Grassroots organizations are reaching out to politicians and the community
The grassroots movement opposing a planned natural gas facility in Tantramar has grown to include over a dozen organizations and hundreds of community members. Their influence has spread throughout the community and the province.
In September, several environmental and social organizations, including the Atlantic Wildlife Institute and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society’s N.B. chapter, formed the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition. According to a press release, the coalition is “calling on the province to cancel the project as part of a genuine and transparent effort toward climate change mitigation.”
After NB Power and its U.S.-based partner ProEnergy announced the project in July, Tantramar residents Terry Jones, Juliette Bulmer, and Kristen LeBlanc shared their concerns. “It was just three women, and we decided we needed to do something,” said Jones, who lives next to the proposed Centre Village site. That something was an Aug. 11 community meeting, which drew over 80 people. “Stop the Tantramar Gas Plant,” a Facebook group created in August, now has grown to over 900 members and is part of the coalition.
The coalition is holding meetings around Tantramar to inform the community about the project. Nate Lesser, a biology student at Mt.A, helped organize a Nov. 16 information session in the Mt.A chapel as part of a religious studies class. “We’re trying to get to as many people as possible,” said Lesser, “because it really does impact such a wide range of people.” About 50 people attended to watch presentations and ask questions. The panel included Lesser, Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton, and two other Mt.A students: Delphine Reid and Isabella Jones. Lesser’s goal is to increase community engagement and let people draw their own conclusions. “I would much rather every single person in that room be able to go out and talk about the plant and support it, instead of being against the plant but not being able to talk about it with anyone,” they said.
Organizers have reached out to all levels of government to oppose the plant. Jones said Tantramar Mayor Andrew Black “has been phenomenal” in supporting their concerns. “I have to say that he has stepped up, and has been very helpful in giving us direction in where we can go, and what we can actually do through the town.”
Mitton, who has supported the movement since August, accompanied coalition representatives to an Oct. 2 meeting in Fredericton with N.B. Premier Susan Holt and Deputy Minister of Energy Jeff Hoyt. According to Jones, Holt “seemed genuinely surprised” by the information they shared with her, and said she would “look into things.” Holt expressed similar thoughts while addressing an Oct. 21 protest at the N.B. Legislature in Fredericton. A federal petition against the plant has also gained over one thousand signatures to date, and will be presented in the House of Commons by Elizabeth May, leader of the federal Green Party. Dominic Leblanc, MP for Beauséjour, where Tantramar is located, as well as minister of internal trade and Canada-US Trade, declined to comment on the project due to N.B. Power’s status as a Crown corporation. A statement from Minister Leblanc’s office provided to The Argosy said it would be “inappropriate to comment on the actions of this independent provincial corporation.”
The organizers’ goals vary significantly. Jones said the name “Stop the Tantramar Gas Plant” “came up too fast and got stuck.” She said that they “are not looking to stop the plant,” but rather to “find a less impactful place” for it. “But Centre Village is convenient and it’s fast, and that’s what NB Power wants.”
Lesser said they hope the sessions will help people understand alternatives to the project. “There’s so much we can do to change this project, or to relocate this project,” they said, “it’s not just a yes or no.”
The preliminary phases of the project will take a significant amount of time. Currently, an access road is being constructed to the site, and multiple review processes are still underway. Organizers plan to continue engaging the community regardless of what happens with the plant. Another information session will be held in the Sackville United Church on Nov. 23. “I think that ProEnergy would love for us to give up,” said Lesser, adding, “I think the community showing up to these things is itself a sign that we actually have a chance to change things.”