CKNB News March 2, 2021
CAMPBELLTON
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CAMP-CURLING CLOSED RM / TRIBUNE TUE AM
Covid restrictions have put an end to the curling season in Campbellton…
The Campbellton Curling Club has called off the remainder of the season which typically ends in May.
The club tells the Tribune – the early closure will help cut operational costs and the decision was voted on by members who agreed to the closure.
Members of the club will be getting a 75% refund, which many have indicated they will be donating in order to help ready the club for next season
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CAM STORM GG/TRIB/EN CAN (MON 4PM)
The latest round of winter is making its way across the Restigouche region – and when its done its going to particularly cold and windy. About 20- to-25 cm is forecast to fall by this late this evening. Then the temperatures will plummet from around the freezing mark this afternoon to around minus 16 tonight – and it will stay cold tomorrow. With winds gusting up to 90 along the Gulf coast tomorrow on Tuesday that will make for some rather unpleasant wind chill. The snow today did force CCNB in Campbellton and a number of local businesses to close early but schools were largely unaffected with students already on March Break.
NB
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NB/MIR-Provincial numbers (wire mon.aft)
New Brunswick is reporting one new case of COVID-19 — in the Miramichi region.
Public Health says the person in their 30’s in Miramichi’s zone 7 is self-isolating and the case is under investigation.
Two patients are hospitalized and are both in intensive care.
The number of active cases fell to 36 from 38 sunday. The Miramichi zone has just the one case with none in the Bathurst region. Most are still in the Edmundston region.
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NB-FRANCOPHONE IMMIGRANT POLICY RM / BRUNSWICK NEWS TUES AM
The New Brunswick Acadian Society is pushing for a shift in immigration policy.
It’s suggesting there’s an urgent need for greater provincial autonomy over immigration from Ottawa. The Society also want its own provincial minister dedicated to the file, according to Brunswick News.
This comes as the provincial and federal languages acts are under review.
Such a change would help keep the francophone population in the province up, as anglophone numbers are growing at a faster rate.
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NB-INCREASE IN SUICIDAL THOUGHTS RM / GLOBAL NEWS TUE AM
The Canadian Mental Health Association say more New Brunswickers are experiencing thoughts of self-harm.
Christa Baldwin, the local CMHA’s executive director, tells Global News prior to the pandemic, about 2% of the provincial population had suicidal or self-harm thoughts…but that number increased to around 10% last fall.
The provincial government recently unveiled a five-year plan to address mental health and addictions, including a promise to create 13 walk-in mental health and addictions clinics across the province by October.
It’s estimated about 4,000 people die by suicide in Canada per year.
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NB-CRYPTO MINE SALE RM / BRUNSWICK NEWS TUES AM
A Cryptocurrency mining facility in the province has been sold to a Vancouver-based company.
GPU Atlantic sold its Grand Falls operation to HIVE blockchain Technologies for $25M. According to Brunswick News, these Cryptocurrency mining facilities usually operate in cooler climates where low-cost green energy is available.
The question now is since these operations generate millions of dollars, will New Brunswick benefit from the income tax.
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NB – COVID-UPD-PLUS ONE GG/NB GOV (MON 4PM)
GOOD MORNING
Just one new case of Covid-19 to report in New Brunswick today. Public Health says the lone cases involves an individual in their thirties in the Miramichi region, with the source of their infection still under investigation.
There are currently 36 active cases of the virus in New Brunswick, mostly in the Edmundston region, with two people currently hospitalized in intensive care.
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NB-Vaccine plan?? (CBC tue.am)
The Higgs Government says it will announce details soon of the next phases in its vaccine distribution plan.
The Health Department says an online registration component will be part of that process for some groups, according to CBC.
Clinics are being held this week at 121 licensed long-term care facilities.
The first phase also targets front-line health-care workers and Indigenous adults. A clinic is expected this week in Madawaska Maliseet First Nation, followed by community clinics at other First Nations.
Phase 2 which will begin in April, will include people over 40 with certain complex medical conditions such as people with lung cancer who are undergoing radical radiotherapy, adults with Down’s syndrome, and adults on dialysis.
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NB/SJ-Irving backs off (CBC tue.am)
Irving Oil is backing off on its request foran increase in the wholesale price margins. It was looking for a 63% increase in the margins for gasoline and diesel and 55% for furnace oil.
Irving Oil was due to go before the Energy and Utilities Board this week to answer questions about its request. But the company sent a letter withdrawing its request saying its management team was devoting its full and undivided attention to business operations during the pandemic.
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NB-FRANCOPHONE IMMIGRANT POLICY RM / BRUNSWICK NEWS TUES AM
The New Brunswick Acadian Society is pushing for a shift in immigration policy.
It’s suggesting there’s an urgent need for greater provincial autonomy over immigration from Ottawa. The Society also want its own provincial minister dedicated to the file, according to Brunswick News.
This comes as the provincial and federal languages acts are under review.
Such a change would help keep the francophone population in the province up, as anglophone numbers are growing at a faster rate.
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NB COVID-UPD-PLUS ONE GG/NB GOV (MON 4PM)
Just one new case of Covid-19 to report in New Brunswick today. Public Health says the lone cases involves an individual in their thirties in the Miramichi region, with the source of their infection still under investigation.
Public Health also annouced today that vaccination clinics will open at 121 licensed longterm care facilities in the provicne this weel – with all long term residents in New Brusnwick expected to receive at least one dose by the week of March 14th.
There are currently 36 active cases of the virus in New Brunswick – with two people currently hospitalized in intensive care.
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NB ASH BEATLE GG/WIRE (MON 4PM)
A tiny, iridescent green beetle has officials in Fredericton concerned.
Officials says the emerald ash borer beetle has now been detected in the city’s trees, and they’re taking steps to manage it.
The federal government says the wood-boring beetle has killed millions of ash trees in Canada.
Fredericton officials say they’ve planning for the beetle’s arrival since it was first found in the town of Edmundston in 2018. An ash borer infestiationcan kill a mature ash tree in as a little as a year.
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NB LAND SURVEYING GG/WIRE (MON 4PM)
The New Brunswick government has partnered with the Association of New Brunswick Land Surveyors to provide more up-to-date mapping of property lines for landowners.
The association had operated its own database application, which needed to be modernized.
The Land Registry maintains the province’s digital property mapping, a graphical representation of all parcels of land throughout the province.
The mapping is used by the government, industry professionals and residents in making land-related decisions.
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NB-YOUTH CURFEWS??? RM/CBC MON PM
New Brunswick will be adopting an Icelandic program designed to deter youth away from drugs.
Iceland has had success in reducing substance use in youth with this model.
It starts with a questionnaire given to students, and their answers are used to determine the best pathway of prevention
In the province, schools have put the surveys on hold because of the pandemic.
Two big risk factors include not enough parental support and not enough after-school activities.
The program could include curfews and “Leisure cards” to reduce risk factors
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NAT/ALL
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ALL-No American vaccines (wire tue.am)
Another wrench thrown into the Trudeau Government’s vaccination supply plans.
The White House is making it clear it has no plans to share vaccines made in the U-S with Canada or Mexico. The Biden administration has been hinting for weeks that it wants to keep American-made vaccines only for Americans.
As Mexico planned to ask explicitly for help, the white house confirmed that Biden is focused first on making sure the vaccine is available to every American.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reportedly stopped short of making a similar request in his virtual meetings with Biden last week.
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ALL-Vaccine-AstraZeneca (wire tue.am)
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization says seniors should not get the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. However, a similar recommendation initially issued in Europe is being revisited.
France has overturned its earlier decision against using it on seniors and Germany is thinking about it. The National committee of experts is concerned there’s limited data on how well the vaccine will work in older populations.
It also says there are no concerns that it’s unsafe for use in seniors.
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ALL-Airline reallignment (CBC tue.am)
The airline industry, hit hard by the pandemic, is consolidating.
Halifax-based Jazz will take over all regional flights in Atlantic Canada from Air Canada Express which could limit service in the long term to smaller communities after the pandemic, according to CBC.
Jazz, which is a subsidiary of Chorus Aviation, will be using larger jets and retiring smaller planes that fly in and out of rural airports. Air Canada figures this move will save it $400 million over 15 years. It’s also dropping Sky Regional based in Ontario.
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ALL-National numbers (Gov. tue.am)
Another grim milestone passed yesterday with 23 more Canadians losing their battle against COVId bringing that total to 22,017.
There were over 2,500 news cases bringing the active case count to about 30 and a half thousand.
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NAT TOUGH BUTTER GG/WIRE (MON 4PM)
Animal science experts are warning that eliminating palmitic acid as a feed supplement for dairy cows could come at a cost to farmers and lead to increased butter imports.
It’s all part of the fallout from “buttergate” — the controversy over the common practice of bolstering cows’ diets with palm byproducts.
The Dairy Farmers of Canada is now encouraging its members to find alternatives to palm supplements, mainly palm oil, in cattle feed following consumer concerns that butter has become harder.
One adviser says a turn in public perception would poses a greater threat to the dairy industry than asking farmers to eliminate the safe and effective method of maximising production. However what is actually causing Canadian butter to harder is unclear – many agriscientists says seasonal weather, including recent droughts and heat waves, can change the composition of grass and other natural feed that cows consume – and is just as likely to be the reason that some are finding butter tougher and harder to melt.
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SPORTS 2
The Leafs blanked Edmonton 3-0 in NHL action. Vancouver shut down Winnipeg 4-0. The Senators doused the Flames 5-1.
