March 1, 2019

March 14, 2019 Many jurisdictions are trying to enact new laws to protect their coastlines from various pressures, such as offshore oil drilling and climate change. Recent examples include the Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act and the Atlantic Coastal Economies Protection Act in the United States. Both of these statutes are limited to protecting marine habitats along the American coast by prohibiting specific activities associated with offshore oil and gas drilling. They are not examples of comprehensive coastal protection legislation that would indicate the range of activities permitted in a demarcated zone along a coastline. The provincial government of Nova Scotia has recently set out to create such a regime through a proposed Coastal Protection Act (CPA). Who Owns the Coast? In Canada, various governmental authorities have an interest in working together to manage the country’s vast coastlines. Under the Constitution Act, 1867, section 91 grants the federal Parliament legal authority over navigation, shipping, and seacoast and inland fisheries. Section 92 outlines the authority of provincial legislatures to create laws concerning property rights, local works, non-renewable natural resources, and electrical energy. In addition, section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes and affirms the existing Aboriginal and treaty…