Conversations renew about New Brunswick natural gas moratorium

There’s pressure from Ottawa to revoke New Brunswick’s ban of hydraulic fracturing.

New Brunswickers are once again discussing the province’s moratorium on natural gas exploration.

The province enacted the moratorium hydraulic fracturing in 2014 until more information and research were available about the health, water and environmental impacts.

The topic came up again during Question Period in the province’s legislature last week.

“The biggest natural resource in this province is natural gas. I don’t understand why we’re not unlocking the cherry on the cake,” Progressive Conservative MLA Don Monahan said.

Michelle Robichaud, president of the Atlantica Centre for Energy, sees exchanges like that as an opportunity.

“We need to decide what’s the future for Atlantic Canada, you know, what do Atlantic Canadians want, and what does the energy future really look like,” she said in an interview.

On the federal level, Internal Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s spokesperson said the Government of Canada would be supportive of the decision to remove the moratorium, though it’s up to the province.

But some advocates, like the New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance, are concerned about the impacts of lifting the ban.

“There is absolutely no reason in the world, if you believe the scientists and believe most of the world’s economists, to be producing new gas and oil products of any kind,” said Jim Emberger, the organization’s spokesperson.

Premier Susan Holt did not directly answer Monahan’s questions last week, instead emphasizing the province’s overall natural resources development and her relationship with the Carney government.

“We are working very hard to build a productive relationship with the federal government and make sure that New Brunswick gets more than our fair share,” she said last week.

On Monday, her spokesperson confirmed there’s no update on natural gas development and that the moratorium remains in effect.

By CTV News Atlantic’s Anna Mandin

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