Acadian groups want a Chignecto Isthmus national park
'It's the perfect area for a national park to preserve our heritage'
A group that represents Acadians in New Brunswick is asking the federal government to turn the Chignecto Isthmus into a national park.
The marshy, low-lying area on the border of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia is important as a transportation link and has historic significance for Acadians and Indigenous people.
The Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick (SANB), along with the Fédération acadienne de la Nouvelle-Écosse and the Société Nationale de l'Acadie, sent a brief to the Canadian Senate standing committee on transport and communications asking for the designation.
"It's the perfect area for a national park to preserve our heritage," said acting SANB president Nicole Arseneau-Sluyter.
The Chignecto Isthmus connects Nova Scotia with the rest of Canada. (CBC News)
The Chignecto Isthmus is a key transportation corridor between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for both road and rail traffic.
But the low-lying and marshy nature of the area means it's at risk due to climate change and rising sea levels.
"The isthmus is threatened by rising sea levels and more frequent severe weather events," said the March 2022 report from a climate change engineering and feasibility study conducted by the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The report said the estimated value of goods and services passing through the isthmus is about $35 billion a year.
The Senate committee is currently discussing Bill S-273 — an Act to declare the Chignecto Isthmus Dykeland System and related works to be for the general advantage of Canada, introduced by Independent New Brunswick Senator Jim Quinn.
That bill, if passed, would make the federal government financially responsible for work needed to protect the isthmus.
The low-lying and marshy nature of the area means it's at risk due to climate change and rising sea levels. (Khalil Akhtar/CBC)
The federal government and the provinces have been in a battle to determine who should foot the bill for infrastructure work needed to protect the area.
The bill has already passed first and second reading in the Senate and is now at the committee stage. It would still have to pass third reading before it could move to the House of Commons.
While the bill isn't specifically advocating for a national park, Quinn told Radio-Canada he felt a park would be the best long-term solution.
The area includes several historic sites, including Fort Beauséjour. (Kate Letterick/CBC)
He said the move would protect the area for future generations.
The area already includes several national historic sites including Fort Beauséjour–Fort Cumberland National Historic Site in New Brunswick and Beaubassin and Fort Lawrence National Historic Sites in Nova Scotia.
Arseneau-Sluyter said those sites could partner with a newly created national park.
"The sky is the limit at this point," said Arseneau-Sluyter.
"Everything is on the table to talk about and it's just the beginning of a conversation."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Information Morning Moncton and Radio-Canada
Feds' reluctance to pay for Chignecto Isthmus work 'embarrassing' for N.S. Liberal MPs: Houston
Ottawa has said it will cover half the $650M bill, but N.S. premier says that's not enough
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston took aim at the province's eight Liberal members of Parliament on Thursday, admonishing them for not convincing their own government to fund the work necessary to protect the Chignecto Isthmus.
The dike system that protects the stretch of land connecting Nova Scotia to New Brunswick and the rest of the country is in need of upgrades to protect against climate change, sea level rise, and storms that blow through the Maritimes — but there's no agreement on who should pay the massive bill.
"It starts to look more and more embarrassing for our Liberal members of Parliament in this province," Houston told reporters following a cabinet meeting Thursday. "To be part of a caucus who is being so unresponsive to such an important, important issue for the province that they represent."
Ottawa has said it's willing to pay half the estimated $650 million worth of work necessary to shore up or replace the dikes and other structures.
Dissatisfied with that offer, the Nova Scotia government launched a court action last July to force Ottawa to foot the entire bill. New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have since joined that case.
The Chignecto Isthmus connects Nova Scotia with the rest of Canada. (CBC News)
That legal battle started just days after Nova Scotia and New Brunswick reluctantly applied to a federal program designed to fund climate change-related mitigation projects. It was their attempt to get some money from Ottawa for the project.
Both Houston and his minister of public works pointed to an announcement this week in Quebec City as proof Nova Scotia's claim for full funding is more than justified.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans to spend $1 billion over the next 25 years to repair, repaint and maintain a bridge that spans the St. Lawrence River in Quebec's capital city.
A news release issued by the Prime Minister's Office described the Pont de Québec as "a critical regional transportation link, a strategic freight corridor, and an important element of the Canadian supply chain."
Premier
Tim Houston compared the Chignecto Isthmus to the Pont de Québec, a key
piece of infrastructure that Ottawa recently announced would receive
funding to maintain a bridge over the next 25 years. (Jean Laroche/CBC)
Houston said the same was true of the highway and rail line that run through the Chignecto Isthmus.
"When I hear the federal government [say] that particular piece of infrastructure is an important regional connector, I like hearing that because so is the isthmus," said Houston. "When I hear about the importance of that piece of infrastructure to the movement of goods and people, I like that because so is the Chignecto Isthmus.
"If that is the criteria that the federal government will use, then I am happy and I wonder what the delay is."
His cabinet colleague, Public Works Minister Kim Masland, agreed with the premier's reasoning, but took a harder stance. She accused the federal government of "a lack of leadership."
"Seeing what's happening with climatic events in our province, we're one storm away from losing that very important trade corridor," said Masland. "It's also not about just losing an important trade corridor, it's a possibility of losing communities, losing lives."
The minister said she believes Canadians are getting "fed up" with the Trudeau government.
"Do the right thing," she urged Ottawa.
Minister
of Public Works Kim Masland agreed with Houston's remarks, and accused
the federal government of 'a lack of leadership,' in regards to the
Chignecto Isthmus. (Jean Laroche/CBC)
Zach Churchill, the leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, suggested the province should be satisfied with the federal government's offer to pick up half the tab.
It's "very similar" to how the province's highways are paved, he noted.
Churchill put any delay in the project squarely on the shoulders of the Houston government.
"The premier is choosing to attack our federal MPs, the federal government, instead of actually working with them to get this project done," he said. "They put politics before people."
NDP Leader Claudia Chender suggested the province be less "combative" and more "constructive" with the federal government.
"What has to happen is everybody has to put their grown-up pants on and sit down at the table and come to an agreement about how to go forward," said Chender.
According to the Department of Public Works, Nova Scotia has spent roughly $450,000 on a feasibility study and "various professional services" for the Chignecto Isthmus project.
The province is also looking for a project manager for Phase 1 of the work.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
N.B., N.S. formalize partnership on Chignecto Isthmus work
Preliminary work has started in lead up to construction project that will take 10 years
The governments of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have signed an agreement for how they will work together on the early planning stages required in the lead up to the upgrade of the Chignecto Isthmus.
The memorandum of understanding was announced through an order-in-council in Nova Scotia and affirms the intention for the two governments to co-ordinate the work when it's feasible and in the public interest.
That includes a steering committee to oversee the work, communications about the project, and First Nations consultations.
A spokesperson for the Nova Scotia government said the document formalizes work that was already underway, including studying the impact of water movement in the area, procuring project-management services for early work, as well as engaging with other levels of government, academics and other partners.
All of this is leading up to the massive construction project to upgrade and strengthen the dyke system that protects the stretch of land connecting Nova Scotia to the rest of Canada. That work is necessary to protect the area from the threats of climate change, including sea level rise and storms that are increasing in terms of frequency and severity.
MOU separate from constitutional question
Along with the Trans-Canada Highway, the land includes the rail link between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and infrastructure for fibre optics and electrical transmission lines owned by New Brunswick Power and Nova Scotia Power.
When the construction work begins, it's expected to take 10 years and could cost at least $400 million.
It's estimated that $100 million worth of trade crosses the Chignecto Isthmus every day.
The Chignecto Isthmus is the piece of land connecting Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. (CBC News)
The memorandum of understanding between the two provinces is separate from the constitutional reference case the Nova Scotia government has brought before the province's Court of Appeal.
The province wants the court to rule on whether the dykes — which protect interprovincial transportation, trade and communication links — fall within the exclusive legislative authority of Parliament.
The provinces want that question settled because although the federal government has said it would cover half the project's cost with the other half falling to the governments of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the premiers of the two provinces have argued that Ottawa should be responsible for the full expense.
Politicians for both provinces have said they will not allow the court case to delay starting work on the project, and so the two efforts are happening in tandem.
Nova Scotia's deputy minister of public works said last fall that a construction plan and corresponding tenders could be ready by November of this year.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
No comments:
Post a Comment