Cabot in West Mabou. It ain't over 'til it's over, but it's over.

(Friday the 13th, the original.)

Look behind you!

If you have ever watched a horror film, you will know that it is never over until the final credits finish running, and even then, you should keep your eyes on the screen.

Sure, there will be a near final scene when all seems peaceful, those who were up to no good will have been defeated by their would-be victims, but then something unexpected happens, like one of the would-be victims turns out to be one of those who were up to no good, and the battle is reignited – for the last few minutes of the film.

 

And so it is in the world of protecting protected spaces from developers of so-called magic golf.

 

On April 20, 2023, Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables Tory Rushton announced that “officials from his department informed the company [Cabot] last week that even if it submitted a formal request [to build golf in West Mabou Beach Provincial Park], the government would not consider it.”

 

As CBC put it, “Although there is no room for golf developments in provincial parks, Rushton said his department remains open to other proposals that would fit in those areas, such as hiking trails. In the meantime, he said his government is focused on completing the list of properties awaiting protection and achieving the goal of protecting 20 per cent of the province's land and water areas.”

So, the credits were rolling toward a sensible end when Rodney MacDonald, former premier of Nova Scotia and current CEO of the Gaelic College and paid communicator for Cabot, took to Facebook to add a twist to the plot of Cabot’s attempted coup in Mabou:

“I should note that Cabot was still preparing its application. It didn’t withdraw anything. The reality is that Cabinet is within its right to consider an application at any point in time regardless of what the Department position is. This is ultimately a Cabinet decision. I have no doubt Cabot will now pause to review last weeks comments by the Minister.”

So, it seems that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Renewables in Nova was not heard in the the Cabot bubble of “magic golf” and “audacious dreams.”  

But surely Cabot and Rodney MacDonald – and Minister Tory Rushton and Premier Tim Houston - know these two things:

 

One

Cabot let it be known, in October of 2022, through Rodney MacDonald, that they wanted to lease one third of West Mabou Beach Provincial Park to build a golf course – this after the Department of Natural Resources, in 2018, told them that this was not possible.

The Houston government spoke about the Cabot move in a weird way: They decided to act as if West Mabou Beach Provincial Park was a normal piece of crown land subject to all requests for leasing.  They stuffed the protected park into a big pot and tried to boil it down until the Provincial Parks Act went up in steam. It is clearly illogical to designate land as a protected natural environment core park and then say, “Of course, we will consider a request to build a golf course there.”

The thing is that if the Cabot request is to be considered just as any other request to lease crown land, than the decision about the land should be made at the level of the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables – not by Houston’s cabinet.

The Crown Land Leasing Policy states that: “Applicants must complete and submit an Application for the Use of Crown Land indicating the specific area or parcel of Crown land required. An application may be rejected if the proposed activity is not considered to be in the best interest of the Province or at any time during the lease review process if information is received that would make the requested area not suitable for the requested purpose.”

Two

Rodney MacDonald has said that this decision is up to Cabinet. I am not an expert on parliamentary procedures, but I have been reading about how Cabinet would snatch the decision-making power on the Cabot coup in Mabou from the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables. It seems like it would have to go down like this.

An Order in Council (OIC) would be brought to Cabinet, stating in legal terms that part of West Mabou Provincial Park would be ripped away from the rest of the park and handed over to Cabot so that they can build a golf course. (The wording would be slightly different, I am sure.)

But who would have to bring the OIC to cabinet?

None other than Minister Tory Rushton. And he would not bring it as an idea to be discussed, but as an action that he and his department support, according to information at NovaScotia.ca, our government website: “All OICs are made on the recommendation of the responsible Minister of the Crown…”

How could Minister Rushton recommend that a Cabot Golf Course be built at West Mabou Beach Provincial Park when he has said things like, “"It was determined over the last few weeks that there's actually no pathway or mechanism in the Provincial Parks Act to allow a golf course to be developed within a park.”

Rushton could not remain a credible and respected Minister of Natural Resources and Renewables and bring the Cabot proposal to cabinet.

Deputy Premier and Inverness MLA put it this way in the Inverness Oran, “Governments can always do something different by changing laws and rules, but this land was given to the public as a protected natural environment. There is no way to allow this type of development without delisting the provincial park and removing the protections that go along with it.”

It ain’t over til it’s over but this, surely, is over.

Cabot will lay in wait for a future government that might see things their way, but this is unlikely in the foreseeable future.

As Nova Scotians, we can do our part by lobbying for changes to the Provincial Park Act that mean that protected spaces are not to be developed into golf courses or destroyed in other ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Joanne Lamey Follow Me
The other thing that we checked out earlier this week - Rodney MacDonald is not a registered lobbyist!

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