Letters to the Editor

It’s a steal! And no, I am not talking about the secret backroom deal to sell Owls Head Provincial Park, all 750 acres and five miles of coastline for less than the cost of an average Nova Scotia home. 

I mean the robbing of that most precious finite resource: our time! How many volunteer hours have been spent trying to save something that we thought was already saved? Owls Head Provincial Park was slated to be protected as site No. 694 of the Parks and Protected Areas Plan because of the well-documented scientific evidence of its high ecological and conservation value. 

From my perspective, the handling of the proposed sale of the Owls Head Provincial Park shows a serious lapse in ethical standards and accountability and raises serious questions for the Nova Scotian public. I hope voters will give all of our candidates the opportunity to address this issue, and will consider their response before voting.

In a province now dotted with yard signs, there’s one in particular that the Liberal party should take heed of: “Stop the Gov’t Sale, Save Owls Head Provincial Park.”

Premier Iain Rankin is portraying himself as the candidate who will tackle climate change and biodiversity loss. But during his tenure as minister of Lands and Forestry, he endorsed a clandestine deal: offering to sell a biodiverse park to an American developer, who plans to grind it into sand (seriously). 

When admitting to his 2003 DUI, Premier Iain Rankin has stated that he made a “bad decision.” He is to be commended for admitting that fact. However, there are a number of other bad decisions that he cannot, will not admit to, including:

Sale of Owls Head approved by him as minister of environment and notice of sale not acknowledged until months later when dug up by journalist. Bad decision.