[sust-mar] Sperry's Beach

[Tom Daly]

Diana Whalen
NS Minister of Justice and Attorney General

Re: Sperry's Beach

Dear Minister Whelan;

Further to my previous messages on this subject:

In the interim, we have obtained a copy of Order in Council 2015-318,  
dated September 25, 2015. After considerable research in the  
Bridgewater Land Registry, no deeds or other transactions related to  
the OIC have been registered in the eighteen months that have passed  
since.

In the summer of 1997, the Department of Natural Resources was  
obviously in need of some reassurance re their on-going relationship  
with Himmelman.  Instead of availing themselves of the Crown legal  
counsel available to the Department, they decided to expend public  
funds ("with respect to Fees and Disbursements ...my title searcher  
spent 32 hours ...costs amount t0 $599.00. I would appreciate being  
permitted to bill my time at 10% of my searcher's time, or 3.2 hours  
at my regular rate of $200.0 per hour + HST") to hire a private-sector  
attorney:

"On behalf of the Department I would like to hire you to determine the  
strength of the Himmelman title for the area"
Trevor Dalgleish
Manager
Acquisition Section
August 20, 1997

The response is dated January 13, 1998.  The Department of Natural  
Resources has continued to rely on this "opinion" to justify their  
relationship with and support of Himmelman ever since:

"the area below Drew's Hill Road is held by the Himmelman family ...  
Department of Natural Resources and Department of Justice staff have  
again reviewed J. Patrick Morris' opinion together with the maps and  
deeds referenced. We concur with his conclusions"
Brian Gilbert
for Richard Hurlburt
Minister
December 3, 2004

"the historical, geographical and statute support offered in your  
response would have been considered by Department research staff,  
solicitors and surveyors subsequent to Mr. Morris' opinion. Our  
research would have been based on accurate and original evidence.  
Additionally, we do not take issue with the Morris report"
Richard Hurlburt
Minister
March 24, 2005

"We concur with his conclusions" ... "we do not take issue with the  
Morris report" ... early precursors of the current 'alternate facts'  
meme: since the Morris report clearly reaches the unequivocal  
conclusion that Himmelman, as of January 13, 1998, _did not_ hold  
title to either "the Sperry's Beach spit" or the shore lands between  
the former coastal road and the Petite River / Atlantic Ocean.

Nor has any effort been made to acquire title in the now 19+ years  
that have passed since.

It is simply beyond my capacity to comprehend the motives of  
Department of Natural Resources staff to put their Minister at 50/50  
risk of the embarrassing position of having to 'report and recommend'  
to his peers that the Governor in Council rescind his earlier  
recommendation.  For seventeen years prior to the existence of  
2015-318 DNR had on file a bought-and-paid-for document which should  
have caused them to demand that "the aforesaid parties are able to  
certify title to the land in a manner deemed sufficient by the  
Department of Justice" be the prime required precondition to even  
opening discussions regarding the conveyances authorized in 2015-318:  
not an after-thought "if" parameter. I have great difficulty  
understanding why this is not a Regulatory requirement in _any_  
transaction involving public and private land: Step One: produce  
'certified true copy' of certified title documentation; Step Two:  
Hello ...

I had originally (26 Feb 2017) written "to request your immediate  
intervention in this transaction, to bring it immediately to full halt  
pending full disclosure of the circumstances leading to and  
particulars of this "land swap" To that I will now add a full  
investigation of the Department of Natural Resources staff who have  
played a role in this since its earliest beginnings.  We have on file  
every piece of correspondence between our community and any government  
agency or agent involved since this "trade" or "swap" was first  
proposed back in the early 90's, every media report printed, and a  
battery of photographs of various aspects of the events that have  
occurred, and are more than willing to share, should you invite our  
assistance.

I yet again hope to hear from you at your earliest convenience.