In a video on the Eastern Shore Cooperator’s Facebook page, MLA Kevin Murphy mounts a vigorous defense of the controversial decision by the provincial government to remove Owls Head Provincial Park from a list of protected areas in order to sell it to a very wealthy American couple who want to build as many as three golf courses there.
Richard Bell, Eastern Shore Cooperator
Here are a few highlights to listen for in this video:
1. Murphy insists that despite all of the documents identifying the land as “Owls Head Provincial Park,” the land was never anything more than “unceded Crown land…a piece of property that does not enjoy any protected status.” [Our italics]
2. People who thought that the land was protected simply did not read the relevant documents carefully enough and missed all of the “ifs.”
3. It was a “previous government” that released “Our Parks and Protected Areas: A Plan for Nova Scotia” in 2013.
4. The Cabinet was entirely within its right to use a “minute” letter to keep its decision to delist the land a secret.
5. He said there were some people who never want to cut down a single tree, but the province needed to strike a “balance” between protecting the environment and economic development.
6. He was hearing from many people in Little Harbour and “many significant business people in our area who have reached out to me who have expressed their support for the process…”[Our italics]
He criticized the media for only telling “one side” of the story.
Richard Bell, Eastern Shore Cooperator
