NCC saves land, Brown wants to save group time and effort

Newly appointed Environment Minister Richard Brown wants to cut red tape for groups who conserve land on P.E.I.

Brown made the remarks during a Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) event in Miscouche on Friday.

The group announced the acquisition of 144 acres of ecologically important salt marsh and woodland habitat in the Abram Village area.

NCC is a national not-forprofit that buys ecologically important land from private owners and holds it in trust for all Canadians.

Brown was invited to make remarks on behalf of the province at Friday’s announcement, during which he said it didn’t make sense for the NCC to have to apply to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) every time they make a land purchase on P.E.I. “These organizations are working with the government of P.E.I. and the people of P.E.I. to protect vulnerable property here … and they’re not in it for a profit. So it’s important that we do anything we can to assist them and help them do their job,” said Brown.

The minister said he recently directed IRAC and his own department to look at exempting NCC and groups like it from some aspects of the P.E.I. Lands Protection Act. Under the act, as a nonresident entity, NCC’s land purchases have to be vetted by IRAC and ultimately given cabinet’s stamp of approval. Brown said he’d rather see the group use the time and money it puts into navigating that red tape towards acquiring more land for protection.

Julie Vasseur, P.E.I. program director with the NCC, said that her organization puts a significant effort into its IRAC applications and typically does several every year.

The prospect of not having to that anymore, or at least not as often, would be a great benefit for her organization, she said.

“It’s a really helpful thing. It saves me time and money. Time especially.”