Yesterday’s announcement by Environment Canada that is withdrawing its financial support of the Canadian Environmental Network (RCEN) after 30 years, is a blow to the New Brunswick Environmental Network (NBEN). With five staff and an office in Moncton, the NBEN depends on the modest core funding of $22,000/year it receives through the CEN as the nucleus around which it builds its annual budget. The money supports services to environmental and conservation groups across the province, including communication among member groups, communications between member groups and government departments, democratic decision-making, caucus work and working bilingually.
Over 90 New Brunswick citizen based groups are members or associates of the New Brunswick Environmental Network. These groups include large groups with a national focus and small grass-roots groups who meet around a kitchen table. For a complete list of groups visit http://www.nben.ca/en/about-us/nben-members-and-associates .
According to Randy Nason, Grand Lake Watershed Guardians and NBEN chairperson, “It’s a sad day when the federal government withdraws funding from a truly national institution such as the RCEN and its affiliates right across the country. When the Grand Lake Watershed Guardians began our work to protect Grand Lake, it was the NBEN who linked us up with other organizations interested in watershed protection to help us hit the ground running,” said Nason.
“The New Brunswick Environmental Networks and it national counterpart, the Canadian Environmental Network, provide a valuable service to environmental groups and citizens. At a time when Canadians are demanding more environmental protection in a changing climate, it is unfathomable that this core funding would be eliminated”, says Simon Mitchell of the Meduxnekeag River Association and Chair of the NBEN Programs Committee.
The Canadian Environmental Network was established more than 30 years ago by the handful of provincial environmental organizations, including the Conservation Council of New Brunswick. The objective was to provide the necessary national infrastructure to help citizen-based groups collaborate across the country and link them with decision-makers in Ottawa.
“Our organizations have spent decades building a uniquely Canadian institution that reaches from the grassroots and local communities to the halls of power in Ottawa, the provincial capitals and the United Nations itself,” said David Coon, Executive Director of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, and a past Chair of the Canadian Environmental Network. It is a sad day for Canada, but we will do our best in New Brunswick to ensure that the New Brunswick Environmental Network gets through this crisis so it continues to play the pivotal role it plays in the life of our province,” said Coon.r
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Media Contacts:
Randy Nason, Grand Lake Watershed Guardians, NBEN Chairperson, (506) 339-5448
David Coon, Conservation Council of New Brunswick, (506) 466-4033, (506) 461-1023
Simon Mitchell, Meduxnekeag River Association Inc., NBEN Programs Committee Chairperson (506) 328-8227, (506) 449-2009
Michel Desjardins, Post Carbon Greater Moncton, (506) 389-8221, (506) 381-1580
Dan Stote, Centre culturel et sportif de Cormier Village - EcoParc, NBEN representative to the RCEN, (506) 532-3625, (506) 532-3014
Mary Ann Coleman, New Brunswick Environmental Network, (506) 433-6101
