By Gary Schneider

All Islanders are being asked to give their thoughts on land use in the province.  To say that this has been a long timing coming would be a dramatic understatement.  The lack of a proper land use plan has been negatively impacting the province for a long time.  When I served as a member of the provincial Round Table on Resource Land Use and Stewardship, our 1997 report seemed to heading us in the right direction.

Our public meetings had turned up a lot of resistance to zoning, especially from the agricultural community.  Many people expressed concerns over possible restrictions on what you could do with your land.  It is not as though farmland is being protected.  The lack of legislation – in a lot of areas – continues to cause problems.

Recently, the provincial government has opened our wallets and hired a consultant to create a survey for Islanders on this issue.

The Coalition for the Protection of PEI Land reported that an out-of-province consulting firm has been paid $135,000 to design the consultation.

The survey can be found at peilanduse.ca/ and takes about 20 minutes to complete.  Will it be worth your time to complete?  As always, I live in hope.  I am reasonably sure that if you don’t participate, the province will take your silence as satisfaction, and that’s certainly not the message that I want to send.

The survey ends with the following: “Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Your input will help shape the future of Prince Edward Island. Every response adds valuable insight into how Islanders want to see their communities grow and adapt in the years ahead.”

I think we will need to hold government’s feet to the fire and not forget what they have promised – that we can help shape the future of PEI.  Clearly, that means that one of the key tenets of meaningful public participation – that participants must have the ability to influence the final decision – is being honoured.

And while we’re talking about land use legislation, and recognizing its importance, we continue to be negligent in regards to the lack of protection for our flora and fauna not listed under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA).  If it isn’t a species such as the piping plover or the St. Lawrence Aster, and on federal land, there is little to no protection.

A report published by EcoJustice noted that “PEI’s law automatically prohibits destroying, disturbing or interfering with the habitat of an endangered or threatened species.  But no species are listed, so no habitat is protected.”  PEI received the lowest ranking of the Atlantic provinces.

A recent report published by the East Coast Environmental Law Association (ECELAW) found that not much has changed.

Simply Not Protected: An Evaluation of Prince Edward Island's Legal Framework to Protect Species at Risk, assessed whether Prince Edward Island's Wildlife Conservation Act is succeeding in its purpose of protecting endangered, threatened, and vulnerable wildlife and their habitats on the Island.  The conclusion?  It’s not.

We have so many species here that deserve our protection but there is a reluctance to do much to safeguard our rarest flora and fauna.

A summary of the ECELAW report, and a link to the full report, can be found at https://www.ecelaw.ca/news/new-report-calls-for-new-species-at-risk-legislation-in-prince-edward-island.html

We must do a better job of protecting the environment, including rare species.  Our future really does depend on it.