N.S. government scraps Coastal Protection Act

After more than two years of saying he was assessing his options and three rounds of public consultation, Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change Minister Tim Halman confirmed on Monday that his government would not proclaim the Coastal Protection Act, which was passed with all-party support in 2019.

The legislation "was very much in a silo," Halman told reporters at a news conference in Halifax.

"What we need to do is set Nova Scotians up for success and make sure that we support informed decision-making so that, as they make a decision about their property, they have the most up-to-date information about the hazards and risks."

Halman said a series of environment-related legislation, plans and tools that were not in place in 2019 would help achieve the same aims as the Coastal Protection Act.

Rather than legislation that would have outlined how and where people can build in a way that protects them from rising seas and the effects of climate change, the government released an online mapping tool that shows the worst-case scenario for coastal properties in the year 2100 based on current sea-level projections.

Environment Minister Tim Halman announced on Monday that his government will not proclaim the Coastal Protection Act. (Robert Short/CBC)

There is also a plan with 15 actions, with responsibilities split among property owners, municipalities and the province. The province has hired four people as part of a navigator service to help the public use the online mapping tool and find additional resources on coastal hazards.

The province says it will provide example land use by-law content that municipalities can use to help regulate coastal protection in their communities. But that work is still incomplete, and officials on Monday could not say when it will be finished.

Provincial officials said they are awaiting new guidelines from the federal government in April, after which they will re-evaluate the cap on disaster relief funding to discourage repeated rebuilding in areas of risk. The current cap is $200,000.

There is also a guide for property owners to consider when it comes to safeguarding their property, but nothing in it is prescriptive. The government is continuing to work on municipal flood-line mapping, but only a third of the province is mapped so far and officials said it wouild be 2027 before all the work is complete.

Halman dismissed the suggestion that the government doesn't want to tell people how they can or cannot develop their land.

"The overall message is, we trust Nova Scotians and we respect Nova Scotians to make an informed decision about their property."

Liberal MLA Braedon Clark speaks to reporters on Monday. (Robert Short/CBC)

But Liberal MLA Braedon Clark said it seems like the government has decided to download difficult decisions and rulemaking to municipalities, many of which do not have the in-house expertise for such planning work.

"I think it's government hiding from a difficult problem and wanting to have lower levels of government take care of it for them," he told reporters.

"No matter how you slice it, this is a horrible decision. It makes no sense and the government can't rationalize it."

When the former Liberal government passed the act in 2019, Halman was one of the opposition MLAs who voted in favour of it.

But after the Tories came to power and Halman was named minister, he started backing away from a commitment to proclaim the act.

Last summer, he ordered a third round of public consultation, this time aimed directly at coastal property owners.

The Tories budgeted up to $100,000 for consulting firm called Group ATN to do the work, which included reaching out to 40,000 people. The minister said on Monday that 1,070 people responded and "a large number" wanted the act proclaimed, but he would not commit to releasing any documentation related to that work.

"That survey was utilized to develop this action plan," he said.

Halman has talked multiple times about the feedback he's received from property owners who want the final say about what happens on their land and were opposed to the act, but he has not shared it publicly.

Lisa Lachance is the NDP environment critic. (Robert Short/CBC)

Meanwhile, CBC News has received more than 1,200 pages of documents through access to information laws showing people around the province calling on Halman to proclaim the act.

In November, 12 municipalities called on the Tory government to get on with it as they struggled to address increased development pressure along the coast and confront historic weather-related damage.

New Democrat MLA Lisa Lachance said Halman's response to those concerns and his government's plan is "deeply disturbing."

"They're abandoning Nova Scotians, they're abandoning municipalities," they told reporters.

Lachance said the government is "listening to a select group of people," although the NDP environment critic would not speculate who is in that select group.

Hundreds of people have contacted their office calling for the Coastal Protection Act to be proclaimed, Lachance said.

"The majority of people want to be part of this community, they want to know that collectively we have a coastline that's being protected."

Municipalities group concerned

The president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities said in an interview that they are concerned about new responsibilities being downloaded on municipalities that lack the necessary staff or finances to manage them.

"That is the No. 1 concern of the NSFM," said Carolyn Bolivar-Getson.

The process would have been easier with a co-ordinated effort led by the province, she said. Although the new mapping tool would be a helpful addition, Bolivar-Getson said, the province will also need to provide more money to help municipalities meet their obligations through land use planning.

"Having the staff and having the capabilities for smaller municipalities to do this is very, very difficult," she said.

"This definitely will provide a starting point but there needs to be dollars associated with it."

The federation will be seeking meetings with provincial officials to get more information, she said.

In a statement, the Ecology Action Centre's director of programs called Halman's announcement "a failure of leadership."

"This is truly absurd," said Marla MacLeod.

"Nova Scotians have been waiting for meaningful coastal protection for over a decade, and after repeated stalling and fumbling of the issue, the province has left us with an utterly toothless plan that lacks any concrete regulations and passes off all responsibility to municipalities and homeowners."

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