• Climate Makes it to the Front of the Line

    Happy day! Finally it looks like Canada and New Brunswick are taking climate change seriously. Really seriously. And they are ready to listen! Members of Parliament are holding town hall meetings to hear from their constituents about climate change. The provincial government has launched a Select Committee on Climate Change which will be hearing from expert witnesses and holding meetings around the province to hear from ordinary people. And the federal-provincial working groups have an online portal to garner opinions from one and all.

    So, what’s the hold up? Why aren’t environmentalists falling all over themselves on this? Why hasn’t someone launched a big public campaign? It’s almost like it is too big! It seems like even long-time environmental activists feel like they don’t know enough. After all, climate change is not most people’s expertise. That being said, everyone knows its potential impacts on the area that they do work on – water, forests, air, endangered species, health.

    Climate change is the backdrop issue lurking in every environmentalist’s mind. Whatever issue is your passion climate change plays a role. If you work to improve the environment by direct action such as restoring a river or protecting precious habitat, that good work could fall from the climate wrecking ball. If advocating for protecting human health from chemical exposure or changing forestry practices is your thing, climate change scenarios make the doom and gloom situations much gloomier. Plus, if you start to think about your grandchildren, it is hard to maintain any sense of optimism whatsoever.

    Right now we are all invited to raise our voices. Let’s raise them together and show that dealing with climate change is as important as it gets!

      For more information…

  • Federal Sustainable Development Strategy Progress Report

    Plan, Do, Check, Improve - Check out Environment Canada's first
    Federal Sustainable Development Strategy Progress Report

    Environment Canada has just released its first Progress Report on the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS). The Report describes actions taken to implement the requirements under the Federal Sustainable Development Act since the tabling of the FSDS. It outlines the 'plan, do, check, and improve' approach to reporting on sustainable development by focusing on progress made on setting up the systems needed to implement the FSDS. The Report also lays the foundation for future reporting by outlining how results will be measured and shared.

    Some of the key accomplishments to date include:
    • Establishing a Sustainable Development Office;
    • Putting in place a management framework for the FSDS;
    • Putting in place a way to integrate Departmental Sustainable Development Strategies into the expenditure management system for the first time;
    • Developing greening government operations targets, implementation strategies, and guidance;
    • Revising the guidelines for strategic environmental assessment requiring consideration of, and public reporting on, FSDS goals and targets; and,
    • Establishing a performance measurement system for the FSDS to effectively monitor and report on progress. This includes a suite of environmental indicators and performance measures for Themes I-III, and common performance measures for Theme IV.

    The FSDS, tabled in Parliament in October, 2010, sets out sustainable development goals, targets, and implementation strategies organized under four priority themes:
    I. Addressing climate change and air quality;
    II. Maintaining water quality and availability;
    III. Protecting nature; and
    IV. Shrinking the environmental footprint - beginning with government
    For more information, check out the 2011 FSDS Progress Report here!

  • Feds pull out of nuclear once and for all

    AECL sale to SNC-Lavalin near - CBC News

  • How to build an economy for the 99%

    Check out our new blog from CECNB: 

    We are not going back to the broken economic model we had. We will not stand by helplessly as our small businesses struggle to stay alive. We have the solutions, we know they work, and they won't cost us one more cent than we spend right now..

  • Le gouvernement fédéral ne s'implique plus avec la nucléaire ?

    AECL sale to SNC-Lavalin near - CBC News

  • Residents Refused Entry Again

    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

  • Statement on critical changes to pipeline/energy project assessment

    Conservation Council Logo
    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.”
    -30-

    For more information or to arrange an interview, contact:

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