Political Leaders Hold Private Thinkers Retreat

While scientists and thinkers are discussing climate change in Pugwash, a group of local politicians are gathering in Shediac, NB to talk about protecting the Tantramar Marsh that joins Nova Scotia with New Brunswick.

Warden Al Gillis let the cat out of the bag when he asked the Pugwash Thinkers for advice to take to the political think tank.

The meeting was arranged by the members of parliament from each side of the marsh, Dominic LeBlanc and Bill Casey. They are joined by the mayors from Sackville and Amherst, and Warden Gillis of Cumberland County.

Gillis says officials are concerned about the lowland marsh which could easily be flooded by rising sea levels. He noted that a million dollars a day in commerce travels by rail and the Trans Canada Highway across the marsh.

They may be motivated by money, but climate change has clearly caught the attention of political leaders and others. Warnings were first issued in 1988, but recent hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires have awakened the public conscience.