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uranium exploration

Premier

N.S. premier says blanket ban on uranium exploration ‘lazy’

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Nova Scotia’s premier said they are not going to reinstate the ban on uranium exploration any time soon.

Tim Houston made the remarks, Wednesday, when speaking to reporters at Province House on day two of the fall sitting of the provincial legislature.

“I think blanket bans like that are lazy,” said Houston.

It was in March 2025 when the moratorium on uranium exploration was lifted. A move met with criticism from environmental experts.

A petition with more than 10,000 signatures pushing to reinstate the ban was tabled in the legislature, Tuesday, marking the third time it’s been brought Province House.

Houston said he respects Nova Scotians who raise their voice but lifting the ban was to allow discussions to take place.

“I think that’s the appropriate decision,” said Houston. “The ban was holding back mining across the spectrum of this province.”

At a Public Bills Committee in March 2025, the Mining Association of Nova Scotia said uranium mining can be done safely, pointing to studies that suggest the use of modern equipment reducing cancer risks.

A request for proposals for uranium exploration issued in 2025 did not get any bids. Houston was uncertain whether or not they will try again.

“I know people have concerns about [it], but uranium saved lives too,” explained Houston. “It has a lot of really important uses in medical devices.”

Houston said they will look at things project by project and do environmental assessments.

Legislature

Opposition tables uranium exploration petition with 10,000 plus signatures

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With legislature back in session for the fall sitting, opposition parties tabled a petition for the immediate reinstatement of the province’s ban on uranium exploration and mining with more than 10,000 signatures.

According to organizers, it is the largest petition in Nova Scotia history with over 80 per cent of postal codes across the province and marks the third time it’s been tabled since last October.

It calls for the government to immediately reinstate the decades-old moratorium on uranium exploration and put a legislative ban on it.

The PC’s lifted the ban in March of 2025.

Despite no companies responding to the province’s request for proposal’s last year, Sarah Trask, a homeopath from Vaughan, Nova Scotia says, “communities continue to feel vulnerable.”

“We all deserve to clean air to breathe, safe water to drink, and healthy communities in which to raise our children,” says Dr. Catherine Cervin, a retired physician and chair of the Nova Scotia chapter of Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.

“Irreversible, long-term harm can begin at the exploration stage, before any active mining, by disturbing uranium deposits releasing radioactive elements into the environment and groundwater.”

Houston has said that any projects would have to meet environmental standards.