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

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 employed to 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," Churchill told reporters at Province House.

"We had a point to make."

That point has focused primarily on two issues: the government's decision to install three Tory backbench MLAs as new deputy Speakers — pushing the ranks to five — and 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 have the 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, and addressing 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."

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 her is whether the government understands concerns raised about what the change means for representation in the House. Lachance is the province's first gender queer deputy Speaker and Simmonds is 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 members agreed 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's granddaughter who was stillborn in 2020. Nicoll first 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.