According to documents accessed through Freedom of Information (FOI), there is now a “new interpretation” of the Wetland Conservation Policy, which not only violates the original Policy, but has functionally delisted potentially thousands of hectares of Wetlands of Special Significance (WSS) in the province.
There has always been a lot of "creative wordsmithing" around forestry regulations/management by successive governments, e.g., “We have now developed tools that ensure that all harvest treatments are aligned with the nature-based requirements of Nova Scotia’s lands.” but wetlands always seemed sacrosanct. Until Now. Thx for keeping our eyes open, LP. Your highlighting the government's reference to "open data" as a way claiming they are being fully transparent is especially pertinent, I have had the same kinds of difficulties trying to understand what's going on in forestry/rollout of the TRIAD.
Thanks for pursuing this further. As David P. has commented, there does seem to be a lot of creative wordsmithing that goes on with everything to do with the environment - and many other areas as well. I always feel like we are dealing with an entity that has fully embraced the "bullsh*t baffles brains" modus operandi and simply changes words and meanings to fit the situation. It's infuriating.
Having covered a lot of this bafflegab for the last twenty years with regards to forestry, I will say that this is different. This is an official policy that is being changed behind our backs -- putting thousands of hectares of wetlands of special significance at risk. I am astonished at how little media coverage this has garnered (I think the CBC ran one story on it back in September). Pretty maddening.
I agree. I thought it was pretty much an accepted thing that, ever since Ramsar, everyone was on board as far as understanding the importance of protecting wetlands -- especially now that we know so much more about their ecological function. Unfortunately, it seems like those in the NS government are behaving much like the Ford government in Ontario - steamrolling over policy. There should be more backlash as there was in Ontario, although even there, it took a while before people twigged onto what was happening and got organized to fight. Your research may help to open some eyes here in NS. There seems to be so much going on that it's hard for people to stay focussed. I know that has been a problem for me, so I very much appreciate what you have been doing.
There has always been a lot of "creative wordsmithing" around forestry regulations/management by successive governments, e.g., “We have now developed tools that ensure that all harvest treatments are aligned with the nature-based requirements of Nova Scotia’s lands.” but wetlands always seemed sacrosanct. Until Now. Thx for keeping our eyes open, LP. Your highlighting the government's reference to "open data" as a way claiming they are being fully transparent is especially pertinent, I have had the same kinds of difficulties trying to understand what's going on in forestry/rollout of the TRIAD.
Thanks for pursuing this further. As David P. has commented, there does seem to be a lot of creative wordsmithing that goes on with everything to do with the environment - and many other areas as well. I always feel like we are dealing with an entity that has fully embraced the "bullsh*t baffles brains" modus operandi and simply changes words and meanings to fit the situation. It's infuriating.
Having covered a lot of this bafflegab for the last twenty years with regards to forestry, I will say that this is different. This is an official policy that is being changed behind our backs -- putting thousands of hectares of wetlands of special significance at risk. I am astonished at how little media coverage this has garnered (I think the CBC ran one story on it back in September). Pretty maddening.
I agree. I thought it was pretty much an accepted thing that, ever since Ramsar, everyone was on board as far as understanding the importance of protecting wetlands -- especially now that we know so much more about their ecological function. Unfortunately, it seems like those in the NS government are behaving much like the Ford government in Ontario - steamrolling over policy. There should be more backlash as there was in Ontario, although even there, it took a while before people twigged onto what was happening and got organized to fight. Your research may help to open some eyes here in NS. There seems to be so much going on that it's hard for people to stay focussed. I know that has been a problem for me, so I very much appreciate what you have been doing.
Oh, this and the Coastal Protections Act. :/ Your reporting is excellent.
All being done with marketing experts. It is chilling at how good they are getting at manipulating public opinion through obfuscation.