N.S. tables single bill to pass legislative agenda, create youth protection office

CITYnews halifax / By Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government tabled a single bill on Tuesday that would amend 15 provincial acts and create a new office to protect the rights of young people, a move the opposition said was an attempt to avoid legislative scrutiny.

The sweeping legislative changes are part of the Financial Measures Act, which would also give the Progressive Conservative government authority to enact budget measures that have financial implications for the province.

The bill drew instant attention from the two opposition parties, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill accusing the government of trying to push through its legislative agenda with as little debate as possible.

“Now we see them cramming a whole bunch of legislation into the budget legislation, which is unnecessary, and is just designed to get them out of the legislature quickly so they don’t have to answer important questions that we have,” Churchill told reporters.

NDP critic Lisa Lachance said the omnibus-style bill was part of a “deeply disturbing trend” to limit debate.

“There’s so much buried in this Financial Measures Act that it’s going to be really difficult for stakeholders to engage,” Lachance said. “We know they will try to rush it through the legislature.”

The government’s new legislation includes a bill to protect professional firefighters who volunteer to fight fires in their off hours. The bill would prevent them from being penalized or disciplined by their union or employers for working without pay. The legislation would affect professional firefighters in Halifax, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and the towns of Yarmouth, Amherst, Pictou and Truro.

Meanwhile, few details were released on the new child and youth office, which had been promised by the government in a ministerial mandate letter following the 2021 election.

Brendan Maguire, the community services minister, said the legislation creates the framework for the new office and that consultations are still necessary on how it will function. He said his department would not be involved in choosing the office’s commissioner.

When asked whether the office would be independent from government, he said he wanted it to be as “independent and as free as possible.” Maguire added that he hoped it would be up and running this year.

Churchill said he was open to the office but wanted more details. “We don’t know enough about it yet, but I think this can be very good,” he said. “We have a real issue with young people dealing with increased levels of poverty and food insecurity.”

As well, the legislation would increase the fine for illegal buying and selling in the fishery sector to $1 million from $100,000 and would allow municipalities to create a code of conduct for mayors and councillors. The Halifax Harbour bridges would be permitted to collect licence plate information in order to phase out toll booths, and provincially regulated credit lenders would be able to change variable interest rates without a 30-day notice.

Finance Minister Allan MacMaster said he believes there will be plenty of time to debate a bill that contains measures the opposition will “receive positively.”

The government’s bill follows two other pieces of legislation that were tabled shortly after the spring sitting of the legislature opened last week. One proposed revamping the province’s electrical grid, and the other would merge the Town of Antigonish with Antigonish County.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2024.

Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press