Kevin Miller, Bangor Daily News / Also published in the Telegraph-Journal: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/search/article/699314
Published Monday June 15th, 2009

AUGUSTA - Lawmakers gave final approval Friday to a bill scrapping a 2004 law that prompted Irving Woodlands LLC to halt operations on its land throughout northern Maine.

The Senate voted 27-5 to repeal the law that allowed independent contractors working for Irving to enter into collective bargaining.

But before the vote, Sen. Troy Jackson, an Allagash Democrat who led the fight to pass the collective bargaining bill, gave an emotional floor speech that underscored the ongoing tensions over the issue.

A New Brunswick court has struck down part of the province’s labour law that strips casual workers of basic rights.
June 17, 2009
http://cupe.ca/law/cupe-nb-casual-rights

A New Brunswick court has struck down part of the province's labour law that strips casual workers of basic rights.

In a decision released today, Justice Paulette Garnett of the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench ruled that the New Brunswick Public Service Labour Relations Act is contrary to section 2(d) of the Charter of Rights which protects the right to freedom of association.

“We are very pleased with this victory. We have casual workers in this province who have been working as ‘casual’ in the public sector for years. Those workers have no rights, earn less and have no benefits,” said CUPE New Brunswick president Daniel Légère.

Go to: www.nuclearfreenb.org for more information about uranium and nuclear power in New Brunswick from the Campaign for a Nuclear Free New Brunswick.

Telegraph-Journal, June 10, 2009

The Atlantica Centre for Energy has welcomed three companies as new members of the board. ADI Ltd., Corridor Resources Inc., and Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline have joined the Saint John-based industry association that promotes the sustainable growth of the region's energy sector. New individual board members include UNBSJ vice-president Robert MacKinnon, left, and ACOA's Andrew Noseworthy.

June 8, 2009

Blog posting by Macdonald Stainsby, posted on the Dominion weblog at: http://www.dominionpaper.ca/weblogs/macdonald/2711

Please forgive me-- this may end up seeming like a rant in places, for I simply must get some things off my chest. I hope my prediction that it will make sense by the end is true.

I am a strong proponent of the idea that hitchhiking is simply one of the greatest forms of grassroots journalism. When you enter a new place, the odds are quite high that you are traveling with a local. If this is the case, then you will become immediately armed with “insider” information to which there is little match. The sorts of things I am often lucky to learn, in any case, would certainly not be told in any tourist information booth.

The Daily Gleaner, May 1, 2009
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/search/article/653382

Attention New Brunswickers, I would like to tell you why all N.B. taxpayers should oppose public private partnerships (P3s).

Ten good reasons why privatization should worry you.

1. Environmental standards will fall.

2. User fees will rise (they already have risen and new ones created).

3. Good jobs will be lost (700 already).

4. Working conditions will deteriorate.

5. Access will suffer.

6. Pay and employment equity will suffer.

7. Accountability will be reduced.

8. Quality will be sacrificed.

By Lee Ann Ward and Larry Lack
St. Andrews, NB

Telegraph-Journal, Published Thursday April 30th, 2009
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/651887

Jamer Materials and its supporters are not discussing an essential element of the provincial decision to deny the company's request to continue operating by expanding its Bayside gravel mine.

In announcing that decision Environment Minister Roland Haché referred to the environmental damage from the Jamer mine. This environmental perspective is important, but beyond the environmental specifics of the Jamer controversy, the province's decision respects the will of the overwhelming majority of the people in the communities impacted by Jamer's mine. A large majority of the people of coastal Charlotte County disapprove of the Jamer mine and want government to call a halt to gravel extraction there.

Join the first Critical Mass Bike Ride of 2009.

This Friday, April 24 at 5:30 PM

Meet at Officer’s Square, corner of Queen and Regent St.

Critical Mass is a monthly bicycle ride to celebrate cycling and to assert cyclists’ right to the road.

By ADAM BOWIE, The Daily Gleaner
Published Saturday April 18th, 2009
http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/front/article/639245

Hundreds of protesters waved placards and chanted for Premier Shawn Graham's resignation Friday at the legislature as they rallied against public-sector job cuts and the closure of ferry services.

Photo: Fighting cuts: CUPE members from across the province and people fighting the closure of three ferries rallied together to protest the cuts by the Liberal government outside the New Brunswick legislature in Fredericton on Friday. Above, former Liberal cabinet minister and Village of Gagetown resident Vaughn Blaney voices his concern about the decision to shut down the Gagetown ferry.

CBC News
Thursday, April 16, 2009
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/new-brunswick/story/2009/04/16/nb-quarry-charlotte.html

The Environment Department has quashed a bid by Jamer Materials to expand its quarry in Charlotte County over concerns it could jeopardize the local watershed.

Jamer Materials has been crushing rock on the shore of the St. Croix River for more than a decade and was seeking to expand across the highway.

'It's about time that they did leave so the area can flourish and have year-round employment for the people of Charlotte County.'— John Craig, mayor of St. Andrews

Environment Minister Roland Hache said the quarry's expansion was denied because it would have endangered Chamcook Lake, which is the watershed that supplies the entire town of St. Andrews.