Legislature wraps up
The Nova Scotia legislature wrapped a routine 25-day fall sitting Thursday that was largely marked by opposition complaints about the Liberal government’s lack of openness.
Twenty-five bills were passed during the sitting, which also saw committee changes that drew opposition ire
The Liberals used their majority on the powerful public accounts committee to change the practice of allowing all three parties to choose topics and decide who will come before the committee.
Under the change, topics will come directly from reports filed by the province’s auditor general.
But Premier Stephen McNeil maintains alternate topics can still come through a public accounts sub-committee — and points to another change that will see a committee created that is solely dedicated to health care.
McNeil says the province’s largest budget item is health care and no other government has opened the Health Department up to the public scrutiny that will come with the new committee.
The premier also said that the lack of public demonstrations — of the kind that have marked previous sittings of the house — is a sign the government’s difficult decisions around the province’s finances are beginning to pay off.
“I think it indicates what the last four years was about,’’ said McNeil. “The hard work that we’ve had to put in to ensure that we put ourselves in a position to make investments ... and put legislation in that allows us to continue to move the economy forward.’’
McNeil pointed to legislation around establishing Develop Nova Scotia as one of the main achievements of the sitting. Formerly the Waterfront Development Corp., the entity will be responsible for, amongst other things, developing high speed broadband services in under-serviced rural areas of the province.
He also pointed to legislation that would implement measures to accommodate internal free agreements with other provinces.
“These are important steps from an economic point of view,’’ McNeil said.
But interim Progressive Conservative Leader Karla MacFarlane said the sitting dealt with “a lot of housekeeping bills,’’ while questions remain about persistent family doctor shortages and around the implementation of legal cannabis on Wednesday.