Negative health outcomes foreseeable from the proposed Centre Village gas plant

It is with deep concern and dismay that as physicians and healthcare providers representing the Canadian Association of Physicians (CAPE) in New Brunswick we submit our comments regarding the proposed Centre Village dual-fuel gas plant.

CAPE is a national non-partisan, physician-led organization with over 36,000 supporters. We have regional CAPE committees in 9 provinces, including New Brunswick.  We bring an evidence-based approach to the intersecting issues of health, environment, and social justice. 

Climate change is the leading global threat to human health 

As physicians and health care providers, we see the impact that climate change is having on the communities we serve. Today, August 13, 2025, the province of New Brunswick is under a heat warning, with temperatures hovering around 36–37 degrees Celsius (Humidex 38 to 43). There are 11 actives wildfires in the province with two deemed out of control, and several communities are on evacuation notice. Wildfire smoke is contributing to poor air quality; people’s homes and lives are at risk. 

As the Canadian Climate Institute reports, “Accelerating climate change, largely from the burning of fossil fuels, makes wildfires bigger, hotter, and more frequent.” 

The Climate Shift Index (CSI) map shows that climate change made the extreme high temperatures in Fredericton, the province’s capital, 5 times more likely today. CSI shows similar results for other New Brunswick cities experiencing the blistering heat, including Moncton, Saint John, and Miramichi, where a wildfire continues to burn uncontrolled. 

We know that heat waves kill. In British Columbia, 619 people died during a weeklong heat wave (June 25 to July 1, 2021). 

The province is experiencing extremely dry conditions, with below average precipitation and lower than normal surface and underground water levels, which are threatening water supplies. 

Burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of climate change

This is no longer a matter of serious debate. The United Nations, the World Health Organization, the International Energy Agency, and the Canadian government have all issued warnings and reports calling for the rapid reduction of burning fossil fuel and a transition to renewable energy. Their reports and statements underscore the grave dangers posed by the escalating climate crisis, biodiversity crisis, and air pollution—and their cascading effects on human health and mortality. In Canada alone, an estimated 15,000 people die prematurely each year because of air pollution.  

So-called natural gas is methane gas 

The proposed Centre Village gas plant would also generate methane emissions, a supercharged greenhouse gas that is well known to accelerate global heating. Methane doesn’t just fuel climate change. It comes bundled with toxic pollutants that threaten our health. These include volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, and smog-forming gases that can lead to premature death, breathing and heart problems, and even cancer.

Energy decisions impact health outcomes for New Brunswickers

Unless we act to phase out fossil fuels, New Brunswickers will continue to suffer the devastating immediate and long-term health impacts of climate change, air pollution, environmental contamination, which are taking an enormous toll on the province’s already strained health care system. 

Our request

As New Brunswick physicians and health care providers, we call upon the IAAC, federal minister of the environment, and the provincial government and regulators to halt the proposed gas plant in Centre Village, Tantramar, and to commit to working with New Brunswickers to find solutions that serve and protect the health and wellbeing of our population.

References:

https://www.paho.org/en/topics/climate-change-and-health

https://nbdnr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/7bb8645cf75c4aa2b7a43a3123f9e17f#locale%3Den-ca

https://climateinstitute.ca/news/fact-sheet-wildfires/

https://csi.climatecentral.org/climate-shift-index?cityId=45689&lat=46.49839&lng=-64.08325&zoom=7

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/birth-adoption-death-marriage-and-divorce/deaths/coroners-service/death-review-panel/extreme_heat_death_review_panel_report.pdf

https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/healthy-living/health-impacts-air-pollution-2021.html