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LETTERS Sub-standard regulatory oversight in Nova Scotia: Aquaculture to Environment
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LETTERS Sub-standard regulatory oversight in Nova Scotia: Aquaculture to Environment

Fish farm

It is probably not World Class when they call it that. Silver Donald Cameron.

Silver Donald Cameron, who is now deceased, is the reason our regulatory system for aquaculture has been called “world-class”. He believed that such a label was often applied to something sub-standard, and sometimes worse. Nova Scotia’s open-net pen fish farm was an example of this. He studied it very closely.

The Doelle-Lahey report reviewed the entire aquaculture policy in Nova Scotia. We have had new rules and approaches since then, but it is generally the same old, same old regulation. Our different governments have worked tirelessly to promote, subsidize, and expand open-net pen activity within this maritime province.

A economic reality check is a good idea if all else fails. Open net pen aquaculture doesn’t create the jobs we want nor generates the tax revenues its advocates would like.

Furthermore, it is based in rural coastal communities, not places we would want to inflict undesirable environmental fallout. This is especially true given the already harmful realities of climate changes.

There are some good news. When it comes seafood, we should be thankful. Nova Scotia has wild fisheries that are thriving on both the local and international levels. Our shellfish aquaculture is also a great option. It grows extremely well literally as well as metaphorically. Thanks to a lucky combination of technology, ingenuity and hard work, we now have on-land closed containment aquaculture that can produce the proteins the world needs and does so in a sustainable manner.

We don’t need open-net pen fish farms in our coastal waters in 2022. The benefits are small in comparison to the many risks.

We don’t need an Aquaculture Review Board in 2022. Its mandate is so restricted and narrow that it can approve all sorts of applications. Take the Rattling beach decision from last month.

Most importantly, we don’t need the pretense that our system has world-class capabilities when it is anything less.

The truth is that we have failed to create an effective administrative process until transparency, inclusion, social licence, and transparency are made central to aquaculture decision-making.

Never forget that Silver Donald is our teacher. His legacy is unparalleled, which may be the greatest irony among them all.

Stewart Lamont, Tangier Lobster Company’s managing director.

Steele’s shrewd observation

Here’s a quote by Harry Steele, Canada’s most successful and larger than life businessman: Regulators quickly become slaves to the people they are supposed to regulate.

Last month, Mr. Steele was killed as Nova Scotia’s Aquaculture Review Board was making public their decision to license Cooke Aquacultures open net-pen salmon farm at Digby Gut.

You were absolutely right, Mr. Steele. Rest in peace.

Geoff LeBoutillier HRM

Lax enforcement

Re: Upper Tantallon Wetland Damage Claims don’t Hold Water Engineer.

I am encouraged by Derrick Peverill’s prompt and thorough response to HRMs stop-work orders on wetland destruction in Upper Tantallon (Feb. 3 Story).

It is encouraging to know that the Halifax Regional Municipality Office of Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change diligently enforces the Environment Act. As we adapt to new climate realities, we will need their leadership.

I wish all wetlands had the same protections. Inspector Peverills work is strikingly different from the Kentville inspections.

The Arlington Wetland is a North Mountain shelf that lies near Bridgetown. It collects billions of litres from rainwater and stores it. It filters the water as all wetlands do and disperses it via North Mountain Aquifers to dozens downgrade domestic and business wells and springs.

NSECC has approved numerous industrial permits, which allow the wetland for construction and demolition as well as hazardous materials dump. Our once-pristine water supply has been subject to endless abuse. The land has been cleared, drained and excavated, and the four brooks that the wetland supplies are thick with silty trout.

Despite all this, Kentville inspectors have failed to enforce any required wetland protection regulations.

Kentville staff had to recommend approval for this natural community water reservoir as a hazardous disposal site. Kentville inspectors were even worse, ignoring years of illegal dumping.

Fluff is the result of recycling cars. It can contain residual automotive fluids, PCBs and other toxic materials. It is a potent carcinogen.

Water tests have shown that effluent released into watersheds has toxin levels that exceed the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment standards.

Our health, property values, inheritances, and health have all been affected by poor decisions, dysfunctional oversight, and non-existent enforcement by Kentville staff of the Environment Act.

Inspector Peverill, would a transfer be something you would consider?

Hampton Kip McCurdy

Trudeau an enviro-flop

In 2015, Justin Trudeau, a newly elected Canadian politician, declared that Canada was back at the UN climate negotiations. Seven years later, it is clear that this was a fabrication.

In the seven years that followed, we have seen record-setting heatwaves, unprecedented wildfires and massive flooding events devastate communities coast to coast. Our emissions have continued to increase in the meantime.

Trudeau may have made big statements about climate change but he still doesn’t have much to show for his efforts.

Or else, our communities will continue to suffer. We need the government to take immediate and effective action to address the climate emergency. It means implementing the long-promised Just Transition Act. This will allow tens of thousands to return to work in restoring ecosystems, caring for communities, and rebuilding crumbling infrastructure.

Andrew Glencross, Halifax

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