HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia man says he's worried the province is moving ahead with uranium exploration after his provincial member of the legislature urged him in a phone call to get on board with the province's uranium plan.
Progressive Conservative Melissa Sheehy-Richard is the politician who placed the call to Buddy Hebb last week.
Hebb, 62, says she asked if the province could use a road on his property to access land it wants to explore for potential uranium, to which Hebb replied: "absolutely not."
The lifelong West Hants resident says he supported Sheehy-Richard, elected to represent Hants-West last fall, and considers her a friend.
But during the call, he said she was "trying to convince me that (exploring for) uranium is in the public interest."
The conversation led him to believe the government was ignoring the views of residents who are opposed to uranium exploration, he explained.
Hebb's concerns reflect a emerging controversy over the province's plans to open its doors to the uranium industry, in the face of strong public skepticism over the absence of public consultations. Nova Scotia has had a moratorium on the exploration and mining of uranium since 1981.
But the provincial government issued a request in May for uranium exploration proposals at three sites with known deposits of the heavy metal, including in West Hants. No one submitted any bids.
"They had no interest from any mining companies to come in and do any exploratory work at all. So that's exactly what she told me: that they were going to do it themselves," Hebb said in an interview Monday.
Sheehy-Richard told him "the province was going to set it up, have their own geologists and whoever do exploratory (work) and test well waters," he said.
Sheehy-Richard did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for Premier Tim Houston confirmed Sheehy-Richard had a conversation with Hebb but did not answer questions from The Canadian Press about what she said on the call. Instead the spokesperson sent a statement from the premier that said "there is clearly a high level of misunderstanding" and that the province has not requested access to the road on Hebb's property.
"The government of Nova Scotia removed the ban on uranium development but nothing will proceed without keeping Nova Scotians and our environment safe," said the statement from Houston. "We’re not going to open uranium mines unless it is an industry led project and at this time industry has not expressed any interest."
Houston has left the door open to some government exploration work.
"We'll see," he said on June 12. "It could be that the province needs to get some more information, maybe the province does aerial surveillance."
Nova Scotia's natural resources push has drawn public criticism from some community members near the three potential uranium sites and by First Nations. The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaw Chiefs has called out the province for its failure to consult with Mi'kmaq communities about uranium exploration.
A number of municipalities in the province have also voted to ask the province to pause uranium exploration until they receive more information about it.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2025.
Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press
