N.S. government refuses to release latest Coastal Protection Act survey results

Nova Scotia's environment minister is refusing to release the results of a recent survey of property owners about the Coastal Protection Act.

Tim Halman told reporters Thursday the information is "being used in the ongoing work on coastal protection."

"So that feedback has gone into the development of the work we're doing now on what coastal protection will look like," he said following a cabinet meeting in Halifax.

"And once we're ready to release what coastal protection will look like, that information of what we found from . . . coastal property owners, we'll be releasing that information at that time."

It's the latest example of the government backing away from a piece of legislation it supported while in opposition. It originally passed with all-party support in 2019. Halman has missed multiple self-imposed deadlines for proclaiming the act, which would bring it into force.

Last year, he ordered a third round of public consultation on the legislation, which is intended to outline where people can and cannot build along the coastline, taking rising sea levels due to climate change into account. It would also add protection for coastal features. The government budgeted almost $100,000 for that consultation work aimed at coastal property owners. The work wrapped up late last year.

Halman said several times on Thursday that the province will have some type of coastal protection, but he's stopped short of committing to proclaiming the Coastal Protection Act and there are no longer any timelines attached to whatever work is taking place behind the scenes.

The minister disputed the suggestion that by not releasing the survey results, his government was sitting on the information. Opposition party leaders took a different view.

"They're hiding information from the public and just trying to kick this can down the road so they don't have to do anything on it," Liberal Leader Zach Churchill told reporters.

Churchill, who was part of the former Liberal government that introduced and passed the Coastal Protection Act, said the matter is a safety issue and the lack of action by the Progressive Conservatives means people will continue to build in areas they should not.

He speculated that proclamation of the act has been stalled by supporters of the government who do not want it in place.

NDP Leader Claudia Chender agreed and said public opinion and science make it imperative for the government to get coastal protection in place. CBC has previously reported that an overwhelming amount of correspondence the government has received on the issue supports proclaiming the act.

Several cabinet ministers provided limited information to reporters on Thursday.

Advanced Education Minister Brian Wong refused to directly answer questions about when or even if his government remains committed to publicly releasing a student housing strategy. That document is months late and there is no indication that it will ever come.

Education Minister Becky Druhan, meanwhile, continued to refuse to provide any details about four new schools in Halifax Regional Municipality that were first announced in June. The minister said the government still has not purchased land for the schools and Druhan would not say whether officials in her department even know where the schools would go.

"This is part of a pattern of a total lack of transparency of this government," Chender told reporters.

"This entire afternoon was minister after minister smiling and not answering any questions and not telling the media and not telling Nova Scotians really basic information about how government runs, about how money is being spent and about how services are delivered.

"Frankly, I think people should be very troubled by that."

'A pretty contentious issue'

It's "crystal clear" Nova Scotians want coastal protection, Halman said, and people are going to want to live along the ocean. The government wants to allow coastal development while protecting people from building in areas that are known hazards.

"This is a pretty contentious issue," he said."We want to make sure we're striking the best balance."