Harsh words have been spoken. Neighbours have been pitted against each other. The Owls Head/Little Harbour community and concerned Nova Scotians are divided.
Was this the ultimate goal? By conducting business in secret and providing no consultation, the Nova Scotian government has created two sides.
(more…)Guest Opinion by Thomas TrappenbergMarch 26, 2021 Promises of a few jobs, but no accounting of the true costs. Golf courses require massive amounts of chemicals and imported soils to grow and maintain perfect grasses not native to our climate. Read more…
Gary Burrill, leader of the NDP, originally introduced An Act RespectingParks and Protected Areas, otherwise known as the Owls Head Act. Mr. Burrill tabled the Owls Head Act (Bill 231) on February 26, 2020. When Premier McNeil prorogued (discontinued) the Read more…
Canada has only just begun to reconcile with the First Nations who lived in these lands long before us. We robbed them of their livelihood and resources for our own exclusive benefits. We clear cut forests, poisoned the water and locked First Nations people away in residential schools and on reserves. First Nations people first and foremost teach us to respect the earth so it can benefit the generations after us.
CBC journalist Michael Gorman [revealed in December of 2019] that Owls Head was taken off the list of to-be-protected Provincial sites so it could be sold for a pittance to a foreign billionaire. No public consultation, no media release, nothing: a deliberate attempt at total secrecy, a betrayal of democracy.
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In view of Premier Iain Rankin’s recent statement to Steve Murphy in CTV News interview that “I would not be for a project that would have long-term adverse impact to a sensitive ecosystem,” it is astonishing that under his direction Owls Head Provincial Park would have been delisted as a protected area and that development of golf courses on the property, surely causing the aforementioned “adverse impact to a sensitive ecosystem,” would have been approved.
(more…)Maritime Noon
CBC Radio
March 17, 2021
Topic: How to Make Rural Communities and Small Towns Better Places to Live
Listen on CBC Radio’s Website>
Peter Barss: Hi. I have two points to make, and they’re related. One is, I don’t believe that the preservation of our environment is at the top of the list of the government. The perfect example is Owls Head.
The piping plover is a beloved – but critically endangered – shorebird. There are only 45 known breeding pairs of piping plovers in our province. The piping plover population in Nova Scotia has suffered an alarming decline of more than 25% since 2001, largely due to anthropogenic (human-caused) disturbances.
“Piping Plovers depend on dynamic, healthy coastal ecosystems. Key challenges to the recovery of this small shorebird include habitat loss from coastal development, disturbances from recreation and motorized vehicles, predator pressures, and climate change.”
(more…)Owls Head Provincial Park is an important habitat for native bird species and a refuge for migratory birds.
The coastal headland supports a variety of habitats, including a beach, estuaries, bogs, and salt marshes. CPAWS NS and a team of bird experts recorded over 70 species of birds last summer alone. Owls Head Provincial Park is also mapped in the government’s significant habitat database for nesting piping plovers.
