April 5, 2020 

Memramcook-Tantramar MLA announces task force to respond to community needs during the pandemic 

I am announcing today on behalf of myself, Sackville Mayor John Higham, Dorchester Mayor JJ Bear, Port Elgin Mayor Judy Scott, and Fort Folly First Nation Chief Rebecca Knockwood, the establishment of the Tantramar COVID-19 Task Force (TCTF). The TCTF will include key community volunteers from unincorporated areas of Tantramar, such as Aulac and Cape Tormentine. 

The TCTF has been mandated to coordinate an appropriate community response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

I have been communicating with colleagues and with volunteers in Memramcook to address the needs of the community. I want to ensure that the organizations in this community can continue to respond to the needs of Memramcook residents. One important area of focus that has been identified is food security, and we are working to respond to these needs. 

The Tantramar COVID-19 Task Force is the first of its kind in the province, and emerged after stakeholder consultations, which identified the need for a coordinated response. The key stakeholders represented on the TCTF will be contributing by making recommendations, providing options and logistical services. Community stakeholders include representatives from municipalities, First Nations, non-profits, community and service groups, faith communities, local schools, Mount Allison University, Mount Allison Student Union, as well as nursing home and care home representatives. 

The TCTF will be co-chaired by Carolle de Ste-Croix from Port Elgin and David McKellar from Westcock. Carolle is the Director of Alumni Engagement at Mount Allison and brings to the task force extensive experience in volunteer management, fundraising and government relations. David McKellar is the current President of the Rotary Club of Sackville and spent his career as a senior manager with the Department of National Defense in Ottawa. His educational and professional background is in mapping, remote sensing and geographic information. On behalf of the mayors and chief, I want to thank them for undertaking this important work. 

I have asked the TCTF to prepare a proactive plan with other community stakeholders to ensure the well-being of our citizens by conducting an Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) exercise in the Tantramar region to determine community assets including volunteer, physical and financial resources to assist in the long-term local response to the pandemic. 

The TCTF will also coordinate the information flow between the TCTF stakeholders and the Provincial COVID-19 committee and ensure communication and cooperation is maintained with other NB initiatives. 

The task force will be establishing the following action groups, each led by two co-chairs; communications and technology, food security, donations, volunteers, mental health services, financial & legal, physical health services, as well as facilities and physical infrastructure. 

The task force is not meant to replace the valuable work of our community groups and volunteers, but rather to offer support and ensure the maximization of available resources. 

For more information and regular updates, I invite you to visit the Tantramar COVID-19 Facebook page www.facebook.com/TantramarCovid19/. For general enquiries, please e-mail [email protected] or to reach either co-chair, please email [email protected]. I also ask that you share this information with those who do not have access to Facebook or Internet. We are working on creating a phone number and will share it as soon as possible. 

We are going to get through this together! 

Megan Mitton
MLA Memramcook-Tantramar 

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