Press Releases

Press Release: The NDP would stop the sale of Owls Head Park and protect more land and water

From the NS NDP
August 7, 2021
Originally published here

HALIFAX — NDP Leader Gary Burrill spoke at the Owls Head Rally today in Halifax. Hundreds of people gathered in Victoria Park to tell Iain Rankin and the Liberals to stop the sale of Owls Head Park.

“Iain Rankin and the Liberal government have not been upfront about Owls Head. They tried to sell the land in secret and won’t commit to protecting it now,” said NDP Leader Gary Burrill. “The people of Nova Scotia want to see the land protected, not sold off to an American billionaire who wants to build a golf course.”

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Press Release: “Save Owls Head” Rally

August 6, 2021

K’jipuktuk (Halifax): Mi’kmaw Grandmothers and members of the grassroots “Save Owls Head” movement will be hosting a rally at Victoria Park in Halifax on August 7 at 1:00 PM, calling on Nova Scotian voters to protect our provincial land and parks at the ballot box.

“We are demonstrating on behalf of people and parks across the province,” said Sydnee McKay, the founder of the Save Owls Head Provincial Park Facebook group. “The citizens of Nova Scotia want a government that truly cares about protecting our environment, not a government that’s willing to sell off our parks in secret deals with American billionaires.”

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Press Release (PC): Owls Head shows Rankin Liberals can’t be trusted on environment

Originally published here

Nova Scotians concerned about the environment and climate change need a Premier and a government that won’t do secret deals to put protected lands at risk.

Hammonds Plains-Lucasville PC candidate Julie Chaisson noted that as Lands and Forestry Minister, Liberal Leader Iain Rankin secretly delisted Owls Head provincial park reserve to allow an American couple to buy the land. The Rankin Liberals also gutted the previous PC government’s landmark Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act, moving decision-making away from the Legislature into the cabinet backrooms.

“The choice in this election is clear: more secret deals that put Nova Scotia’s environment at risk with Iain Rankin or real solutions for our environment with Tim Houston,” said Chaisson.  “Having Iain Rankin, the architect of the Owls Head secret deal, responsible for our environment is like having an arsonist in charge of fire safety.”

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Press Release: Grassroots Group Exceeds 5,000 Members

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           Contact: Lindsay Lee
April 19, 2021                                                                         Administrator of saveowlshead.org  
                                                                                                      lindsaylee@saveowlshead.org

 

Grassroots Group Achieves 5,000-Member Milestone
Concern for Owls Head Provincial Park Growing Rapidly

Support for saving Owls Head Provincial Park is increasing across the province, as demonstrated by the continued growth of the grassroots Facebook group, “Save Little Harbour/Owls Head from Becoming a Golf Courses.”

“On April 18, we passed the 5,000 member-mark,” said Sydnee McKay, founder of the Facebook group. “People all over the province are learning from Owls Head Provincial Park that the provincial government is a threat to our network of parks and protected areas. There are nearly 200other provincial parks, nature reserves, and wilderness areas that our government could secretly delist and offer to sell – just like it did with Owls Head Provincial Park.”

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Press Release: East Coast Environmental Law

Today, Justice Christa Brothers of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia will hear arguments in a judicial review of the Minister of Lands and Forestry’s decisions to de-list Owls Head Provincial Park from the Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan and to enter into an agreement to sell the land to a private company, Lighthouse Links, for development into a golf resort.  
 
The applicants, Robert Bancroft and the Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association, have argued that the province should have consulted the public before de-listing Owls Head. The park, while not legally designated under legislation, had long been thought to be a park. Additionally, it has been managed by the Department as a park for many years under its Parks Program. 
 
“For forty years the people of Nova Scotia have trusted successive governments which assured us that Owl’s Head was protected as a Provincial Park. Governments must be required to tell the truth about public land, and to consult the public when such a major decision is contemplated”, says Barbara Markovits, a director of the Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Press Release: “Save Owls Head” Demonstration

K’jipuktuk (Halifax) – Judicial Review applicants Bob Bancroft & Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association will have their day in court on Thursday. In solidarity with the applicants, the grassroots “Save Owls Head” Facebook group is organizing a gathering of supporters outside the Law Courts at 9:30 AM on April 1, 2021.

“More than 4,300 Nova Scotians have joined the Save Little Harbour/Owls Head Facebook group,” said Sydnee Lynn McKay, founder of the Facebook group. “We’re gaining more members every day, as people across Nova Scotia learn about the park, the process, and the precedent.” McKay was born and raised in Little Harbour.

“The government’s decision to secretly delist and offer to sell a park awaiting designation sets a dangerous precedent for Nova Scotia. There are approximately 100 other provincial parks with proposed or pending protection, areas that Nova Scotians reasonably believed to be safe,” said Lindsay Lee of the Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association. That’s one reason that thousands of citizens across the province are passionate about reversing this decision through this lawsuit.” Everyday citizens have contributed over $25,000 to enable this legal case to go forward.

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By Save Owls Head, ago