Francis Campbell
The Chronicle Herald
February 20, 2020
Click to watch The Chronicle Herald’s video of the protest and Chris Trider speaking.
A push to save Owls Head provincial park from being developed into high-end golf courses arrived at the back door of Province House during the opening of the legislature on Thursday afternoon.
“I was very shocked on Dec. 18 when I woke up and read an article that it had been secretly delisted and an offer of purchase and sale had been signed with an offshore developer with plans to develop three golf courses,” said Chris Trider, a 21-year veteran of the Natural Resources Department, a member of the Facebook group Save Little Harbour/Owls Head From Corrupt Backroom Deal and a group leader for the rally.
Trider said the 285-hectare area of coastal barrens and wetlands on the Eastern Shore had been on the Nova Scotia parks and protected areas plan as a provincial park pending formal designation from Order in Council.
“This is a 661-acre public, coastal property,” he said. “I worked on beaches and coastal properties for many, many years, so I know how rare they are in this province, I know how precious they are and I know how important they are to the people of this province.
“I was very shocked that they (province) would even consider selling it, let alone do it through a secret, deceitful process. After it was made public, they started to lie about it, they said it had no history, they sanitized websites.”
