Tantramar wetlands and ecological connectivity need to be on the agenda

August 19, 2026

Today the Premier of New Brunswick is meeting with the Mayor of Tantramar and the proposed NB Power gas plant at Centre Village is one of the top items on the agenda. CPAWS New Brunswick is flagging two concerns about the proposed gas plant we hope will be raised at the meeting.

First, Tantramar has something exceptional to protect.

In 2022, Sackville, now part of Tantramar, became the first community in North America to be accredited as a United Nations Ramsar Wetland City. The designation recognizes the importance of our wetlands with a commitment to protect them and integrate them as community assets.

Tantramar has been doing exactly that, including through initiatives such as its naturalized stormwater system.

The proposed Centre Village gas plant pulls in the opposite direction. Its development would affect wetlands on both private and public lands within municipal boundaries. At the very least, that raises a serious question about how such a project can be reconciled with Tantramar’s and Canada’s international Ramsar commitments and the reputation the community has created around wetland conservation.

Second, the location matters far beyond the individual wetlands affected.

Last fall, the Premier joined other Eastern Canadian Premiers and New England Governors in supporting Resolution 46-3 on ecological connectivity. The Chignecto Isthmus is one of the most important wildlife corridors in the region, so it is a priority place to implement the resolution. The Southeast Regional Service Commission is developing a regional plan and considering how connectivity can be conserved and linked to tourism and healthy recreation opportunities.

It is difficult to square that commitment with placing a major new industrial facility in the heart of this landscape.

We hope the Mayor of Tantramar will ask the Premier to ensure that decisions about the Centre Village project reflect both of these commitments: Tantramar’s internationally recognized responsibility for its wetlands, and the Province’s own commitment to protect ecological connectivity through the Chignecto Isthmus.

These concerns go directly to the kind of community Tantramar has chosen to become and the commitments governments have made about this landscape.

(Banner photo by Steve Reid.)