Over the course of the struggle to save Owls Head Provincial Park many different people have contributed and become friends and allies. When [Mi’kmaw Land and Water Protector] Elizabeth Marshall joined us, it felt for me like the tide turned. Owls Head Provincial Park is a cultural heritage landscape, connected to Read more…
This reversal by the developer in the face of overwhelming public opposition presents us with the opportunity to realize a vision for the Eastern Shore as a globally significant ecotourism destination. We have said from the beginning that the Owls Head Park property is an integral, important, natural environment park Read more…
As I watch the climate change debate unfold in Glasgow at COP 26, I find myself wondering about how a seriously disconnected proposal like the destruction of the park lands at Owls Head to build golf courses ever got as far as it did. I can understand how a developer could have put a plan like this forward for private coastal lands that remain largely unregulated despite the growth in our understanding of the importance of natural areas. However, the large undisturbed coastal barrens, wetlands, bogs and beaches of Owls Head are public land and need to be viewed through the lens of climate change, the global loss of biodiversity, and the importance of protecting the remaining, large undisturbed coastal habitats for all species.
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My question is: Why not be honest and transparent about the intent of the article to greenwash the project and help set the table for the private developer? I believe the article does a disservice to Mr. Simmons, to Nova Scotians, and most importantly to the truth. […] We can say a definitive no to the sale of the park lands at Owls Head and the development of private golf courses and luxury real estate that will destroy, irreversibly, important biodiversity and significant ecological areas.
A definitive no is both warranted and essential.
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Tim Houston hasn’t outright said he’d stop the golf course development plans, but an advocate for the Eastern Shore land believes the premier will protect the coastal land
“There’s no question that this is an important public resource that needs to be protected and kept in public ownership,” Trider said. “We’re very confident in any sort of fair and transparent hearing that we will be victorious. And we were never offered that, we were never afforded that possibility with the Rankin government.”
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Scott NeighTalking Radical RadioShared by The Media Co-opSeptember 21, 2021 Originally published here Scott Neigh — Talking Radical Radio · Defending a threatened coastal ecosystem
Christopher Trider worked as a park planner for 21 years. He designed well-loved coastal parks including MacCormacks Beach, Rainbow Haven, Lawrencetown, Pomquet Beach, and many more. I have received a number of messages from members of our group asking how to visit and access Owls Head Provincial Park. You deserve Read more…
By Christopher Trider
In Court on April 1, Judge Brothers asked Jamie Simpson to explain:
If Canadian courts were to recognize the public trust doctrine, then future Ministers of Lands & Forestry could more easily be held responsible if they failed to consult the public on critical decisions that appeared to be in violation of the public trust.
Owls Head Goes to Court by Richard Bell
So it was not surprising that Judge Brothers asked Simpson to explain, “Why should I be the first judge in Canada” to rely on the public trust doctrine, given the reluctance thus far of other Canadian judges to cite the doctrine. Simpson went through statements of Canadian judges from a series of cases arguing for the benefits of incorporating public interest doctrine into Canadian law; from their perspective, the common law is not a fixed, unchanging entity, but something that has changed over time in order to deal with changes in the world at large.
I can answer Judge Brothers’s question: because somebody has to be the first.