What our Bioblitz Revealed - and Why Premier Houston Must Not Interfere

This weekend, more than a dozen community divers braved the cold waters of Dartmouth Cove for our first-ever Bioblitz. Their goal? To document what actually lives beneath the surface of the very area ARCP wants to bury under tens of thousands of tonnes of pyritic slate.

What they brought back was astonishing.

Sea stars, mussel beds, hermit crabs, ctenophores, sculpins, green urchins,, anemones, rockweed, and thriving juvenile habitat — the Cove is alive in every possible sense of the word.

This stands in stark contrast to how ARCP leadership has repeatedly characterized the Cove. They suggest all that can be found on the seabed is “Three feet of… black sludge”, that it’s a “very poor ecosystem that doesn’t support fish habitat", and that it is “unsafe for direct human interaction.”

None of this is true.

And our divers’ photos prove it beyond debate. For a full download of all of the images collected you can click below.

BioblitzImages.zip

Download ZIP • 299.73MB

DFO Has Already Said It: ARCP’s Proposal Will Destroy Fish Habitat

This is not a matter of opinion.

In written correspondence, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has formally determined that ARCP’s infill proposal would:

• Destroy 27,000 m² of marine fish habitat

• Cause mortality of fish and invertebrates through burial

• Trigger a HADD authorization — the highest level of ecological harm assessment

DFO only considers HADD authorizations when a project cannot avoid harming habitat.“Offsetting” is their last line of defence — not a free pass to destroy functioning marine ecosystems. And as their own guidelines make clear, that avoidance is always the preferred option.

Dumping slate into a thriving marine ecosystem is not unavoidable. It is a choice, and a bad one. Brad Hickey of ARCP has said that they feel that everyone is against them. The reality is that when you propose a terrible idea, people are going to call you out on it. Bruce Wood of ARCP has said that environmental concerns are a moot point. The abundant marine life in Dartmouth Cove may be mute and unable to speak up to defend itself, but it is anything but moot.

No one wants this. 

So Why Is Premier Tim Houston Interfering?

In recent comments, Premier Houston dismissed HRM’s newly passed Dartmouth Cove bylaw as "ambiguous" and “political”.

Let’s be clear about what’s happening here. The Premier is publicly undermining a democratically passed municipal bylaw; the very same type of bylaw he had no issue with when HRM applied identical protections to the Northwest Arm earlier this year.

There was no talk of “ambiguity” then. No accusations of “politics.” No provincial intervention.

So why now? What’s different about Dartmouth Cove? Well, here’s one key detail Nova Scotians deserve to understand:

The primary beneficiary of overturning HRM’s bylaw is ARCP’s CEO, Tom Hickey — a personal friend of Premier Houston. If the bylaw falls, Hickey stands to make millions through his infill proposal.

This is not speculation. It is publicly documented. And it makes the Premier’s sudden eagerness to interfere in municipal decision-making deeply troubling.

Nova Scotians should not have to wonder whether environmental policy is being shaped to benefit the Premier’s friends.

This Isn’t “Political.” It’s Protection.

HRM’s bylaw is simple; it protects Dartmouth Cove from destructive infilling, in the same manner that HRM has already extended to the Northwest Arm with no protest from the Province. The only “political” manoeuvring happening here is coming from the Premier’s Office.

When a municipality takes action to protect the environment, uphold public access, and preserve natural assets for future generations, that’s not politics, that’s leadership. And when the Province steps in to undermine those protections on behalf of a private developer, that’s not governance, that’s interference.

Our Bioblitz Proves What’s at Stake

The Premier can call the bylaw whatever he wants. He can attempt to downplay the ecological value of this area. He can stand beside ARCP’s narrative.

But he cannot argue with the truth captured in these photos:

• Mussel beds anchoring entire food webs

• Juvenile habitat essential for fish species at early life stages

• Rockweed gardens supporting invertebrates and sheltering nurseries

• Camouflaged sculpins and other complex predators

• A rich mosaic of marine life that only exists in established, healthy, functioning ecosystems

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This is not the “black sludge” ARCP described. This is a living marine community and the Premier should be doing everything in his power to protect it, not work to overrule the bylaw standing between it and total destruction.

Now Is the Time to Be Loud

We cannot afford to assume that common sense will prevail. Not when political interference is on the table. ARCP stands to profit from silencing community voices and the Premier has already signalled that his government will likely try to undermine HRM’s authority in this matter.

The Province needs to respect Municipal authority just as they did in the Northwest Arm and Premier Houston needs to remove himself from further interfering in a bylaw where he has a clearly perceived conflict of interest. We need to continue to make it clear that infilling in Dartmouth Cove is unacceptable. 

Every email, every phone call, every social post, every conversation — it all matters.

If we don’t speak loudly, the Premier will assume we don’t care.

But after this weekend’s Bioblitz, after seeing firsthand the life that exists just below the surface, we care more than ever.

Dartmouth Cove deserves protection. And we’re not backing down. Email Minister John MacDonald and let him know that the proposed HRM bylaw to protect Dartmouth Cove must be approved. You can email Minister MacDonald at dmamin@novascotia.ca and Premier Houston at PREMIER@novascotia.ca.