Mcneil slams opposition for prorogation stance

An irate-sounding Premier Stephen Mcneil scolded opposition leaders on Thursday during a media call following his government's cabinet meeting.

Mcneil said NDP Leader Gary Burrill and Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston are forcing him to open the legislature on Friday so Lt.-gov. Arthur Leblanc can prorogue it in a ceremony instead of doing it virtually.

Mcneil said it goes against everything he and Dr. Robert Strang, the province's chief medical officer of health, have been preaching since COVID-19 shut down the province in the spring.

“They want to go to the legislature,” Mcneil said. “There's no debate (Friday), it's being prorogued. The lieutenant governor will come in, putting his health at risk and those of other members.”

Mcneil said the NDP caucus sent him a letter comparing the work they do to health-care workers.

“Think about that for a minute,” Mcneil said. “They're comparing the work they do to nurses. How many nurses can virtually give you the vaccine? There's no reason they couldn't sit to do the committee meeting virtually. They're doing committee meetings virtually now. They could do the legislature."

The premier said the opposition parties' bid to flex their political muscle sends a message that rules don't apply to elected officials.

Mcneil said he wants to make sure Nova Scotians know why the legislature is meeting in person.

“I've worked on your behalf for 10 months to try to keep you safe, to try to protect your families, try to ensure that we were able to lead the country, along with Dr. Strang to ensure that we can control this pandemic,” Mcneil said, his voice rising. “And (Friday) morning, I am being forced by the opposition of this province to break that very thing that I'm asking you do do, the very thing I'm asking you to do for the holidays to keep our province safe, by keeping your gatherings at 10. I am being forced by the opposition to cross the street with more than 15 people. I want you to think about that the next time you go to the polls.”

Burrill termed the premier's comments “insincere and untruthful."

“We aren't making the government do anything,” he said, adding that the letter Mcneil mentioned expressed the NDP'S opinion in response to the premier's request for it.

“When the premier asked us on Tuesday what would be our feedback about having no one present for the prorogation — no elected person other than himself and the Speaker — our feedback was that the system we spent many weeks and months devising together with your party and the Conservatives, in our judgment, would be a better way to do that.”

He said Mcneil is cancelling the proceedings of the legislature through prorogation and that he wanted to do it without a single member of the opposition allowed to be present.

“So I think that is highly problematic, as I think the prorogation of the House, at a time of such sharp need for evaluation and consideration and scrutiny of government spending and decisions, is entirely ill-founded.”

Houston said his caucus was actually thrilled on Tuesday when the premier said it could be done virtually.

“So, if he is in any way characterizing it that we're against a virtual sitting, that's completely misleading,” Houston said on Thursday. “And it would be very, very unfortunate for the premier of the province to mislead Nova Scotians in the midst of a pandemic, so I hope he's not trying to do that, because we certainly have no objection to a virtual sitting and, in fact, have been encouraging it for months on end. It's just him that we've been waiting for.”

He said prorogation shows that the Liberal government views democracy as an inconvenience.

“There's a lot we should have been talking about, and the premier was not confident enough in his own decisions to have those discussions on the floor of the legislature so he avoided them,” Houston said.

“It's been 282 days since our legislature has sit. We have the oldest legislature in the country and it's the only one that hasn't sat during this pandemic, and that's ridiculous. That's only the premier that can wear that. So the prorogation is a shame. It's a sham sitting of the legislature that meets the letter of the law but not the intent of it. It's just a total failure on the Liberal part.”