COMMENTARY: West Mabou proposal threatens all provincial parks

“The recent contention around golf course proposals for West Mabou and Owls Head surely must have Nova Scotians, locally in the Mabou area and across the province, wondering if our provincial park properties will ever be truly protected from the ambitions of private developers and the presumed entitlements of political operatives,” writes Dale Smith, who served as manager of parks planning with DNR and as director of Protected Areas with NS Environment.

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Letter: Other Parks Still Pending

Owls Head to become Nova Scotia’s next provincial park” (June 15 story). Kudos to Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton on this announcement. This magnificent 266-hectare section of the province’s coastline certainly deserves protection and provincial park status.

But what is the status of the 12 properties, many of them proposed new provincial parks or their expansions, for which public consultations were announced on Feb. 4, 2021? Or the eight parcels for which consultations were advertised on July 27, 2021? Or the 49 sites publicized as “also intended for protection” on Earth Day (April 22) in 2021? The public is waiting.

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Letter: Close Park Loophole

Bill 19 did go to a vote at second reading and was voted down by the Tory MLAs. It sought to forever remove the use of the “minute letter loophole” by any future government, no matter what its stripe. The need may arise to change the status of a provincial park, but if so, then it must be subject to a wide and inclusive public consultation in full view of all Nova Scotians.

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Letter: Thinly Veiled Greenwash

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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