Province House round-up: Rankin defends resource policies
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Jeff Bishop, the executive director for Forest Nova Scotia since 2013, was one of 12 volunteers appointed yesterday to the Round Table on the Environment and Sustainable Prosperity.
The 15-person group advises the premier and the minister of Environment and Climate Change on protecting the environment and how that links with strengthening the economy and supporting social goals. The advisory group has not met for two years because the government has not acted to fill the vacancies.
Claudia Chender, the NDP Member for Dartmouth South, sits on the legislature’s Human Resources Committee, which approves appointments to government Agencies, Boards, and Commissions. Chender noted the world is grappling with a climate crisis and said she was “pleased” to see the government finally make the appointments.
However, Chender questioned the choice of Bishop to sit as a member of the Roundtable. Bishop is an employee of Forest Nova Scotia, which waged an expensive and effective ad campaign across the province to persuade voters to call their MLA and request changes to the proposed Biodiversity Act — which under “emergency” circumstances would have allowed the province to restrict some uses of privately owned land to protect endangered species of plants and wildlife.
The emergency circumstances had not yet been spelled out in regulations, and Forest Nova Scotia used that ambiguity to sow doubt and mistrust among private landowners. On Monday, the Law Amendments Committee, of which Chender is also a member, voted to kill almost half the proposed Biodiversity Act and restrict it to Crown lands.
“I think one of the themes that came forward in that conversation is the influence certain industry and lobby groups have on government policies and priorities,” said Chender. She noted Law Amendments heard from a diverse group of landowners — some of whom were skeptical of the Act as well as landowners who considered themselves ecologists and sustainable foresters.
“Does Forest Nova Scotia have a seat on this Roundtable or is it Mr. Bishop’s seat?”, Chender asked, “Is he representing himself or is he representing the forestry industry? Because if he is representing the forestry industry, then I would submit based on the Law Amendments session that he is not representing the full diversity of that forestry industry.”
Chender’s question is being forwarded to the minister of Environment and Climate Change for a response. She and NDP Dartmouth South MLA Susan Leblanc abstained in the vote that endorsed all 12 volunteer appointees — Louise Delisle of Shelburne, Susanna Fuller, Sarah Riley, Jeff Bishop, Savannah De Wolfe, Graham Gagnon, Rochelle Owen, Jeff MacCallum, Marla MacLeod, Maxine MacLean, Michel Raymond, and Bill Simpkins.
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