Members from local groups against the proposed gas plant near Centre Village presented letters and other information to Beauséjour Member of Parliament Dominic LeBlanc Tuesday afternoon.
The groups were united in feeling LeBlanc has not done enough for his constituents concerning the plant NB Power continues to declare as necessary for the future of energy security in the province.
Penny Mott, of Seniors for Climate -Tantramar, was one of those who presented a letter to LeBlanc about potential federal implications for the project. She said LeBlanc accepted the letter graciously but she couldn’t guess whether he would read it or not.
“I mean, I understand that it might be his position that this is a provincial issue and not something that he should become involved with,” said Mott, “so I wrote in my letter what I thought to be three important issues.”
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Those three issues were the environmental designations the Chignecto Isthmus has been granted by organizations such as the UN, the obligations Canada has to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the lack of consultations with Indigenous peoples in the area.
Mott said another member of Seniors for Climate spoke with the minister and gave him a document from the Conservation Council of New Brunswick about renewable energy sources, while a professor from Mount Allison presented a letter signed by 130 academics from across the province opposed to the gas plant.
Outside the ceremony, about 20 demonstrators gathered on York Street just outside Convocation Hall on Mount Allison’s campus.
LeBlanc was there to speak at the installation ceremony for George Cooper, a Moncton lawyer who is the new chancellor of the university.
Protestors had gathered in the hopes LeBlanc would see them on his way into the ceremony.
Juliette Bulmer, of Stop the Tantramar Gas Plant, lives only 2 kms from the proposed site. She thinks it is well past time for her MP to acknowledge the situation some of his constituents find themselves in.
“ Frustration brings folks out here today because we need to hear from MP Dominic LeBlanc about the proposed gas plant in Tantramar at Centre Village. He has been avoiding us. He hasn’t spoken, he hasn’t replied to us.”
She was not alone in that frustration.
Demonstrator Carol Cooke said she is worried about the effect the facility may have on energy prices for New Brunswickers.
“And it’s fracked gas. Like, it just seems like, hello, other provinces are using batteries to store renewable energy,” said Cooke. “And I also think this supposed great demand of energy that we’re gonna need in the next five years – how much is it generated by projected AI demands? Like, is it really how new Brunswickers are going to heat their homes?“
Whether LeBlanc reads the information given to him or not, at the very least, they had their voices heard outside Convocation Hall, said Bulmer.
“ You know, we’re making friends up here, but we’re also getting the word out because more and more people need to know about this.”
