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COMMENTARY: Put nature first: The only veto that matters

Our planning laws treat nature as a resource to be managed. It’s time to recognize that our well-being is inseparable from the health of the natural world.

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For decades, environmental assessments have been a box-ticking exercise. We ask: What is the impact? We demand: How will you mitigate it? But in this era of ecological collapse, biodiversity and climate change these questions are dangerously outdated. They assume nature is a problem to be managed, a resource to be offset. We need a new legal and ethical baseline.

Before a single shovel breaks ground, every industrial proponent must be required to demonstrate, with scientific rigor, that they have put nature first.

A shift in perspective is needed

This is not merely a regulatory tweak; it is a culture change. Putting nature first invites us to make a simple shift in perspective: from seeing nature as something around us to recognizing it as something we belong to. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we grow, the animals and the places that bring us peace, wonder, and belonging all remind us that our well-being is inseparable from the health of the natural world.

This understanding echoes Indigenous principle of Netukulimk, which has long held humans as caretakers within, not conquerors of the natural world. This initiative encourages Nova Scotians to pause, reflect, and rediscover that connection — a necessary foundation for any lasting policy or way of life.

The flaw of compensation – a licence to destroy

Our current regulatory approach works in reverse. For example, consider Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s policy of habitat compensation. Under the Fisheries Act, proponents who cause the “harmful alteration, disruption or destruction” (HADD) of fish habitat can receive authorization provided they compensate to achieve “no net loss.”  In theory, they must avoid and mitigate harm first. In practice,........

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