Protect our coastlines, Halman, not your donors

The Coastal Hazard Map showing former Halifax mayor's new house underwater in 2100 

Environment Minister Tim Halman says he knows what the 39,000 coastal property owners who didn't respond to a $100,000 survey about the Coastal Protection Act think. When questioned, Halman said "I interpret that vacuum, that gap as [people saying] 'Leave us alone. This isn't something that we're interested in.'" The act, which originally passed in 2019 with the support of all three parties underwent two previous rounds of public consultation and received outspoken support from Nova Scotians and municipal governments.

To say that silence means public dissent is utterly ludicrous. Especially when we've had so many recent examples of public dissent. Petitions are public dissent. Picketing in front of Province House is public dissent. Blocking roads, highways, and bridges is public dissent. People chaining themselves to trees and heavy equipment is public dissent. Occupying Ottawa for weeks was public dissent. If anything can be interpreted from a two percent response rate on a survey in round three of public consultation it is agreement, not dissent.

As stated in the CBC, all publicly available evidence about the Coastal Protection Act is strongly in favour of its proclamation. If there's evidence so overwhelmingly against the act that it has to be scrapped, something Halman states his Tory colleagues confirm, then surely this information should be immediately released to support the position of the government. 

Tim Houston said he has faith that people, when provided with the information about sustainable development, will make the right choices on their own. This too, is utterly ludicrous. If putting the right information in the hands of people will lead them to make the right decisions no one would ever smoke. No one would drink and drive. No one would break the law. We could abolish the police, the courts, and the jails. Our healthcare system wouldn't be overwhelmed, because preventable diseases would not exist. 

If providing people with the information to make the right choices worked, there would be no climate emergency and no need for the Coastal Protection Act. 

But that's not the world we live in. 

Putting information into the hands of people and trusting them to make good decisions only works for the people who want to make good decisions. It does nothing to stop the people who, despite being given all the information to make good decisions, choose to make bad decisions anyway. This is what will pit neighbour against neighbour. Look no further than the public dissent regarding the construction of former Halifax mayor Peter Kelly's waterfront home. This coastal build was subject to litigation from neighbours concerned about the destruction of ecosystems and being deprived of public access to a public beach. Kelly's house is a perfect example of how providing the information to people to make informed choices does not work. According to the Coastal Protection Map, Kelly's house is underwater in 2100. 

The refusal to proclaim the act will also place a burden on municipalities, who will now be forced to implement their own coastal building by-laws, largely without the funds, staffing, or expertise to do so.  

I call on Houston, Halman, and the rest of the Tory caucus: if the evidence shows that Nova Scotians are overwhelmingly in favour of scrapping the Coastal Protection Act, publicly release that information. Demonstrate that three rounds of public consultation and the wishes of the municipalities are wrong. Otherwise, do your job and protect our coastlines and our people and proclaim the Coastal Protections Act.

If you would like to contact Halman about what you do think about the Coastal Protection Act, here is his contact information. 

Phone: 902-469-7353

Fax: 902-469-7351

E-mail: timhalmanmla@gmail.com (yes, it's a gmail account)