I would hope and expect that the elected politicians of New Brunswick would take these comments seriously and ensure such a biased and ill-informed review in light of applicable and relevant literature of glyphosate’s great risk to public health, wildlife health and the environment would step up and demand a more rigorous approach.

If NB companies, or the BNBDNR, NBAFA or other NB departments stand behind this biased and flawed review, you will be knowingly allowing the poisoning of New Brunswickers.

In all sincerity,
Rod E. Cumberland, CWB

Posted by Marie-Pierre Poirier

Category: News - Nouvelles

01 June 2015

Hits: 4689

The workshop report from  "Running with the current: A workshop for watershed groups in NB" that was held on January 21, 2015 in Fredericton is now available to all members and associates of the NBEN in the Reference Library of our website (under the "Resources" tab).


The event attracted representatives from 24 watershed groups and seven other environmental groups. This represents 75% of all watershed groups in the province! They identified four priority areas on which they want to together: 

·         Communication strategy

·         Long-term funding strategy

·         Coordination of data collection and monitoring

·         Encouraging the completion of the water policy framework in New Brunswick (including the Water Classification Regulation)

A big thanks to all the participants who attended and to Small Change Fund for making the event possible. There is interesting work ahead!

Happy reading.

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

01 June 2015

Hits: 8407

We, the members of the Alliance, recognize the Nation-to-Nation Peace and Friendship Treaties as the basis of our common ground, defining our responsibilities to the water and to each other, down through the generations.

We affirm that Water is the dynamic and creative element that sustains all life. Water moves and flows through deep aquifers, springs, bogs, brooks, marshes, lakes, rivers and into the ocean tides throughout Wabanaki territory, to be drawn up into the clouds and fall as rain, returning to the land.

In this constant ebb & flow, Water nourishes & cleanses the entire world. It makes up who we are, as well as the other living beings. We live, grow, play, work, wash, cook, drink, rest, pray and celebrate with the waters. What we do to the Water, we do to ourselves.

Water is limited, and it is vulnerable. It needs to be protected, and shared freely and fairly. Water is not a commodity or merely a resource. It is a unique condition, a life giver, a right, and water is a dynamic being with a creative power of its own unlike any other in the natural world, and the human family.

We see the destruction of the environment as the destruction of ourselves. We see that any assault on the good and well-being of our relations in the natural world, upon our lands and our waters as an act of aggression against us.

Today, we recognize and resist the extensive abuses to Water that resource industries and governments are unleashing, directly assaulting Water.

These threats include:

● fracking ● tar sands pipelines ● mining ● industrial wastewater dumping ● privatizing water services ● clear cut & spraying in the forest ● industrial farming ● river dams ● coastal inundation and flash flooding from severe storms and climate change ● nuclear power generation ● salmon farm mismanagement ● government inaction

These abuses render water toxic, diverted, substandard, unreliable and unavailable. All of these assaults on Water are abusive to the web of life which our societies are embedded in and depend upon to survive and thrive for the next seven generations. Our children and grandchildren deserve better and need to be protected from harm.

The Peace and Friendship Alliance opposes these abuses. We are committed to restoring balance to our relationship with the water, thereby renewing our treaty responsibilities to each other as distinct Nations. When we care for the water, we care for each other.

We will care for the water by building a sustainable economy that rapidly transitions away from fossil-fuels to renewables, restores our forests, reduces the carbon footprint, decentralizes energy supply, and builds food security through a regional biodiverse farming sector.

We call on governments to amend our laws and regulations to accommodate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. lThese laws and regulations must take into account sovereign aboriginal title of Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet), Passamaquoddy and Mi’kmaq, involving their inherent and inalienable rights, including among others their right to exercise free, prior, and informed consent and their right to participate in economic development that affects the waters in their lands. These laws and regulations must also take into account the balance of interests involving the farming sector, forestry sector, renewable energy sector, manufacturing sector, as well as health services and tourism industries among others.

We the Alliance invite you to join in our movement – our shared consciousness - to reconnect in a sacred manner to the natural world. Our Nations will stand shoulder-to- shoulder to protect the water and secure a future for our children and our grandchildren.

This Water Declaration is declared in Peace and Friendship, on the 30th of May, 2015, at the mouth of the Wolastoq (Saint John River) and the shore of the Bay of Fundy.

The Peace and Friendship Alliance

woliwon - wela’lin - thank you - merci


Visit http://www.noenergyeastnb.ca/

Posted by Marie-Pierre Poirier

Category: News - Nouvelles

15 May 2015

Hits: 5447

Hi everyone,

The ETF project awards have been announced!

http://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/env/pdf/ETFAwards.pdf

Fingers crossed for you!

The NBEN team

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

15 April 2015

Hits: 7643

MEDIA RELEASE

Provinces take lead on climate protection

FREDERICTON — The declaration from premiers at the Quebec Summit on Climate Change puts momentum behind the effort to protect our climate and reduce carbon pollution, says the Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.

Yesterday the premiers released a declaration containing several commitments for greater cooperation and meaningful action to curb climate change. The 12-point declaration included commitments from premiers to transition to a lower-carbon economy, noting that could involve carbon pricing, and putting policies in place to reduce climate change-causing pollution, such as increasing energy efficiency and conservation and using clean and renewable energy.

“Tuesday’s announcement from our premiers is the type of leadership on climate that Canadians have been looking for,” said Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council. "Of course, now they have to take action at home to reduce pollution — actions that their citizens support and will create jobs."

In the declaration, the premiers said they recognize the cost of inaction is greater than the cost of acting on climate protection, and that the fight against climate change would create sustainable, long-term jobs, especially in areas such as renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The document comes just one day after Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced her province would enter into a cap and trade system with Quebec and California as a means to control carbon pollution, and following this weekend’s massive march in Quebec City where 25,000 people called on leaders to act now on climate protection.

“To me, this is our premiers saying to the Canadian people: message received. Our provinces are now empowered to act, and we expect that they will,” added Corbett, who attended the climate march and presented at an Act On Climate Forum in Quebec City over the weekend.

Corbett said the commitments contained in the declaration meant good things for New Brunswick, noting efforts to reduce carbon pollution - such as investments in energy conservation, renewable energy projects, putting a price on carbon and phasing out coal - will create good jobs for New Brunswickers and make our communities healthier places to live.

The climate summit was hosted in Quebec City and attended by eight provincial premiers, including New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant. Gallant led a New Brunswick delegation which included Environment and Local Government Minister Brian Kenny and Fredericton South MLA David Coon.

Read the declaration from premiers.

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

13 April 2015

Hits: 9697

• CCNB
• Act on Climate March
• cliimate protection

FREDERICTON — Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, will talk about ways governments can protect our climate while creating prosperous communities during the Act on Climate Forum in Quebec City this weekend.

Corbett is one of several notable speakers participating in the Act on Climate Forum on Sunday, April 12 in Quebec City. The forum follows the Act on Climate March being organized on April 11, when Canadians from coast-to-coast will gather to show their support for government action on climate protection.

Later in the week, some of Canada’s premiers, including New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant, will be in Quebec City for a special meeting on climate change. The march and forum are intended to show leaders how serious Canadians are about coming up with climate solutions in the lead up to the international climate talks in Paris later this year.

“It’s all about solutions for that week in Quebec City,” says Corbett, who will speak on federal and provincial laws and policies at the forum. "Premiers agreeing to act together to manage carbon pollution at home and invest in the new jobs found in clean energy and improved energy efficiency will send a strong signal that they, like most Canadians, respect that there is a limit to the amount of carbon pollution the atmosphere can take.”

Corbett, an expert in public policy, will talk about ways our leaders can move fairly and effectively toward an economy that doesn’t depend on fossil fuels.

Other speakers of the Act on Climate Forum include representatives from Canadian universities, the Canadian Labour Congress, labour unions, First Nations, citizen groups and environmental organizations such as the David Suzuki Foundation and Blue Green Canada, among others.

The forum aims to strengthen collaboration between groups across Canada who are working to tackle climate change.

Corbett will be available to media in New Brunswick for on-the-street interviews from Quebec City during the March on Saturday or following the Forum on Sunday.

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

13 April 2015

Hits: 9648

• New Brunswick
• leadership
• CCNB
• Act now
• climate protection

FREDERICTON — A new poll shows New Brunswickers want their government leaders to act now to protect the climate.

Polling determined an overwhelming majority of New Brunswickers — a margin of nearly 8 to 1 — believe we should be global leaders in protecting the climate by reducing our energy consumption.

The national telephone poll was conducted in the last half of March, just weeks before several Canadian premiers, including New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant, are gathering in Quebec City for a special meeting on climate change.

The poll also shows New Brunswickers don’t buy into the idea that just because a jurisdiction is small it doesn’t have to take as much action to curb climate change. A majority of New Brunswickers rejected the notion that Canada’s efforts on climate change should be minimal given our country’s total emissions as compared to other polluters such as the U.S. or China.

Instead, New Brunswickers want swift action on climate protection from their leaders. Polling shows 73.3 per cent of people from the province want to see a plan for creating jobs in the renewable energy sector, with 70.2 per cent calling for a promise to legally enforce a cap or limits to carbon pollution. Nearly 70 per cent of New Brunswickers want a commitment to phase out coal, oil and gas and replace them with renewable energy sources.

The national random sample telephone poll involved participation from 3,040 Canadians and was conducted for Climate Action Network Canada by Oracle Research Limited between March 12 to 30. The margin of error for the total 3040-person survey is +/- 1.78%, 19/20 times. See full results here.

Other results related to New Brunswick:

• 78.7 per cent of New Brunswickers see curbing climate change as a moral issue, saying they believe they are morally obligated to reduce carbon pollution in their daily lives;
  
  
• 63.5 per cent of New Brunswickers disagree with the notion that cheap and accessible energy are more important than the negative impacts they have on the environment;
  
  

• 80 per cent of New Brunswickers want a say in decision-making around energy projects.

Posted by Vanessa Roy-McDougall

Category: News - Nouvelles

09 April 2015

Hits: 5465

When Mary Ann started out with the New Brunswick Environmental Network in 1991, she no doubt had no idea what the organization would look like 24 years later. From a simple network trying to link up environmental organizations in New Brunswick, it has developed into an organization that plays a crucial role in bringing people together around burning issues to strategize and plan for actions. In addition, the NBEN also brings together a great variety of stakeholders, agencies and organizations to address specific gaps that they know they cannot deal with on their own. So today, the NBEN, with 2 full-time staff, 2 part-time staff, and some contractors, manages communications among environmental groups, including 4 active caucuses around shale gas, crown lands, watersheds, and the pipeline, 4 multistakeholder collaboratives (children’s environmental health, sustainability education, climate change adaptation, and biodiversity), that combined have 18 teams or working groups. All that makes up the Environmental Network today in a very unique approach to addressing environmental issues and concerns in the province, all based on networking and communication.

Mary Ann has brought a vision to the Environmental Network that at once is grounded in grassroots, while always looking at everything in a very strategic manner towards building the capacity of our environmental movement. Mary Ann is an activist, a strategic thinker, and a doer... all of us in the environmental community have benefited from her dedication and commitment, and for that we thank her enormously.

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

08 April 2015

Hits: 8338

By Mark D'Arcy, New Brunswick Energy East campaigner, The Council of Canadians

Cacuna stopped it. South Portland stopped it. Now it is Red Head's turn to stand up against the tarsands pipeline.

As attention on Energy East now focuses on New Brunswick and the Bay of Fundy, the residents of Red Head are well into their second month of planning for the large "End of the Line March" on Saturday, May 30th @ 1:00pm.

Why is the line in the sand being drawn at Red Head? The numbers speak for themselves:

• a 42-inch diameter export pipeline built over 280 proposed waterway crossings in New Brunswick (see this interactive map);
• a 150-hectare tank farm capable of housing 7.6 million barrels of oil and heated bitumen will be situated right in the middle of the rural community of Red Head;
• a 183-hectare marine terminal complex at Red Head;
• supertankers carrying 2.2 million barrels of oil crossing over the Bay of Fundy; and
• pipeline leaks as large as 2.6 million litres per day for up to 2 weeks could go undetected;

The threat of spills into waterways and the Bay of Fundy, and certain toxic air pollution for Red Head, is unacceptable.

Continue reading here: Red Head is "the end of the line" for Energy East

Event Facebook Page:March to the End of the Line

NBEN event page: March To The End Of The Line

Council of Canadians Energy East page

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

08 April 2015

Hits: 9132

• conservation council
• CCNB
• earth day
• Very Green People
• VGP

FREDERICTON — The Conservation Council of New Brunswick has partnered with Earth Day Canada to help New Brunswickers make eco-friendly choices this April 22 and beyond.

The province's leading environmental organization will be supplying free materials to schools and teachers and providing event toolkits for groups or individuals looking to organize local events across New Brunswick.

The Conservation Council is the official N.B. partner of Earth Day Canada and one of several groups collaborating on the campaign across the country.

The theme of this year's celebration is 'Clean Your Commute,' encouraging Canadians to become VGPs — Very Green People — by embracing green transportation options on April 22.

Other elements include the 'Earth Day Every Day Campaign.' On April 22, Canadians who signed up will receive an 'Earth Day Every Day' toolkit that will give them ideas for fun ways to reduce and track their environmental footprint over the course of the year.

Organizers have also created a 2015 Earth Day Flag which will be signed by people from coast-to-coast who have committed to cutting their carbon emissions by 20 per cent by the year 2020. The flag will be presented during the International Climate Conference in Paris in December, re-creating the moment when a similar flag was presented at the U.N. Earth Summit in 1992.

The Conservation Council will coordinate with New Brunswickers who want to sign the Earth Day Flag.

Prizes are available for people who participate, post about, and share their Earth Day Canada activities.

To receive free promotional materials, resources for teachers, event toolkits, or to arrange to sign the 2015 Earth Day Flag, contact Jon MacNeill, Communications Officer with the Conservation Council.

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

08 April 2015

Hits: 9081

• Energy East
• pipeline
• Transcanada
• CCNB

Posted by Vanessa Roy-McDougall

Category: News - Nouvelles

31 March 2015

Hits: 6886

• raissa marks
• executive director

The Steering Committee of the New Brunswick Environmental Network is pleased to announce that Raissa Marks will be the new Executive Director of the organization beginning April 1, 2015. Raissa brings over 8 years of experience of senior leadership within the organization, as program director. She is a skilled facilitator and has a deep understanding of the important role the NBEN has as a communications hub and facilitator, as well as an innate appreciation for the NBEN as a strategic player in advancing environmental issues in our province.

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

26 March 2015

Hits: 6847

• conservation council
• New Brunswick
• herbicide
• CCNB
• Cancer-causing chemicals
• glyphosate ban
• Crown forest
• IARC

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

23 March 2015

Hits: 6584

• forest
• Fredericton
• Council of Canadians
• consultations
• Peace & Friendship Alliance
• Gallant
• Indigenous Peoples
• Fredericton Chapter

Fredericton NB - Members of the Peace & Friendship Alliance are alarmed at the Gallant government’s decision to honour forestry contracts that were signed without meaningful consultation.  

The Alliance includes non-governmental groups and Indigenous Peoples from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Maine, in collaboration with a national and international coalition, who are all concerned about mounting assaults on our land, water, and air by governments and industry.



“The lands tied to those contracts are the stolen ancestral territory of our people,” says Ron Tremblay, spokesperson for Wolastoq Grand Council. “We see Brian Gallant’s endorsement of the contracts as abuse of due process. The contracts were signed without meaningful consultation with Indigenous People.”

“Gallant should have announced he was going to suspend the contracts until Indigenous People were properly consulted,” adds Tremblay.

“This is more of an incentive to take this government to court to finally recognize aboriginal title to the lands that have been given away for destruction,” says Alma Brooks, clan mother of the Wolastoq Grand Council.


Maggie Connell, co-chair of the Fredericton Chapter of the Council of Canadians, said “This forestry deal was done in secret without Wolastoq Peoples knowledge or ours.”

“We want to prevent irreparable harm to Acadian forests which will not regenerate for hundreds of years,” adds Connell. “And after such severe weather this winter, our elected leaders can no longer hide from climate change. They have a duty of care to prevent widespread loss of forest cover. Many of these areas now allowed in the forestry contract are on steep slopes and wet areas that once cut, will not retain as much water after heavy rain events, thus increasing the risk of flooding in downstream communities.”




A rally is being held outside the combined Annual General Meetings of three (3) NB Liberal Riding Associations this coming Wednesday, March 25th from 5:30pm to 7:00pm at Knights of Columbus Hall, 170 Regent Street, Fredericton to tell Brian Gallant to give us due process and suspend the forestry contracts through legislation. The public is invited to attend this family event.

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

19 March 2015

Hits: 6733

• Energy East
• Fredericton
• drinking water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                 PRESS RELEASE                          12 MARCH 2015

Will residents of Fredericton get to ask TransCanada about the risk of an Energy East pipeline spill to their drinking water?

FREDERICTON - TransCanada refuses to hold a public meeting for the residents of Fredericton, yet the company is scheduled to meet Fredericton's business community for the second time in one year.

Kevin Maloney of TransCanada Pipeline, plans to give an early morning presentation to the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce on March 17, 2015 at the Fredericton Convention Centre, from 8:00am to 9:00am.  As TransCanada's Manager for New Build Pipeline – Ontario & New Brunswick,  Mr. Maloney wants to update the business community on the progress of the Energy East Pipeline proposal.

This announcement comes only 2 weeks after the public learned that TransCanada sent a letter to the City of Fredericton refusing City Council's request to hold a public meeting for their citizens.   Dated February 11, 2015, Patrick Lacroix, TransCanada's NB Project Manager for Energy East Project, explained his company's position in the letter, "Our focus remains on communities and landowners directly affected by the pipeline route.", intimating that Fredericton would not be directly affected by the pipeline.

The letter by TransCanada did not mention that the company is holding meetings with the business community in Fredericton.  TransCanada's Philippe Cannon gave a presentation on the public safety and economic impacts of the proposed pipeline to the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce, Fredericton North Rotary Club and Mayor Brad Woodside on March 17, 2014.

This contradiction prompted several members of the Council of Canadians - Fredericton Chapter to call the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce and ask for an open meeting.  One of those members, Marzipan Trahms, explained, "It is unfair that TransCanada will meet with the business community of Fredericton but not the citizens of Fredericton. The optics are bad for building trust.  I expressed my concern with Chamber President Joseph O'Donnell and he assured me that the public is welcome at this breakfast presentation."

Maggie Connell, co-chair of the Council of Canadians - Fredericton Chapter is very pleased with this turn of events, "The Fredericton Chamber of Commerce is to be congratulated for opening up this meeting to the public.  We look forward to TransCanada dealing with our concern about the risk to our city's drinking water supply in an open and genuine manner."

"Our question to TransCanada will be very straight-forward: Where will a spill in the Nashwaak River end up?" says Ms. Connell. "Will computer modelling be conducted to predict whether or not toxic chemicals from an oil spill would reach the base of the Nashwaak River, the critical location of windows into the Fredericton aquifer?"

Don McDonald, a resident of Stanley, was so concerned about the impact of a pipeline spill into his long-time fishing waterways, the Nashwaak River and the Southwest Miramichi River, that he applied a week ago to the National Energy Board to be an intervenor in the Energy East hearings. "The S Br SW Miramichi River, Taxis River, its tributaries, and Lake Brook flow into the SouthWest Miramichi River.  McGivney Brook and Arnold Brook flow into the Cross Creek stream which flows into the Nashwaak River and on into the Saint John River."

Mr. McDonald stressed the high risk to Fredericton, "The proposed pipeline route crosses three tributaries leading into the Nashwaak River.  The usually high flow rate of Cross Creek and the Nashwaak River means that a spill could happen in the middle of the night and only be detected in the morning when it has already reached Fredericton."

Don plans to attend the TransCanada presentation and ask the following, "How much can the pipeline spill before they know it, and how accurately can they identify where the leak is?  These are the two prime questions about leaks.  For example, we need to know what type of sensing equipment they will use and what will be the requirements for shut-off values at these water crossings?  Can they be shut off automatically." 

Elizabeth Hamilton, member of Council of Canadians - Fredericton Chapter sums up why their group is so concerned about this pipeline, "An independent study commissioned by a Quebec municipality found that Energy East leaks as large as 2.6 million litres per day could go undetected. And the diluted bitumen that TransCanada plans to pump through the pipeline is filled with cancer-causing chemicals and sinks to the bottom of waterways it enters."

"We have actual spills that prove our concerns are real," says Ms. Hamilton.  "An estimated 3.8 million litres of diluted tar sands bitumen spilled into a 60-kilometre stretch of the Kalamazoo River in Michigan in July 2010, forcing hundreds of residents from their homes.  Even after 4 years of clean-up, at a cost of $1.3 billion dollars, there remains an estimated 600,000 litres of oil stuck to the bottom of the Kalamazoo River."

Ms. Hamilton concludes, "Our concern is for a large pipeline spill in the Nashwaak River that would reach all the way to Fredericton. We have to think first and foremost about protecting our drinking water."

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Maggie Connell  506.459.8081

Marzipan Trahms 506.454.6410




LINK: Presentation Day - The Energy East Pipeline

http://business.frederictonchamber.ca/events/details/presentation-day-the-energy-east-pipeline-come-get-the-latest-update-on-its-progress-163

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

11 March 2015

Hits: 7274

MEDIA RELEASE

FREDERICTON — Proposed new aquaculture regulations will face scrutiny before a senate committee meeting today after a coalition of fishers, fishing associations, business leaders and scientists have said the changes would harm marine environments and wild fisheries such as salmon and lobster.

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick’s Fundy Baykeeper, Matt Abbott, will be watching the meeting and is available for comment to media before and after the proceedings.

Abbott was a leading force behind the open letter sent last month to Prime Minister Stephen Harper calling upon the federal government to scrap the proposed aquaculture activities regulations. The letter was signed by a broad coalition of 120 people and organizations, who will be represented at the Senate Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans by Bill Ernst (Toxicologist, Environment Canada, retired), Rob Johnson (Ecology Action Centre),  and Michael Van den Heuvel (Canada Research Chair in Watershed Ecological Integrity, University of Prince Edward Island).

The hearing takes place at 5 p.m. EST and can be watched online through a webcast. Follow the Twitter handles @AquaRegs and @cc_nb for more updates.

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:
Matt Abbott, Fundy Baykeeper: 506-321-0429, matt.abbott@conservationcouncil.ca

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick
Established in 1969, the Conservation Council serves as the province’s leading voice for conservation and environmental protection. A leading public policy advocate, CCNB works to find practical solutions to help families and educators, citizens, governments and businesses protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, the precious marine ecosystem and the land, including the forests, that support us.

-30-

Conservation Council of New Brunswick

180 St. John Street, Fredericton NB E3B 4A9

506.458.8747 ::  www.conservationcouncil.ca

Posted by Marie-Pierre Poirier

Category: News - Nouvelles

11 March 2015

Hits: 7460

MEDIA RELEASE

FREDERICTON — The Conservation Council of New Brunswick has applied to be an intervenor in the National Energy Board’s review of the proposed Energy East oil pipeline.

It is one of nearly 1,000 groups and individuals to apply to participate in the review of TransCanada Corporation’s proposal to build a 4,600-kilometre oil pipeline from the tarsands in Alberta to export terminals in New Brunswick. The deadline to apply to be heard by the NEB was today.

Among other abilities, approved intervenors can file written evidence, ask written questions about evidence supplied by TransCanada, comment on draft conditions, and present written and oral arguments during hearings.

The Conservation Council has also applied to receive participant funding from the NEB which it will use in part to hire a team of scientists to examine the pipeline proposal.

“There are already quite a few holes in the information the Board has received — it's not translated, it neglects to address upstream climate pollution, and we have yet to discover where the second export terminal will be,” said Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.

“We need to have scientists with expertise in a range of fields — from oil spill impacts in rivers to how increased tanker traffic will affect the endangered whales in the Bay of Fundy."

Corbett said the large number of groups and individuals who have applied demonstrates the concern Canadians have about the oil pipeline project, even in spite of changes to the hearing process which made it harder for people to be involved.

If approved as an intervenor, the Conservation Council will hire a team of experts to study: 

●      The pipeline’s potential impacts on freshwater fish and fish habitat in New Brunswick;

●      The impact of the pipeline and increased shipping traffic on the Bay of Fundy and its wildlife such as the endangered Right whale;

●      The state of emergency preparedness for responding to an oil spill in the Bay of Fundy; and

●      The risks associated with oil spills and the use of dispersants in the Bay of Fundy and New Brunswick’s freshwater rivers, creeks and streams.

The Conservation Council is asking the National Energy Board to hold hearings in Edmundston and Saint John, at the minimum, so New Brunswickers have fair access to the review process.

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The Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Established in 1969, the Conservation Council serves as the province’s leading voice for conservation and environmental protection. A leading public policy advocate, CCNB works to find practical solutions to help families and educators, citizens, governments and businesses protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, the precious marine ecosystem and the land, including the forests, that support us.

To arrange an interview, contact: Jon MacNeill, Communications Officer | 458-8747 | 261-1353 | jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca

Conservation Council of New Brunswick

180 St. John Street, Fredericton NB E3B 4A9

506.458.8747 ::  www.conservationcouncil.ca

Posted by Jon MacNeill

Category: News - Nouvelles

26 February 2015

Hits: 8638

• Energy East
• pipeline
• CCNB

FREDERICTON — The Conservation Council of New Brunswick has released a powerful tool that shows people just how close the proposed Energy East oil pipeline will be to their home, cottage or favourite fishing hole.

The interactive Google Map allows users to see the nearly 300 points at which the oil pipeline will intersect rivers and streams in New Brunswick. It was generated using Google Earth Pro and documents from TransCanada Corporation, the North American oil and gas giant proposing to build the 4,600-kilometre Energy East oil pipeline from the tarsands in Alberta to export terminals in Quebec and Saint John.

“It’s a really neat tool,” said Stephanie Merrill, Freshwater Protection Program Coordinator for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick. “Whenever someone asks about the pipeline, I can bring up the map on my iPad and say, ‘there’s the route, and that’s how close your family cottage is to it.’ Or, ‘there’s the pipeline slicing through the river you’ve fished for years.”

The Conservation Council is calling on New Brunswickers to use the tool and see how the proposed pipeline will affect them. We’re encouraging people to share stories of their favourite fishing holes, hunting grounds, family cottages or homesteads that are in the pipeline’s path.  

View the map on our website.

-30-

Posted by Raissa Marks

Category: News - Nouvelles

23 February 2015

Hits: 6412

• beth mclaughlin
• in memoriam

Sadly, Beth McLaughlin passed away on February 22, 2015.

Beth was a positive force in New Brunswick’s environmental community for decades. She firmly believed that people’s actions could change the world and lived by this belief. Beth founded PANE (People Against Nuclear Energy) and the South East Chapter of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, and co-founded SOS Eau Water Sanqwan. In 2002, Beth was honoured with the NBEN’s Orca award for her tireless efforts in fighting City Hall on the issue of the privatization of the Moncton public water distribution system, and for her capacity to involve people from diverse backgrounds. In 2006, the NBEN again honoured her with an Environmental Achievement award for her passionate and unwavering commitment to the environment and people of New Brunswick, and her ability to inspire, motivate and nurture other environmentalists. Beth had a great love of life and for young people; she mentored many of New Brunswick’s up-and-coming environmentalists over the years.

Our thoughts are with Beth’s family and friends as they mourn a great loss.

A celebration of life for Beth will take place on Wednesday, February 25 in Moncton. See http://www.funerairepassagefuneral.ca/obituary.asp?id=777#sthash.abjp2Rmh.dpuf for more details.

************************************************************************

From the Conservation Council of New Brunswick:

In honour of Beth McLaughlin

New Brunswick has lost a fierce defender of our environment with the
passing of Beth McLaughlin on Sunday, Feb. 22.

Beth was on the Conservation Council board for years. She worked
tirelessly to make people aware of the dangers of nuclear power and she
was one of the key organizers who shelved the Jaakko Poyry
recommendations which sought to double the annual allowable cut in our
forest in the early 2000s.

Beth organized people around the province to ensure they attended the
hearings that determined the fate of our forest. She traveled across New
Brunswick and summarized what people had to stay at each hearing,
comments which were then used to defeat the recommendations. Even when
she became ill with cancer, Beth remained committed to protecting New
Brunswick's Acadian forest and to developing proposed legislation for an
Environmental Bill of Rights for New Brunswick. Her dedication and
service was honoured by the Conservation Council family when she was
presented with a Milton F. Gregg award for environmental activism in 2011.

Beth, a retired school teacher, encouraged her students to be active
citizens and to write letters to government. Beth earned a Masters of
Environmental Studies degree at the Université de Moncton in 2001. Her
thesis was on the topic of sustainable communities. Beth wrote a weekly
column for the Times & Transcript as well as plays and fiction with
environmental themes. She also ran an educational business focused on
sustainable communities with Françoise Aubin.

“From a young age, I always seemed to be aware of environmental issues,
if perhaps only in a peripheral way. My father loved to fish and he
would try to make weekly excursions to our family camp in the northwest
New Brunswick woods. We loved the outdoors,” Beth said as she recalled
the devastation caused by a spruce budworm outbreak and the widespread
spraying of insecticides over New Brunswick's forest in the 1970s,
during an interview for a story that honoured St. Thomas University alumna.

Beth was also a founding board member of Crossroads for Women, a shelter
for women and children living with family violence in Moncton.

Deepest condolences to her partner Helene, to our board members who were
such good friends of hers, and to all those who were blessed to know her
witty humour, tenacity and passion in the many fights that mattered.

Let's honour Beth's memory by renewing our commitment to protecting the
Acadian forest that she so loved and to building healthy communities in
this province.

Posted by Jon MacNeill

Category: News - Nouvelles

19 February 2015

Hits: 7697

MEDIA RELEASE

Today, Wednesday, February 18, 2015, David Coon, MLA for Fredericton South, introduced a bill to the Legislative Assembly called 'An Act to Return to the Crown Certain Rights Related to Wood Supply and Forest Management.'

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick looks forward to the debate that will now occur over this bill. The way our forest is managed needs to change. Clearcutting and herbicide spraying are outdated practices. Woodlot owners and workers need a fair shot at making a living here and treaties with First Nations must be respected.

We encourage everyone to follow the debate that will now occur between our MLAs about our forest. Now is the time to make our voices heard for forest conservation and twenty-first century forest management.

-30-

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Established in 1969, the Conservation Council serves as the province’s leading voice for conservation and environmental protection. A leading public policy advocate, CCNB works to find practical solutions to help families and educators, citizens, governments and businesses protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, the precious marine ecosystem and the land, including the forests, that support us.

To arrange an interview, contact: Jon MacNeill, Communications Officer | 458-8747 | 261-1353 | jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca

Conservation Council of New Brunswick

180 St. John Street, Fredericton NB E3B 4A9

506.458.8747 ::  www.conservationcouncil.ca

Posted by Matthew Abbott

Category: News - Nouvelles

17 February 2015

Hits: 7286

Halifax, NS — Business leaders, commercial and recreational fishing associations, scientists, lawyers and environmentalists are calling on Prime Minister Harper to halt the implementation of the proposed Aquaculture Activities Regulations. The changes will exempt the aquaculture industry from the Fisheries Act provisions that “prohibit the release of deleterious substances into water frequented by fish.” Despite broad-based opposition since the beginning of the regulatory change process, which started in 2011, the government of Canada has moved ahead in implementing these changes.

“These regulations will set back Canadian aquatic environmental protection measures several decades,” states Bill Ernst, a retired Environment Canada toxicologist. “They will eliminate Environment Canada’s role in enforcing the law with respect to aquaculture and hand responsibility over to Health Canada who do not have an undivided environmental protection mandate.”

The 120 signatories of an open letter sent today, including the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, contend that the proposed changes will lead to increased environmental risk through the discharge of increasingly powerful pesticides, and other potentially damaging substances into the aquatic ecosystem, significantly reduce government regulatory oversight, and damage Canada’s commercial interests as a provider of untainted seafood.

“We have been fishing alongside the aquaculture industry for decades and we know the impacts open-pen salmon farms can have on the traditional fishery. When the salmon aquaculture industry is poorly regulated it places our industry and livelihoods in jeopardy.  We have grave concerns about the contents of the Aquaculture Activities Regulations, particularly the emphasis on aquaculture industry self-monitoring and regulation, and the capacity of DFO to enforce the proposed regulations,” says Maria Recchia, Executive Director of Fundy North Fisherman’s Association based in Southwestern New Brunswick.

 “The value of our industry is based on a pristine, non-polluted marine environment,” says Stewart Lamont, owner of Tangier Lobster in Nova Scotia. “We have already dealt with the impacts of pesticides, and see federal fines levied on something that would now become legal. To have DFO authorize pollution from a coastal industry is simply baffling.”

A newly-released scientific study by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on the impacts of two pesticides used to treat sea lice, Salmonsan and Alphamax, shows that there are lethal effects on lobster and the risk from one of those, Alphamax, exists up to ten kilometres from sites of use and concludes that there is a general lack of data on pesticide impacts on a wide variety of other marine species.

“We already know that our oceans and coastal ecosystems are suffering from far too much pollution. With these proposed regulatory changes, we are actively allowing further pollution of our coastal waters.  Our coastal industries, particularly those that rely on a healthy marine environment will be put at risk,” says Dr. Susanna Fuller, Marine Conservation Coordinator at the Ecology Action Centre.” In addition, our international reputation on environmental protection will be impacted – something we can’t afford, particularly given the importance of the export markets to our fisheries.”

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For More Information:

Matt Abbott, Fundy Baykeeper, Conservation Council of New Brunswick, matt.abbott@conservationcouncil.ca c: 506-321-0429 w: 506-529-8838 twitter @MattAbbot @FundyBaykeeper

Maria Recchia, Executive Director, Fundy North Fishermen’s Association e: mariarecchia@nb.aibn.com c:506-469-4191

Stewart Lamont, Managing Director, Tangier Lobster e: stewart@tangierlobster.com 902.456.0712

Bill Ernst, retired toxicologist, Environment Canada e: wrernst1@gmail.com cell 902-999-5771, home 902 865 5771

Susanna Fuller, PhD. Marine Conservation Coordinator, Ecology Action Centre e: marine@ecologyaction.ca c: 902-483-5033 twitter @sdfuller @EAC_Seamouse

Background Information:

Click here for the open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. 

Consultations were held starting in 2011 on proposed changes to the Fisheries Act regarding treatment of sealice in the open net pen finfish farming industry. Proposed regulations were published in the Canada Gazette on August 23^rd, 2014. http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2014/2014-08-23/html/reg1-eng.php

Conservation Council of New Brunswick

180 St. John Street, Fredericton NB E3B 4A9

506.458.8747 ::  www.conservationcouncil.ca

Posted by Jon MacNeill

Category: News - Nouvelles

12 February 2015

Hits: 7457

FREDERICTON — The Conservation Council of New Brunswick says TransCanada Corporation has to head back to the drawing board to patch all the holes that have surfaced in its plans for the proposed Energy East oil pipeline.

On Wednesday, Feb. 11, Montreal newspaper La Presse reported that the Alberta-based oil giant had ruled out Cacouna, Que. - a beluga nursery ground - as the site of an export oil terminal.

TransCanada’s original plans for the 4,600-kilometre-long oil pipeline involved shipping crude oil from the tar sands in Alberta to export terminals in Cacouna and Saint John.

Following the report from La Presse, company spokesperson Tim Duboyce denied claims that a decision had been made on the Cacouna terminal. Duboyce was quoted as saying “the reality is we’re just not there yet,” stating all options were still on the table.

“Those kind of statements only firm up our point that this project should not be undergoing a review at this time,” says Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council.

“If all options are still on the table, how can regulators be expected to make an informed decision? Perhaps more importantly, how is it fair to ask the public to spend their time, effort, and money today reviewing and commenting on the pipeline’s environmental impacts when, because of the project’s state of flux, they aren’t fully known at this time?”

The National Energy Board began accepting applications for public participation in the hearing process on Feb. 3. People looking to submit comments to the board must apply by March 3.

“How can anyone making his or her living from providing whale watching tours in the Bay of Fundy feel confident participating in the energy board process, when they have no idea exactly how much of the 1.1-million barrels of oil will end up in nearby Saint John, or how many supertankers will be coursing through the world’s highest tides?” Corbett says.

“The company can’t even answer these questions yet, and when it comes to our water, fisheries, tourism and wildlife like the endangered Right Whale, New Brunswickers can’t afford to be left guessing.”

The Cacouna question hasn’t been the only snag in the pipeline proposal.

Earlier this week, TransCanada came under fire from Francophone communities for failing to provide its official filings in French. At the same time, First Nation leaders in Ontario demanded the National Energy Board halt its review until they are properly consulted.

“In our view, TransCanada only has one option before them right now: withdraw its application to the National Energy Board and rethink the need for this project,” Corbett says. 

To arrange an interview, contact:

Jon MacNeill, Communications Officer | 458-8747 | 261-1353 | jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca

 

Conservation Council of New Brunswick

180 St. John Street, Fredericton NB E3B 4A9

506.458.8747 ::  www.conservationcouncil.ca

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

12 February 2015

Hits: 7654

Council of Canadians, Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John Chapters

Open letter to the Minister of Natural Resources



 


February 11, 2015

Minister Denis Landry

Chancery Place, 675 King Street

Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 1E9

Dear Mr. Landry:

This is to express grave concerns about the lack of our government’s intervention on the forestry strategy introduced by the Alward government. With every passing day, more wood is being cut from our Crown Lands without the permission of its owners—the people of New Brunswick.   

Seven years ago, in February 2008, the results of a comprehensive public survey (1) on forest management practices commissioned by DNR provided empirical evidence that industry was already harvesting too much fibre off Crown Lands and had too much control over our forests.  As a cabinet minister at the time, you may recall that a tour organized to inform people about the results of this survey was cancelled by Donald Arsenault, then Minister of Natural Resources.

That survey represented how New Brunswickers wanted their forests managed. Those findings still apply, until proven otherwise, using a survey of the same scientific rigour. 

New Brunswickers expected, then, as they do now, that our forests would be managed for the following, and in the order prescribed: water protection, wildlife habitat, fire protection, protection against thefts, disease and insect protection, biodiversity, and as a source of fibre for industry. A key finding, too, was that the public wanted more and better opportunities to provide input on the management of their forests. Clearly, this public opinion survey demonstrated that the Alward government had no social license to negotiate the type of forestry agreements that are now in place.

The choice is clear. On the one hand, our government may opt to abide by the new forest management agreements.  On the other hand, however, our government can choose to accept the will of the majority of New Brunswickers.  And it’s not as if industry had no other source of fibre.  To paraphrase Morris Green, ex-Minister under the McKenna government, private woodlot owners have the wood to meet industry requirements.  According to this view, there would have been no need to increase the annual allowable cut from our forests because it was already available from private woodlot owners.  In sum, then, the issue is whether to allow industry or the owners of the forests to dictate how the people’s forests are to be managed.

Our own standpoint is that the forestry strategy must be halted.  We maintain that other forest governance models, like community forests, as suggested during the hearings organized by the Legislative Select Committee on Wood Supply in 1999, would be more beneficial in terms of long-term job creation and developing our local economies.  In fact, a recent study done by researchers at Simon Fraser University provides tangible evidence that “community forests perform better overall than other forms of tenures for selected indicators of local benefits” (i.e., diversification, local employment, and local value). Although some, like the four licensees might object to having their forest management agreements cancelled, we would argue that these agreements were made behind closed doors and without the involvement of the owners of this resource.

If the new Liberal government is to establish its credibility on this important issue, the forest strategy must be retracted immediately.

We look forward with great anticipation to hearing from you soon on this important file.

Links to New Brunswick Conservation Council productions 'Beau Bear' and 'Forbidden Forest'


*****
Lettre ouverte à le ministre des Ressources naturelles



Monsieur le ministre des Ressources naturelles,

Nous vous écrivons pour vous exprimer nos vives préoccupations face à l’absence d’intervention de notre gouvernement concernant la stratégie forestière introduite par l’administration Alward.  Chaque jour, plus de bois est coupé sur nos terres de la Couronne sans permission de son propriétaire, la population du Nouveau-Brunswick.

Il y a sept années, en février 2008, les résultats d’une enquête publique exhaustive (1) sur les pratiques de gestion forestière, commandée par le ministère des Ressources naturelles, ont fourni des données empiriques qui démontraient que les entreprises récoltaient déjà alors trop de fibres des terres de la Couronne et qu’elles exerçaient un trop grand contrôle sur nos forêts.  Comme membre du cabinet à l’époque, vous pouvez vous souvenir qu’une tournée organisée pour faire connaitre à la population les résultats de cette enquête avait été annulée par Donald Arsenault alors ministre des Ressources naturelles.

L’enquête démontrait comment les Néobrunswickois voulaient que les forêts soient gérées.  Ces résultats sont toujours valides jusqu’à des preuves du contraire proviennent d’une enquête scientifique aussi rigoureuse.

Les Néobrunswickois s’attendaient alors, comme maintenant, à ce que nos forêts soient gérées en tenant compte des facteurs suivants et dans cet ordre de priorité : la protection de l’eau, la protection des habitats de la faune, la protection contre les incendies, la protection contre le vol, la protection contre les maladies et les insectes, la biodiversité, et la forêt comme source de fibres pour les entreprises.  Une autre conclusion importante de l’enquête était que la population voulait avoir de plus nombreuse et de meilleures occasions de donner son opinion sur la gestion de ses forêts.  Clairement, cette enquête sur les opinions de la population a démontré que l’administration Alward ne possédait pas l’autorisation sociale de négocier le type d’entente forestière qui est présentement en vigueur.

Le choix est clair.  D’une part, notre administration provinciale peut choisir de respecter les nouvelles ententes de gestion forestière.  Par ailleurs, toutefois, notre administration peut choisir d’accepter la volonté de la majorité des Néobrunswickois.  Et ce n’est pas comme si l’industrie n’avait aucune autre source de fibres.  Pour paraphraser Morris Green, l’ancien ministre de l’administration McKenna, les propriétaires de lots boisés possèdent le bois pour satisfaire les besoins de l’industrie.  Selon cette autre option, il n’aurait pas été nécessaire d’accroitre la valeur des coupes annuelles permises des forêts de la Couronne parce les propriétaires privés de boisés auraient pu suffire à la demande.  Donc en somme, l’enjeu consiste à permettre soit aux industries ou soit aux propriétaires des forêts de dicter comment les forêts doivent être gérées.

Selon nous, c’est la stratégie forestière qui doit être abandonnée.  Tel que suggéré lors des audiences organisées par le Comité spécial de l’Assemblée législature sur l’approvisionnement en bois en 1999, nous soutenons que d’autres modèles de gouvernance comme les forêts communautaires seraient plus bénéfiques en termes de création d’emplois à long terme et de développement de nos économies locales.  En fait, une récente étude préparée par des chercheurs de l’université Simon Fraser fournit des preuves concrètes que « les forêts communautaires donnent un meilleur rendement dans l’ensemble que les autres formes de tenure lorsque l’on considère les indicateurs des bénéfices locaux (comme la diversification, l’emploi local, la valeur locale).  Bien que certains comme les quatre détenteurs de permis pourraient s’opposer à l’annulation de leurs ententes de gestion forestière, nous pourrions argumenter que ces ententes ont été conclues à huit clos et sans participation des propriétaires de la ressource.

Si la nouvelle administration Libérale veut établir sa crédibilité sur cet enjeu important, la stratégie forestière doit être désavouée immédiatement.

Nous attendons avec grand intérêt votre prompte réaction à cet important dossier et nous vous prions, monsieur le ministre, d’accepter l’expression de notre haute considération

Maggie Connell & Caroline Lubbe-D’Arcy, Co-Chairs

Council of Canadians Fredericton Chapter

Pamela Ross, Chair, Council of Canadians Moncton Chapter

Leticia Adair, Chair, Council of Canadians Saint John Chapter

cc: Premier Brian Gallant
     Media

Liens au Nouveau-Brunswick Conservation Council productions 'Beau Bear' et 'Forbidden Forest'

Posted by Terry Wishart

Category: News - Nouvelles

12 February 2015

Hits: 17285

.

Read more ...

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

04 February 2015

Hits: 5799

.

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

03 February 2015

Hits: 6820

MEDIA RELEASE

Attention News Editors: Today the National Energy Board begins accepting applications for public participation in the Energy East oil pipeline hearing. The Conservation Council of New Brunswick has produced a video to help New Brunswickers learn how they can get involved in this process. Our staff is available to speak to media about the National Energy Board hearing and our instructional video.


Key Points:

• In 2012 the federal government introduced changes to the way pipeline projects are reviewed which made it harder for the public to participate. The Conservation Council wants to make it easier for New Brunswickers to get involved so the National Energy Board understands how this project will affect our water, whales and the Bay of Fundy.

• People have 30 days to apply to participate in the National Energy Board’s hearing on Energy East. The deadline to apply is March 3, 2015.

• The proposed Energy East oil pipeline would be the first oil pipeline built the length of New Brunswick. Its proposed route crosses hundreds of acres of farmland, woodlot, and private property, and crosses several important provincial watercourses, including rivers and streams in the St. John River basin, the Miramichi, Tobique, Salmon and Madawaska rivers, Coal Creek (which drains into Grand Lake), and the Bay of Fundy.

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Established in 1969, the Conservation Council serves as the province’s leading voice for conservation and environmental protection. A leading public policy advocate, CCNB works to find practical solutions to help families and educators, citizens, governments and businesses protect the air we breathe, the water we drink, the precious marine ecosystem and the land, including the forests, that support us.

To arrange an interview, contact:

Jon MacNeill, Communications Officer | 458-8747 | 261-1353 | jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca

Posted by Sentinelles Petitcodiac Riverkeeper

Category: News - Nouvelles

03 February 2015

Hits: 5656

Petitcodiac Riverkeeper is recruiting volunteers for its Board of Directors. 
We encourage you to indicate your interest and to share this information in your networks. The AGM will be held on March 20th 2015. 
Info: http://petitcodiac.org/would-you-like-to-help-revitalize-the-petitcodiac-memramcook-and-shepody-rivers/

Posted by Community Forests International

Category: News - Nouvelles

05 January 2015

Hits: 6873

Check out this great initiative carried out in Pemba, Zanzibar by Community Forests International: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/scaling-innovation

Pembans have built massive rain water storage systems, wired solar micro-grid, and worked alongside nature to grow over 1,000,000 trees spanning 30 different species!  Now we want to help expand these innovative approaches and technologies and share them far and wide.  Join with us, as we take rural innovation to the next level.

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

18 December 2014

Hits: 7034

MEDIA RELEASE

Conservation Council congratulates Premier Gallant for leadership on fracking moratorium

(Fredericton, NB) — The Conservation Council of New Brunswick is congratulating Premier Brian Gallant for his strong leadership and commitment to protect New Brunswickers and our water by imposing a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the province.

“We’re proud of Premier Brian Gallant and his cabinet for standing firm to protect water and clean air,” said Stephanie Merrill, Freshwater Protection Program coordinator with the Conservation Council. “Placing a moratorium on shale gas development shows that Premier Gallant is serious about protecting the environment, particularly our water."

The Conservation Council was among the first organizations in the province to raise awareness around the potential health and environmental risks associated with hydraulic fracturing, a process which uses large amounts of water mixed with chemicals to break up shale rock formations and release natural gas reserves held below ground.

CCNB’s Freshwater Protection Program spearheaded grassroots opposition to the practice, prompting one of the broadest and widest-ranging coalitions in the province’s recent history, a support network that included First Nations, doctors, scientists, clergy, labour unions, municipal politicians, farmers, and more.

“The conditions placed on the moratorium are strongly worded and significant,” said Merrill. “It gives us time to develop clean energy jobs instead of being under constant pressure from the fossil fuel lobby.”

“The premier’s announcement heralds a new day for New Brunswick,” added Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council. “Today, we’re celebrating this milestone for progressive environmental and economic policy.”

-30-

To arrange an interview, contact:

Jon MacNeill, Communications Officer | 458-8747 | 261-1353 | jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca

Conservation Council of New Brunswick
180 St. John Street, Fredericton NB E3B 4A9
506.458.8747 :: www.conservationcouncil.ca

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

16 December 2014

Hits: 7841

December 8, 2014 By Stephanie Merrill

Without a Paddle

Documenting the failure—and the potential—of New Brunswick’s Water Classification Program. Posted on December 8, 2014 in Water Canada’s November/December 2014 issue.

During the height offishing season in New Brunswick, as anglers lured Atlantic salmon on the famous Miramichi River and kids navigated through thickets to seek out their favourite summer swimming holes, a report came forth casting a stark and sobering reality for the rivers so enjoyed in the province. On August 15, 2014, Charles Murray, the New Brunswick ombudsman, an independent authority of the provincial legislature, released the details of his investigation into the Department of Environment’s handling of its Water Classification Program. The program was the first in Canada to take a proactive, watershed-based approach to river protection when it was introduced in 2002. But the ombudsman determined the program was, in effect, nothing more than an illusion, giving New Brunswickers a woefully false impression about the safety of their rivers for more than a decade. In the 12 years since it was established, not a single waterway has been protected under the classification system. The program was instead plagued by bureaucratic confusion, lacklustre political will, and misuse of power from the elected officials charged with overseeing it. New Brunswick’s Department of Environment had all the required documentation to classify the Nashwaak River by no later than 2003—but classification never came. Credit: Paul McLaughlin, Nashwaak Watershed Association. “Like a smoke detector without batteries,” Murray wrote in his report, “[the regulation] appears to address and remedy a problem when in reality it does nothing of the sort.” The classification program, he concluded, “exists primarily as a mirage, misleading observers to their detriment.” That’s certainly a far cry from what was expected by conservationists and departmental officials alike when the program was first unveiled. The Water Classification Program was brought forth under Regulation 2002-13 as a progressive attempt to set water quality standards for New Brunswick rivers. The regulation allows community-based organizations to collect water samples, analyze water quality, and set goals to maintain or improve the water quality of rivers. It was the final piece of a progressive regulatory regime put in place by the provincial government, complementing the Wellfield Protected Areas Designation passed in 2000 and the Watershed Protected Areas Designation enacted in 2001. Over time, the department received 19 separate proposals for classification from groups across the province. Among them was an application from the Nashwaak Watershed Association, which had been exceptionally proactive on the file, having secured funding from the government to conduct water quality tests before the regulation had even been passed. In his report, the ombudsman noted the department had all the necessary documentation required to classify the Nashwaak by no later than 2003. What followed were years of correspondence between the department and the Nashwaak association, during which officials described the river and other provincial watercourses as being “provisionally” classified, giving the impression that full classification was just around the corner. Frustrated by the lack of movement on the program, the Nashwaak Watershed Association and its supporters, including the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, filed a complaint to the office of the ombudsman in February 2013, spearheading Murray’s investigation. “I think New Brunswickers were blindsided and even surprised to learn our rivers were not being protected,” said Stephanie Merrill, freshwater protection program coordinator for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick. “And we should be. It’s a shame that in a province like New Brunswick, where so much of our culture, heritage, and recreation is based around our rivers, that we do not have fundamental protections for our waters. It’s so basic. New Brunswickers have assumed that’s covered.” In an interview with the Conservation Council for this article, the ombudsman said the most troubling finding from his investigation was simply that government gave citizens a false impression for so many years that watercourses were being protected. “That speaks to a really fundamental failure,” Murray said. “It can’t really be a larger failure than that.” His report offered some explanations—citing confusion within the Department of Environment over the legal authority of the regulation and the troubling misuse of ministerial discretion by successive ministers to avoid approving the applications—but above all else, Murray said a lack of focused political will is primarily to blame. But therein lies the hope for New Brunswick’s waterways moving forward. A new provincial government, under the leadership of Liberal Premier Brian Gallant, was sworn into power on October 7. During the fall election campaign, the Liberal Party of New Brunswick pledged to “take steps to help ensure the health of our rivers and drinking water.” What better opportunity, Murray said, then moving swiftly to approve the 19 rivers submitted under the Water Classification Program? “Why not be proactive and make yourself the champion of that change?” Murray said of the new government. “To me, this is an opportunity for the Minister of Environment to demonstrate competence, good faith, and to rebuild some bridges of trust between the department and the communities.” With some focused attention and priority, by the time New Brunswickers set out with their fishing rods or swimming suits to indulge in our waterways next summer, they’ll hopefully do so with the full confidence that regulations are in effect to ensure rivers will remain safe and healthy for them to enjoy.  WC Jon MacNeill is the communications officer for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick. This article appears in Water Canada’s November/December 2014 issue.

Posted by Marie-Pierre Poirier

Category: News - Nouvelles

16 December 2014

Hits: 4949

Running with the current:

A workshop for watershed groups in NB

Wednesday, January 21, 2015, Killarney Lodge, Fredericton, 9 am – 4 pm
(Please note: The storm date for this workshop will be February 12, 2015)


Over the years, watershed groups in NB have worked hard to build a foundation and to advance watershed protection, restoration, and management. At this time, the political, economic, and environmental realities have created an opportunity for groups to increase their role in creating a sustainable New Brunswick. Let’s get together and create momentum to move watershed work forward across the province!

This workshop will provide an opportunity to share information about watershed issues in our province and the important work happening here in New Brunswick.

Interested? Come to the workshop and:

Share information on watershed restoration
Learn about watershed issues and success stories in NB
Learn about enforcement, watershed management, and governance
Collaborate and network with other groups in the province
Determine how to move forward

Click here to see the draft agenda and to register!
Running with the current
A workshop for watershed groups in NB

January 21, Killarney Lodge, Fredericton, 9:00 - 4:00
(Please note: The storm date for this workshop will be February 12, 2015.)

Register today!

Over the years, watershed groups in NB have worked hard to build a foundation and to advance watershed protection, restoration, and management. At this time, the political, economic, and environmental realities have created an opportunity for groups to increase their role in creating a sustainable New Brunswick. Let’s get together and create momentum to move watershed work forward across the province!

This workshop will provide an opportunity to share information about watershed issues in our province and the important work happening here in New Brunswick.

Learn about what other groups are doing, enforcement, and management and governance of watersheds in our province. Discover how you can help by collaborating with other groups in the province on issues of common interest, and help determine how to move forward with watershed work in New Brunswick.

The day will be filled with interesting presentations, brainstorming sessions, and plenty of opportunity for discussion and networking!

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

11 December 2014

Hits: 7651

Montreal, QC – Today, more than 60 environmental and community groups from across Canada sent a letter to Peter Watson, head of the National Energy Board, demanding that the NEB include climate change in its review of the Energy East project. This letter comes in addition to 60,000 messages sent from people all across Canada to the NEB calling for a climate review.

“By failing to consider climate change, the National Energy Board is overlooking what should be Question One for a review of the pipeline — does it even make sense in a world trying to reduce its dependence on oil and make deep cuts in carbon pollution?” says Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.

The Energy East project would release 30 to 32 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, the same as adding seven million cars to Canada’s roads. This is more than any single Atlantic province, and bigger than the emissions saved in Ontario’s entire coal phase out. In comparison, the Keystone XL pipeline, which now faces a climate test from U.S. President Barack Obama, would increase emissions by 22 million tonnes.

“The best scientific minds on the planet are telling us that we need to rapidly transition off of fossil fuels to address climate change, and Energy East would be a step in the exact opposite direction,” says Patrick Bonin, Climate & Energy campaigner with Greenpeace Canada. “Without considering the upstream climate impacts of Energy East, the NEB’s review will be incomplete and illegitimate.”

“If we can’t talk about tar sands expansion and climate change at the NEB, where can we?” says Andrea Harden-Donahue, Energy and Climate Justice Campaigner. “Pipeline infrastructure is nearing capacity in Alberta. Adding 1.1 million barrels every day, Energy East will absolutely spur tar sands expansion and significant carbon pollution.”

In late November, the NEB’s refusal to consider the climate change impacts of tar sands pipelines came under even more intense criticism as over 100 people were arrested on Burnaby Mountain. Many of those arrested protesting the proposed Trans-Mountain project cited climate change, and that the NEB had refused to hear climate concerns, as the reason for their actions.

“The tar sands are Canada’s fastest growing source of emissions, and building projects like Energy East will only make that worse,” says Catherine Abreu, Energy Coordinator with the Ecology Action Center. “If Canada is going to be a part of the solution when it comes to climate change, we need to apply a climate test to projects like Energy East, and reject them if they will make climate change worse.”


Groups signed on: 350.org, Alerte Pétrole Rive Sud, Alternatives, Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique (AQLPA), Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Center for Sustainble Economy, Centre de recherche en éducation et formation relatives à l’environnement et à l’écocitoyenneté de l’UQAM, Citizens Climate Lobby Montreal, Citizen’s Climate Lobby Canada, ClimateFast, Coalition québécoise pour une gestion responsable de l’eau Eau Secours, Coalition vigilance oléoducs, Collectif scientifique sur la question du gaz de schiste au Québec, Comité de vigilance environnementale de l’Est de Montréal, Concerned Citizen's Coalition - North Bay, Conseil Central du Montréal Méopolitain-CSN, Conservation Council of New Brunswick, Council of Canadians, Council of Canadians - Fredericton Chapter, Council of Canadians - Halifax Chapter, Council of Canadians - Montreal Chapter, Council of Canadians - Moose Jaw Chapter, Council of Canadians - Ottawa Chapter, Council of Canadians - Regina Chapter, Council of Canadians - Saint John Chapter, Council of Canadians - Thunder Bay Chapter, Council of Canadians-Winnipeg Chapter, Ecology Action Center, Ecology Ottawa, Environnement Jeunesse, Equiterre, Fondation David Suzuki / David Suzuki Foundation, For Our Grandchildren, ForestEthics Advocacy, Fossil Free Lakehead, Friends of the Earth Canada, Green 13, Green Neighbours 21, Greenpeace Canada, Greenspiration, JustEarth- a Coalition for Environmental Justice, Lakehead University Environmental Law Students' Association, Leadnow.ca, Making Peace Vigil - Regina, Natural Resources Defense Council, New Brunswick Anti Shale Gas Alliance, Non à une marée noire dans le Saint-Laurent, Polaris Institute, Regroupement national des conseils régionaux de l’environnement du Québec, Regroupement vigilance hydrocarbures Québec, Sacred Heart School of Halifax Environment Committee, Saskatchewan Eco Network, Saskatoon350.org, SaveCanada, Sierra Club BC, Sierra Club of Québec, Stop the Energy East Pipeline Halifax, Toronto350 org, Transition Initiative Kenora, Voters Taking Action on Climate Change

More info:

- 350.org/EnergyEast

- http://canadians.org/energyeast

- http://bit.ly/MOOWmP

Media contacts:


Jon MacNeill – Conservation Council of New Brunswick, jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca, 506-458-8747

Cameron Fenton - 350.org - cam@350.org, 604-369-2155

Andrea Harden-Donahue - Council of Canadians, aharden@canadians.org, 613-793-5488

Ben Powless - Ecology Ottawa - ben.powless@ecologyottawa.ca - 613-601-4219

Patrick Bonin - Greenpeace Canada, 514-594-1221

Geneviève Puskas - Equiterre, gpuskas@equiterre.org 514-792-5222

Posted by Conservation Council of New Brunswick

Category: News - Nouvelles

11 December 2014

Hits: 6895

                                                               MEDIA RELEASE

Conservation Council pleased to see government raising bar on accountability and transparency around public forests

(Fredericton, N.B.) — The Conservation Council of New Brunswick is commending the provincial government for releasing the details of the forestry agreements signed last year by the previous government.

“We’re pleased this government has cast some transparency and light on deals New Brunswickers should know about,” says Lois Corbett, Executive Director of the Conservation Council.

“The documents that came out today are a good first step toward fulfilling the new government's promise to review both the unfair contracts and the unsustainable forest management plan released in March.”

The Forest Management Agreements, signed by industry and the former provincial government last July, drew widespread criticism from biologists, conservationists, hunters and fishers who said the deals give industry an unsustainable amount of public forest and allow companies to clearcut in areas that were previously off-limits.

The Conservation Council is confident Minister Landry will soon release another series of forestry planning documents that will clearly show where the increased logging will occur.

“We’re certain that with that information in hand, and in the public domain, the provincial government will revise the plan to ensure the new strategy will never put the environment or the sustainability of the public forests at risks,” Corbett says.

CCNB says a revised plan would protect sensitive areas like along riverbanks and streams, preserve old growth stands, protect areas that are important for deer, lynx and other woodland creatures, and discontinue herbicide spraying like governments in Nova Scotia and Quebec have done for years.

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To arrange an interview, contact:

Jon MacNeill, Communications Officer | 458-8747 | 261-1353 | jon.macneill@conservationcouncil.ca

Conservation Council of New Brunswick

180 St. John Street, Fredericton NB E3B 4A9

506.458.8747 ::  www.conservationcouncil.ca

Category: News - Nouvelles

19 November 2014

Hits: 4897

For immediate release

November 19, 2014



FREDERICTON, NB: In celebration of National Child Day November 20, 2014, groups in New Brunswick announced their intention to take a new Bill of Rights to government for enactment. The Bill would protect children’s health from environmental hazards such as pervasive toxic chemicals in our air, water, food and consumer products, as well as the impacts of climate change.



So far, Canadian icons Raffi and David Suzuki, as well as respected researchers, physicians, twenty-four organizations and over 200 individuals in Canada and beyond have signed on to support this historic Bill of Rights.



The David Suzuki Foundation recently featured the proposed Bill at an event in Saint John in September, as part of its cross-Canada Blue Dot Tour to promote the right to a healthy environment for all Canadians. Suzuki said, “It is time for Canada to join more than 110 nations that recognize their citizens' right to live in a healthy environment. The proposed Bill of Rights to protect Children's Health from Environmental Hazards is a powerful and positive step towards recognizing our environmental rights at all levels of government in Canada."



Raffi Cavoukian, singer, author, founder of the Centre for Child Honouring and New Brunswick’s Champion for Children’s Environmental Health, helped to launch the proposed Bill to the public in June at the Fredericton Regional Family Resource Centre.



“Taking the Bill to government for enactment is the logical next step,” Raffi said. “This proposed Bill of Rights affirms our duty to nourish and nurture the young to the best of our ability as a society. The Bill emboldens our efforts to create caring communities that support the healthy development of children. And it strengthens our efforts to provide safe environments—both indoors and outdoors—wherever children live, learn, play and grow. That's why we need this Bill of Rights.”



Sharon Murphy of PEACE NB said that there is now sufficient evidence that exposure to air and water pollution, food contamination and exposure to toxic chemicals in consumer products are causes of chronic childhood diseases including asthma, leukemia, birth defects, childhood obesity, Type 2 diabetes, brain cancer and brain injuries which are expressed in developmental delays, learning disabilities, lower IQ scores and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.



Murphy continued, “By protecting the health of our children, we protect ourselves. Children are far more vulnerable to toxins and to the effects of climate change than adults. We have a duty as adults to protect our children, as they are unable to protect themselves. And, protecting children's environmental health will save countless health care dollars. In many ways, healthy ecosystems benefit both present and future generations”.



The Bill was initiated by the New Brunswick Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative in 2009. It was drafted in consultation with the New Brunswick Office of the Child and Youth Advocate, Ecojustice and East Coast Environmental Law, with input and support from the Centre for Child Honouring, the Learning Disabilities Association of New Brunswick, the Fredericton Regional Family Resource Centre, PEACE-NB and the New Brunswick Lung Association.

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Contact:



Bonnie Hamilton Bogart

bonniehb@nb.sympatico.ca

(506) 488-1888 landline

(506) 478-1818 mobile