Listen to Tantramar Report for the following stories:

Significant minimum wage hikes coming next year

Premier Blaine Higgs has announced a plan to increase New Brunswick’s minimum wage by $2 over the course of 2022. The first raise of one dollar, from $11.75 to $12.75, will happen in April, about four months from now. Then six months after that, in October 2022, the minimum wage will go up by another dollar, to $13.75. Currently, New Brunswick has the lowest minimum wage in Canada. For more, listen to Tantramar Report or read the web story.

More on the Bridge Street closure next week

The demolition of the Henderson Buidling at 3 Bridge Street next week will directly impact three businesses on the street, who will lose street access for one to two days. On Tantramar Report, we talk with town of Sackville senior manager Kieran Miller about the plans for the Bridge Street closure and the expected impacts for pedestrians, drivers, and local businesses.

Mt A returns to 100% capacity in classrooms

Mount Allison has announced its plans for January, and they include a return to pre-pandemic capacity in the university’s classrooms. This past term, the university had a 1-metre distancing requirement in classrooms, still below the typical 2-metre recommendation in most public places. The distancing requirement is being removed, “in accordance with high vaccination rates on campus, frequent facility cleaning, and increased ventilation measures across campus,” says the University in a campus update.

Mount Allison will continue to require masks in all indoor spaces on campus, in line with provincial regulations. The university made vaccinations mandatory for staff and students in October, with some exceptions for people who are required to be tested twice per week.

The university is also participating in the distribution of rapid test kits, with kits available for the Mount Allison community at both the Wellness Centre and the MASU Office during regular office hours, until December 18.

Snack Shop reinvented on Bridge Street

Tonight is Moonlight Madness, which includes fireworks starting around 6pm behind Town Hall, as well as wagon rides, and additional vendors on the streets downtown tonight. A new Bridge Street business has opened up just in time for the festivities. On Tantramar Report, we hear from Mary Ann Oster, former employee of the Snack Shop on York Street, and new owner of the Bridge Street Snack Shop, which opened up beside Quality Grocery on Thursday. Read the web story here.

Students in unique Mi’kmaq-Maliseet social work program aim to educate, inform, and inspire action

Tantramar Report visits the Social Action Fair which took place on Wednesday in Sackville, and talks with one group of students about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. We also talk with Sandra Germain, coordinator for the Mi’kmaq-Maliseet Social Work program at St Thomas University, whose students and professors spend a week each month in Sackville. The program is designed for students living and working in their own communities, and with an Indigenous perspective.

To hear more from the Social Action Fair, check out this week’s edition of CHMA Talks, featuring more voices from the Mi’kmaq-Maliseet Social Work program talking about Indigenous stereotypes, mental health, suicide awareness, and harm reduction.