Statements from NDP Candidates

Numerous MLA candidates as well as NDP Leader Gary Burrill have pledged their support for saving Owls Head Provincial Park.

Protecting Nova Scotia’s natural places, which attract visitors from all over the world to our rural communities. The NDP would protect the remaining areas of the Parks and Protected Areas Plan, including Owls Head, and consult with the public and Mi’kmaw communities about new areas.

Something Better for Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia NDP (page 45)

Deirdre Dwyer for Eastern Shore

“As the NDP candidate for the Eastern Shore, I support Save Owl’s Head Provincial Park and the tremendous efforts of those who want to save a lovely landscape and habitat.”

Alison Smith for Lunenburg

Premier Rankin, then Minister of Lands and Forestry, was wrong to quietly delist Owls Head Provincial Park so that it could be sold to a private developer.

Gary Burrill has committed to officially protecting Owls Head along with the other remaining areas in the 2013 Parks and Protected Areas Plan, and to introduce legislation that would prevent the government from secretly delisting other areas that are pending legal designation.

Protected areas are more important than ever as we face the biodiversity crisis and climate emergency. Thank you to the Save Owls Head Provincial Park/Little Harbour From Becoming Golf Courses community for your leadership. Our Lunenburg NDP team salutes you!

The Owls Head Act: https://nslegislature.ca/…/63rd_2nd/1st_read/b231.htm

Julie Melanson for Halifax Armdale

I would like to join my fellow NDP candidate and express my full support in stopping the sale of Owl’s Head Provincial Park.

My name is Julie Melanson and I am the nominated candidate for Halifax Armdale.

It’s time that we have representatives and leaders that are transparent, honest and truly stand to work against the climate emergency we are facing.

The NDP has introduced bill no. 231, The Owls Head act in February 2020 and if given the opportunity it will prevent this situation from happening again.

I am inspired by all the work and dedication I see in this group and I stand with you.

Merydie Ross for Lunenburg West

We have all been shocked by the Liberal government supporting the secret sale of Owl’s Head to a foreign developer. As I run to represent Lunenburg West, I can’t help but worry about the future of natural spaces in our area.

Recently, Rachel Kendall, the popular South Shore @wildwetlands enthusiast, and I met at Cherry Hill Beach, here in Lunenburg West. Rachel’s advocacy around saving Owl’s Head from being secretly sold for development has garnered her local acclaim. Rachel worries that if Iain Rankin and the Liberal government could secretly sell Owl’s Head to developers, the Liberals could also secretly sell Cherry Hill Beach.

In their pre-election announcement this spring, the Liberal government failed to include Cherry Hill Beach as a proposed protected area. A favourite local beach for many, Cherry Hill Beach is sensitive habitat for species at risk, including the iconic and endangered piping plover. Not only has the Liberal government failed to protect important natural spaces, like Owl’s Head and Cherry Hill Beach, but the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia ruled that the Liberals have failed to adequately protect species at risk.

By contrast, an NDP government would immediately move to protect all the remaining areas listed in the 2013 Parks and Protected Areas Plan, which includes Owl’s Head and Cherry Hill Beach. An NDP government would pass the Owl’s Head Act, preventing areas that are pending official protection, like Owl’s Head and Cherry Hill Beach, from being delisted without undergoing a public consultation process. The NDP would prioritize recovery plans for species at risk.

Nova Scotia should be a world leader in protecting our inland, coastal, and marine environments. With myself as your MLA and the NDP in government, we can become a future world leader in this and so many more ways.

Moraig Macgillivray for Antigonish

A long-standing practice in this province puts big business interests ahead of ecosystem protection and public good. Owl’s Head is a perfect example. The burden is on concerned citizens to use their own resources to do what the government should be doing anyway- protecting the environment. As the NDP MLA for Antigonish, I pledge to do things differently- putting people and the planet first, including protecting Owl’s Head and other biodiverse areas.

Tyler Colbourne for Dartmouth East

When the Rankin Liberals and PCs speak on the environment, they speak as though the environment is a singular and isolated issue. It isn’t. Climate and our environment are connected to every piece of policy and legislation that runs through the legislature and we need leadership that understands this.

I have been receiving many questions and comments about Owl’s Head Provincial Park, public lands, the environment, and the climate crisis. It would be easier to make a statement explicitly about Owl’s Head, however, the issue at hand is more than just this area of Nova Scotia. What is happening is a series of disconnected actions by the Rankin Liberals that are eroding our current systems and processes for the protection of lands and resources in Nova Scotia. The Rankin Liberals have not been upfront and myself and many others are frustrated.

We need to do more than just protect public lands from development. Owl’s Head was delisted so that it could be sold and developed, despite the supposed commitment from the Rankin Liberals to focus on the environment. Meanwhile, the PC’s and Tim Houston don’t have a plan for protecting the environment, nor do they have a record of upholding environmental protections. The NSNDP is the only party that is committed to upholding global goals of protecting 25-30% of the land by 2025-2030.

We don’t need to interpret Rankin’s words or the Liberal and PC actions. We can look at their records and their values. The climate crisis is real and it is impacting people and nations around the world. We need to have political leadership that understands how interconnected our places and people are. We want to protect the amazing natural places in the province, but more than that, we also need political leadership that sees how interconnected the climate and environment are to the rest of our actions. We need better.

Tammy Jakeman for Eastern Passage

Owl’s Head on our beautiful Eastern Shore needs to be protected today, tomorrow, and forever. CBC journalist Michael Gorham uncovered what’s happening in Owl’s Head and I worry that there could be many more natural areas at risk if lain Rankin and the Liberals have the opportunity to do more secret backroom deals that give away our lands and specifically the traditional and unceded lands of the Mi’kmaw People. As settlers and colonizers, we’ve already done enough damage and it’s time we respect their traditions of two-eye seeing – seven generations back to learn and seven generations ahead to plan for the future. The sale of Owl’s Head must be stopped and the lands protected.

Tammy Jakeman

Michael Carty for Digby-Annapolis

Most people don’t come to our province for the golf courses, and I think we have enough to satisfy everyone (24 in Central NS alone!), People come to Nova Scotia for the diverse landscapes, seascapes and the overall natural beauty that makes our province so unique. This is something we need to cherish and protect for future generations and for the prosperity of all Nova Scotians.

When I speak of our environment, I make a point to talk about Owl’s Head Provincial Park. I direct anyone and everyone to the petitions being promoted by the dedicated people who won’t let our government sell what makes our province special behind our backs for personal profit and gain.

The NDP is the only party to formally come forward and state that they would fight the sale of Owl’s Head. And if we win the upcoming provincial election, this deception by our current provincial government will be stopped immediately and the Owl’s Head Act will prevent this type of situation from ever happening again.

Sign the petition at the link below.
https://saveowlshead.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PETITION-TO-THE-NOVA-SCOTIA-LEGISLATIVE-ASSEMBLY.pdf

Vote for your NDP candidate early, before the final election day on August 17th.

Save our province, we have waited long enough.
Something different… something better.

Michael Carty

Kendra Coombes for Cape Breton Centre

“Owls Head and other lands must be protected and all parties must come together. The NDP re-tabled a number of climate and environment-related bills during the last legislative sitting in March-April, including the Owls Head Act to ensure proposed or pending protected lands are not sold without extensive community consultation.”

Kendra Coombes

Abby Cameron for Hants East

Honoured to place a sign by the Stop the Sale of Owl’s Head Park. Not only would an NDP government immediately stop the sale, we would also:

• Move to protect the remaining areas in the 2013 Parks and Protected Areas Plan
• Chart a path to meet global goals of 25 per cent protected lands by 2025
• Work with our Mi’kmaw communities and leadership to developed Indigenous-led protected areas
• Will pass the Owls Head Act, which would prevent the government from delisting areas in “pending official protection” without undergoing a public consultation process. It’s time for something better, and I will be a strong voice for Hants East.

Mercedes Brian for Kings South

In 2013, Owls Head was identified as a piece of Nova Scotia that needs to be made a Provincial Park after 45 years of efforts by locals and experts. Home to endangered species, salt marshes and bogs, undisturbed coastline, and an internationally recognized rare plant ecosystem, Owls Head deserves and needs to be protected.

In 2019 – 6 years after the recommendation – the Nova Scotian Government quietly removed Owls Head from the Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan. This was done in order to begin the process of a sale to a private developer for the development of 2 – 3 golf courses.

The process shouldn’t have started in the first place.

An NDP government is committed to following through on the promise to ensure that Owls Head is made a Provincial Park and is protected. We will not make this mistake again! It’s time to preserve our famous coastlines, protect our ecosystem, and protect the wildlife that inhabits our land.

Thank you to everyone who showed at the provincial rallies yesterday. It was exhilarating to see our entire province step up and say “NO” to this process.

Mercedes Brian

Cheryl Burbidge for Annapolis

Christina McCarron for Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank

As an NDP candidate in Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank, I support saving Owls Head Provincial Park for future generations.

Gary Burrill, Leader of the NS NDP

“Our commitment in the NDP is to reverse the Liberals’ secret delisting of Owl’s Head from the 2013 Parks and Protected Areas Plan, and to provide Owl’s Head with the protection that was envisioned in that plan.”

Gary Burrill