Marine Renewable Energy Law and Policy in the Bay of Fundy: The Impact of Ambiguous Domestic Boundaries in Canada on Nova Scotia's Regulatory Framework

• Main Author: Salcedo, Esteban
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: University of Maine School of Law Digital Commons 2019
• Subjects: ocean; coastal; coast; marine renewable energy law; nova scotia; bay of fundy; marine spatial planning; Canada; federal-provincial boundaries; environment; integrated ocean management; marine renewable-energy act; methodology; the constitution act; province; provincial; new Brunswick; jurisdiction; boundaries; coastal management; colonial; the Fournier report; fisheries and coastal resources act; aquaculture sector; marine renewable sector; department of energy; renewable energy; provincial ocean network; sustainable coastal development strategy; resources; coastal zone coordinator; coastal coalition of nova scotia; department of fisheries and oceans; marine renewable energy strategy; ecosystems; integrated management approach; saint john harbor; marine renewable electricity areas; nova scotia standing committee on resources; legislative assembly; land submerged areas; saint john river; vessels; north Atlantic coast fisheries arbitration; territorial; an act to amend the customs act; British Columbia; r v. keyn; supreme court of canada; administration; atlantic; canada-nova scotia offshore petroleum resources accord; Admiralty; Comparative and Foreign Law; Environmental Law; International Law; Land Use Law; Law of the Sea; Natural Resources Law; Oil; Gas; and Mineral Law; Fournier; Scotia Bay; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/oclj/vol24/iss1/2; https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1370&context=oclj

Using a legal history methodology, this paper examines existing marine renewable energy law and policy in Nova Scotia with a focus on its application in the Bay of Fundy. This paper critically assesses the current approach to coastal management in light of recent recommendations summarized in the Fournier report. This paper argues that, despite clear calls to develop integrated ocean management and marine spatial planning in policies and regulations, Canada and Nova Scotia have failed to do so because of unclear federal-provincial boundaries. Ambiguous domestic borders in the Bay of Fundy have been at the source of an overly cautious, issue-driven and jurisdictionally uncertain approach to ocean governance which has permeated marine renewable energy law. This approach is unsuited for today's environmental objectives and does not hold promise for goals to reconcile competing interests in increasingly industrialised waters. Through a historical account of shifting limits in the Bay of Fundy, this paper connects existing doubts and frictions associated with domestic offshore boundaries to ineffective coastal management in an attempt to renew interest in federal-provincial maritime delimitation.