Kent mayor questions SWN's decision to halt meeting

An eastern New Brunswick mayor is questioning why SWN Resources Canada abruptly cancelled a meeting with regional politicians on Tuesday night to discuss the companys planned exploration work.

SWN scuttled the meeting two hours before it was supposed to start, citing concerns for personal safety.

Saint-Louis-de-Kent Mayor Danielle Dugas said some area residents who are against shale gas exploration planned to protest the company's visit.

But Dugas said said didn't expect SWN Resources would cancel the meeting with the politicians at the last minute.

"I don't believe that people in Saint-Louis are very threatening," she said.

"I thought we understood that it would be a friendly protest and a calm protest. I didn't hear of anything that violence would be involved."

Dugas said communities in the area were hoping to find out where precisely seismic testing will take place this summer.

She said local politicians also had many other questions for SWN Resources that they hoped would be addressed at the meeting.

The company declined a recorded interview to discuss the rationale for cancelling the meeting.

Company officials would notelaborate on the alleged threats and whether they were reported to the RCMP.

The statement issued by SWN Resources said the meeting will be rescheduled at a later date.

SWN Resources suspended all seismic testing in New Brunswick in August 2011 following numerous protests and alleged vandalism by people concerned about the controversial hydraulic fracturing process.

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as hydro-fracking, is a process where exploration companies inject a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the ground, creating cracks in shale rock formations to extract natural gas from areas that would otherwise go untapped.

Opponents are concerned the process will ruin the water supply.

Energy Minister Craig Leonard has said the new rules governing the oil and gas industry in New Brunswick will be among the strictest in North America.