The Commission on Shale Gas doesn’t come down one way or the other on whether hydraulic fracturing should proceed in the province but its report has a number of findings.
They include having an independent regulator to eliminate the problem of government departments being in conflict of interest, a new energy strategy to shift the province away from carbon energy and a new relationship with aboriginal people.
Stephanie Merrill of the Conservation Council says we are at a crossroads and the time has come to embrace clean forms of energy.
The report concludes there’s a lack of trust among the various supporters and opponents of shale gas development with significant gaps when it comes to environmental protection.
Merrill says the report makes clear the regulatory and oversight system in New Brunswick is years away from being ready to handle shale gas.
The Council of Canadians and its four New Brunswick chapters are calling on the Gallant government to recognize it has no choice but to extend the fracking moratorium after the report it commissioned demonstrated its five conditions for lifting the moratorium have not been met.
