Chastised by Nova Scotia landowners and the forestry industry, the Liberal government has decided to make changes to the recently tabled Biodiversity Act.
Its extremely important that we have an act that better protects biodiversity, Premier Iain Rankin told reporters late Tuesday afternoon, saying the primary focus of the act and its amendments has always been on Crown land with a secondary emphasis on working collaboratively with landowners on private land.
There are certain sections in the act that are problematic for landowners, so that is what we are discussing and we are looking at how we can bring groups together to support the act.
Problematic hardly describes the reaction of the Concerned Private Landowner Coalition that took out an ad in The Chronicle Herald and other Saltwire publications and posted on its website a call to landowners that the bill would put control of your lands in the hands of Halifax activists and politicians.
The ad, Stop Bill 4 Before it Stops You, says the legislation would restrict what you can do on your own land, and includes fines of up to $1 million for landowners.
On its website, the landowner coalition says every current user of private lands is threatened by Bill 4 because private landowners will be forced to close their lands to the public to protect themselves from losing control over their property.
The legislation, introduced March 10 as an amendment to the 2019 act, states that a person who contravenes the act or its regulation is guilty of an offence and liable to a summary conviction that could result in a first-offence fine of no more than $500,000 for an individual, increasing to no more than a million dollars for a second offence.
But the legislation also established that the minister may establish a biodiversity management zone on private land with the consent of the owner of the private land and by entering into an agreement with the landowner.
The Liberal government issued a release Tuesday evening announcing that changes to the act are in the works to address concerns from provincial stakeholders and ensure collaboration remains a key focus, as was always intended.
The changes remove emergency orders, offences and fines from the act and limit the scope of the act to Crown land unless permission is given on private lads.
The release said the act will allow the province to work with private landowners in a voluntary fashion to develop biodiversity management zones on their property.
"It is so critical for us to find a path together to address threats and create opportunities for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in Nova Scotia, Rankin said in the release.
The government commits to reporting to the public on the state of the province's biodiversity beginning within three years of it coming into force.
Lands and Forestry Minister Chuck Porter reiterated the premiers commitment to collaborate with all parties.
We are determined to get it right," Porter said.
Rankin said the landowners coalitions portrayal of theact as an attack on their livelihood is not a productive way to try to achieve better protection for diversity.
Pinning one region of the province against another is never good for democracy, Rankin said. There is a way to protect the environment and protect the economy.
The next step in the legislative process for the biodiversity act is law amendments, where the committee will hear further feedback from stakeholders and individuals.
But the Progressive Conservative Party, in a Tuesday evening release, called on the Liberals to release specifics of the changes to the legislation before it gets to law amendments so that everyone can assess the actual changes for themselves.
The premier has suggested the changes would mean the act would apply only to Crown land, PC Leader Tim Houston said. If this is truly the case, and the bill now only applies to what they do on their own land, why do they need a bill? It would seem that this change can be done through regulation -- meaning this is either a political stunt or the premier is misleading property owners, and has a trap door planned for the bill to fulfill his initial agenda to tell private landowners what they can and cannot do.
Conversely, Gary Burrill, leader of the New Democratic Party, says the Liberals backtracking on the bill is an abandonment of its commitment to prioritizing the protection of the environment.
At the first sign of criticism, the premier has sided with the Conservatives and lobbyists, instead of standing up for conservation and land protection, Burrill said in a release Wednesday.
Today, we in the NDP find ourselves in the strange position of defending a piece of government legislation that Premier Rankin said would be his flagship policy but which he has not had the courage to stand up for himself.
Burrill said climate change and biodiversity are accelerating in Nova Scotia and around the globe.
The impacts are easy to see in our forests and waterways, Burrill said. The people of our province want a government that will protect our environment, and on this issue, the Liberals and Conservatives have removed themselves from the running.
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Liberal government moves to dial back elements of Biodiversity Act - TheChronicleHerald.ca
