A unexpected call for First Nations consultation on a proposal to build an RV park in Big Pond, N.S., has prompted both the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and the provincial government to look to the other to take the lead.

CBRM council was set to vote on a zoning amendment application for the park on Tuesday night when Coun. Esmond "Blue" Marshall, whose district includes Eskasoni First Nation, made a motion to have the matter deferred pending consultation with Indigenous communities.

Planning director Malcolm Gillis explained that municipalities have no stated responsibility under the Municipal Government Act to consult specifically with First Nations when considering a zoning amendment application.

That obligation would fall to the provincial government at a later stage in the process, he said.

Nevertheless, mayor Cecil Clarke agreed to the deferral to allow the municipal solicitor time to prepare a legal opinion.

Planning director Malcolm Gillis, standing, consults with municipal clerk Deborah Campbell, Mayor Cecil Clarke and CAO Marie Walsh. (Holly Conners/CBC)

"I think it might be very important that the province comes out now and says, 'What do you want to consult about?'" Gillis said Wednesday. "And if it's natural resources, and if it's the body of water called the Bras d'Or, then we have departments that this campground has to get approvals and permits and licences from to operate this.

"At that stage we have a legal obligation, at the provincial level of government, to consult with First Nations people."

More is better

Municipal Affairs Minister Derek Mombourquette seems keen, though, to let the municipality chart its own course on the matter.

While there's nothing specific in the Municipal Government Act requiring municipalities to consult with First Nations, there is a mandatory public participation process that's open to interpretation, he said.

"And for me, the more public participation you can receive, the better."

Cape Breton Regional Municipality did hold a required public hearing on the RV park proposal on Feb. 20, but council could choose to expand that process to include First Nations consultation.

"Council has that flexibility to design that public participation process as they see fit," said Mombourquette. "So CBRM has a decision to make on if they want to expand that public participation that they already have done. And I'll be following the decision of council."

Who's responsible?

Malcolm Gillis agrees council has the right to make an extra effort to consult with the aboriginal community.

"It does beg the question … consult about what?" he asked.

CBRM planner Malcolm Gillis says there's a big demand for mobile homes in urban centres, where they are currently banned under the municipality's rules. (CBC)

"If their concern is the barachois pond [at the proposed site], and if their concern is about well water of surrounding neighbourhoods, and how the sewage collected is going to be treated on site, then we're getting ourselves in trouble if we're going to start adjudicating on those matters."

It will be a political decision for council at a special meeting on March 7 to decide what happens next, said Gillis.

"I still would advocate that the province has almost a duty to clarify, on behalf of the municipality, that we can't listen — whether it's First Nations or Joe Blow — to arguments that say this may adversely affect areas that are the jurisdiction of Nova Scotia's Department of Environment or Natural Resources," he said.