Kjipuktuk (Halifax) – Judicial Review applicants Bob Bancroft & Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association will have their day in court on Thursday. In solidarity with the applicants, the grassroots “Save Owls Head” Facebook group is organizing a gathering of supporters outside the Law Courts at 9:30 AM on April 1, 2021.
“More than 4,300 Nova Scotians have joined the Save Little Harbour/Owls Head Facebook group,” said Sydnee Lynn McKay, founder of the Facebook group. “We’re gaining more members every day, as people across Nova Scotia learn about the park, the process, and the precedent.” McKay was born and raised in Little Harbour.
“The government’s decision to secretly delist and offer to sell a park awaiting designation sets a dangerous precedent for Nova Scotia. There are approximately 100 other provincial parks with proposed or pending protection, areas that Nova Scotians reasonably believed to be safe,” said Lindsay Lee of the Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association. That’s one reason that thousands of citizens across the province are passionate about reversing this decision through this lawsuit.” Everyday citizens have contributed over $25,000 to enable this legal case to go forward.
Little Harbour resident Beverley Isaacs said she’s passionate about conserving the park’s biodiversity, but she also believes in procedural fairness. “All Nova Scotians deserve transparency, consultation, and evidence-based decision-making from their elected officials. Nova Scotia has become a leader during this pandemic by listening to science. Our government needs to apply that same scientific perspective to become an environmental leader.”
“Our new Premier won the leadership campaign on an environmental platform,” points out Nina Newington of Extinction Rebellion. “Now he needs to show Nova Scotians that he intends to walk the walk by withdrawing the Letter of Offer, reinstating Owls Head Provincial Park to the Parks and Protected Areas Plan, and protecting all of the properties awaiting designation.”
Speakers at the demonstration will include local resident Beverley Isaacs, Lindsay Lee of Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association, Tynette Deveaux of Sierra Club Atlantic, Nina Newington of Extinction Rebellion, and environmental activist Jacob Fillmore. All of the speakers are members of the Save Little Harbour/Owls Head Facebook group.
