NN post on FB Sep 24, 2025:
From the article: ‘One piece of the Protecting Nova Scotians Act, however, is aimed not at correcting a past mistake but instead at peaceful forest protestors.
Last year, a group of activists occupied forest land in Cumberland County to prevent the aerial spraying of the herbicide glyphosate. And this month, a group of Mi’kmaw people are blockading roads near Tqamuoweye’katik (Hunter’s Mountain) in Cape Breton to prevent clearcutting.
In response, through the Protecting Nova Scotians Act, the Houston government is introducing changes to the Crown Lands Act that strengthen existing language that prohibits a “barricade” of a forest access road to make it illegal to “block, obstruct the uses of or impeded access” to forest access roads.
As well, current legislation requires 60 days notice to remove structures built on Crown land. This seems to have been mostly related to fishing and hunting camps, a long-standing Nova Scotia tradition, that may have blocked public access to a lake, for instance. But the changes do away with the notification completely, a change that is clearly and admittedly made to address the camps built by forest protestors.
Once proclaimed, the new legislation will allow the minister to “without notice, remove, demolish or otherwise dispose of a structure, together with the contents contained therein” if the structure “is being used in any way to facilitate the obstruction or impediment of the lawful use of Crown lands by any person.”
Anyone in violation of the new legislation can be subject to a fine up to $50,000 or six months in jail, or both.’
From the comments:
BW: …they are doing this because they are afraid of the citizens of Nova Scotia. DNR and industry regard the communities of Nova Scotia as their enemy. Instead of being willing to work with communities to come up with plans to which everyone would agree, they would rather fight us. There will never be peace in the forests until DNR and industry smarten up and stop treating the people of this province like dirt.
DG: Not Protesting we are Mikmaq TiTLE holders with our right to Protect it For future generations
MN: I would like to see an expert weigh in on this. Don’t we have the right to protest? Talking about settlers, not indigenous land defenders
VH: This is OUR forest. Of course we can protect it!
LMDR: Is there anything legal that can be done? They are removing democratic rights, one at a time , this one under the guise of protecting Nova Scotians. We have quite the list of attempts to remove people’s rights , by this power hungry Premier. We are being forced to accept, uranium mining, lithium mining, windmills in sensitive fishing areas, open season on our forests, continued glyphosate spraying, .. we’ve had threats on our municipalities to tow the line or else. This government tried to get the right to fire the Auditor General without cause, and probably much more that is flying under the radar, by this Conservative government in its attempts to remove democratic rights of the people.
GF: Your interuberation of the hunting and fishing camps blocking access to lakes is not quite correct . While they may have did this to some extent it was required to have a permit to have such a structure. Those found with out permits were given 60 days notice to removec or the structure would be removed .
MM: Premier Houston and his caucus are blind to a lesson that I learned early on in my teaching career. It is that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Just as students become more willing to listen and compromise when they are respected, so goes the population as a whole. Instead, this Premier has decided to squash opposition, covering his ears against all information that counters his narrow purpose of making in quick bucks through extraction. Never mind the environmental consequences. Never mind the desecration of the abundant beauty of this province.
He is ruling with vinegar. Unfortunately, his aim is to sour the soil and shrivel the conviction of the people. And what he’s doing to the relationship between his government and our Mi’kmaq people is outrageous.
What it seems to boil down to is a lack of respect. No teacher should ever disrespect their students. No Premier, minister or MLA should disrespect their constituents. That way lies chaos and destruction.
ML: Provincial authoritarianism unfolding right before our eyes, bit by demolishing bit — shocking!
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Friends of Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area
Save Our Old Forests
📣Save Our Old Forests Association: Statement regarding Bill 127 and proposed changes to Crown Land Act
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Regarding Bill 127, the so-called ‘Protecting Nova Scotians Act’. The changes to the Crown Lands Act included in this bill are not about protecting Nova Scotians, least of all people who camp out on logging roads, doing the work DNR should be doing to protect biodiversity. These changes to the law are about being able to chase those pesky Citizen Scientists – the ones who keep finding species-at-risk and old-growth forests – off our public lands so that industrial forestry can get in and cut wherever it wants.
This government is creating conflict in the woods by refusing to communicate with the people who care about the health of our forests, failing to collaborate with the public to protect 20%, clearcutting in proposed protected areas, failing to implement Lahey, and systematically failing to consult with the Mi’kmaq. Having set the stage for conflict, they are now amending laws in order to suppress dissent. All to allow the ongoing destruction of our forests at a time when we desperately need standing forests. We are in a climate emergency!
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📣CALL TO ACTION:
Call or email your MLA and ask them to drop the changes to the Crown Land Act from Bill 127.
Annapolis County MLA: David Bowlby
Phone: 902-526-3283
E-mail: mladavidbowlby@gmail.com
For other areas please use the MLA Finder: https://enstools.electionsnovascotia.ca/edinfo/
PLEASE bcc soof@saveouroldforests.ca so we can keep track of how many emails have been sent!
#saveouroldforests