Abraham Zebian, a former warden, now mayor of West Hants Regional Municipality for more than a decade, was surprised when the letter from Premier Tim Houston landed on his desk this past June. It was just hours after his council passed a motion calling for a pause on uranium exploration in the region. Then, he started to worry.

The premier’s letter noted the 90 community and infrastructure projects the province had already funded and the $227 million his government had spent on West Hants. “These are just a few of the investments and I have no doubt that your Council has many more wants and needs,” he wrote.

The letter also stated that the premier appreciated the recent council vote asking him to hold off on uranium exploration in the area was to allow local officials time to get answers for residents who worried about everything from property values to their health. “I’m sure you know that as a Nova Scotian, my government would never do anything to intentionally put our environment at risk.”

Legally, the issue had already been settled. On February 18, Houston had introduced legislation repealing Nova Scotia’s 30-year ban on uranium exploration and mining. That same bill amended the Petroleum Resources Act to enable onshore hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and streamline environmental oversight to speed up project approvals. Passed in March, the new laws effectively rendered any local call for a pause on uranium moot.

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