News
Storm closures and cancellations for Greater Saint John
Snowstorms hitting New Brunswick have caused cancellations and closures in the area.
The City of Saint John has announced that tonight’s Saint John’s Common Council meeting will be held virtually due to weather. The meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m.
NBCC Saint John Campus is closing at 3:30 p.m. due to inclement weather.
Quispamsis Town Hall, Quispamsis Memorial Arena and the Q-plex will all be closing at 3:30 p.m. due to extreme weather conditions. Essential operations, including snow removal, will remain active. All facilities are expected to reopen at their regularly scheduled times on Feb. 24.
Saint John Transit will be suspending buses at 6 p.m. for the remainder of the day.
Due to storm conditions and reduced visibility, Saint John Transit will be suspending bus at 6:00 pm for the remainder of the day. #SJTransitAlert
— Saint John Transit (@ThinkTransitSJ) February 23, 2026
The ferry out of Wallace Cove running to Grand Manan has been suspended due to weather.
The New Brunswick RCMP have put out a traffic advisory for Route 1 from St. Stephen to Petitcodiac. Travel is not recommended.
Due to inclement weather, McAllister Place will be closing at 5 p.m.
Due to weather conditions, the Rothesay Common will close early at 5 p.m.
More to come.
First Nations hosting open houses for Ring of Fire roads
Marten Falls First Nation and Webequie First Nation are hosting open houses this week in Thunder Bay for the Northern Road Link Project.
The project promises a new all-season road connecting a proposed Webequie Supply Road from Webequie First Nation with the proposed Marten Falls Community Access Road.
Together the roads will link the two First Nations not just with each other, but with the provincial highway system.
As the Northern Road Link is not yet finalized, this week’s open houses will offer the public a chance to provide input on preferred routes and provide updates on the project.
Thunder Bay residents will have the chance to attend open houses in-person, but open houses will also be streamed and recorded online for those who cannot attend.
On Tuesday February 24, two open houses with a focus on Indigenous interests will be hosted at the Italian Cultural Centre from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
On Wednesday February 25, two more open houses, with a wider focus for the general public, will be hosted at the Italian Cultural Centre from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Shrek the Musical, full of fun with a positive message
The world’s friendliest ogre is appearing on the Capitol Theatre stage.
Shrek the Musical debuted on Saturday, February 21 and runs until March 1.
Daniel Williston plays Shrek. “I love this musical. I think it’s a beautiful story to impart to young people about being able to dream bigger than maybe your parents or your teachers or your authority figures tell you what is meant for you and for your life.”
“I think that there’s really something beautiful about a hero who is not just an Iron Man and Batman beating up the bad guy because they can punch harder. Shrek wins in the end because he is able to drop his guard and allow other people in and find friendship and love through that,” Williston told our newsroom.
It’s his first time performing at the Capitol Theatre, and he feels the experience of taking the stage with other amazing artists and a live orchestra is a wonderful thing.
Shrek the Musical features characters including Donkey, Fiona, Lord Farquaad, and all of the fairy tale characters.
“I think people are going to be in for a real treat when they come see it,” Williston expressed.
Williston has been performing on stage for the past 17 or 18 years. He is one of several acting professionals who were chosen for this stage performance. There are several newcomers as well.
“It’s really lovely to see people who are doing it for the love of the game. There’s a real purity to watching people who are giving of their time and really wanting this show to be as good as it can be. So being around that energy is very inspiring,” Williston revealed.
He encourages anyone who wants to act to just keep doing it. He said the more opportunities you’re given, get involved, because the more that you do it, the more comfortable you feel doing it, and the more you’ll want to do it.
“I think the Capitol Theatre giving those opportunities is one of the best parts about this entire experience,” Williston added.
Shrek the Musical has lots of fun moments, with fart jokes and gags and other silliness. There are moments of laughter, sadness, and you’re encouraged to sing along.
“I think at the end of the day, what people keep coming back to the theatre for is this feeling of being inspired,” Williston said.
Icelandic addiction prevention model comes to Thunder Bay
A new strategy designed to reduce substance abuse among young people is officially underway in Thunder Bay.
Planet Youth is based on an Icelandic model that helped cut youth addiction from some of Europe’s highest rates to the lowest. Their strategy focuses on changing the wider social factors upstream of addiction that prevent youth from living healthy lives.
Thunder Bay leaders gathered at City Hall on Friday for a signing ceremony affirming their Declaration of Support.
“By signing on to advance Planet Youth, Thunder Bay is reaffirming our commitment to prevention and partnership,” said Thunder Bay Mayor Ken Boshcoff. “Youth wellbeing is a collective responsibility, and this initiative brings together schools, families, service providers, and community leaders to take coordinated, data-informed action. Working together, we can create the conditions for young people in Thunder Bay to thrive.”
The program will be run by non-profit United Way of Thunder Bay.
“This signing ceremony marks a public launch of the movement and a chance for key foundational partners to affirm their support, but perhaps more importantly, it affirms that youth wellbeing is a collective responsibility,” said United Way of Thunder Bay CEO Albert Brulé. “Thunder Bay is joining several other Canadian communities working to adapt this model in their local context.”
In 2024, Thunder Bay had the highest per-capita rate of opioid deaths in the province. Brulé says visits to the ER related to substance abuse are 10 times higher in Thunder Bay than the provincial average.
“I’m just really tired of seeing all these youth with so much potential being dragged into cycles [of addiction],” said 12th grader Cheya Belmore, a member of Youth Council at Evergreen United Neighbourhood. “It can be hard to ask for help, but I did it and I’m grateful I did. Seeking support is a strength, not a weakness.”
The Declaration of Support lists three commitments:
- Exploration & Collaboration – Engaging in open discussions and working together across sectors to identify evidence-informed prevention strategies that are relevant and effective for Thunder Bay.
- Awareness & Education – Sharing knowledge and resources to help promote an understanding of prevention approaches, including those of the Planet Youth model, within our networks.
- Cultural & Community Responsiveness – Ensuring that diverse perspectives, especially Indigenous voices, are at the center of discussions about how prevention strategies are shaped and implemented in our community.
Signatories of the Declaration include:
- United Way of Thunder Bay
- City of Thunder Bay
- Thunder Bay and District Health Unit
- Lakehead University
- Mattawa Education and Care Centre
- Lakehead Public School Board
- Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board
- CSDC des Aurores boréales
Brulé says they are currently in the data collection phase, and tailoring the Icelandic model to Thunder Bay requires an analysis of local risk factors and community supports.
“The model starts by building a coalition, and that’s what you see here [at the signing ceremony],” he said. “The next step involves data, so we’ll be working with schools and community groups to do surveys of young people to learn what are their habits, what are their concerns, what are the ways that we can come together to help them avoid falling into the traps of substance abuse.”
Dr. Langis Roy, Lakehead University’s Vice President of Research and Innovation, says their team will collect and analyze data to optimize youth intervention specific to Thunder Bay’s unique social, cultural and environmental landscape. Lakehead is the #2-ranked undergraduate research university in Canada.
“We’re sizing up the issue,” Roy said. “We’re examining the effectiveness of existing programs and where they’re impactful and where they’re lacking. Then we’re filling those gaps in research and in deploying actual adequate interventions.”
Lakehead’s research will be ran through their Centre for Education Research on Positive Youth Development (CERPYD), headed by Dr. Jamie DiCasmirro.
“There’s an approach developed by CERPYD called Cognitive Behavioural Approaches to Treatments and Interventions,” Roy said. “That is a crossover between cognitive and mental awareness with actionable behavioural changes.”
“By being a part of this larger consortium Planet Youth, we’re going to be able to get more involved with the various communities and have a richer set of parameters from which we can build better interventions. We can target them to specific groups and specific issues that are affecting youth development.”
For more information on Planet Youth Thunder Bay, visit uwaytbay.ca/planetyouth.
Apply now as an artist for Jeux de la Francophonie
New Brunswick artists are needed for the 10th International Jeux de la Francophonie.
They’ll be held in Yerevan, Armenia, from July 23 to Aug. 1, 2027.
The Games bring together thousands of young people from participating countries and governments of the Francophonie, who excel in athletic and cultural activities.
Artists can apply for a place on Team Canada-New Brunswick in one of four disciplines: painting, photography, song or short story.
The last Games were held in 2023 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Two artists from New Brunswick participated in the cultural competitions.
You must be between the ages of 18 and 35.
The Canadian delegation to the Jeux de la Francophonie is made up of three teams: Canada, Canada-Quebec and Canada-New Brunswick.
The deadline for submissions is April 30.
Wet snow, wind could knock out power during storm
The winter storm is working its way over the province.
From late Monday morning until before dawn on Tuesday, Environment Canada says most places will get between 15 and 25 cm of snow and winds up to 90 km/h.
Inverness County will see gusts much faster than everyone else, with some reaching up to 120 km/h.
Shelburne and Lunenburg counties will be wrestling with lots of both. Those spots could see about 30 cm of snow, with 50 cm possible in some spots depending on how the snow falls. And their wind gusts will hit about 80 km/h, and 100 km/h over exposed areas.
They have an orange weather warning, and snow could fall faster than 5 cm an hour at times Monday during the day and night.
Coastal flood warnings are in place for Shelburne, Queens, Lunenburg and Halifax counties. High tide this evening could reach 5 to 7 metres.
Bob Robichaud, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, says a strong pressure system is just off the coast of New England now and is just reaching the edge of the province Monday morning.
But as it moves, those bands of heavy snow will reach all areas of the province by mid-afternoon.
“Everybody’s going to get some reduced visibilities and blowing and drifting snow,” says Robichaud.
Nova Scotians will be dealing with whiteout conditions, he says. It will either be very, very difficult to see on the road or entirely impossible.
He says a lot of that snow will be wet and sticky. That coupled with the wind could make a mess of power outages.
“If you compare it to other events so far this winter, a lot of that heavier snow is going to fall when the winds are stronger, as opposed to lighter that they’ve been with other storms,” he says.
Thunder snow is another possibility as well in the areas with the heaviest snowfall, says Robichaud.
Most schools across the province were either closed or let students out early in anticipation of the snow. Municipal services are also likely to be affected.
In Halifax, the overnight parking ban is in place. That means you cannot park on the street between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.
The storm should end early Tuesday morning.
With files from Evan Taylor.
Local sports from Monday, February 23rd
The Fort Frances Lakers have widened their first-place lead in the Superior International Junior Hockey League.
The Lakers won both of their games over the weekend against the Red Lake Miner, while the Dryden GM Ice Dogs lost both of theirs to the Thunder Bay North Stars.
Fort Frances won the Saturday night game 5-1 after a 6-0 shut out Friday night.
The Lakers now have 66 points, five points better than the Ice Dogs, with two games in hand.
Dryden lost 5-4 to the North Stars Saturday night and 4-3 Friday.
The other games saw the Kam River Fighting Walleye top the Ironwood Lumberjacks 4-2 Saturday and 6-2 on Friday night.
Kam River sits in third place in the standings with 58 points but have four games in hand on the Ice Dogs and two games on the Lakers.
A successful regular season for the Lakehead Thunderwolves in the OUA West Division, didn’t result in a successful post-season.
The Thunderwolves dropped the opening round of the playoffs to the Brock Badgers two games to three.
Lakehead lost the third and deciding game of the series 4-2 Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens.
The Thunderwolves lost game one of the series in St. Catharines 8-5, but won game two 3-2 in double overtime at home.
Storm closures and cancellations for Charlotte County
Snowstorms hitting New Brunswick have caused closures and cancellations in the area.
in St. Stephen, the Garcelon Civic Center is closing early today at 5 p.m. and will have a delayed opening tomorrow at 10 a.m. due to the incoming winter storm.
NBCC St. Andrews Campus is closing at 3:00 p.m. today due to inclement weather and poor road conditions.
The W. C. O’Neill Arena Complex in St. Andrews will remain closed for the day due to the weather conditions.
The ferry out of Wallace Cove running to Grand Manan has been suspended due to weather.
New Brunswick RCMP have put out a traffic advisory that travel is not recommended on Route 1 from kilometre marker 1 near St. Stephen to kilometre marker 239 near Petitcodiac East.
The Garcelon Civic Centre and Municipal office is closed tonight and will not reopen until 10 am on Tuesday.
Independent Grocer in St. George closed at 3 p.m. today.
More to come.
RCMP searching for woman wanted on warrant
The New Brunswick RCMP is asking for the public’s help to locate a 33-year-old woman who is believed to be in the Shediac or Moncton regions.
Ashley Dawn Johnston is wanted on an outstanding warrant of arrest in relation to failure to comply with court-ordered conditions.
Johnston is described as being approximately 5’5 and approximately 143 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes.
If seen, the RCMP asks the public not to approach her. Instead, call 911 immediately.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact the Shediac RCMP at 506-533-5151. Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), by downloading the secure P3 Mobile App, or by Secure Web Tips at www.crimenb.ca