Dear Premier Houston:
We would like to bring your attention to the West Mabou Beach Provincial Park controversy and our concerns in that regard.
West Mabou Beach is an ecologically sensitive area that forms part of the mere 5% of Nova Scotian coastline that is legally protected. We are adamantly against any part of the West Mabou Beach Provincial Park being used for anything other than a shoreline-protected park for the general public.
West Mabou Beach Provincial Park (Source: Hike Cape Breton)
As of this date, there are over 28,000 signatures on the Change.org Protect West Mabou Beach petition, which demonstrates a significant number of people want this provincial park to remain as is—protected in perpetuity for generations to come.
To allow Cabot or any other enterprise to occupy this park directly contravenes your 2021 document “Our Climate, Our Future: Nova Scotia’s Climate Change Plan for Clean Growth” and the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act, which contains 28 goals to address climate change and achieve sustainable prosperity, including protecting 20% of Nova Scotia’s land and water by 2030. What better environmentally sensitive land to protect than West Mabou Beach Provincial Park?
The powers of the minister to make exceptions to the laws around protected areas allowing a commercial enterprise to develop a business in a public park are of significant concern. We believe a decision like this should never be left in the hands of one individual. In these times of critical climate disruption and environmental degradation, we depend upon our elected representatives to fiercely protect and maintain those pieces of land that have been declared as public park spaces.
Even if all protected park area is not used regularly by the public, it is important to remember that these spaces not only provide the public with space for outdoor activities, they also help to maintain our clean air and soil for future generations and to protect other species and their habitats. Please note that we are not opposed to development and we recognize the importance of creating economic opportunities for communities. Golf course developers are in a position to explore other site options that are not on protected lands.
We hope you will address this specific issue as expeditiously as possible.
Respectfully submitted,
The Climate Change Task Force is made up of a group of citizens of Unama’ki Cape Breton, deeply concerned about environmental degradation and climate change and the impacts on all living beings. We aim to promote environmental awareness and concrete action to combat climate change through education, advocacy, community mobilization and investment in local green initiatives. With the belief that locally focused activity is an essential building block to broader social change, we aim to act locally while thinking globally.
