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The spring session of the Nova Scotia legislature did not work out quite as Premier Tim Houston had hoped, according to opposition parties and a political scientist.
The session was marked by weeks of protests over budget cuts, a remarkable reversal on some of those cuts, and new restrictions on access to the visitors galleries inside the legislature.
Houston seemed to want to quickly pass his budget — which included a deficit of nearly $1.4 billion and hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to programs — but that did not go as planned, Tom Urbaniak, a political scientist with Cape Breton University, said in an interview Thursday.
“They wanted to ram through a budget, ram through some omnibus bills … deal with some murmurs of discontent, but then declare victory and hope that any discontent would go away,” he said.
“And it did not turn out that way.”
As the province struggles with slowing population growth and a stagnating economy, the Progressive Conservatives tabled a budget with $304.9 million in cuts, including a reduction in public service staff and a rollback of $130.4 million in funding for arts and culture, Mi’kmaq and African Nova Scotian programming, and services for people with disabilities.
The budget sparked immediate backlash, with protests outside the legislature. In response, the premier told reporters on March 4 he couldn’t imagine making any changes. Six days later, Houston apologized and announced he would reinstate $53.6 million of the more than $300 million in cuts.
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But as the government continued to face harsh scrutiny over the budget, ministers struggled to defend their department’s cuts, Urbaniak said. “There is a growing sense that the government is aloof, that it doesn’t like to consult. And that even key stakeholders, non-partisan stakeholders, were left completely sidelined,” he said.
Progressive Conservative house leader Brendan Maguire told reporters Thursday he’s pleased with the result of the session, and says “everybody can walk out of here with their heads held high.”
“I think it was a good sitting. Difficult decisions were made, obviously … it’s tough and you feel it,” Maguire said.
The house leader said while he doesn’t always agree with those who are protesting, “I’m proud of people that stand out there and voice their opinion.”
The spring sitting adjourned Thursday afternoon while the premier was in Calgary meeting with representatives from the oil and gas sector. It was Houston’s third trip during the 27-day sitting. He also attended an energy conference in Texas and a critical mineral development conference in Toronto.
In a statement Saturday, the premier said it’s important to meet with leaders in the oil, gas and renewable energy sector as he works to raise interest in Nova Scotia’s natural resources. “We can see how volatile gas prices have become with global uncertainties. While demand for energy is going up, we have a wealth of natural resources that are untapped,” Houston said.
Claudia Chender, the official Opposition NDP leader, said the premier “has basically not bothered to show up” to the legislature this session, missing more than 40 per cent of the sitting due to travel.
It’s been a session of “firsts” for Houston’s government, she said, explaining that he’s faced a level of backlash from the public that he hadn’t experienced before.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a premier not vote for his own budget,” she said, referring to his travel-related absence. She said it was also the first time the legislature had been closed to the public for more than one day.
A protest over the budget cuts in the visitors galleries on March 24 began with singing and ended with some people blocking an elected member from leaving the parking lot, house Speaker Danielle Barkhouse said. In response, she closed the building to the public for more than one week and then reopened it with new restrictions, including a ban on reading, writing or sketching during debates.
As well, Chender said, “It’s the first time we have seen such broad, reaching budget cuts” that ministers could not defend.
The NDP leader said she hopes the premier listened to the hundreds of Nova Scotians who protested or wrote to his office or to members of his caucus, because trust in government is “definitely at an all-time low.”
Liberal member Derek Mombourquette said Thursday public engagement throughout the session was “really outstanding to see” in light of a budget that has been “devastating to many.”
“We’ve seen the government go after some of our most vulnerable here in Nova Scotia. And I don’t see it getting any better in the future,” he said.
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