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CBC
10-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
Don't expect shoreline development ban to end soon, P.E.I. environment minister says
It will be years before a provincial government moratorium on Prince Edward Island coastal development is lifted, according to an update provided Wednesday in the legislature. The temporary prohibition was announced in December 2022 after concerns were raised about stone armouring put in place around a vacation home being built in Point Desroche on the Island's North Shore. The province is now in the process of developing shoreline protection plans for 17 areas covering every part of the Island's coast. Environment Minister Gilles Arsenault said the first of those plans won't be ready until the end of 2027. In the meantime, the restrictions will stay in place. "We want to make sure we get it right and we're not going to rush into any final decision," Arsenault said. "I think it's a reasonable timeline, and people seem to be connecting with my department if anything needs to occur if they are shoreline owners." Scenes from the legislature: Exchanges on coastal development restrictions and long-term care beds 3 hours ago Duration 2:00 Provincial officials say it will be years before restrictions on coastal development on P.E.I. will be lifted. And the province's health minister says P.E.I. is moving forward with a plan to expand long-term care beds on the Island. These were among the topics that came up in the P.E.I. Legislative Assembly this week. Back in 2022, then-environment minister Steven Myers implemented a moratorium on shoreline development until the department comes up with a new policy delineating what landowners can and can't do to protect their properties from coastal erosion. Since that order, permits related to new development in the coastal buffer zone have been frozen, with some exceptions. Report acting as roadmap In late 2023, the UPEI-affiliated Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation released a report outlining 16 policy recommendations to inform the government's future decisions about coastal development. The province commissioned the report as a roadmap to show politicians and civil servants how to mitigate damage from future weather events along the lines of the devastating post-tropical storm Fiona back in 2022. The government was also dealing with heated questions about buffer zones and shoreline access tied to the controversial Point Deroche project. The site sparked public outrage because the massive stone armouring installed to protect the property from erosion blocks access to the public beach. Arsenault said Friday that the first protection plans will be aimed at Lennox Island and the area stretching from Charlottetown around the southeast corner of P.E.I. up to the Boughton River. Islanders need to be able to protect their properties... and this government has only been an impediment to doing that. — Liberal MLA Robert Henderson Some politicians, including some within the governing Progressive Conservative ranks, have been critical about the length of time the restrictions have been in place. In the legislature Friday, Liberal MLA Robert Henderson said the two and a half years that lie ahead until the first of the pilot projects is announced in 2027 constitutes an "extreme amount of time." He added: "I thought for sure the minister would be making an announcement [today] that the moratorium would be lifted and allow Islanders to start to be able to protect our land. "Islanders need to be able to protect their properties, protect their investment, and this government has only been an impediment to doing that." But others, like Green MLA Peter Bevan-Baker, called the plan "absolutely critical" for protecting P.E.I.'s coastlines, no matter what the timeline looks like. In the meantime, the province will allow development permits in some exceptional cases, including repairs to existing critical infrastructure. Arsenault urged any Islanders with shoreline properties to contact his department if they need to request an exemption in a case like that.
CBC
02-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Islanders and political leaders reflect on Lawrence MacAulay's 36 years of public service
Islanders and political leaders are commemorating Lawrence MacAulay's 36 years of public service following his retirement announcement Saturday. MacAulay's colleagues and constituents of his Cardigan, P.E.I., riding gathered at the Jim MacAulay Complex in St. Peters Bay for the formal announcement. "I remember when I got elected, there was not a whole lot of activity on this part of the Island.… I had a part in it, but everybody had a part in it," MacAulay said in an interview with CBC News. "Things have changed and changed for the better." MacAulay is the longest-serving MP in the Island's history, having represented the eastern P.E.I. riding of Cardigan since 1988. "Lawrence never forgot where he came from," said Barry Hicken, who worked for MacAulay for nearly 25 years. "Lawrence always put the issues first. He always made sure what he'd done was a benefit for Prince Edward Island and Cardigan in particular," Hicken said. Impact on the Island In addition to working with MacAulay, Hicken said he considers the agriculture minister a friend. "I really never felt I had a job," Hicken said. "When you went to work with Lawrence, you didn't feel like you were going to work." MacAulay is a household name in every house in Cardigan, and in a lot of houses in Prince Edward Island, he said. "He did a lot of good things," Hicken said. "He brought a lot of good stuff to Prince Edward Island." The UPEI-affiliated Canadian Centre for Climate Change and Adaptation in St. Peters Bay, along with MacAulay's work looking after the ferry service will be part of his legacy, Hicken said. The next MP for Cardigan will have big shoes to fill, said Floyd MacLean, president of the Cardigan Liberal Association. "It'll be hard to find somebody as popular, for sure," said MacLean. "But things always change and there is lots of interest." MacLean said that while it's sad to see MacAulay go, "he certainly deserves a good retirement." MacAulay's more than three-and-a-half decades of public service have been a "tremendous contribution from a public service standpoint," said Ian MacPherson, executive director P.E.I. Fishermen's Association. "I don't know if anyone will ever achieve that type of service record in the House," MacPherson said. MacAulay has an ability to relate to people and "to kind of light up a room with positive energy," MacPherson said. "It doesn't mean that the minister hasn't been serious around serious issues, but generally [he had] a positive attitude, a can-do attitude and [was] a very great representative of Prince Edward Island," he said. MacAulay has advocated on behalf of Islanders in Ottawa on a number of items — not just in caucus, but at the cabinet table also, said MacPherson. "Sometimes we didn't get the answers that we liked, but we appreciated that Minister MacAulay — along with our other Island MPs — do punch above their weight in terms of getting things heard in Ottawa." Farewell from federal leaders MacAulay's colleagues in Ottawa also wished him well following his retirement announcement. MacAulay "has served his community, his province and Canadians ably over decades," Catherine McKenna, former minister of climate and infrastructure, said in a post on X. "Thanks Lawrence and your amazing wife Frances for your incredible service to [Canada]!" the post reads. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former prime minister Jean Chrétien both appeared virtually with farewell messages. "I know this wasn't an easy decision for you," Trudeau said. "For so long now, you've been making sure that folks back home have someone fighting for them every day in Ottawa." "For over 36 years, and 11 election victories, you've never lost sight of what is most important: the people. And the ferry." In his video address, Chrétien told MacAulay to "enjoy life with your lovely wife and your three daughters and the rest of the family."
