NSNDP

August 7th, 2021

The NDP would stop the sale of Owls Head Park and protect more land and water

HALIFAX -- NDP Leader Gary Burrill spoke at the Owls Head Rally today in Halifax. Hundreds of people gathered in Victoria Park to tell Iain Rankin and the Liberals to stop the sale of Owls Head Park.

“Iain Rankin and the Liberal government have not been upfront about Owls Head. They tried to sell the land in secret and won’t commit to protecting it now,” said NDP Leader Gary Burrill. “The people of Nova Scotia want to see the land protected, not sold off to an American billionaire who wants to build a golf course.”

Iain Rankin was the Minister who made it possible for the Liberals to delist Owls Head from the Parks and Protected Areas list. The NDP government did extensive public consultation to create the Parks and Protected Areas plan in 2013.

“We are facing a climate emergency. And while Iain Rankin stands by and sells off park land, we should be focused on doing whatever we can to deal with the impacts of climate change that are coming,” said Burrill. “Nova Scotia needs to be protecting more land for future generations, not less.”

An NDP government would stop the sale of Owls Head and commit to ensuring no other park that is pending protection would be sold in secret. And an NDP government would move Nova Scotia towards protecting 25 per cent of our land and water by 2025, and 30 per cent by 2030, in line with international commitments.

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