On today’s CHMA daily news:
a cross-border meeting of the Mayors
Indigenous families gather to share their grief
and a wind bonanza in PEI
But first:
The province has reported three new cases of COVID-19 in the province.
One person in their 20’s, and two people in their 50’s have contracted the disease. T
Two are a health care workers at the Campbellton Hospital, and one is a close contact of a previously identified case.
There are 30 active cases in the province, with four people in hospital.
In Nova Scotia, officials reported their seventh day with no new cases of COVID-19.
There are two people with active cases in Nova Scotia, both in hospital.
Across Canada a total of 320 new cases were reported yesterday. There were 38 deaths, in Ontario and Quebec.
The number of daily new cases in Canada has been dropping since a peak in mid-April.
Meanwhile worldwide, daily new case numbers are still growing.
Yesterday Brazil recorded the highest number of new cases, with over 37,000. The US reported over 25,000 new cases.
The mayors of Amherst and Sackville decided to ditch the video chat on Tuesday, and met face to face at the provincial border to talk about the need to re-establish free movement between their two towns.
Amherst Mayor David Kogon and Sackville Mayor John Higham discussed the best way to let their respective provincial governments know it is time to reopen the border.
Separated by a concrete barrier that bars traffic from entering either province and standing more than two metres apart, the two concluded it was time their respective municipalities added their voices to those who are urging the reopening of the border.
Both indicated they would be sending that message to their individual premiers.
Mayor Kogon says with the flattening of the curve in this region and in the two provinces, they believe it’s important for our economies and our citizens’ well-being that the Maritime, if not Atlantic, bubble be established.
Noting how intertwined the economies of southern New Brunswick and the Cumberland region are, Kogon said the border’s continued closure is having a major negative impact on businesses on both sides of the border.
CHMA spoke with Jonathan MacLelland of the Cumberland Business Connector back in May.
MacLelland describes the cross-border area as a single functional zone:
AUDIO CLIP MacLelland
The Cumberland Business Connector and the Amherst Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to both provincial premiers in May asking for a county bubble, in order to reunite the communities.
Premier Blaine Higgs says a decision on an Atlantic bubble will be coming in the next few weeks.
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The Sackville Farmer’s Market will expand into Bill Johnstone Memorial Park this Saturday.
The market has laid out a one-way traffic pattern around the park, with vendors spread throughout.
Mainstay market vendors, including Wysmykal Farm, Sky Shacks, and Joella McKiel’s Preserves, are returning to the market for the first week since COVID closure.
[Pronouncer: Metepenagiag — MEH-deh-beg-NA—giagh]
[Pronouncer: Elsipogotog — El-suh-BOOK-took]
Families of three Indigenous people killed in New Brunswick met on Monday to share their grief and discuss justice reform.
The families of Rodney Levi, Chantal Moore and Brady Francis, along with Metepenagiag Chief Bill Ward and Elsipogotog Chief Arren Sock attended the gathering.
Rodney Levi was a 48-year-old member of the Metepenagiag First Nation who was shot and killed by Sunny Corner RCMP on Friday.
Chantal Moore was killed by Edmundston police during a wellness check on June 4.
Brady Francis was a 22-year-old from Elsipogtog First Nation killed in a 2018 hit-and-run.
Recently, the man who killed Brady Francis was found not guilty of the hit-and-run, and prosecutors announced they would not appeal that verdict.
Premier Blaine Higgs said on Monday that he and other government ministers will be meeting with First Nations chiefs today to discuss their concerns.
The city of Summerside is having a good year in wind power.
During the month of May, 61 per cent of the electricity used by Summerside homes, businesses and industries came from wind power.
More than half of that power came from the city’s own wind farm, built in 2009.
The municipality projects wind energy will generate $2.9 million for the city this fiscal year, which began April 1.
The next big project for the city is the Summerside Sunbank, a solar energy farm and storage facility, announced earlier this year.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government’s signature benefit for people whose jobs have vanished amid the COVID-19 pandemic will be extended by eight weeks.
The Canada Emergency Response Benefit pays up to $500 a week and was slated to last 16 weeks starting in mid-March, meaning that people who signed up for it immediately would soon run out.
Trudeau says the economy is recovering from the mass closures ordered to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus but there’s a long way to go.
Extending the CERB has been a demand from the New Democrats in exchange for the party’s support for the minority Liberals in an upcoming confidence vote.
The prime minister also announced the Canada-U.S. border will remain mostly closed for at least another month, until July 21.
To try to limit the spread of COVID-19 between the two countries, they have limited crossings to essential workers and trade since March 21.
That’s it for the CHMA daily news.
Thanks to Geoff de Gannes for his contributions.
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