In Canada’s Impact Assessment Act, the word is defined as meaning “the ability to protect the environment, contribute to the social and economic well-being of the people of Canada and preserve their health in a manner that benefits present and future generations”.1 Human wellbeing and intergenerational equity are also invoked by the definition of “sustainable development” in Nova Scotia’s Environm. [...] Among the criteria that the report recommends for the Minister’s decisions to approve or reject undertakings is a criterion that would require the Minister to consider whether an undertaking accords with or would undermine the core values of the community or communities that the undertaking would affect. [...] In conducting the EA, the joint review panel treated the core values of the community of Digby Neck and Islands as a “valued environmental component” for the purposes of assessing whether the proposed project would cause “significant adverse or beneficial physical, biological, or socioeconomic environmental effects and would be in the public interest”.9 The joint review panel also contextualized i. [...] The Panel finds that the Project as proposed would not make a net contribution to sustainability in the context of local and regional aspirations.12 Ultimately, the EA of the proposed Whites Point Quarry and Marine Terminal Project led to the proposed project being rejected. [...] The recommendation in the attached report to include communities’ core values among the criteria for sustainability-based decision-making in the public interest has two purposes: one, to serve communities by affirming the significance of their collective visions and voices; and, two, to armour the Minister and the Government of Nova Scotia against legal challenges like the one initiated by Bilcon.
- Pages
- 7
- Published in
- Canada
