Kjipuktuk/Halifax. Activists will brave the snow Friday morning to confront Liberal politicians about the destruction of endangered moose habitat on their way into the last meeting of the House of Assembly this year.
The provincial representatives are meeting for the first time this year since March, for the sole purpose of proroguing the assembly until after Liberals have chosen a new leader. However, the lack of a sitting government has created a policy deadlock and a miserable response to pressing issues facing the province, including the destruction of critically endangered moose habitat.
Earlier this week, the RCMP arrested nine participants in two forest blockades preventing clear cut logging in Digby county. Forest protectors had been camped out to protect the Mainland Moose since October 21. Since their arrest, forest defender Jacob Fillmore camped out on Grand Parade Square to protest the government’s lack of action on climate change, including the clear cutting of Mainland Moose habitat.
“Rather than address the government’s 2003 commitment to set aside ‘core habitat’ for the Mainland Moose, and rather than address the government’s responsibilities as outlined in the 2018 Lahey forestry report, our elected leaders are arresting forest defenders,” said an Extinction Rebellion spokesperson. “The Supreme Court found earlier this year that the government was neglecting its legal duty to protect endangered species. People are getting arrested and sleeping out in the cold to have these issues addressed, but the only thing they will discuss is formally not making any decisions for another few months; it is absurd.”
Extinction Rebellion is demanding an immediate moratorium on all proposed and current logging on Crown lands from Fourth Lake south to the Napier River in Digby County, a moratorium that should remain intact until ecologically based landscape use planning for the area has been conducted by independent ecologists and biologists, as recommended in the 2018 Lahey forestry report.
While the protest is small due to COVID-19 restrictions, supporters are being asked to virtually support the effort to protect Mainland Moose by phoning and emailing the three leadership candidates today.
### Contact: Jacob, happy.halifax.camper@gmail.com
Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2100978813534761
