Lindsay Lee commented on
Premier Candidates Should Save Owls Head Provincial Park
2021-01-21 08:25:05 -0400
If the sale of this biodiverse coastal ecosystem was such a great idea, then why did our government orchestrate three years of secrecy? If betraying the 45-year history of Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve was truly beneficial to our province, then why did the government refuse to organize a public consultation?
If the property’s scientific and conservation values didn’t conflict with the delisting, then why were the government websites scrubbed of information about Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve?
The truth is, the government did anticipate resistance, which is precisely why it engaged in a clandestine deal to sell our public property without public knowledge or approval.
If not for the investigative journalism of the CBC’s Michael Gorman, who broke the story, there is no telling when Nova Scotians would have been apprised. After all, the government’s only chance of delisting and selling this land without public outrage was to make certain that its citizens didn’t know.
As Richard Bell clearly explained, “Without disrespecting the powerful arguments in favor of conserving Owls Head Provincial Park, the fundamental wrong that the Liberals committed here was making this decision in secret. Owls Head Provincial Park is Crown land; the land belongs to the people of Nova Scotia. But the Liberals chose to prevent the people from knowing what they were up to.”