Ongoing News related to Eisner’s Cove Wetland, most recent at the top.
For background and earlier news, see Eisner’s Cove Wetland (page on this website)
Also Ec0Action Page and Case 23820: Southdale Future Growth Node Planning Process (HRM webpage; as of Nov 8, 2022 it was last updated Sep 20, 2022)
See Protect Eisner Wetland Facebook Page for regular posts about the wetland, the uplands and related issues, also the Save Eisner Cove Wetland YouTube Channel
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Oct 23, 2023
More on NS Government land shenanigans
In Morning File (Halifax Examiner). “The McNeil government came under fire in 2017 when the government paid $7.5 million, well above market value, to purchase the Bayers Lake land from Banc Developments, owned by Basim Halef. (Sound familiar? In 2022, the Houston government paid $34 million for a half-finished West Bedford hotel on Hogan Court that is being renovated to house patients occupying hospital beds while waiting for long-term or alternative care. Lindsay Construction has been hired to oversee that renovation for a management fee of $67,300 a month plus HST. It’s expected to open early in 2024)”.
July 30, 2023
Dartmouth Group calls for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to Immediately stop further destruction of Eisner Cove Wetland
“…”We now have irrefutable proof of what we’ve been saying all along,” said Bill Zebedee, President of the Society. “Clearcutting activities and grubbing of the overburden has destroyed the wetland, and that the Minister of Environment and Climate Change should never have approved the wetland alteration.” Using drone footage and on the ground truth-seeking photos, the Society says that silt from the recent storm has entered the waterway.”
View Photos and video of siltation proof
Post on XR Mi’kma’ki/NS
Jan 28, 2023
Group calls on Tim Halman, Nova Scotia Minister of Environment, to reverse decision
Protect Eisner Cove Wetland, reported on eco-action.ca “With new information, Bill Zebedee, President of Protect Our Southdale Wetland Society, today renewed the call to Tim Halman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, to reverse the decision approving alterations to the Eisner Cove wetland. In documents received through Zebedee’s latest FOIPOP (Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy) request, obtained from Innovacorp, the former Crown Corporation and previous owner of land, it was clear even Innovacorp’s own people believed the area was ecologically significant.”
Regrettably, it is not a Happy Christmas for Eisner Cove Wetland & Environs in 2022
Dec 11, 2022:
Grey Owl
Alyssa Kiss on Protect Eisner Wetland Facebook Page:
“I couldn’t get a clear picture but this beautiful grey owl was hanging out in the woods in Eisner wetland tonight when me and my family were out there”
Comment:
While Alyssa described it as a “Grey Owl:, it’s likely a Barred Owl. The two are visually similar; observations of the Great Grey Owl in NS are very rare. Regardless, it’s a pretty special sighting, given the recent and ongoing destruction of these forests, and a further illustration of what we are losing.
Dec 1, 2022:
Dec 1, 2022, Bill Zebedee writes”For those asking if this struggle is finished. The short answer is no. This is a very rough idea of what has been clear cut and what we can still save. The yellow and red are what have been clearcut; the black areas are where they never planned on building; the blue is the wetland itself (supposedly not able to touch that);the green areas are not allowed to be touched until they get approval from the Minister in a two or three years.Phase one of the build is going to be the largest part of building, which is in yellow area The grey is where they’ve built the causeway
Dec 5, 2022:
Donkin
Tim Bousquet in Halifax Examiner “The provincial government has renewed the industrial approval for the Donkin Mine in Cape Breton…Donkin is operated by Kameron Coal Management Limited, a subsidiary of The Cline Group, controlled by American billionaire Chris Cline. Cline is a climate change denier..And one particularly greasy aspect of the province’s approval was the news late Friday that former Glace Bay MLA Geoff MacLellan is now working for Kameron. MacLellan, who was a Liberal MLA and cabinet minister, shocked observers by joining the PC government last year, as chair of the Halifax Regional Municipality Housing Task Force, the provincial agency that fast tracks development in the urban area. He was later also named Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.”
Nov 29, 2022:
Eisner Cove wetlands cleared following several protests to stop development project
Jonathan MacInnis, CTV News
Nov 27, 2022:
Where once was a magnificent forest Recent Drone footage, posted Nov 27, 2022 on Protect Eisner Wetland FB page. Area above Mt. Hope Avenue. View Video. View 2nd drone video of The Causeway
Nov 15, 2022:
Wetland advocates still fighting newly approved development near Eisner Cove
Fiona Clancey for The Signal
Nov 10, 2022:
Nova Scotia housing minister approves controversial Eisner Cove development
Zane Woodford in the Halifas Examiner. “The government announced the approval, which happened last month, with an ad in the Chronicle Herald on Wednesday [Nov 9]”: //On Tuesday, October 18, 2022, Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Lohr approved amendments to Regional Centre Secondary Municipal Planning Strategy. On Tuesday October 25, 2022, the Minister approved the development agreement between Clayton Development and Halifax Regional Municipality to enable residential development to proceed within the Southdale-Mount Hope Special Planning Area.//Halifax Regional Municipality updated its public consultation page on the proposal as well, writing that “The Executive Panel on Housing in the Halifax Regional Municipality did, on Tuesday, October 25, 2022 recommend the approval.”
Nov 8, 2022:
Housing Minister at HRM Regional Council Nov 8, 2022
YouTube Video of proceedings. 0-5:38. The Minister got an earfull. He complained about slow movement on the Southdale File. See also:John Lohr hears Halifax council concerns on plan to nullify city bylaws, but Bill 225 passes by Zane Woodford in the Halifax Examiner, Nov 9, 2022. View also: Notes for Rally
Oct 18, 2022:
Southdale-Mount Hope Special Planning Area Amendment Order made under Section 16 of the of the Housing in the Halifax Regional Municipality Act S.N.S. 2021, c. 21
N.S. Reg. 238/2022 (effective October 18, 2022) “Whereas the Southdale-Mount Hope Special Planning Area Order, N.S. Reg. 63/2022, was made on March 24, 2022, and designated the Southdale-Mount Hope Special Planning Area…Therefore, I order the following:…”The Woodside Vision and Action Plan, approved in principle by Regional Council in 2012, identified the need for residential development in a manner sensitive to the wetland and forested areas..”sensitivity to the importance of the wetland is a key policy objective”. etc” Itemized draconian power steps by provincial government. References Southdale-Mount Hope Special Planning Area Order made under Section 15 of the Housing in the Halifax Regional Municipality Act (Mar 24, 2022) Note we have heard nothing of the results of the Public Comment Period that was closed on Sep 19, 2022.
Oct 27, 2022:
‘This is not appropriate’: Mayor Savage calls provincial legislation ‘dangerous’
Meghan Groff in City News. “On Friday, the province introduced amendments to the HRM Charter that would allow it to nullify bylaws to ‘encourage faster housing construction'”. Comments prominent conservative Bill Black on Saltwire, Oct 28, 2022 “Former prime minister Lester B. Pearson once observed that “Politics is the delicate use of blunt instruments.” Premier Tim Houston is all about blunt instruments, but has not shown interest in the delicate part. Crown corporations have been mashed together and their boards and CEOs dispatched. Deputy ministers are relieved of their responsibilities. Municipalities, especially Halifax, are having their planning regimes and bylaws overridden.”
Some related background: Joan Baxter’s series on Special Planning Areas in the Halifax Examiner : Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4; and Hfx Examiner articles about, references to the Eisner Cove Wetland specifically.
Late Oct, 2022:
Late Oct., 2022. From photos by Sheila. We thought climate change is doing bad things to us.
Oct 25, 2022:
EAC responds to Housing Task Force announcements & Supreme Court of Canada decision on HRM development case
EAC. “..Last week, the province published a report, HRM Housing Development Barrier Review, completed by private auditing firm Deloitte to identify obstacles and solutions to accelerating development in the HRM. Many of the recommendations are aligned with creating more complete communities, like removing minimum parking requirements, reducing lot sizes and allowing for more secondary suites. However, the EAC can’t support the recommendation to limit public meetings and opportunities for public engagement. Residents should have a voice in how their community is shaped, and we instead need more meaningful opportunities for input that result in concrete change…”
Oct 21, 2022:
Bill 225: An Act to Amend Chapter 39
of the Acts of 2008, the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter:
First reading Oct 21, 2022. “This Bill authorizes the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to nullify a by-law of the Halifax Regional Municipality within six months of its passing.” “Notwithstanding Section 382 of the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter and Section 519 of the Municipal Government Act, nothing in this Act or done pursuant to the provisions enacted or amended by this Act triggers any requirement to consult with the Halifax Regional Municipality or to notify the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities.”
Oct 20, 2022:
– N.S. government unveils details of new housing agency
Michael Gorman · CBC News ·
– Nova Scotia Housing Services and Supply Act
Introduced Oct 20, 2021 Press Release “Legislation introduced today, October 20, will modernize the structure and oversight of provincial housing programs, increase accountability and create a new Crown corporation responsible for public housing in Nova Scotia.” Second reading Oct 28, 2022 View Submissions to Law Aemendments Committee
Oct 17, 2022:
Eisner Cove Wetland Rally
Global News. Video Interview with Bill Zebedee about the reasons for rally on the 18th. View videos from the event on this website
Sep 20, 2022:
– ‘Protest or give up’: Dartmouth Councillor says province left no choice at Eisner Cove Wetland
By Anastasia Payne on Surge105.ca
– A video from Thunderbird Swooping Down a video from Thunderbird Swooping Down
explaining more about the details surrounding the destruction of Eisner Wetland and the impact on Indigenous rights.
Posted on Instagram
– Developers go to court seeking injunction against Eisner Cove protesters
Zane Woodford in the Halifax Examiner.
Approx. area of tree removal on Sep 17, 2022 and other features of the Southdale/ECW site. Click on image for larger version.
Sep 16, 2022:
– Nova Scotia environment minister dismisses Eisner Cove wetland appeals
ZANE WOODFORD in Halifax Examiner, Related NS Government News Release
– Tara Alexis: What does saving a wetland mean to us?
Post on Protect Eisner Wetland,
Aug 2/Sep 8, 2022, 2022:
Letter to Housing Task Force re Southdale/Mount Hope
Claudia Chendler’s letter of Aug 2, 2022 and the reply from the Minister of Housing (Sep 8, 2022)
