At a time when ever-evolving Trump threats are encouraging all Canadians to put aside their differences and stand united Tim Houston\u2019s divisive rhetoric is troubling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In continuation of a theme that began a few weeks ago Nova Scotia\u2019s premier regaled the PC party\u2019s annual general meeting this past weekend with an evidence-free attack on the \u201cspecial interests\u201d (presumably environmentalists) allegedly holding back resource development in the province. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the Halifax Examiner<\/em> reported, Houston repeated to the 600-strong audience of Tories that his advice to \u201cspecial interest groups and the professional protestors that we see showing up around the province is \u2018join us in putting Nova Scotia first and moving the province forward.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Except for introducing the bogeyman of \u201cprofessional protesters\u201d it was the same message Houston has been putting out since Donald Trump celebrated his January 20 inauguration by issuing tariff threats against Canada and Mexico. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a leaked six-page memo to the PC caucus, later condensed to a full-page front-page ad in the Chronicle-Herald,<\/em> the recently-re-elected Nova Scotia Premier used the possibility of tariffs to execute what NDP leader Claudia Chender aptly described as a bait and switch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the same way that Trump promised lower grocery prices and an end to inflation to get elected, the “bait” Houston dangled before the electorate in the fall was a bland \u201cMake it Happen\u201d platform. That ho-hum, business-as-usual approach lulled Nova Scotians into states of indifference or acceptance sufficient to deliver to Houston some 78 percent of the seats in the House of Assembly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The “switch” is a manifesto that calls for aggressive resource development, accompanied by the demonization of anyone that stands in the way. And in a weird twist, this Trumpian approach is being justified as a response to the threats to our economy and fiscal stability posed by Trump\u2019s autocratic regime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is not only his strategy that mimics Trump, so does Houston\u2019s verbal hyperbole and combative tone. His basic message – that Trump\u2019s threats have increased the need for economic self-reliance – is something that some will embrace. However, his prescription for achieving that is based on – like most of Trump\u2019s utterances – a lot of vainglorious hooey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Assessing the opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Houston, Nova Scotia is \u201cblessed with countless opportunities\u201d but these these are untapped because previous governments lacked the courage to take on \u201cspecial interests (which) have captured too many parts of our economy and have had an out-sized voice in policy creation.\u201d These special interests must be overcome in order to \u201ctake the \u2018no\u2019 out of Nova Scotia.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few of the \u201ccountless opportunities\u201d mentioned by Houston include offshore wind and tidal power, \u201cgreen hydrogen\u201d and mining of critical minerals, including lithium for the batteries that make electric cars run. Although they remain speculative, there is nothing inherently controversial about those examples. What has stirred things up – besides his slagging of undefined special interests – is Houston\u2019s questioning of long-standing bans on uranium mining, fracking for on-shore gas and, for a short while, the moratorium on offshore drilling on Georges Bank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Houston makes it sound like bans are a big, prosperity-stifling deal. \u201cOutright bans of entire sectors are lazy public policy and we will reverse bans and focus on meaningful, mature discussion,\u201d he says. \u201cWe can\u2019t expect Nova Scotia to prosper when we ban industry after industry.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality does not match Houston\u2019s rhetoric. Prosperity through natural gas and uranium seems even more far-fetched than dreams of green hydrogen or tidal power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For natural gas, the likelihood, as I described in 2014<\/strong><\/a>, and again in 2018<\/strong><\/a>, is that Nova Scotia\u2019s onshore petroleum resources are too limited to justify the environmental risk from fracking. As for uranium, legally banned for 15 years following a 30-year moratorium, it doesn\u2019t even make the list of potential critical minerals identified in the government\u2019s 2023 Critical Minerals Strategy. Lithium\u2019s on there, along with 14 others, but no mention of uranium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And the notion that the bans are the result of undue influence by, as Houston would have it, 2% of the population, is not supported by the historical record. Rather than examples of “lazy public policy”, for both uranium and fracking, the moratoriums followed lengthy public consultations. With the exception of the 2014 fracking ban, opposed by Houston and the opposition PCs when it was introduced in the legislature by the McNeil government, there has been all-party support for the measures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Georges Bank bungle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Houston showed his ignorance or indifference towards history when he suggested ending the ban on drilling for oil and gas on Georges Bank, one of the most lucrative fishing areas in the province. That prompted an immediate outcry from the fishing industry, confounded by the fact that Houston\u2019s government had recently passed legislation renewing the federal-provincial moratorium on drilling on Georges. Houston quickly backtracked at the behest of that special interest, but in another Trump-style move, blamed the controversy not on his own bone-headed comments but on – you guessed it – some other special interests. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a letter to PC MLAs, Houston denied ever wanting to consider opening up Georges Bank to drilling for oil and gas. \u201cThis narrative grew because special interests aligned to promote falsehoods,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe will respect the moratorium because we want to protect our traditional industries while we grow new ones.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Falsehoods? In a news briefing following the leak of his first memo to caucus, reporters asked specifically about the moratorium and whether it was one of the development bans he wanted to revisit. “I will look at everything. What can be done safely – that\u2019s the lens,” Houston said at the time. \u201dJust think about this: right now, if somebody mentions Georges Bank and we’re nervous to have a discussion – we have to have a discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But blaming others for his own mistakes was not enough. His damage-control message to caucus amped up the scapegoating. \u201cMy call to action is about the many new-to-Nova Scotia industries like hydrogen, wind, and critical minerals that can be done safely\u2026 That\u2019s where the discussion lies,\u201d the Premier wrote. \u201cSpecial interests have captured many parts of our economy and have had an out-sized voice in policy creation. They aren\u2019t happy this is about to end. They will try to frighten Nova Scotians to achieve their goals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that\u2019s not the end of it. Even though the next provincial election is years away, party fundraisers are asking supporters to chip in now to \u201chelp us stand up to the NDP and the special interests\u2026that have held Nova Scotia\u2019s economy hostage for too long and are desperate to stop us from developing our resources.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The newly-elected legislative assembly sits later this week. It will be interesting to see whether there will be a continuation of the hostile tone that has been animating the government in recent weeks. The PCs have been attacking those who allegedly want to keep the \u201cno\u201d in Nova Scotia. I\u2019ll be looking to see whether \u201cProgressive\u201d creeps back into \u201cProgressive Conservative\u201d or if Houston and his party continue down the divisive Trump-lite path they are on at the moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n -30-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At a time when ever-evolving Trump threats are encouraging all Canadians to put aside their differences and stand united Tim Houston\u2019s divisive rhetoric is troubling. In continuation of a theme that began a few weeks ago Nova Scotia\u2019s premier regaled the PC party\u2019s annual general meeting this past weekend with an evidence-free attack on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[210],"class_list":["post-3528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-resource-development","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.formac.ca\/starrspoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.formac.ca\/starrspoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.formac.ca\/starrspoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.formac.ca\/starrspoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.formac.ca\/starrspoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3528"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.formac.ca\/starrspoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3534,"href":"https:\/\/www.formac.ca\/starrspoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3528\/revisions\/3534"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.formac.ca\/starrspoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.formac.ca\/starrspoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.formac.ca\/starrspoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.formac.ca\/starrspoint\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}