Public pushes back against government bill that would lift N.S. ban on uranium mining, fracking

There was nothing lazy about a former government's decision to ban fracking in Nova Scotia, MLAs heard on Monday.

Multiple presenters to the legislature's committee on public bills said the Houston government's plan to lift the ban on uranium exploration and mining and the moratorium on fracking for onshore gas, as proposed in the omnibus legislation Bill 6, should not happen without robust public consultation — if it happens at all.

For several months, Premier Tim Houston has said blanket bans on resource development are the result of lazy government policy and pressure exerted by special interest groups that, to date, neither the premier nor anyone from his government has been willing to identify.

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But a number of presenters took aim at that assertion on Monday, particularly when it comes to fracking.

Barbara Harris, a member of the Nova Scotia Fracking Resource and Action Coalition, noted that the moratorium by a former Liberal government followed work by an independent expert panel that included extensive scientific review, public consultation and input that resulted in a majority of the public supporting the moratorium.

"The legislation this government wants to repeal grew out of these studies," Harris told the committee.

"It was not a lazy or cowardly public policy process."

'Pretty well unthinkable'

The man who led that review, former Cape Breton University president David Wheeler, recently told CBC News that the previous Liberal government "badly mishandled" the file by not following through on his recommendations for further research and consultation.

Wheeler said the case for fracking could be made on the basis of smaller risks being managed by regulations, but since his report was published a decade ago the world has "woken up" to the threat of climate change, he said.

"So I think it's pretty well unthinkable that it would make sense for Nova Scotia to revisit the exploration and development of shale gas at this point."

Houston has said projects would not proceed unless it was demonstrated they could be achieved safely.

Tina Northrup, a lawyer with East Coast Environmental Law, told the committee it's been difficult to reconcile the "divisive rhetoric" the premier has used while advocating for greater natural resource extraction with his calls for the province and country to come together in the face of the threats posed by tariffs from the United States government.

As several other presenters did Monday, Badia Nehme with the Ecology Action Centre took aim at the lack of public consultation ahead of the tabling of Bill 6. Nehme noted the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaw Chiefs has also expressed concern about the process.

"It is not lazy policy-making to consult Nova Scotians on matters which affect our health and our environment. It is not immature to consider expert analysis commissioned on behalf of the government or to respect the Mi'kmaw people."

Nehme called for the two moratoriums to remain until a formal public consultation, an independent expert review and First Nations consultation take place.

"Until this is done, the government simply does not have a mandate from the public to arbitrarily lift these bans."

Ken Summers, who lived in the Noel, N.S., area when test wells were being fracked years ago, said it didn't seem like a big deal while it was happening. But when operations ceased, problems started happening with waste ponds left behind by the process that used large volumes of water mixed with chemicals.

"Nova Scotia was totally unprepared for dealing with fracking waste and there's no record that we've learned anything since then," he told MLAs.

One presenter did speak in favour of lifting the ban on uranium exploration and mining.

Sean Kirby, executive director of the Mining Association of Nova Scotia, said much has changed in the mining industry since a former provincial government brought in the ban in the 1980s.

Missed opportunities

The industry is successful in Saskatchewan and contributes to the economy while enjoying considerable public support, he said.

Ending the ban here would allow exploration to determine if deposits are economically viable to mine while improving the data the province has about the resource, said Kirby.

He said reports by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission show the risk once associated with uranium mining is much lower now due to modernized approaches.

"Clearly, there is no health, safety or environmental reason to ban uranium mining," he told the committee.

Witness testimony is scheduled to continue on Tuesday.