Nova Scotia legislature to begin fall session on Thursday

The fall sitting of the Nova Scotia legislature begins Thursday. - Charles Paul Hoffman/Wikipedia - Contributed

SYDNEY, N.S. — As the federal election campaign continues to garner daily headlines, members of the Nova Scotia legislature will quietly resume sitting today when they meet at Province House for the first time since April.

Speaker Kevin Murphy will call the legislature to order at 1 p.m. with Premier Stephen McNeil’s Liberal Party holding 27 of the province’s 51 electoral districts at the resumption of the second session of the house’s 63rd assembly. Across the floor, the official opposition Progressive Conservatives occupy 17 seats, the New Democratic Party have five and there is one independent. One seat, Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River, is vacant.

There have been a couple of affiliation changes and the addition of three new faces since the legislative proceedings were adjourned on April 12.

Cape Breton-Richmond MLA Alana Paon was ousted from the PC caucus in June and now sits as an independent, while in the same month former Truro-area MLA Lenore Zann left the NDP and sat as an independent until her resignation earlier this month. Zann is now the Liberal candidate in the federal riding of Cumberland-Colchester.

The three new MLAs who won early September byelections will take their seats for the first time. All three are Conservatives and two, Brian Comer and Murray Ryan, are from Cape Breton.

For the 33-year-old Comer, the upcoming session is all about learning how the legislature operates.

“Before I head into the legislature, I think it’s important to remember what people were saying on the doorsteps throughout the constituency and what I heard is that health care in Cape Breton is a big issue,“ said Comer, a registered nurse from Donkin who won the Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg byelection by more than 900 votes over Liberal candidate Marc Botte.

“There is also lots of concern about roads, education and taxes, so I heard what they are saying and what they are passionate about, and I have to be that voice to the best of my ability.”

Meanwhile, Cape Breton-Centre MLA Tammy Martin, who was elected in the 2017 provincial election, is heading into the fall sitting with a specific agenda as her New Democrats plan to introduce legislation to support the recovery of Cape Breton’s struggling economy.

“I am going to make sure Cape Breton’s issues are front and centre,” said Martin, who is expected to introduce the proposed legislation today that includes stimulus funding of $50 million per year for three years.

“We’re also going to be fighting for better health care for all Nova Scotians and, of course, specifically Cape Breton where it is a huge concern.”

Liberal cabinet ministers Derek Mombourquette (Sydney-Whitney Pier) and Geoff MacLellan (Glace Bay) could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, but the former told the Cape Breton Post earlier this month that he is excited about the expected job boom that will result from the construction of the Nova Scotia Community College’s new Sydney waterfront campus and that his government is committed to supporting the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in its efforts to be financially viable in the future.

NOVA SCOTIA LEGISLATURE