Coming up on the CHMA daily news roundup:
-Mount Allison grads headed for virtual convocation
-Wage top ups coming for essential workers-
-And a new instalment of the Check-In, with Derrick Dixon of Hounds of Vintage.
But first:
One new case of COVID-19 has been reported in New Brunswick. A young person under 19 years of age in the Campbellton region tested positive for the disease. The province says the case is still under investigation.
The Campbellton region health zone has the smallest number of tests reported in the province, with a total of 828 tests reported since the beginning of the pandemic. The province announced just nine new test results in the region yesterday.
New Brunswick Public Health released a total of 310 new test results Thursday. 109 of those results were in the South East region.
Nova Scotia has announced another death of a person with COVID-19 who was living in a long term care home. So far 58 people have died from complications due to COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.
There are now 29 reported active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.
Convocation weekend at Mount Allison is normally chock full of luncheons, concerts, art exhibitions and theatrical performances.
But this year, thanks to a global pandemic, things will be different.
2020 Mount A grads will not be hosting their families to a May long weekend of events and activities, but their convocation ceremony will be memorable nonetheless.
Maybe even one for this history books.
On Monday starting at 2pm, Mount Allison will be hosting a live, online Conferring of Degrees ceremony, to celebrate the Class of 2020 in absentia.
The hour-long virtual ceremony will feature remarks from Mount Allison Chancellor Lynn Loewen, President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Jean-Paul Boudreau, Class of 2020 Valedictorian Nigel Verret, and special performances of the Indigenous Honour Song and the Alma Mater Song.
The virtual ceremony will be available live on Facebook and Youtube starting at 2pm Monday, and for later viewing on the Mount Allison website.
The university says it plans to hold an in-person Convocation at a later date.
May has been deadly on New Brunswick roads and highways.
RCMP detachments around the province report five people killed in five separate vehicle collisions so far this month.
A 32-year-old woman from Youngs Cove died following a single-vehicle crash in the community on May 19th.
In Dalhousie on May 20th, a 36-year-old man died following a single-vehicle crash.
On May 16th, a 69-year-old woman from Moncton died following a single vehicle crash in Beersville.
The same day, a 62-year-old man died following a collision between a motorcycle and a transport truck in Lower Woodstock.
On May 8th, a 17-year-old boy died following a collision between a minivan and a moped, just outside of Riverview.
The Codiac Regional RCMP are reporting six arrests and a drug and weapons seizure at a hotel in Moncton.
On May 15th, police searched two hotel rooms and two vehicles at the Hotel Moncton on Mountain Road.
Two 26-year-old men were charged with possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking.
Premier Blaine Higgs announced this week that New Brunswick would join other provinces in offering a wage top-up for front line workers.
The federal government announced May 7th that it would offer provinces the means to top up wages for essential workers, but left it up to provincial governments to determine who would get top ups, and how much.
New Brunswick, like other provinces, is focussing funding on health and social services.
A top-up of $500 per month for four months is available to workers in:
-early learning and child care facilities
-home support
-special care homes, community residences and group homes
-homeless shelters and food banks
-domestic violence outreach and transition homes
Workers must earn $18 per hour or less to be eligible.
Workers at early learning and child care facilities will receive their top-up beginning May 19th. All other sectors will be paid retroactively from March 19th to July 9th.
Premier Blaine Higgs says he will consider lifting the ban on temporary foreign workers in New Brunswick if more vacancies aren’t filled soon.
Higgs says 250 people have “stepped up” to fill spots normally filled by temporary foreign workers, and another hundred were interviewed yesterday.
Higgs says he won’t let the positions go unfilled.
AUDIO CLIP Higgs 1
I said I wouldn’t let them go without employees. And I meant that I won’t. And if we don’t fill a roster in the next few days of what’s needed right now, then there will be decisions made to ensure that we we can meet the needs.
The New Brunswick Green Party is calling for more help to keep small businesses going during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Green MLA Megan Mitton says the closing of two businesses in Sackville shows the urgent need for more government support.
She was referring to the closing of the Thunder and Lightning pub and the Black Duck Café, both on Bridge Street.
As CHMA reported last week, the owners of the Black Duck are opening Fridgee, an online grocery store instead of continuing to operate their Café.
Mitton says she’s hearing from other small businesses that are struggling to survive:
CLIP#1 OPENS: “In these unprecedented times…
CLIP ENDS: “…for these business owners.”
Megan Mitton is calling more government grants to small businesses and better support programs to help them pay rent so they won’t be evicted next month:
CLIP#2 OPENS: “I think there’s urgency for…
ENDS: “…in these difficult times.”
Mitton she says she’s working with Nova Scotia MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin on making sure there are clear and consistent rules for crossing the provincial border.
She points out that’s crucial for business people, farmers and members of non-profit groups who regularly need to cross between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
CLIP#3 OPENS: “One of the things that we’re really trying to make sure…
CLIP ENDS: “…work in the long run.”
Megan Mitton says she’s open to any ideas about helping people cross the border to conduct business.
Last week, Jonathan McClelland of the Cumberland Business Connector suggested that the areas around Sackville and Port Elgin should be allowed to form a business bubble with Amherst and other towns on the Nova Scotia side of the border.
That would allow free movement of area residents across the provincial border.
A Carlton University study measured how many Canadians believe commonly circulating misinformation and conspiracy theories about COVID-19.
About 46% of Canadians believe at least one of the four most common conspiracy theories and myths, the study says.
The good news is that Atlantic Canadians fared slightly better in resisting misinformation than the rest of Canada.
About a quarter of Canadians, and 17% of Atlantic Canadians believe that coronavirus is a bioweapon engineered in a lab.
A smaller group — 11% of Canadians and 6% of East Coasters — believe that COVID-19 is invented to cover-up the harmful effects of 5G wireless technology.
17 per cent of Canadians and 11 per cent of Atlantic Canadians believe that rinsing your nose with saline solution can help prevent infection with the new coronavirus.
When it comes to believing in the effectiveness of hydroxy-chloroquine, Atlantic Canadians are closely aligned with the rest of the country.
About a fifth of people across the country believe the drug touted by US President Donald Trump, which is used to treat malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, can work to treat or prevent COVID-19.
In a related story, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg found that nearly half of 200 million Tweets discussing the virus since January were likely sent by bots.
The researchers say they are seeing twice as much bot activity during the pandemic than they had predicted based on previous natural disasters, crises and elections.
The Town of Sackville is calling for nominations for its annual Volunteer Recognition awards.
The town is accepting nominations until June 1st in the four categories, recognizing 10 years, 25 years, and 50 years of community service.
There is also an award recognizing volunteer service for students in Tantramar Regional High School and its feeder schools.
Volunteers will be celebrated at a dinner once restrictions have been lifted.
And last but not least on today’s roundup, Mahalia Thompson-Onichino brings us the latest instalment of the Check-In.
Mahalia pays a virtual visit to Derrick Dixon of Hounds of Vintage, a relatively new clothing shop in downtown Sackville which just reopened for business.
AUDIO
That was the CHMA daily news roundup.
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