Beyond the Implementation Gap: A Narrative Analysis of Nova Scotia’s Endangered Species Act

Abstract

Many species continue to decline in numbers in Canada, despite a complex tangle of laws related to the conservation and protection of biodiversity. Nova Scotia’s standalone legislation, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has been in place since 1998, with an overarching goal to protect at-risk wildlife across the province. However, for reasons that have not yet been documented in academic literature, key recovery activities under this Act have been delayed in their delivery or remain altogether absent. Through the first known systematic content analysis of both the ESA itself as well as related government and public media publications, this research seeks to provide insight into why this legislation has not produced its intended results. Findings suggest less than half (46%) of the actions prescribed by the ESA are discretionary, meaning that no guarantee exists to ensure the actions will take place, undermining the overall efficacy of the Act. Furthermore, relative to public media narratives pertaining to the ESA, government narratives tend to offer a much more positive, less nuanced representation of the Act which disproportionately emphasizes the listing process. Thus, this study highlights the need for a critical and observant public media, capable not only of advocating for more stringent implementation of the Act, but also of enhancing public scrutiny aimed at the underlying ambition of this legislation. In reversing the negative trends in biodiversity observable in Nova Scotia, I recommend that (1) discretionary language in the ESA be removed in favour of enforceable standards, (2) public media increasingly continue to offer critical perspectives related to the implementation of the ESA as well as its conservation outcomes, and (3) both government and public news media augment their coverage of other, non-listing actions taken under the ESA. In this way, important mechanisms of public accountability for government-mandated species at risk protection can be strengthened, ultimately increasing the capacity of Nova Scotia to effectively address the biodiversity crisis at hand.