Opponents and supporters of shale-gas development faced off Tuesday at New Brunswick's first public meeting on possibly lifting a 12-year fracking moratorium. More than 100 people filled the Sussex Lions Club as Natural Resources Minister John Herron urged dialogue while residents traded claims about jobs, cancer risk and climate impacts. Neighbours with wells on their farms disagreed sharply over safety. Premier Susan Holt has set a January deadline after creating working groups and First Nations roundtables. Officials collected questionnaires and one-on-one feedback, but no further public meetings have been announced and many speakers demanded a public referendum before any change.
New Brunswick has introduced the Young Consumers in Digital Markets Act to protect children under 16 from being misled into online purchases. Justice Minister Rob McKee said the Financial and Consumer Services Commission would handle complaints and could secure refunds or cancel unfair charges. Companies that pressure kids to buy, or use advertising to unfairly influence them, could face fines of up to $5 million and jail time. The rules would cover apps, software, music, artificial intelligence and social media, including companies without Canadian offices. The commission would not moderate content and will get no extra money for the work.
Premier Susan Holt has released a strategy to expand New Brunswick's defence industry, aiming to raise defence-related economic activity from $762 million last year to $1 billion annually by 2030, about 31 per cent more. The plan includes a new defence task force and comes as Ottawa spends roughly $1 billion on ranges, training areas and air-defence infrastructure at Base Gagetown. About 14,000 New Brunswickers work in the sector, the second-highest rate per capita in Canada. Holt said she wants the province to become first. Federal defence spending reached about $63 billion in 2025-26, meeting NATO's two per cent target.
