“Special Interests” Rhetoric and the Importance of Government Transparency and Accountability in Nova Scotia
March 6, 2025
East Coast Environmental Law is a regional charity that provides public-interest environmental law services throughout Atlantic Canada. Those services include public legal education, community support, and law reform advocacy that aims to ensure Atlantic Canadians are protected by environmental laws that steward the natural resources we all depend on for health and wellbeing.
In my work as an East Coast Environmental Law staff lawyer, I’ve seen firsthand that numerous Nova Scotians treasure the natural world as a source of spiritual connection, cultural expression, recreational enjoyment, and economic stability. The unique landscapes and seascapes of Nova Scotia shape community identities and family lifestyles throughout the province and, for many, shape our sense of what it means to be Nova Scotian.
In my work, I’ve also seen firsthand that when communities in Nova Scotia experience environmental harms—when estuaries, lakes, and rivers are polluted and community members can no longer fish or swim; when groundwater contamination makes rural well water unsafe to drink; when industries in and near residential neighbourhoods emit dust or fumes that make it difficult for adults and children to work and play outside—community members feel devalued as members of Nova Scotian society. I’ve seen this time and again when individuals and community groups throughout Nova Scotia call us, email us, and submit inquiries to ask us to explain the environmental laws of this province and answer why it is that those laws seem to be failing to protect them.
In recent weeks, Nova Scotians have been told repeatedly by government leaders that so-called “special interests” are actively working against the people of this province by standing in the way of lucrative resource development. The rhetoric began with a January 21st memo from the Premier to the members of the Progressive Conservative caucus and a corresponding letter to the people of Nova Scotia that appeared on the front page of The Chronicle Herald on January 25th. The rhetoric was later amplified in the Speech from the Throne that was delivered on February 14th, in which Nova Scotians were told that our economy has been “captured by special interests”, that these unnamed “special interests” have been given “vetoes that impoverish our fellow Nova Scotians”, and that these “special interests” are working to scare and polarize Nova Scotians at the expense of the most vulnerable in our province.
These provocative statements have been understood by many as a cynical attempt to create and control a narrative around Bill 6: An Act Respecting Agriculture, Energy and Natural Resources.
Tabled in the provincial House of Assembly on February 18th, Bill 6 is designed in part to repeal Nova Scotia’s Uranium Exploration and Mining Prohibition Act, which, as its name suggests, prohibits uranium exploration and mining in this province. Bill 6 is also designed to repeal an unproclaimed (i.e., not yet legally operative) amendment to Nova Scotia’s Petroleum Resources Act that was written to prohibit hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in Nova Scotia. These proposed changes will open Nova Scotia to forms of energy resource development that historically have inspired massive public concern. Addressing such concern head-on through meaningful public processes and Crown-Indigenous consultation would be a productive way to foster the “mature discussion” the Premier says we need to have about Nova Scotia’s energy resources. Regrettably, instead of being invited to participate in a discussion, Nova Scotians have been subjected to disingenuous rhetoric that dismisses significant public concern as the selfish opposition of unnamed and unrepresentative “special interests”.
It's worth reminding ourselves that in 2014, an independent review panel on hydraulic fracturing in Nova Scotia, commissioned by the provincial government of the time, reported that “Nova Scotians are divided on the question of hydraulic fracturing for the development of unconventional gas and oil, but with a majority against” (see page 47 of the panel report; my bolding). The panel highlighted a “trust deficit” in Nova Scotia and the reality that most Nova Scotians of the day didn’t believe that companies in the province were operating in an environmentally responsible manner; the panel also noted that many Nova Scotians of the day were concerned about “regulatory capture” and insufficient integrity of government regulations (see pages 30, 32, and 39 of the panel report). Although the panel concluded that fracking could potentially be pursued in Nova Scotia in a way that would benefit Nova Scotians economically, the panel also recommended that significant preparatory work—including scientific and technical research, development of regulations, and public processes to seek community consent—be undertaken first to address information gaps and build public trust (see page 3 of the panel report). The panel also emphasized that “having citizens and communities involved in the risk assessment and decision-making processes regarding unconventional gas and oil development would be an important first step co-generating the knowledge that may help to unlock and mitigate potential problems before they occur, while increasing trust amongst stakeholders” (see page 3 of the panel report).
For many years, environmental assessment and regional assessment processes have been a key focus of East Coast Environmental Law’s advocacy. Regional assessments are “big-picture” processes that, among other things, can help governments assess the likely environmental, human health, and socioeconomic effects of introducing multiple projects of the same kind into a region. Currently, Nova Scotia’s environmental laws don’t empower the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to initiate regional assessments, but we’ve argued that such a power would be a useful addition to Nova Scotian law. In the context of Bill 6, a provincially-led regional assessment would be a valuable way to invite Nova Scotians to participate in a meaningful dialogue and comprehensive assessment of the predicted environmental, human health, and socioeconomic effects of introducing uranium mining or fracking to Nova Scotia.
Project-specific environmental assessments of proposed industrial projects can also be significant opportunities to involve Nova Scotians in dialogue, information-gathering, and analysis. Inclusive and participatory environmental assessments are opportunities for Nova Scotians to share their local knowledge or Indigenous knowledge to address information gaps and improve effects analyses; they are also opportunities for Nova Scotians to ask questions, raise concerns, and gain trust that their interests will be taken into account in government decision-making.
(Notably, assessment processes like these aren’t substitutes for meaningful Crown-Indigenous consultation or Crown efforts to obtain Indigenous consent to industrial activities that affect Indigenous territories.)
Transparency, accountability, and a commitment to respectful and genuine dialogue are all crucial aspects of strong decision-making by governments. Not all Nova Scotians will agree with every resource decision made by the provincial government, but dialogue, debate, and dissent are all part of a healthy democracy.
On the same day Bill 6 was tabled in the provincial House of Assembly, the Premier tabled Bill 1: An Act Respecting Government Organization and Administration. Among other things, Bill 1 proposed changes that would significantly limit the independence of Nova Scotia’s Auditor General and enable government ministers to suppress Auditor General reports. The unprecedented public outcry against these proposals demonstrated Nova Scotians’ dedication to a democratic society in which government is held to a high standard of transparency and accountability, and the public response motivated the Premier to abandon the changes he’d proposed.
Government transparency, accountability, and genuine commitment to dialogue are especially important in an age of rampant misinformation and polarization. Statements and actions by the US government in recent weeks threatening Canada’s sovereignty and imposing economic pressures are deeply concerning, and we understand that the Government of Nova Scotia, like other governments throughout Canada, is facing enormous challenges. It’s also clear that strengthening Canada’s energy security while accelerating the renewable energy transition will require frank discussions here in Nova Scotia and across the country to determine what energy sources and new energy infrastructure will serve Nova Scotians and Canadians best in the long term.
February’s Speech from the Throne paradoxically called for unity amongst Nova Scotians while using a “special interests” straw man to dismiss legitimate public concerns about controversial resource development plans. From my perspective as a practitioner of public-interest environmental law, it’s government transparency and accountability, accompanied by processes that meaningfully involve Nova Scotians in the difficult decisions to come, that can help us truly come together to meet the challenges of our time.
Coming together in unity and solidarity doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll agree on everything all the time, but, if we can embrace respectful dialogue on the decisions that matter to all Nova Scotians, I have no doubt that our collective courage, goodwill, and resilience will shine through.
Tina Northrup
Staff Lawyer
