“Jammed into a bill titled the Protecting Nova Scotians Act are amendments to the Crown Lands Act that will do just the opposite.
“The current law states that “No person, without lawful authority, shall barricade or post signs on a forest access road.” The amended law adds “block, obstruct the use of, impede access to” after “barricade.”
“In addition, the provisions for removing a structure from Crown land are changed radically. Under current law, structures erected on Crown land without a lease or a permit can be removed, with all their contents, after 60 days’ notice has been given. In the amended version, there is no requirement to give any notice.
On top of that, anyone who erects, occupies or uses a structure on Crown land without a licence or permit that is, in the minister’s opinion, “harmful to the economic interests of the Crown (…) is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than fifty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not more than six months, or to both.”
A summary offence in Canada ordinarily carries a maximum fine of $5,000, not $50,000. Under these amendments, the same inflated penalty applies to “anyone who fails to comply with this Act or the regulations, except as otherwise prescribed by the regulations.”
You can be arrested without a warrant for a summary offence. You are not entitled to a jury trial. Conviction gives you a criminal record…
“Under the proposed changes, someone camped beside a logging road on public land, spending their days combing the woods for species at risk lichens or birds or Black Ash, might emerge from the forest, hungry and tired, to find their tent and all its contents gone, confiscated by a conservation officer who was not required to give any notice. But it doesn’t end there.
“Not only can the structure be removed without notice,
“A person who erects, occupies or uses a structure meeting any of the criteria in subsection (1) is guilty of an offence
Someone sitting, drinking tea in a tent that is not blocking a forest access road, can be fined up to $50,000 and/or put in jail for six months if the Minister for Natural Resources is of the opinion that the presence of that tent on Crown land is “harmful to the economic interests of the Crown or any person lawfully using Crown land”…
These changes come at a moment of heightened conflict in the woods.
Logging has been halted on the 100,000 hectares of Crown land that Port Hawksbury Paper is paid to manage in the Cape Breton Highlands. The Mi’kmaw camp established in early September on the logging road at the foot of Tqamuoweye’katik (Hunter’s Mountain) has brought in structures where elders and knowledge keepers are sharing skills and knowledge. Other structures are being built.
There is widespread anger elsewhere in the province too; anger that the government is making no progress towards its own legislated goal of protecting 20% of our lands and waters by 2030. ..
Whether or not the government decides to use the Crown Lands Act amendments in Bill 127 to try to dislodge the Mi’kmaq from the Tqamuoweye’katik camp, it certainly looks as if they have future Lichen Camps in their sights.
The camps that I and other citizen scientists and others have set up in Annapolis County since 2021 have all been in areas of high-conservation value that local people want to see protected…
“The amendments to Bill 127 are a frightening reminder that prioritizing what this government believes to be the economic interests of the province over all other considerations doesn’t just degrade our environment, it erodes our freedom.”
Read the Full Commentary by Nina Newington in the Halifax Examiner (Oct 1, 2025)
Related, on this this website:
– Hunters Mountain Protest
– In the News – NS Democracy Issues
– Lichen Camp
– 20% Protection by 2030