Raising an objection
CBRM opposing evidence submitted to Big Pond campground appeal
Cape Breton Regional Municipality is arguing that evidence from a group fighting a proposed Big Pond waterpark and campground is not relevant to the project.
According to documents sent to the Utility and Review Board on June 4 by municipal lawyer Demetri Kachafanas, the CBRM is objecting to a qualification statement made by expert witness Sara Beanlands.
According to Kachafanas, the evidence submitted by the appellants is inadmissible as the CBRM has no planning provisions related to archaeological or cultural resource management.
Community residents Roy MacInnis, Maureen Campbell, David Moffatt, Debra Moffatt, Ed MacIntyre, Anne MacIntyre and Helen Doherty have appealed to the provincial regulator over CBRM’s decision to amend its land-use bylaw to allow the project to proceed.
The application has been made under the Municipal Government Act, which sets out the functions and powers of all municipal units.
CBRM’s recent amendment will allow Alberta developer Chris Skidmore to move forward with Phase 1 of the Ceilidh on the Lakes project, that if developed, could see as many as 211 fully serviced RV sites on a piece of land extends to a shore of a pond known as Lochmore Harbour.
Beanlands describes her area of expertise as cultural resource management, specifically archaeological assessment.
“My reason for request for expert witness status is to ensure that concerns regarding potential impact to archaeological resources located within the proposed development footprint at Big Pond will be adequately addressed,” Beanlands writes in the Board submission.
“Thus far, there has been no mention of potential impacts to archaeological resources in the proceedings, although it was named as an environmental concern in a letter from Chief Leroy Denny (Eskasoni) and Chief Wilbert Marshall (Potlotek) to the Honourable Iain Rankin, Minster of Environment, dated March 6, 2018.”
Beanlands said Bras d’Or Lake holds cultural significance to the Mi’kmaw with numerous registered archaeological sites recorded and unidentified sites which, she says, are undoubtedly present.
Due to a number of environmental factors, Beanlands argues that the shoreline of the Bras d’Or is a submerging coastline and it is possible that there are underwater coastal landforms that contain additional archaeological resources as well.
In the municipality’s response filed to the board, Kachafanas said that the scope of Beanlands’ intended evidence goes beyond her stated qualifications.
“With respect to Ms. Beanlands’ archaeological qualifications, there is nothing in her qualification statement or her curriculum vitae to indicate that she has any particular expertise in matters of domestic or international law.”
Instead the CBRM argues that the Board itself is presumed to have sufficient expertise to decide questions of law related to the appeal.
The CBRM lawyer also believes Beanlands is not acting as an impartial expert but as an advocate by urging the municipality to take a particular approach she prefers.
The citizen group later rebuffed the claims in a letter, pointing to CBRM’s own Municipal Planning Strategy which states it shall be a policy of council to develop a liaison the Department of Natural Resources to consider formulating a coastal management plan for sensitive shoreline areas of the CBRM outside the jurisdiction of Provincial Crown Designations for publicly owned lands.
The group says the heritage value of any potential First Nations’ artifacts is also significant enough to warrant their conservation.
The CBRM submitted a second response in relation to the matter on Monday.
The province’s regulator is now expected to issue a ruling on the evidence in advance of its public hearing that is scheduled to begin July 4.
The matter will be heard at the Holiday Inn Sydney Waterfront and will include both a day and an evening session.
The board has also set aside July 5-6 in the event more time is needed.