Mission statement

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PCIC works to ensure that decisions about the Isthmus prioritize ecological integrity and community well-being.

 

By fostering collaboration across communities, governments, industries, and Indigenous peoples, we are building a resilient and sustainable economy that honours and integrates the wisdom of traditional custodians of the land and waters. Through partnership, respect, and shared stewardship, we protect biodiversity, strengthen climate security, and uphold democratic due diligence in all significant developments.

 

Our mission is to defend this landscape as a living bridge for current and future generations, ensuring its capacity to support life and livelihoods in a rapidly changing world.

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Take action — make your voice heard!

 

Sign Petition e-6738 (Natural resources and energy) located on the House of Commons website.

 

Send your concerns to:

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• Megan Mitton MLA: megan.mitton@gnb.ca

• Premier Susan Holt: Premier@gnb.ca; Susan.Holt@gnb.ca; 506-453-2144

• NB Minister of Energy: Rene.Legacy@gnb.ca

• NB Minister of Environment: Gilles.Lepage@gnb.ca

• Dominic LeBlanc MP: dominic.leblanc@parl.gc.ca; 506-533-5700

• Lori Clark, CEO NB Power: Lclark@nbpower.com

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Latest news

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OCT. 3, 2025

 

Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition Calls on Province to Halt Gas Plant Proposal

 

Cookville, NB — On Thursday afternoon, members of the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition (PCIC) met with Premier Susan Holt and Deputy Minister of Energy Jeff Hoyt at their offices in Fredericton to deliver a direct request: cancel the proposed 500-MW gas plant on the environmentally sensitive Chignecto Isthmus.

 

The Coalition emphasized that due diligence and due process must be respected, including a full and comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), meaningful community consultation, and transparent economic modelling. Guarded by security vehicles, concerns were raised after local heavy equipment contractors were brought in by the U.S. based project proponent, ProEnergy and seen cutting a road into the site on Route 940 before all processes have been completed, and only a water testing permit had been granted.  Videos shared on social media show trees being felled, with eyewitness accounts of wildlife, such as deer and red-tailed hawks, fleeing the area.

 

“The government continues to reassure the public that this project is not greenlit, yet road-building and tree-cutting are already happening,” said Pam Novak of AWI. “This undermines public trust and the integrity of the EIA process.”

 

Since its launch, PCIC has expanded rapidly to include over a dozen environmental and community organizations across New Brunswick. Representing them at the meeting were Terry Jones and Juliette Bulmer - long-time area residents of the Isthmus and organizers of the Stop the Tantramar Gas Plant group (whose Facebook page now has nearly 800 members), Coalition Coordinator Lisa Griffin, MLA Megan Mitton, and AWI Founders Barry Rothfuss and Pam Novak, whose wildlife institute has been on a neighbouring property for 30 years. “The Premier told us at the meeting that she had only heard about the proposed project at the same time the rest of us did, on July 14th, when announced in the media. This underscores the lack of transparency and communication even within government departments, the executive and their crown corporation,” said Novak.  

 

The opposition has also grown to include the MicMac Rights Association (MRA), which has pledged support for land defenders and emphasized that the proposal threatens Mi’kmaq treaty rights, traditional lands, and resources.

 

According to Micmac Rights Association founder Chris Googoo, an elected Councillor of Millbrook First Nation, “As the Mi’kmaw nation, we have a clear right and an obligation to protect our lands and resources. This territory belongs to us, and we have never given it up or lost it through treaties, proclamations, or wars. Any companies wanting to use our land must first ask for permission from those who care for it, as it is our natural right to protect our land and resources for future generations.”

 

Googoo added, “When companies threaten the ecosystems and resources of our land, we will take action to defend it. As Mi’kmaw people, it is our duty to do so according to our customs and traditions, which are recognized and supported by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).”

 

Beyond local opposition, mounting scientific evidence indicates significant risks. A recent CBC report highlighted alarmingly low water levels across New Brunswick, which experts attribute to drought driven by climate change. “It is truly astounding just how low the water levels are. It’s scary,” said Colin Forsythe, Executive Director of the St. John River Society. 

 

Furthermore, the numbers in the Initial Project Description provided by the proponent (ProEnergy Holding Company, Inc) were found to be incorrect. Scientists at the Université de Moncton and Université du Québec à Chicoutimi identified significant errors including underestimating greenhouse gas emissions from diesel by a factor of one million (0.6 t vs. 65,000 t CO₂e).

 

"The report by the company ProEnergy has very little credibility: if they missed such obvious errors, who knows where else they cut corners and potentially underestimated the impacts on the air, soil and water, as well as on the people, animals and plants that depend on them? I'm disheartened to see that the IAAC accepted the report as is and based its decision not to conduct an impact assessment on erroneous data”, said Dr. Jean-Philippe Sapinski, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Université de Moncton.

 

“The lack of transparency, misinformation, and quite frankly secrecy that has surrounded this project from the very beginning is not how major projects in New Brunswick should be conducted”, states Barry Rothfuss of AWI.” He further added, “misrepresentation of Indigenous partnerships in the Initial Project Description and Environmental Impact Assessment registration filed by ProEnergy on July 4, 2025 shows how tainted that document is, and should be grounds for the registration of the project to be revoked.” 

 

The question of secrecy also echoes throughout the residents of the area about why there are 24/7 security vehicles blocking the road outside their homes. 

 

The Coalition underscored that the proposed gas plant runs counter to Canada’s legal and international climate commitments, including the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act (2021), which aims for net-zero emissions by 2050, and Canada’s signature of the Paris Agreement, committing the country to align with international climate goals and accelerate decarbonization.

 

“Canada cannot meet its climate obligations by approving a megagas project in one of the most ecologically sensitive regions of our province,” says Griffin. “Instead of undermining trust and destroying wetlands, the government should ensure that all major energy projects are led with transparency, responsibility, and climate action. This isn’t any of those things.”

 

 

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SEPT. 24, 2025

 

Coalition Formed to Protect Sensitive Chignecto Isthmus Region from Proposed Fossil Fuel Plant

 

Tantramar, NB — As the governments of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia commit to major investments to protect the Chignecto Isthmus from the increasingly destructive impacts of climate change, plans for a new fossil-fuel plant in Centre Village threaten to undermine those efforts — both ecologically and socially.

 

On September 11, a coalition of over 15 environmental and social organizations — including high-level NGOs and local groups — met to chart a path forward for protecting the Isthmus. With the Atlantic Wildlife Institute (AWI) at the helm, the newly formed “Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition” (PCIC), is demanding that any project in Centre Village align with climate goals, respect Indigenous rights, and safeguard ecosystem integrity. They are calling on the province to cancel the project as part of a genuine and transparent effort toward climate change mitigation.

 

Earlier this year, the federal government and the provinces of NB and NS announced a $650-million joint project to raise and reinforce the dyke system across the Chignecto Isthmus — including sectors near Tantramar, NB, and Amherst, NS — to protect agriculture, critical infrastructure, private properties, and cultural sites from rising sea levels and storm surges.

 

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt stated in March, “However, this is only the first step in implementing a long-term climate mitigation solution for the Chignecto Isthmus.”

 

New Brunswick’s current Climate Change Action Plan states: “We will continue to act on opportunities to achieve our greenhouse gas reduction target for 2030, which will put us on the path to being net-zero by 2050.” The strategy also notes this will “require strong and continued action.”

 

So where is that plan now? The proposed location for a 500-megawatt U.S. owned, shale gas powered plant is a crucial hotspot for migratory birds; includes valuable agricultural farmland; shares groundwater with many well-dependent residents; borders the Atlantic Wildlife Institute - whose primary location is protected by a Nature Conservancy of Canada easement as a part of an ecologically sensitive area of the Chignecto Isthmus. AWI is the only organization in Atlantic Canada that is certified to deal with large scale risks and threats to ecologically sensitive fauna and to mitigate damage when it occurs. This project could mean the end of their 30 year operation on this site.

 

The community’s widespread opposition to the project was expressed through a series of nearly 300 public comments. Sierra Club also sent a collection of nearly 496 submissions in response to a form posted on their website. Residents across New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are appalled at the immense lack of community consultation and transparency, the absence of social and environmental impact assessments, and total disregard for climate change mitigation and forward thinking by the government and NB Power. Elsipogtog First Nation and the Indigenous rights-defending organization called Kopit Lodge have filed a comment with federal regulators noting that they and the broader Mi’kmaq community were not consulted about the proposed gas/diesel generating plant on the Chignecto Isthmus. Meanwhile, the project is being falsely promoted as an indigenous partnership.

 

To uphold the integrity of Canada’s commitments, the region’s residents, Indigenous communities, environmental experts, and decision makers, Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition is demanding:

 

• No new fossil-fuel infrastructure in areas already identified as high risk for sea-level rise and climate change vulnerability.

• Full transparency in any new permitting, consultation, and assessment, including meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

• Alignment of all energy projects with provincial and federal climate-mitigation goals — not merely short-term grid-stability or economic arguments.

• Precautionary protection of ecosystems, cultural sites, and habitats, especially where vulnerability is already scientifically established.

 

The question remains: Will policy and investment choices now reinforce the region’s resilience and protection of the Chignecto Isthmus — or will they erode it by enabling further risk and harm, permanently and negatively altering the environmental and cultural fabric of this community?

 

Contact: Lisa J. Griffin
Atlantic Wildlife Institute
506-988-2601
griffin@caravanconsult.com