SPRINGHILL – Nova Scotia’s Liberal leader is not opposed to moving provincial government departments out of Halifax.
Responding to questions from members of the Springhill and Area Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, Stephen McNeil said moving departments to rural communities is something that has merit.
“It’s something we could be looking at as a province. You’re always going to need your deputy ministers and senior officials in Halifax, but when you start getting down into the departments there’s no reason why some of that can’t be happening in rural Nova Scotia,” McNeil said.
McNeil’s comments come a day after the 2011 census was released, indicating the province’s population grew by only 0.9 per cent since the last census in 2006. Although the provincial population grew, most of the growth was in Halifax while many rural municipalities – including four of Cumberland’s five – saw a decline.
Cumberland County Warden Keith Hunter said Wednesday that the province should consider decentralizing its bureaucracy outside Halifax as a way of encouraging development in rural Nova Scotia.
Those comments were echoed Thursday by chamber president Frank Likely, who said other governments have done it.
McNeil suggested departments such as Agriculture could easily be moved to Truro, where the Nova Scotia Agricultural College is located, or to Kentville, where the Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada research centre is.
More than that, he said, government needs to sit down with small business to find ways to reduce the flow of people from rural communities to larger centres.
“We need to create a proper business environment where the entrepreneurs are going to want to invest and create jobs in rural Nova Scotia,” the Liberal leader said. “There’s no question people want to live in rural communities, but they need a job and create a lifestyle for their families.
“Unless we start creating and attracting industries to rural parts of our province we’re going to continue to see that out migration of our young people.”
dcole@amherstdaily.com
