New Brunswick’s five-month natural gas review has become a dispute over Indigenous participation, with the Wolastoqey Nation opposing a possible end to the fracking moratorium amid consultation concerns.
The Nation supports and advises six Wolastoqey communities. Chief Ross Perley of Neqotkuk, also called Tobique First Nation, said the province’s timetable is taking priority over Wolastoqey involvement. Global News/Canadian Press reported his view that communities need enough time for consultation to be meaningful.
NB Media Co-op reported that the Nation said it began negotiating with the province after the review was announced. The Nation said its negotiators were dissatisfied with the proposed timetable and governance arrangements, and that the province continued its consultation process without them.
New Brunswick launched the five-month review on Aug. 26. It examines First Nations’ rights and priorities, environmental effects, the size of the natural gas resource, public support and possible benefits such as jobs, investment and royalties. The province says it has opened dialogue with First Nations through a government-to-government leadership table.
The province cited economic pressures as part of its rationale for revisiting the question. It says the review will assess whether earlier conditions for development still reflect changes in science, technology, markets and regulation.
New Brunswick’s regulation prohibits hydraulic fracturing, while a 2019 amendment allows ministerial exemptions for qualifying leases in a defined area. A 2016 provincial commission included a process for meeting the province’s duty to consult First Nations among five conditions for considering development.
The government’s public survey closed Oct. 23, 2026, although the province said written submissions could still be sent afterward. The moratorium remains in place, and a provincial fiscal update identifies January 2027 as the expected point for a decision on natural gas development.
