Stuart Peddle
The Chronicle Herald
August 5, 2020
HALIFAX, N.S. — A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has granted opponents of the province’s decision to delist Owls Head as a provincial park reserve an extension to file for a judicial review of the matter.
Justice Kevin Coady heard arguments from Jamie Simpson, the lawyer for Bob Bancroft and the Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association, on June 29. They were seeking permission to file their review application even though the six-month time limit to file after the decision was made had passed.
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Coady said there was no question that the deadline had passed since the decision, but “the secrecy of the decision precluded any member of the public from legally responding within the six-month window. There is nothing in the evidence that suggests the applicants were dragging their feet.”
He said the applicants had a bona fide intention to appeal, that the delay amounts to only a matter of days, that the secretive nature of the process amounts to a reasonable excuse for the delay, that they will “suffer prejudice if the extension is not granted,” and that they have a well-reasoned application for a review that should be heard.
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