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HANSARD 06-15 PRIVATE MEMBERS' PUBLIC BILLS FOR SECOND READING MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Opposition House Leader. [Page 898] MR. KEVIN DEVEAUX: Mr. Speaker, would you please call Bill No. 26. Bill No. 26 - Cape Breton Strip Mines Moratorium Act. MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Cape Breton Nova. MR. GORDON GOSSE: Mr. Speaker, it's an honour today for me to rise on the matter of this bill, Bill No. 26 - Cape Breton Strip Mines Moratorium Act. The Department of Environment and Labour approved strip mining at Point Aconi. Conditions laid out by the province - let's start off with the Committee Against Strip Mining, they've tried for over a year and a half, or possibly two years now, to realize that what's going to happen to their beautiful part of Boularderie Island, Point Aconi, outside the fence of the Prince Mine, and now they have a problem with a committee. The province has overall jurisdiction of the coal leases in Cape Breton or anywhere else in the province. They have given a lease to Pioneer Coal Limited of Antigonish. Mr. Speaker, the problem is that they have also implemented a community citizen liaison committee. It's the first time in the Province of Nova Scotia that this committee will remain anonymous. I will honestly say that the minister was quoted as saying, if I remember correctly, that we don't like operating in this way with a community liaison committee, it's better if it functions in a way that is more open. But apparently this committee is not going to be open. Nobody knows who's on this committee. The committee members felt it was necessary to stop their names from being forwarded of who is on that committee. Mr. Speaker, how can that be an open dialogue between the community liaison committee and the members against strip mining on Cape Breton Island? The Cape Breton Regional Municipality has passed the resolutions stating that they are against strip mining. Mr. Speaker, the member for Victoria-The Lakes, in his campaign, said that he was against strip mining. So I'm hoping that with a little bit of support from the member for Victoria-The Lakes that he'll get the ear of some of his caucus colleagues to maybe tell them how important it is not to strip mine this beautiful piece of land, 228 hectares, of which 18 hectares is beautiful swamp land, cranberry bog, where they have fossil discovery, all kinds of beautiful places on the hill there, a beautiful beach; they're going to bring in a high-wall miner and dig down 150 feet into that beautiful piece of land. What's going to happen to the fishery? What's going to happen to people's water? What's going to happen to the water table? All of those issues. If anybody in this Legislature wants to have a good look at what's happening in strip mining, take a drive to the Sydney-Glace Bay highway and alongside the airport - the old airport road in Reserve - and have a good look at that moonscape, have a good look at what was done to that piece of land when that was strip mined. It's a moonscape. There is nothing that grows there, there's nothing on it at all. Seventy-two per cent of the people living on beautiful Cape Breton Island do not want this strip mine on their island. I don't know what the message is, or how loud and clear we can get this through to the House of Assembly, to other people, when we have that many people - 72 per cent do not want strip mining on Cape Breton Island. I just don't understand. In a democratic society when you vote members to the Legislative Assembly to listen to the people, the people are saying overwhelmingly in Cape Breton that we're still having strip mining with the opposition that's out there now. I recently attended a "day" held by the community citizens against strip mining over on the old road - I guess they call it the cranberry bog. I have some beautiful pictures I took on that day, beautiful pictures of growth forest, of the ocean, the Bird Islands and everything. To destroy that. How many jobs are going to be created? It reminds me, to go back in the history of when the people from England came to Cape Breton Island to open up the coal mines there, we saw how they treated our grandfathers and our forefathers - they owned them. We saw the labour disputes, we have Davis Day, a holiday. We saw how the company owned the company store, people lived in company houses. Is this what we're going back to again? The history of strip mining is not a good piece of history in Cape Breton or anywhere else in Nova Scotia at this present time. Mr. Speaker, 72 per cent, 6,906 people were surveyed and over 72 per cent of those people said to them that they do not want strip mining. It's very clear that this is an issue of government - government, very clear - more interested in looking after the interest of big business rather than looking after their citizens. The member for Victoria-The Lakes lives in that riding, a part of that is in his riding. Now, Mr. Speaker, he campaigned in the election that he was against strip mining, he sits in that office with them. I just hope and pray that he can convince the members that he sits with on that side of the House to not strip mine beautiful Cape Breton Island, not so much for my generation but for my children's generation. To come down the back side of Kellys Mountain and see a 150-foot hole as you're driving down that mountain, for what benefit, benefit of big business? We should be promoting ecotourism, we should be promoting the beautiful Cape Breton Island. Tourism rates are down in the Province of Nova Scotia and down in Cape Breton, why not promote ecotourism? Why not have people come to our beautiful island for boating and exercise and biking? Mr. Speaker, 228 hectares, 18 hectares of wetland, what's going to happen to the habitat of the wetland? Where are they going to go? Are they going to die off? Here we are with more species endangered in the Province of Nova Scotia. It makes it very clear that this is to support big business, Mr. Speaker. I don't know how many rallies or how many protests over the years since I have been elected in this Legislature that I attended on behalf of the citizens in my riding and listened to the desperate plea of people. We got elected to come to this Legislature to do what you can do for the constituents that you represent, on a daily basis. Now here we are hearing from 72 per cent of the people, 72 per cent who don't want strip mining. For what, Mr. Speaker? I could go on and make this political of how many people donated to the campaign of this Party and that Party. I'm not going to do that. {Interruption) That's right, who won the seat, I hear from the other side. Absolutely right, they voted in the member because he told them that he was going to go to Halifax and he was going to convince his caucus colleagues not to strip mine on Cape Breton Island. You're absolutely right when they said that member over there, absolutely, and they're not listening to him. They are still strip mining. Mr. Speaker, there is an appeal before the Department of Environment and Labour; 50 recommendations that were to be met. Some of those recommendations are not being met. The member for Victoria-The Lakes knows how disappointed these people are that this is going to happen to their beautiful island. I guess when I think when the campaign was on and I think if I am correct that the member had said that it may have to go to the Supreme Court of Canada. I distinctly read that in an article, I think, somewhere when I was out, in the Cape Breton Post or The Chronicle Herald, that maybe we have to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. Well, I am hoping that member can appeal that decision to the members in his caucus when he campaigned, like the rightful member over there said, against strip mining in Cape Breton - a beautiful island, but nobody wants strip mining, Mr. Speaker, nobody. Who wants to tear up that island, for how much? For 1.6 million? How much employment - I mean maybe the minister can stand up when I am finished here and tell everybody in this House how much money is going to be made, what are the benefits of jobs to the people of Cape Breton Island? We've heard that in our history, we were there when the people from England came in and took those jobs and put people to work and controlled their lives. We have been through all of those strikes and all those things in the past. Here we are again, a democratic society, not listening to the people of Cape Breton Island, not listening because of big business. We're going to destroy that beautiful island - 1.6 million tons of coal. How much money is that going to bring? How much money is that going to give the Province of Nova Scotia? I don't understand why this government is so forceful on pushing strip mining on this beautiful island. Now I know when the member for Victoria-The Lakes drives home every weekend like I do, when he comes down that back side of the mountain and sees that hole on beautiful Boularderie Island - I will be tabling pictures of that sometime in the near future in this Legislature; the one of the cranberry bog, the one of the ocean, the one of the view of Bird Islands, and the member knows how beautiful a place that is - all for big business. The citizens against strip mining are being left out. They protested for well over two years, if not longer, since I have been a member. Thank you. MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Natural Resources. HON. DAVID MORSE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do appreciate the chance to get up and speak on the importance of mining in Nova Scotia and I appreciated the comments from the previous speaker but I would like to draw attention to what this is about. This is a bill before the House. It is called An Act to Enforce a Moratorium on Strip Mines in Cape Breton. I'd like to talk a little bit about what is actually in the bill, and then draw to a provincial perspective and what that, in fact, would do to the provincial economy, and specifically the mining sector. It explains that strip mining basically includes any kind of open pit mine, with the exception of a quarry. So I would assume that might even conceivably include gravel pits. It goes on to say that under this bill, were it passed today and proclaimed and put into law, that no new strip mine - again, that would be any type of open pit mine - shall be permitted to begin or any existing strip mine to expand its operations within Cape Breton, which is really quite a profound statement. I would suggest, Mr. Speaker, that Acts that are passed within this Legislature should not be confined to just one part of the province - by and large - if this is what the NDP believes is appropriate, and that is fair ball. [4:45 p.m.] It's a policy question. It's a philosophical difference between the government and the Official Opposition, the government being in support of mining in the province - and I have no problem with the fact that we're having this debate in the Legislature. They've put their feelings on paper, their beliefs on paper. In essence, the argument that I am making is that this Act is so restrictive that if it was applied across the province - and I would suggest that if this seriously went forward, it would either be a provincial Act or it would be none - that in essence it would shut down mining activity in this province. Why do I say that, Mr. Speaker? I would suggest that Nova Scotians might be interested to know that of the 35 active mines in the province, 33 of them are open-pit mines. There are two underground mines - they're both salt mines, Pugwash and Nappan - but the rest are open-pit mines, and what I would suggest is that to put a freeze on that kind of activity would be absolutely catastrophic for the mining industry in this province. There is a mining policy that drives the decisions as to whether a mine is going to go forward or not in conjunction with the Department of Environment and Labour, which of course does the environmental assessment and, ultimately, if it passes, provides the industrial approvals. So we have a philosophical difference in our point of view as it pertains to mining. Asking my department for their comments, they confirm that they feel that the definition of strip mine, as contained in the NDP bill, would appear to capture all open-pit mines including limestone, marble, gypsum, and other commodities. Staff advise that this bill would immediately shut down the entire mining industry in Cape Breton, including gypsum operations that collectively provide more than 220 direct jobs and, of course, enormous economic benefits to the affected community. The mineral industry continues to provide stable, high-paying jobs. From exploration to extraction, mining is now a modern, capital-intensive industry that is dependent on sophisticated and automated computerized equipment and highly trained employees. Mining is very important in the Province of Nova Scotia, it's very important in this country. We are a leader in mining in the world, a world leader. Mr. Speaker, it is very important to support our social safety net that we generate economic activity to create taxes, to keep our hospitals open, to support our public school system and all the other things that we cherish as Nova Scotians. In order to do that, and the way to bring that into the future, is to close the productivity gap that Nova Scotia struggles with, as does the rest of the Atlantic Provinces, and basically become a more affluent part of Canada, and with the taxes that will generate, will be good for supporting all those things that Nova Scotians hold dear. To be specific there are also spinoffs from the mining. It provides employment, say in the Strait area where we mine gypsum. Mr. Speaker, you may be aware that Nova Scotia produces about 70 per cent of Canada's gypsum. We have a wallboard plant there, value added. What would happen to the wallboard plant in the Strait area if we were, in effect, to put a moratorium on expanding mining gypsum in Cape Breton? That is clearly a matter that is worthy of debate, but I want to assure the people of Cape Breton that this government stands firm behind all the employees of those various mines and we will continue to support them. Mr. Speaker, surface mining is not new to Nova Scotia, nor is it confined to Cape Breton - it takes place right across the province. Just a few statistics on the impacts of mining in the province - 5,300 jobs are dependent on mining. That is an enormous employer. A $400 million contribution to the economy and growing, and we hope it grows more. By supporting our mining policy, we believe that will happen. We are spending about $8 million annually - the industry is spending about $8 million annually in exploration for new mineral deposits in Nova Scotia, something that we must encourage. I'm not sure this bill is going to make any prospective investors want to do exploration in Nova Scotia, and that is a concern. A wide range of Nova Scotians provide services to the mining industry. We have transportation, manufacturing, construction services, business services, wholesale and retail, financial services, laboratory and testing services, technical services, engineering, heavy equipment sales - I could go on, Mr. Speaker, I could go on for some time. How does the mining industry pay its employees? It pays them, on an average weekly wage, of over $1,000 a week. That's over $50,000 a year. And where are those jobs? They're right across the province, but a lot of them are in rural Nova Scotia where we need that economic development. We have to support that economic development. That's more than 40 per cent higher than the average of all other sectors. Mr. Speaker, I think it's very important to bear in mind that this government's mining policy, developed over the years, supports the rural economy. A wide variety of manufactured products are produced right across the province. If we were to implement this bill effectively, we would shut down those mining operations over time, because there would be a freeze on any expansion of the existing ones, and other promising ones that are in the chute would be shut down. This would send a very sinister message to the mining industry, if this House were to consider passing such a bill. Mr. Speaker, I could go on, but I think that we've made our point. We're very proud of our mining sector in Nova Scotia, we want to be supportive of our mining sector in Nova Scotia. It is an integral part of our economy, and it is part of the solution for the Province of Nova Scotia to be able to continue to support our cherished social safety programs. With that, I will take my seat and look forward to the comments from the Liberal Party. MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister - the member for Kings West. MR. LEO GLAVINE: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that introduction. MR. SPEAKER: I figured you would. MR. GLAVINE: Certainly, on this bill, we had staked out our position earlier when this was first introduced in the House. Our position is that we would take each application for strip mining in Cape Breton or anywhere across the Island and take a look at the merits of that particular application. To say that we should have no mining, no strip mining whatsoever, on Cape Breton or anywhere else in the province is certainly an unrealistic position. We're not in support of a moratorium for strip mining for Cape Breton. However, because I look at, for example in the Annapolis Valley, the 80-year history of the gypsum mine in Falmouth. There's no question that they have done a very responsible job in the totality of that mining operation. They've been great corporate citizens. Any time there have been environmental concerns and issues raised regarding water issues, dust and so forth, the company has responded very strongly and very favourably, and they have been a tremendous employer. However, in regard to the strip mine at Point Aconi, we have some major concerns about that particular area, and certainly would like to review for the House some of the developments around the approval to go ahead on Point Aconi. It was on December 2, 2005, the Department of Environment and Labour announced several changes made in the response of the cumulative effects of surface coal mining on the island. In particular, that approvals for surface coal mining applications in Cape Breton Regional Municipality will have a greater emphasis on restoring disturbed land to its former or other productive uses. Nevertheless, on the same day that this new guide to surface coal mining reclamation plans and the surface coal mine action plan were released, in fact it was on December 2nd that Pioneer Coal registered its additional information as an addendum. The Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Labour accepted public comments for the project addendum until December 16, 2005. Now, with the new action plan and guide to surface coal mining, plans quickly forgotten on December 28, 2005, the Minister of Environment and Labour released his final decision on the project: "The Minister has decided to approve the undertaking in accordance with Section 13(1)b of the Environmental Assessment Regulations, pursuant to Part IV of the Environment Act." Based upon a review of the conceptual design, environmental baseline information, impact predictions and mitigation presented in the registration information and subject to a number of conditions. "The proponent is required to obtain all other necessary approvals, permits or authorizations before commencing work on the undertaking." So then, on April 4, 2006, the provincial government issued a press release stating that the province is scaling back the size of the lease area for a surface mining project at Point Aconi, while putting 13 other potential surface coal mining projects on hold for three years. Obviously, the minister here was trying to appease everybody in this regard. Once the company received industrial approval from the Department of Environment and Labour it will be able to mine a full area for which it applied, however, that area is only 58 per cent of the block originally tendered by the province. No applications have been made to the Department of Environment and Labour to mine the remaining area. Thirteen other potential lease sites from the former Devco lease will be put on hold then for three years. News articles of Minister Taylor's private press conference in Sydney on April 4, 2006 report that Pioneer Coal of Antigonish has so far received provincial industrial approval to develop a surface mine in Point Aconi. Mr. Taylor said a proposed site on 288 hectares - and this is where the real problem arises and this is why the member for Victoria-The Lakes has a little bit of difficulty sleeping at night, I hear this from several sources - the site of 288 hectares is mostly wetlands and forest near the defunct underground Prince Mine, and it had been 42 per cent larger before Monday's announcement and contains multiple shallow coal pits illegally dug by hand over the years. This is the area that I have been able to participate in a tour and see the site first hand. I know that during the environmental approval process, and I probably should table those documents perhaps at another time but, certainly the Department of Environment and Labour field workers themselves raised a lot of issues around the environmental impacts that the strip mining on Bouladerie at Point Aconi was going to have. In fact, if we take a close look at that document, we will clearly see that they raised issues during the application process, which in fact got pushed aside. [5:00 p.m.] On June 13, 2006, 13 out of the area's 14 candidates campaigned against strip mining, including two newly-elected Conservatives. Ignoring the facts and the will of the people and their other elected representatives, on September 13, 2006, the Nova Scotia Government announced that they have issued an industrial approval for Pioneer Coal to strip mine Point Aconi. One of the most significant environmental concerns around coal mining and aquatic environments is acid mine drainage. Certainly again, if we take a look at the history of aerial photography in this area - and again, that's something that we certainly feel the Department of Environment and Labour neglected to take into account and that was the runoff from some of the older sites of strip mining, and the acid mine drainage that was going right along the coastal area. Certainly, again, a great concern raised for the lobster fishery, in particular, in that area. The influx of untreated acid mine drainage into streams can severely degrade both habitat and water quality, often producing an environment devoid of most aquatic life and unfit for desired uses. Surface coal mining can affect the transportation network. These effects can be broadly classified as short and long term effects, and short term adverse effects are expected since traffic associated with coal development is likely to place increased demand on local roads and associated infrastructure. One of the issues, of course, that we feel is not balanced here is the fact that royalties that the province will receive amount to approximately $9 million. So we have made the tradeoff of $9 million on royalties that certainly will impact on the wetlands, on the forests, agriculture, tourism, and certainly a disregard for the citizens who wanted to keep the gem of Boularderie Island in a stronger long- term natural state. I personally think, and the caucus has talked about this, that there will be short and long term implications of this mining operation. So I wanted to bring that up in the context of this bill, the NDP, and the moratorium that they are presenting. MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Halifax Atlantic. MS. MICHELE RAYMOND: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to this. What I think I should probably begin with, though, is talking about some of the things that this bill does not say because that seems to be a lot of topic of discussion so far. It has been said that Acts in general should apply to the entire province. First of all, I'm not at all sure that that is a principle of this House, and there are numerous private Acts as will. This bill, however, does not purport to apply to the entire province and nor do a great many other bills. The Minister of Natural Resources has said that if the bill applied, then it would shut down open-pit mines all over the province. Well, it doesn't apply to the entire province. It applies to Cape Breton. He has also said that it talks about quarries. Unfortunately, it doesn't. (Interruption) I beg your pardon? Why Cape Breton? Why not Cape Breton? If it did, in fact, speak about quarries - it doesn't. It says, specifically, that it does not include quarries. It doesn't actually ban mining. What it asks for is a moratorium, a three-year moratorium, and in effect this is perhaps tantamount to what has been said by my Liberal colleague, who says that every mine should be dealt with on a specific basis of its own. The minister has also said that there is a philosophical difference in the province about mining. Perhaps there are some differences about this mine and these mines, but if there is a philosophical difference, I would suggest that it is on the extent and the purpose of consultation and assessments. What the bill does talk about is the need for having an effective assessment process. The fact of the matter is that not only the residents of Cape Breton, but the residents of the province have a stake in this, not just the economic gains but the environmental losses. There is a phrase that says, when coal was king. Coal isn't king any more, except perhaps on Boularderie Island. We noted today in this House, the 50th anniversary of the Springhill mine disaster. We know that coal is old technology. This proposal is to go back to reclaiming or to expanding on the scarred areas around an old mine. Coal mining has taken place in Nova Scotia , as well as in other parts of the world, for hundreds of years but we are now realizing that greenhouse gas emissions, which are a significant product of the combustion coal, stand to do tremendous damage to all people on this planet, not just to the people of Boularderie Island. The people of Boularderie Island have certainly got some other concerns, though. They are quite justified in worrying about their groundwater supply. They have tried to make this point over and over again, but the result of it has been that an industrial approval has been granted for seven years to Pioneer Coal to work these mines and extract 1.6 million tons of coal during that time. Interestingly, though, it seems that almost everything except the coal itself in this enterprise is covered. We hear about private press conferences and that really amazing phrase, an anonymous citizen's liaison committee. How exactly is this kind of liaison supposed to take place? Does the committee put bags over its head before it asks a question, what do you think, and this is what is about to happen. Citizens' liaison committees can hardly liaise if they are anonymous. This is an extraordinary violation of all the stated principles of consultation and, one would think, of community development. Secret communications - there is a massive document out there on how to do consultation. I am afraid sometimes I find myself tempted to say that consultation is not much more than Nova Scotia's most expensive hobby. It takes a tremendous amount of time, energy, and money, and it doesn't always end up bearing fruit. What we hear all the time is, we're listening. We don't always hear, we hear. I can tell that, because frustrated citizens approach all levels of government about the fact - and these are large numbers of frustrated citizens - about the fact that referendums, plebiscites, consultations, have ended up without any result that they would hope for. We get petitions sometimes, and that is a good qualitative way of doing it. It is not a very fine tool, but we can spend years in consultations. It seems to me that what this bill is asking for, is a really solid and focused report that comes back to the House of Assembly because this is a serious matter. It is not even just a matter of one coal mine, it is not a matter of one strip mine or one island in Cape Breton. It is a matter of, how do we handle the comments, the beliefs, the very health of our citizens nearby and all over the province. The fact is that we are hearing over and over again that people don't want this to take place. They don't want this old technology, they don't want the groundwater breached, they don't want it contaminated with the mercury that often flows out from peat bogs, they don't want salt water flowing into their wells, they don't want coal burnt either in the United States or here. In fact, we are now apparently engaged in complaining to the United States about their burning some of our coal. We don't want those things because of the impact it has around the world. The consultation is narrow, and it's not heard. So I would say that when a member of the government suggests to his - oh, I'm sorry. MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. It is very difficult for the Chair to listen to the speaker. I would ask honourable members to take their volume outside, if at all possible. Thank you. The honourable member for Halifax Atlantic has the floor. MS. RAYMOND: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When a member of the government has to say - and I feel great empathy for him - that he has to say to his constituents, well you can appeal to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, that says dreadful things about the way which this government places on environmental concerns. Three seconds or three minutes? There's an irony, too, in that the Department of Environment and Labour at this point, which has just granted this approval, is the very same body which is about to begin issuing well testing kits. The same body, which says it's important to know what's in your well water, but is offering no way of protecting your well water. There's a tremendous lack of coordination here. There are no doubts whatsoever that acidification of the ground water table presents a tremendous threat to everybody with a domestic well supply. I'm not aware that we are suggesting that central water service be extended throughout Boularderie Island. So, there's a double assault on the water table. There's the breaching, there's - in fact, I'd say there's a triple assault - there's a breach in the water table, there is a threat to quantity, there is danger to the chemical composition as a result of acidification when the overburden leaches and bleeds into the existing water table, as well as the loss of the natural filtration, which is performed by wetlands and bogs on Boularderie Island as anywhere else. When the water is compromised, it's not just compromised really, really close to the site. We have a bigger problem here. There's no reason for the people of the province to be overriding - to be asked to overlook the overriding of the pleas to not exploit this old technology, that which was king many years ago, to not further endanger the climate of the province and please, by the way, to leave alone Boularderie Island. Thank you. MR. SPEAKER: The time for debate on Bill No. 26 has expired. I recognize the honourable Opposition House Leader.
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