Protesters rally in Sackville as environmental award goes to gas plant opponents

“Hey, hey USA take your plant and go away,” about 40 demonstrators chanted as they marched across Sackville’s main intersection at Bridge and Main on Wednesday.

“No gas plant, no gas plant!” they shouted as motorists stopped at the lights honked in support.

Then, the marchers gathered on sidewalks waiting for the walk signal so they could set off again across the streets chanting, “Clear air, clean water, NB Power’s got to do better.”

The two-hour Earth Day demonstration, organized by the Tantramar chapter of Seniors for Climate, was their latest salvo in the campaign against the proposed 500 MW gas/diesel generating plant in Centre Village.

If New Brunswick’s Energy & Utilities Board gives its approval, the plant would be built and operated by the big American company PROENERGY under a 25-year, $3.5 billion contract with NB Power.

It would burn fracked gas piped in from the States backed up by diesel likely trucked in from the Irving Oil refinery in Saint John.

After the march, people gathered at Café Tintamarre in Sackville’s Visitor Information Centre for a tea party and climate chat.

It ended with the presentation of an award for the 2026 Tantramar Environmental Citizen of the Year.

“You know, I grew up here in Sackville, but moved away, and I was away for 40-some years before I moved home,” said master of ceremonies Logan Atkinson.

He explained that he bought a big house with a wrap-around veranda, its open underside enclosed with lattice.

“First summer I was home, walking around my house in the morning, and sure enough, there’s a skunk caught in the latticework,” Atkinson said.

“And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is way beyond my competence, I can guarantee you that,’” he added as the audience laughed.

Atkinson said he consulted the “experts” on Facebook who told him to call the Atlantic Wildlife Institute in Cookville.

Within 30 minutes, Atkinson said, Barry Rothfuss, AWI’s executive director had called him back.

“I followed his instructions to a tee, and I’m standing here to tell the tale,” he said before announcing that this year’s award would be going to both Barry Rothfuss and his partner Pam Novak for their “stewardship of this land.”

Aside from their work in rescuing wildlife and mitigating harms to the environment, Rothfuss and Novak established the Protect the Chignecto Isthmus Coalition last year to lead the opposition to the proposed gas plant.

“It’s a teapot,” a smiling Novak said pointing to the trophy. “This is just perfect.”

She added that anyone in the room could have won the award.

“The one thing that the gas plant has done — this nasty, little, dirty, peaker plant that we keep calling it, is bringing us all back together,” she said.

“We need to fight this because everybody who’s sitting in this room, you’re here because you care about your neighbours, you care about your own health, you care about your environment and you care about your community.”

“The environmental degradation that comes along with these types of developments is massive, right from the construction phase, to the operational phase, to the decommissioning,” Rothfuss said.

“So, let’s keep going. Let’s keep fighting.”

Bruce Wark worked in broadcasting and journalism education for more than 35 years. He was at CBC Radio for nearly 20 years as senior editor of network programs such as The World at Six and World Report. He currently writes for The New Wark Times, where a version of this story first appeared on April 23, 2026.