Surrounded by rolling hills and dotted with islands, the Bras d’Or Lake UNESCO Biosphere Reserve is the heart of Cape Breton Island. Offering a unique blend of both fresh and salt water, the Bras d’Or Lake is a great location to view everything from the majestic bald eagle to curious grey seals.

The diversity of the area doesn’t stop at the waters’ edge. The extensive watershed is home to Mi’kmaq First Nations and descendants from early French, Scottish, and English settlers. The people of the Biosphere maintain close ties to the culture of their ancestors.  In 2011, the Bras d’Or Lake and its watershed area were designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, recognizing that the locals live in harmony with nature and work to promote a healthy environment, economy and culture.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      Nova Scotia.com

Suddenly, silently, a bald eagle plummeted feet first and rose towards the tree tops with a fish in its talons. Minute ripples, the only evidence of the drama, spread out, shattering the mirror of calm water around the boat.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Yachting World

This is a wonderful, magical lake that reflects the sparsely settled area of Cape Breton Island that it is situated in. It is a huge lake, with many coves and inlets, so as you drive it is well worth stopping along the way to look out at the scenery or take photos.                                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                                                     Tourist from Vaughn, B.C. Trip Advisor 

4485 East Bay Highway
East Bay, NS B1J 1N4

Dear Deputy Mayor Ivan Doncaster,

I was one of many people sitting in the Big Pond Firehall on November 22, 2017 listening to two representatives from the CBRM planning department answer questions about a proposed RV park for Big Pond Centre.

I was bewildered when these representatives told us that the CBRM could not consider the environmental impacts of the proposed RV park or any other development as it was not within their jurisdiction to do so.

(So, I remember thinking, the CBRM is in charge of making planning decisions for itself but is forbidden from considering a development’s environmental impact when making these decisions? )

Naturally, through several phone calls and Internet research, I soon learned that indeed the CBRM not only could but was supposed to consider environmental impacts when making planning and zoning decisions: The Nova Scotia Municipal Government Act clearly states this:

“The purpose of a municipal planning strategy is to provide statements of policy to guide the development and management of the municipality and, to further this purpose, to establish

(a) policies which address problems and opportunities concerning the development of land and the effects of the development;

(b) policies to provide a framework for the environmental, social and economic development within a municipality;

(c) policies that are reasonably consistent with the intent of statements of provincial interest; and (d) specify programs and actions necessary for implementing the municipal planning strategy.

Inexplicably, it took more than 18 months of me asking the same question in many different ways for CBRM to tell me - via their planning department - that, yes; they could develop policies to protect the Bras d’Or Lake watershed.

I, and the 125 or so people who have signed this petition, ask that you bring this issue to Council, asking that the planning department develop policies, in consultation with the Bras d’Or Lake Collaborative Environmental Planning Initiatives and others, that will help to protect the Bras d’Or watershed from risky development.

The process attached to the creation of a spot zone in Big Pond, regrettably, was not transparent: The people who poured into Council’s chambers and over-flow rooms for a public meeting were never permitted to ask a question of the would-be developer, meaning that important questions like “Explain how you will construct a 1000-foot sandy beach on the shore of a pond?” could not be asked.

I will post all correspondence related to this issue publicly as I believe that transparency is essential to good governance.

Let us all happily work together to protect the Bras d’Or Lake and its watershed. 

CBRM Council has the ability to do the right thing for the Bras d’Or Lake, and if there is a reason that they should not do so, I cannot think of it.

Respectfully yours,

Lorna MacNeil