Coastal Impacts - QP
THE SPEAKER « » : The honourable Leader of the NDP.
CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Nearly 90 per cent of our coast is privately owned, but we are coastal people, and we all have an interest in its protection and conservation. A recent study between researchers at Dalhousie University, Saint Mary's University, and McGill University looked at the impact of development on the Bay of Fundy and found that if coastal management was centred on individual property owners and infrastructure like seawall, the long-term impacts could include the loss of biodiversity and destruction of coastal neighbourhoods from more intense storms. My question to the Premier is: Why is he willing to leave our ecosystem and our coastal neighbourhoods at risk?
THE SPEAKER « » : The honourable Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
HON. TIMOTHY HALMAN « » : Our Coastal Action Plan is a fundamental overall component to us adapting and mitigating the realities of climate change. We know through the risk assessment that more intense storms are going to become more and more problematic. That is why we have the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act, that's why we have the Nova Scotia Climate Plan, that's why we have the risk assessment, and that's why we now have the Coastal Action Plan. All of this working together will help support municipalities. Municipalities are responsible for zoning. As the provincial government, we are there to help support our municipalities as they work with their key stakeholders to ensure residents do not build in unsafe areas.
CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : We also have, and have passed in this House, a Coastal Protection Act. A strategy is not an Act. Last winter, municipalities expressed deep frustration and confusion with this government's abandonment of the Coastal Protection Act, and this sentiment remains. As Councillor Larry Turner of the Municipality of Pictou County recently explained, "There's species at risk, there's nature that is going to be changed by coastal erosion. There's a whole dynamic that's happening other than human activity." The scale and complexity of the issues facing our coastlines require a province-wide act and regulations set by this government. Why is this government foisting what should be provincial responsibility for coastline onto municipalities?
TIMOTHY HALMAN « » : We have a shared responsibility to ensure the protection of our coastline. We have 49 municipal units that encompass 13,000 diverse kilometres of coastline. They know their communities best. Our role as provincial government is to be there to empower, to support. I am pleased that we now have a coastal coordinator in place with the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities to work with our municipalities to ensure that they develop the bylaws to ensure residents do not build in unsafe areas. This is a very granular issue. In some areas, we may have to retreat from the coastline. In other areas, other solutions may be required, and that is why we will work with our municipalities to ensure our residents are protected.
CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : This Act was designed to empower and support, and the consultation on the regulations reflected that granularity. In April, following this government's decision to abandon the Act, the results of the consultation with property owners from Fall of last year were finally released. These results showed a majority of respondents were in favour of rules to regulate development on the coastline and believed that these rules should come from this government. On the subject of this consultation, the Premier told us, "We listen to Nova Scotians very intently." My question is: Which Nova Scotians did the Premier listen to? If not the respondents to this or other rounds of consultations, not the municipalities, not the hundreds of emails to the department, then who?
TIMOTHY HALMAN « » : I've been consistent over the past six months. There is a diversity of opinion on this, and we have arrived at an action plan that is balanced and comprehensive, that supports informed decision-making, that supports municipal leadership, along with deploying resources immediately.
I want to take this opportunity to correct the record. This morning when the NDP press release went out, it indicated the government refuses to release the results of its most recent public consultation. That is categorically false. On April 19th, we released the results of that report. We posted it on our website. I will table that report that was released April 19th, along with the information that is still available on our website today.