Calling on Government to Protect Mabou Beach

SUSAN LEBLANC: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. The Ecology Action Centre is asking people to write to the minister about the development threat at Mabou Provincial Park. As they explain: “Protected should mean protected. End of story. And yet, an American billionaire golf course developer is once again trying to swindle away the West Mabou Beach Provincial Park to develop a private 18-hole golf course. This legally protected and ecologically sensitive area is part of the mere five per cent of Nova Scotian coastline that is protected public land. We cannot afford to lose it to private development.” Will the minister promise that Mabou Provincial Park will not be turned into a golf course?

HON. TORY RUSHTON: As I’ve been very clear in the media, very clear in any of the letters that we’ve received in the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, there has been no application from any developer on this piece of land. As it stands right now, that park is still a park. It will remain a park, but there’s been no application as to this date.

SUSAN LEBLANC: Mabou Beach Provincial Park is a very special place. A 2019 study by Alain Belliveau of Acadia University commissioned by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society found the unique sand dunes and wetlands contained at least 17 rare plants and animals, including four birds that are listed under the provincial Endangered Species Act. This is why Nature Nova Scotia and many others have asked the Province to unequivocally reject the idea of a golf course at Mabou Beach Provincial Park. We know there is no formal proposal before the Province right now, but we also know that the developer is working hard on this.This is why the minister should stand up and be very clear that Mabou Beach will never become a golf course, and I invite him to do that.

TORY RUSHTON: What I can be clear about is that, as I said in Estimates the other night, the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables gets about 2,000 applications for differing abilities for Crown lands throughout the whole province. As we go through those applications one by one, Mr. Speaker, we make sure that Nova Scotians get the Crown lands, the protected areas, the economy, and the recreational development that they want to see within our province. There has not been an application for that. If there is an application that comes in, we will deal with that application. As of now, we can’t go on stories or myths that an application will come in.

Coastal Protection Regulations Delays - Question for the Minister

SUSAN LEBLANC: My question is, again, for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. We’re approaching another construction season without any ability to regulate how people build on our coasts. This week, we learned that the minister has thrown out any timeline for making this happen, saying his department is engaging in yet another round of consultations. These have been going on since 2018. Meanwhile, development is accelerating in coastal areas as people seek to be ushered in under the old rules. Can the minister see that every day that goes by without regulations is a day that puts the coastline at greater climate risk?

HON. TIMOTHY HALMAN: In 2019, this caucus voted in favour of the Coastal Protection Act because we recognized how critical that is. Nova Scotians are a coastal people. We’re going to continue to live by the coast. However, we need to recognize the hazards that can be associated with that. These regulations are critical that we get correct. A lot of work has gone into them, and more work will continue to go into them. There’s a lot of support for the Coastal Protection Act, but there’s also a lot of folks that don’t even know the Act exists, and a lot of folks that don’t even know what the entailing regulations could imply. We recognize that more work needs to be done on these . . .

SUSAN LEBLANC: The minister said it himself in 2019. The time for consultation is over. If people don’t know about this Act, then the government needs to educate them about it. One of the recent examples of coastal construction is a large infill wall on the beautiful and popular Crescent Beach in Lunenburg County. It happens to have been built by the owner of Cresco - just saying - the same developer that has benefited from the government’s dubious hotel purchase in Bedford. As one resident who grew up near the beach said, “There has been a big outcry on how this is being done. Why are there no protections in place?” The government’s delays are only benefiting people who are dead set on building under the old rules. When will the government actually protect people on our coastline and release the coastal protection regulations?

TIMOTHYHALMAN: Getting buy-in, getting understanding is key, especially on something as critical as this, and acknowledging there’s still a lot of awareness. I want to thank the honourable member for saying how important education is. That’s why I’m happy to inform the House that I’ve directed my department to begin targeted consultation with property owners to raise awareness, to raise education. To say that there’s not any other protections in place, that’s not the case. Residents of this province can reach out to their municipalities and talk to their zoning and by-laws. They can reach out to CLIMAtlantic. That has information. They can reach out to Natural Resources Canada. They can reach out to Municipal Affairs and Housing, who’s partnering with the federal government for flood plain mapping and lidar.