The Saint Croix Courier

St. Stephen, NB

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2005 September 9

Mayor invites PM to town

By BARB RAYNER

ST. ANDREWS - Mayor John Craig said he is issuing a personal invitation to the prime minister to come to St. Andrews to see for himself the Passamaquoddy Bay area that is threatened by three liquified natural gas (LNG) proposals in Maine.

At Tuesday night’s town council meeting, he thanked everyone for their commitment to opposing the LNG companies from setting up in Passamaquoddy Bay and singled out the other elected officials, federal, provincial and municipal, who attended the Aug. 22 meeting at the W.C. O’Neill Arena.

"It was a huge success on Aug. 22 because the people of St. Andrews and all the surrounding areas of the bay made it that way by being at the meeting and caring."

'He said when you are leading a charge then you look behind you and you don’t see anybody there, it "scares the hell" out of you, so it was a great feeling that night to see the people of St. Andrews. He thanked everyone for attending.

"That meeting has moved this issue to the forefront and it will remain there until the prime minister of Canada, the person who Canadians elect to protect our sovereignty rights, issues a statement that Head Harbour Passage is Canadian and that no LNG supertankers will be allowed to pass through this area.

"That message has to be issued so that all companies chomping at the bit to destroy our way of life can finally get the message and look further down the coast of the United States where they would certainly be more welcome and it would make more sense to set up.

"Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, with the federal election only months away, I want to personally invite Prime Minister Martin to come to St. Andrews to make that statement before the election. That is a personal invitation on my part."

Deputy Mayor Edie Bishop said she was very proud of the way the mayor came across at the public meeting, showing very clearly that they don’t want to see this happen in their community and that the proposals do affect them greatly.

Councillor Mary Myers also thanked town staff who put in a lot of extra work to get the meeting organized, as well as Larry Lack and Leanne Ward, who worked to make the evening a success.

She said they should also thank Art MacKay for his contribution to the meeting.

Mayor Craig said he too wanted to thank the staff for the work they did that day, especially since it was a tough time of year with people on vacation and people out sick. He also thanked the Chamber of Commerce, which helped out by making telephone calls to businesses to remind them about the meeting.

For those who didn’t make the meeting, there is a copy of the videotape available at the town hall. Mayor Craig said copies have been sent to the other community channels in Charlotte County. He thanked the volunteers from the local Channel 10 for the work they did that night.

During public question period, Ward said they have obtained a copy of the film The Risks and Dangers of LNG and would like to show it at the W.C. O’Neill Arena when it comes. She also said people should still be writing letters to the federal ministers expressing concern, and there is a list available at the town hall.

"Everyone needs to write about the LNG proposals and let the ministers know how they feel about it. It’s important everybody take the time to do that."

Lack said that on behalf of the Save Passamaquoddy Bay organization, they wanted to thank the town and staff for everything that went into that very successful meeting. He asked how much money was taken in from the public donations to help towards the $10,000 cost of putting the meeting on.

Town manager Tim Henderson said close to $800 was collected but that day they had someone come in with a $500 donation and a couple of organizations will be meeting with their boards to see if they will make a contribution.

Lack said Elizabeth May, director of the Sierra Club of Canada, will be in St. Andrews Sept. 19 and 20, and she will be doing a public presentation on the LNG issue.

Mayor Craig said the mayors and managers will be getting together for a joint meeting in October and there is a possibility of sending a delegation to Ottawa to meet with the Prime Minister.

"We either do it before the election or after the election. We do know there is an election in February... At that meeting that will be definitely the number one topic."