ABOUT THE PROJECT

LOGLINE
A mysterious, deadly illness is affecting a group of people in New Brunswick. The provincial government is covering up environmental contamination. Can those affected fight back and save lives.

SYNOPSIS
A Medical Mystery, A Cover-up, and a Hunt for Truth:

Hundreds of New Brunswickers have become sickened by a mysterious illness. Some are dying within 100 days. Aged 18-80 years old, many cannot walk and are on feeding tubes, rapidly declining. But these patients, their families and advocates, have watched in horror as the government has slow-walked their investigation, sidelining their trusted physicians.

In December 2020 Canadian public health officials made a startling discovery: dozens of people in the country’s smallest and poorest province, New Brunswick, were wasting away.Federal investigators were alerted and a task force was created, calling on the brightest scientific minds in the country to help solve this medical mystery.

However, in May 2021, the New Brunswick provincial government announced that they were taking over the investigation, kicking out the federal scientists. Scared New Brunswick residents believe they are in the middle of a cover-up that will leave hundreds of people facing a death sentence.

The Algae Blooms. Over the last 10 years incidents of toxic blue-green algae blooms, across the planet, have been increasing exponentially. As the climate has warmed and water temperatures have risen, this algae (also known as cyanobacteria) has thrived.

In 2021, Canadian researcher Dr. Neil Cashman suggested that the toxic algae, which bloomed in New Brunswick in 2017, may be to blame and stressed the importance of extensive environmental testing. Three weeks later, the New Brunswick government told him and the entire federal team to cease and desist. Why is the government so hostile? What are they afraid the investigators are going to find? And if this disease is a consequence of government inaction in the face of a changing climate, is New Brunswick giving us a glimpse at what is to come for the rest of us?

PROJECT TYPE Documentary Feature

DIRECTOR Paul McGuire
PRODUCER Alice Henty
producer Samuel Lieberman

WEBSITE maylofilms.com