Tim Houston says fracking opponents are drowning out other voices
Posted Apr 22, 2026 02:57:07 PM.
Last Updated Apr 22, 2026 04:51:41 PM.
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says some opponents of fracking are drowning out voices who want to have a conversation and learn more about new fossil fuel production.
Houston posted the comments on social media, along with a short video of a consultation session in Windsor, N.S., hosted by Dalhousie University on Monday evening.
The provincial government kicked off the consultations more than a year after lifting a ban on fracking that was in place for over a decade.
Houston says the consultations should provide a space where all Nova Scotians can speak, not just the loudest voices in the room.
He also says the actions of opponents could prevent the province from pursuing an important discussion about jobs, energy production as well as environmental concerns.
Badia Nehme, an energy coordinator with Halifax’s Ecology Action Centre, said those protesters represent just some of the many Nova Scotians who are concerned about the environmental risks tied to fracking.
Nova Scotia is kicking off public consultations on its controversial plan to allow natural gas exploration more than a decade after fracking was first banned in the province.
In December, the provincial government tapped Dalhousie University to administer a program that will see university researchers and the private sector study the province’s estimated 198-billion cubic metres of onshore natural gas.
The $30-million program, which will offer companies financial incentives as they explore the province’s reserves, comes after the Progressive Conservatives lifted a decade-long moratorium on fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, last year. Fracking involves pumping a mix of water, sand and additives into wells at high pressure, which has been criticized by environmental groups.
Environment and Climate Change Canada is conducting ongoing research evaluating exploration and production techniques with an eye to preventing air and water pollution and other impacts. Fracking can sometimes be linked to earthquakes, but the federal government says they’re usually relatively minor in scale and rarely felt.
Public meetings are being held in select communities in the coming days. Written submissions can be provided online until the end of May and, if all goes to plan, the first exploratory wells could be drilled this summer.
With files from Devin Stevens, The Canadian Press.
