Letter to the Editor
Contributed by Lindsay Lee
The Chronicle Herald
October 7, 2020

Voice of the People – October 7, 2020

Unfinished homework

Lands and Forestry Minister Iain Rankin teased that he’d be making an “exciting announcement” on Monday. Here are some truly exciting announcements that he could (and should) have made before declaring his intention to run for premier

  • That Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve would be rightfully reinstated to Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan. 
  • That Nova Scotia would protect all of the properties in Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan.
  • That Lands and Forestry would adopt ecological forestry by reducing clearcutting, protecting old-growth forests, introducing a silent season to protect nesting birds, and finally, implementing the recommendations of the Lahey report. 
  • That Lands and Forestry would abandon its destructive High-Production Forestry Plan, which aims to clearcut and spray 330,000 hectares of Acadian forest in Nova Scotia. 
  • That Nova Scotia would reintroduce the Biodiversity Act and actually take action to fight the sixth mass extinction.
  • That Lands and Forestry would rectify the (illegal) loss of public access at Black Point Beach. 
  • That Lands and Forestry would re-examine its wildlife rehabilitation policies for prohibited species, including black bears.
  • That Nova Scotia would increase its quota of protected land from 13 per cent to 30 per cent, in line with national and international targets. 

Despite his troubling environmental record as minister of Lands and Forestry, Rankin passionately equated his campaign with environmental progress. “The climate emergency is here and the time to act is now,” he said in his speech, leaving Nova Scotians wondering if he has seen the light, or if he’s trying to pull the wool over their eyes.

Lindsay Lee, Halifax

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