Long hours at Province House dialed back as opposition agrees to reduce delay tactics - Action News
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Nova Scotia

Long hours at Province House dialed back as opposition agrees to reduce delay tactics

The Nova Scotia government is dialling back long hours at Province House in exchange for a reduction in delay tactics by the opposition, but Liberal Leader Zach Churchill and NDP Leader Claudia Chender say they remain concerned about some of the government's actions.

MLAs are no longer sitting until midnight, but government moves still not sitting well with opposition

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill says his caucus has agreed to reduce the use of filibustering in exchange for the government shortening the long sittings scheduled at the legislature in Halifax. (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)

The Nova Scotia government is dialling back the long hours at Province House in exchange for a reduction in delay tactics by the opposition, but Liberal Leader Zach Churchill and NDP Leader Claudia Chender say they remain concerned about some of the government's actions.

After scheduling sittings that ran until midnight five days in a row, MLAs wrapped around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday and 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Government House leader Kim Masland, who originally called for sittings until midnight for four days this week, set hours on Thursday from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Churchill said the change comes after his party agreed to reduce the delay tactics it has employedto tie up the government's ability to pass legislation. Liberal MLAs have used a combination of filibustering and ringing bells to delay votes to impede government progress.

"The only leverage opposition has in a majority government is time and the passage of time," Churchilltold reporters at Province House.

"We had a point to make."

Premier Tim Houston is seen speaking in a reporter scrum.
Premier Tim Houston says his government will add more deputy Speakers, but will do so in a way that does not take away from the two people already in the role. (Robert Short/CBC)

That point has focused primarily on twoissues: the government's decision to install three Tory backbench MLAs as new deputy Speakerspushing the ranks to fiveand amendments to the Environment Act that do not include a price mechanism for consumer fuels.

Churchill said his party remains concerned that the environment bill is dooming the province to havethe federal carbon tax imposed on gas, diesel and home heating fuel, and that the new Tory deputy Speakers might not be as impartial as they are supposed to be.

Houston met with Churchill and Chender to discuss their concerns, including the deputy Speakers, but he told reporters that those changes would go ahead. Although he said he continues to believe the House needs more deputy Speakers, the premier told reporters he wants to address some of the concerns the opposition expressed.

That includes revisiting the pay for the role of deputy Speaker, rather than splitting one stipend five ways as was originally pitched by the Tories,andaddressing opposition concerns about the amount of time each of the deputies would spend in the chair. Opposition members had expressed fear the Houston would sideline New Democrat MLA Lisa Lachance and Liberal MLA Angela Simmonds, the current deputies, in favour of his own MLAs.

"It's never been my intention to kind of shut anyone out," said Houston.

"I actually think the deputy speakers that we have now have done a good job. This is not about that."

NDP Leader Claudia Chender says her caucus remains concerns about changes to the deputy Speaker ranks at Province House. (CBC)

Chender said she still feels adding deputy Speakers in the legislature that sits the fewest days in the country is unnecessary, but acknowledged the government has the votes to do what it wants.

A bigger concern for heris whether the government understands concerns raised about what the change means for representation in the House.Lachanceis the province's first gender queerdeputy Speaker andSimmondsis the first Black deputy Speaker in Nova Scotia.

"We haven't particularly seen an acknowledgement of that from the government, but hope springs eternal," said Chender.

The first sign of cooperation among government and oppositions MLAs came Tuesday night, when membersagreed unanimously to allow changes to the Labour Standards Code related to pregnancy loss to also be referred to as Ruby's Law. The move is in recognition of Liberal MLA Lorelei Nicoll'sgranddaughter who was stillborn in 2020. Nicollfirst brought the issue and Ruby's story to the floor of the legislature last year.

"We felt like it was a big win for our caucus," said Churchill.

The premier said it's important for all MLAs to express their views in the House, but he's hoping it can happen in a more productive way.