Municipalities call on Nova Scotia government to proclaim Coastal Protection Act

Robert Parker says the impact of post-tropical storm Fiona in Pictou County a year ago made it easy for his council to support the growing call for the provincial government to proclaim the Coastal Protection Act.

"The damage that was done in Fiona would make anybody wonder why it would even be required to have a Coastal Protection Act, but it is because a lot of people still want to build closer and closer to the water," Parker, warden for the Municipality of Pictou County, said in an interview this week.

"And then some of them want the government to help them out when things go wrong down the road."

Pictou County was one of the parts of the province that felt the greatest effects of the storm, with millions of dollars of damage to properties and infrastructure along the coast.

Parker's council is one of 12 that recently wrote to the provincial government calling on them to proclaim the Coastal Protection Act.

The act, which passed with all-party support in 2019, had been promised to be in place by now. It's meant to guide where people can build along the coast, outlining setbacks and other provisions, while also providing greater protection for coastal features such as dunes.

However, Environment Minister Tim Halman changed that plan earlier this year when he ordered a third round of consultation — this one specifically aimed at coastal property owners. An online survey closes at midnight.

Parker said he was disappointed by Halman's reversal on the earlier pledge to make the act law in early 2023. The warden is concerned the government has delayed the process due to lobbying, a charge Halman has previously denied.

'They need to step up'

"They can talk about needing more consulting. Well, you can consult forever and never be sure that you've got everybody onside."

Digby Mayor Ben Cleveland, whose council also called on the province to act, said much of the town's water and wastewater infrastructure is near the coast. The town is already considering the financial implications of having to move that.

Recently, its council spent hundreds of thousands of dollars raising a road that was flooding due to rising tides. Cleveland said there are also developers who have looked at building condos in the town by the coast, but are waiting to see what the province does with the act.

Like Parker, Cleveland said his municipality does not have the in-house expertise to develop its own rules related to coastal protection. To go it alone would be a financial imposition, he said.

"If the province is going to put this through then they need to step up," said Cleveland.

At Province House, Halman told reporters he welcomed the feedback from municipalities but he would wait and see the results of the latest round of consultation.

'All feedback is so important'

"All feedback is so important," he said.

The minister said he had no update on how many people have filled out the online survey. He expects to have a full report from consultants sometime next month.

It's Parker's view that the province needs to take the lead on the issue to ensure consistency of the rules across the province. It doesn't help anyone if the rules in Pictou County are different than neighbouring municipalities, he said.

And while people wait to see what the province does, Parker said there is increasing development along the coastlines in his municipality that is pitting neighbour against neighbour.

Some property owners are spending thousands of dollars shoring up their property with rocks. That can have negative consequences for neighbouring properties that cannot afford to do the same, he said, a scenario that forces some people to contemplate selling properties that have been in their families for years.

"We're almost saying to people that unless you've got a lot of money, you can't own a shoreline property anymore."