With Nova Scotia the legislature, which should adjourn on Wednesday, a political scientist said that the winter session was marked by government measures aimed at increasing the authority of the cabinet and reducing the capacity of the legislative assembly to ensure surveillance.
Tom Urbaniak, a professor at the University of Cap-Breton, said that the multiple government bills of the government were painting the table of a government working to consolidate its power after winning a radical majority last fall.
The activity of the progressive government was to “have legislation adopted to allow more discretion and provide more authority to the executive, at the center of power essentially,” Urbaniak said in an interview.
He said that some examples of this are laws that allow the government to dismiss non-unionized civil servants without reason, which give the government more control over Nova Scotia universities and which eliminate the requirement of an annual report on emergency closings.
However, Urbaniak said it should be noted that Prime Minister Tim Houston has moved away from certain proposed changes that triggered the controversy during the meeting, despite his party holding 43 of the 55 seats in the Legislative Assembly.
These concessions include the overthrow of part of an omnibus bill which would have enabled the government to end the auditor general without reason, as long as they have a majority vote of two thirds and oppose his veto to the publication of his reports.
“Fortunately, the government, in response to public accessories, fell on this authority,” said Urbaniak, adding that the government also abandoned an amendment to the law on information which, according to him, would have allowed the government to reject legitimate requests for information.
Get national news
For news that has an impact on Canada and worldwide, register for the safeguarding of news alerts that are delivered to you directly when they occur.
Other changes promulgated by the conservatives affected the rules of the legislative assembly, giving the government the possibility of limiting the time of debate to the legislature and modifying the process of the public examination committee of the legislation.
Changes mean that bills can be adopted more quickly – but Urbaniak said that a time shortage for provincial legislators had not been a problem. “Year after year, with exceptions closely, Nova Scotia is the legislature that is the least in Canada,” he said.
When Houston was questioned on Tuesday what stands out from the winter session, the Prime Minister cited the changes in the operation of the Legislative Assembly.
“I think we have treated things that people have not wanted to face for a long time. Everyone complains that this house (of the assembly) does not work, is not effective, is not effective,” said Houston.
“So we have taken measures to improve efficiency and efficiency, and I am proud to have done so and had the courage to do so,” he added.
Claudia Chender, head of the Official NPD of the opposition, said that the government’s approach concerned to consolidate control. However, she thinks that the message of the six -week session is ultimately a hope, because what she called an “unprecedented level of civic commitment” forced the government to retreat the modifications of several laws.
“We see that when the public is careful, when the public makes his voice heard, he can make changes,” said Chender on Wednesday.
The acting liberal chief, Derek Mombourquette, said Tuesday that the government of Houston had tried to legislate “with a hammer” rather than with empathy, “but in many cases, they had to return it”.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister added that he was proud of a legislative program that pushes the development of natural resources at a time when the province’s economy is threatened by the taxation of prices by the United States.
The government has adopted a bill which would allow it to raise the prohibition on the extraction and exploration of uranium and to put an end to a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas. Another bill adopted will allow the province to abolish interprorcinal trade barriers for property and work.
“We have to develop our economy,” said Houston on Tuesday. “The leadership position that we have taken with free trade legislation across the country acquires national recognition in a very positive way. We have accomplished a lot that will benefit Nova Scotia in the future and I am proud of that. ”
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press