Submitted by Peter Sheehan
Vision:
These are resources that must have short and long term management plan and in a framework where the local residents have elected representatives sit on the management boards .
Strengths:
We have supply and need to ensure it is not wasted
Barriers and Issues:
The fact no one knows what we really have and who has control, also that we see development that is questionable, we see mine sites never cleared up, we have no water management to watch supply and the sale of water, we are not watching what the resource produces in terms of products and who gets the real cash benefit, is it a Nova Scotian, Canadian or USA shareholder.
Community's Priorities:
water supply, forest supply, lack of oversight such that rural farmland just grows in.
Guiding the health and sustainability:
You need to manage the economics of each resource to know the ownership, the use, the future, the benefit,etc. You need people with experience and knowledge, not just the "developers" deciding everything.
Additional Comments:
The role of government at all levels is not clearly understood. The way existing legislation is managed is not at all visible. I saw a permit issued under the Beaches Act to allow a use of a beach but that use was not covered by the Act. There was no real review of this permit, one natural resource officer made the decision without any assessment by anyone. We have mines sit and not get reclaimed simply because the owners had no money at risk and the Government had no clout.