Coastal Protection Act - QP

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Let's talk about integrity. Let's talk about doing what you said you would do. I have a list of organizations and municipalities voicing deep concern about this government's refusal to act on the coastal protection that we so badly need in this province. The list continues to grow: we now have the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia; we have the Ecology Action Centre; we have the Atlantic Coastal Action Program; we have the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, in addition to towns and municipalities, not limited to Clark's Harbour, Lunenburg, Digby, Bridgewater, Kentville.

This is, of course, on top of the countless Nova Scotians - including the ones who mysteriously got lost - who have spoken against this act. Why is the government not taking these concerns seriously? Why won't the Premier listen to Nova Scotians?

THE PREMIER « » : We're taking this issue very seriously. This is an issue that is near and dear to all Nova Scotians. We have 13,000 kilometres of coastline. Nova Scotians love their coastline, the beaches, the cliffs, the hiking trails. It is something that defines us as a people. We love our coastline.

I also love and believe in Nova Scotians and their ability to do the right thing when they have appropriate information. That's why we are not giving up on protecting our coast. We will never give up on protecting our coast, but we will put faith in Nova Scotians. If we provide them the information, they'll make the right decisions. I believe in Nova Scotians. Maybe that member can tell me who she believes in.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : I only wish the Premier would tell us who he believes in, because it's not all the Nova Scotians who support this act, including every member of this Chamber, including the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition, who were in the Chamber at the time and supported this act.

The Minister's explanation that a map and an app will take the place of a legal framework doesn't cut it. People have apps for budgeting, but it doesn't mean that they use them. It's worth pointing out that coastal developments like seawalls aren't individual decisions. They are things that can have harmful eroding impacts on neighbouring properties, on the beloved coastline of Nova Scotians.

Governance of coastal protection doesn't work like an app. You don't just download it like this government has done. If this government loves our coastline so much, why do they insist on leaving Nova Scotians and that coastline vulnerable to that reckless development?

THE PREMIER « » : I completely disagree. It might be okay from downtown Halifax to dictate what Nova Scotians should do on their property across the rural parts, across the rest of this province. I don't believe that a blunt instrument, like dictating what somebody can do on their land, is necessary to get people to do the right thing.

I support Nova Scotians and I will work with them to help them have the power to do the right thing. I know the crew that wants to force the blunt instrument on Nova Scotians is very loud in the Chamber right now, but they're not loud out in the real world and with Nova Scotians whom I talk to.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Again, Clark's Harbour, Lunenburg, Digby, Bridgewater, Kentville - that's not HRM. That's not people in urban municipalities dictating coastlines. These are municipalities who are begging for a legal framework that this government refuses to give them. In the newspapers, on the call-in shows, in the 800 letters that sat in junk mail, public opinion is roundly in favour of this act.

People want comprehensive political legislation. It is not a sledgehammer - it is a framework. The reason why all these consultations have happened - the hundreds of thousands of dollars of consultations - is to figure out what goes in the regulations, how they are sensitive to each jurisdiction. So these hundreds of thousands of dollars that this government has spent most recently a few months ago, have been spent.

THE SPEAKER « » : Question.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : The act has been denied and the government will not tell us what people said. So will the Premier commit to releasing the results of the consultations he did with his beloved Nova Scotians about their beloved coastline?

THE PREMIER « » : The money that the member says was spent on consultation was actually an investment in hearing from the voices of Nova Scotians. We listened to those Nova Scotians very intently . . . (interruption).

THE SPEAKER « » : Order, please. The honourable Premier has the floor.

The honourable Premier.

THE PREMIER « » : Thank you, Speaker. We listened to those Nova Scotian voices. They're across the spectrum, for sure. It's our coastline. It's something that people care deeply about, so there are deeply entrenched positions on both sides of this. There's no question about that.

We as a government are looking for the most reasonable, common-sense outcome that supports Nova Scotians and supports the protection of our coastline. I'm very proud of the work that the minister and the team at the department have done on this process, and I believe that we have found the right balance that protects our coastline.