Speak Your Piece

We welcome submissions from anyone who wants to explain in their own words why the sale of Owls Head must be stopped. Anyone who has an articulate and valuable opinion to add to the cause of protecting this special place may submit articles to be published here.

Owls Head court case stalling golf courses, much-needed jobs, Lighthouse Links argues

Francis Campbell
The Chronicle Herald
December 11, 2020

Full Article Here>

It’s unfortunate that the golf course proposal for Owls Head “continues to be delayed by this lawsuit which deprives Eastern Shore residents of what could be as many as 200 badly needed local jobs, during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lighthouse Links said in a statement released to media Thursday.

… The Crown properties, according to the provincial documents submitted to the court in November, include a variety of coastal barrens and wetlands, exceptional bedrock-ridged topography and are home to the piping plover and the barn swallow, two species at risk.

The properties were removed from the protected list in March 2019 without public notification or consultation.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Challenging the Delisting of Canada’s Protected Areas

Transparency Critical in Protected Areas Planning

Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve in Nova Scotia has long been recognized for its conservation significance, as a stunning coastal headland that supports important ecosystems and a globally-rare plant community, but it is currently under threat.

In March 2019, the Nova Scotia government secretly delisted this site in order to sell the public land to a golf course developer. The government made this move without consulting or notifying the public. News of the delisting was discovered following investigative journalism by the CBC.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Iain Rankin says he’ll quit coal early, electrify transit if he becomes premier

The former cabinet minister released his environmental platform Monday

Taryn Grant 
CBC News
December 7, 2020

Full article here>

Nova Scotia Liberal leadership hopeful Iain Rankin is making far-reaching promises that he says will help the province make a difference on climate change.

… Further to his conservation goals, Rankin said he would designate remaining sites in the province’s parks and protected areas plan, which at one point included Owls Head —  a 285-hectare area on the Eastern Shore.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

RICHARD BELL: Sweetheart Deal for Owls Head

Richard Bell
Eastern Shore Cooperator
Published online on December 1, 2020

View on the Eastern Shore Cooperator’s website

In the latest round in the fight to stop the province from turning Owls Head Provincial Park into an American billionaire’s three private golf courses and acres of luxury housing, the Department of Lands and Forestry (L&F) released another round of documents with dramatic new information.

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By Save Owls Head, ago
Save Owls Head Rally - Photo by David Sorcher

JIM VIBERT: McNeil’s environmental record a litany of broken promises

Jim Vibert
The Chronicle Herald
November 21, 2020

Nova Scotia’s Liberal government has quite a story to tell on the environment, but unfortunately that’s all it has. The reality is a litany of delayed action and unkept promises.

… Since 2013, Nova Scotia’s goal — adopted unanimously by the legislature — has been to protect 13 per cent of the province’s total landmass for nature.

McNeil promised that his government would reach that goal in its first term. It didn’t. In fact, it hasn’t yet, seven years on.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Letter: Three Years of Secrecy by Lindsay Lee

Francis Campbell’s Nov. 4 article kicked off with one of the most consequential points yet written about Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve: “The province was preparing to remove Owls Head Park Reserve from the parks protection list and sell it to an American developer more than three years before the public was notified, provincial documents show.”

If the sale of this biodiverse coastal ecosystem was such a great idea, then why did our government orchestrate three years of secrecy? If betraying the 45-year history of Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve was truly beneficial to our province, then why did the government refuse to organize public consultation? 

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By Save Owls Head, ago