Listen to Tantramar Report for the following stories:
New federal report on climate change in Atlantic Canada
You may know Sabine Dietz from her role as a councillor with the town of Sackville. Elected this past May, the Sackville biologist and environmental educator is an active council member, always ready with questions about Sackville’s spending and policies. Shortly after her election, Dietz took on another big portfolio, leading ClimAtlantic, a new regional hub for climate services, funded for the next three years by the federal government. CLIMAtlantic itself came out of another project Dietz was working on, a report looking at the risks and responses to climate change in Atlantic Canada. That report was released last week, and so Tantramar Report called up Dietz to find out more.
Local artist Indu Varma brings a new Canada Council funded public art piece to Sackville
By next December, Sackville will have a new piece of public art, courtesy of local artist Indu Varma and the Canada Council. Varma presented her concept to Sackville town council in early December and recently received approval to go ahead with the ceramics project which will depict Sackville’s history in a tile mosaic in the shape of a ship. Tantramar Report spoke with Varma to hear about her inspiration and the plans for the project.
Rapid test kit pick up tomorrow in Sackville
Packs of COVID-19 rapid tests are available for pick up in Sackville on Tuesday at the Tantramar Civic Centre parking lot off Main Street. A Horizon Health van will be there handing out 5-pack and 25-pack kits from 10am to 2:30pm, or until supplies run out. Rapid test kits are also available for pick up in Moncton from Monday to Friday, 1pm to 6pm, at 548 Mountain Road.
COVID Update: Port Elgin school still on at-home learning
The province reported 108 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, down slightly from the 133 news cases reported Saturday.
Out of the 23 new cases in Zone 1 on Sunday, 17 are under investigation.
Over in Nova Scotia, daily case numbers blew up over the weekend, with the province reporting over 400 cases each on Saturday and Sunday.
The Port Elgin Regional School continues with at-home learning today and tomorrow, though no other Tantramar schools are affected by COVID-19 closures.
Mount Allison case count up to nine, online classes for January
On Saturday, Mount Allison University wrote to students with news that it had seven confirmed cases and two presumptive cases of COVID-19. Presumptive cases have a positive rapid test that has not yet been confirmed with a PCR test. The university says that anyone potentially exposed to the virus in a class or exam will be contacted directly by the University as soon as possible. More details on the school’s plan for January here.
NBNU ratifies first agreement
There was some good news from the New Brunswick Nurses Union on Saturday, as they announced that their largest bargaining unit—Nurses Part III, which includes hospital nurses—had ratified the latest contract offer negotiated with the provincial government.
The vote was in favour by a slim majority, with just 56% of members voting in favour.
The bargaining unit has previously voted down two other negotiated offers, and had recently voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike action. The strike vote precipitated a return to the bargaining table, where the province and the union quickly agreed to a new deal on December 10.
A second bargaining unit representing nurse managers and supervisors will conclude voting on their tentative offer today.