The controversial question of what will happen to Owl’s Head remains unanswered, and a drastic shift in the province’s forestry practices remains underway.
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The 38-year old Rankin may be the closest thing to a Green Premier Nova Scotians have seen to date, but he could also be hobbled by his support for the proposed Goldboro natural gas plant (which now seems aborted) and by some past decisions he made during his stint as Environment* minister, when he allowed the Owl’s Head provincial park to be de-listed as a protected place and open for business as a golf course development on the Eastern Shore (Did you know he has a diploma in golf club management?).
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The Chronicle Herald spoke to people out and about in Halifax about the issues that they care about the most. Here’s what they had to say.
… Environment
For Philip Church, who is from Hantsport and currently lives in a van with no fixed address, saving the environment — and Owls Head Provincial Park specifically from being developed into golf courses and residential properties — is most important.“What’s wrong with the status quo? Why do we always have to be taking more land away from animals and wildlife? I think we’re good where we are,” said Church, 42.
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(more…)“This is a species in trouble… There’s been a 70 per cent decline in this population globally, and the population is continuing to head in the wrong direction”
Chris Miller, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (Nova Scotia Chapter)
Take a moment and think of your favourite park. Maybe it’s a hiking trail, a coastal area, part of a snowmobile network, or a great spot for a family picnic.
Now imagine how you would feel if that park suddenly disappeared. What if your elected officials decided that your recreational spaces, the environment, and public fairness were all less important than catering to a rich developer?
That’s precisely what happened with Owls Head Provincial Park on the Eastern Shore. Our government officials orchestrated 3 years of secrecy at the behest of a billionaire in order for him to buy 5 miles of publicly owned shorefront (for a mere $216,000).
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The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society has released a report card on Canada’s Progress in Protecting its Land and Ocean. CPAWS reports that Nova Scotia has made progress (albeit belatedly) on Nova Scotia’s Parks and Protected Areas Plan in the past ten years. But there’s a shadow hanging over the Read more…
In early 2020, as controversy mounted over the potential of Owls Head being sold to a private developer to build golf courses, the government leaned on the potential protection of Archibald Lake as proof of its commitment to the environment.
In a February 2020 information note to the minister of the day, obtained by CBC News through a freedom of information request, government talking points highlight the need to balance protected areas with job creation in rural communities.
It goes on to note a number of new properties other than Owls Head identified for protection, including Archibald Lake.
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In 2008, Atlantic Gold was given provincial approval for the gigantic Touquoy open pit gold mine with the condition that within 4 years the company buy and give the province nearby land for conservation purposes. 13 years later, that condition is still unmet, and the province is making no real effort to enforce it.
Jamie Simpson says there is certainly irony in this plan — be it as yet unfulfilled — for Atlantic Gold to procure conservation lands, given what the province has not done to protect Owls Head Park, a “globally rare” ecosystem on the Atlantic Coast about 30 kilometres southeast of Atlantic Gold’s open pit gold mine at Moose River.
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