NS Politics Potpourri

Angus Reid poll January 2022

Cons 38%

Libs 28%

NDP26%

Greens 1%

Though the Omicron variant has meant record cases for Nova Scotia, too, the province has yet to experience the same level of strain on its health-care system as neighbouring New Brunswick. Premier Tim Houston has received more praise than criticism for his handling of COVID-19 six months into his term and his party is holding steady in vote intention. Two-in-five (38%) say they would vote for the PCs if an election were imminent.

Since last summer’s election, the leaders of both the NDP and Liberal party have stepped down. After a surprise defeat,the Liberals will have some soul-searching to do according to the province’s political scientists, with an eye towards the next election in 2025. One-quarter (28%) of Nova Scotians say they would vote for the Liberals and a similar number (26%) say they would support the NDP:

https://angusreid.org/provincial-politics-quebec-ontario-election/

Claudia Chenier was unopposed in the NDP leadership race. While she is a fine candidate, the lack of a leadership race reduced the chances to increase party membership that often occurs during a race as candidates seek to attract new members.

Claudia Chender, the MLA for Dartmouth South, is the only candidate in the running for the leadership of the Nova Scotia NDP.

The deadline to enter was Saturday at 2 p.m. The party will begin voting for the leadership on June 20.

Gary Burrill, the MLA for Halifax Chebucto, announced last November that he would be stepping down as leader of the party — a position he has held since 2016. He will remain as MLA for Halifax Chebucto. 

Chender, a 45-year-old lawyer who was first elected in 2017, announced her candidacy for the leadership on Feb. 14.

• Her leadership bid was endorsed by Halifax Citadel-Sable Island MLA Lisa Lachance and Dartmouth North MLA Susan Leblanc.  ...

She said the leadership vote, ending June 25 at the party convention, is actually more important with a lone candidate. 

"I need that mandate from our party to go forward," she said.

According to Chender, she will spend the weeks before the vote talking to as many people as she can and answering their questions in order to earn their support.

There will be two leadership town hall meetings. One is in Dartmouth this Tuesday and another is in Sydney on June 5. 

Chender said one of the challenges the party faces is growing from its urban base of support by working with engaged members in rural communities.

Health care, the environment and the cost of living will continue to be priorities for the party, Chender said.

"We're a small party so it's always a resource challenge to be present everywhere," she said. "That is absolutely our challenge and one that we take a lot of joy in and really look forward to over the next few years."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/claudia-chender-nsndp-sole-ca...

NS NDPers need to focus on federal politics or other stuff right now , as the current government just got elected and the PC leader is making all the right moves to stay popular for quite some time. My hunch is that he is one of the most popular political leaders in Canada right now.
The NDP are making a huge mistake focusing on leadership as opposed to working in the different riding communities and developing policy and a platform for the next election. Ass backwards as usual, and let's face it the NDP is a serious underdog, just read about the NDP in any msm, and you'll know what I mean, The NDP does not have that fire in its belly, which is required to win.

Claudia Chender started her leadership with an attack on the PC government. 

Claudia Chender came out swinging at the provincial government after being officially named the new leader of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party on Saturday.

Chender was the only candidate, but the party still went through the vote-counting process at a leadership convention in Dartmouth on the weekend.

In her first speech as leader, she demanded that Premier Tim Houston do something for Nova Scotians weighed down by rising inflation, housing costs, and food and fuel prices.

Specifically, she said the government should use the gas tax and increased HST revenue that have come with rising fuel prices to give $500 to every family in the province with an income of $70,000 or less.

“The premier isn’t in touch with the problems that people are facing,” Chender said. “Provincially, we are among the only jurisdictions doing nothing to directly support people during this time of unprecedented inflation. People are falling behind, and this government is choosing to do nothing.”

She said she expects that the government might say that it doesn’t want to set a precedent, or that the current stresses are only a temporary problem, “but Nova Scotians aren’t looking for excuses. They’re calling out for help.”

A common phrase throughout her speech was “we know what we need to do” as she talked about the challenges facing Nova Scotians and what she said were inadequate responses from government on power rates, the housing crisis and other topics.

“We need a real rent control system, we need action on multiple owners with vacant properties and air B&Bs,” Chender said. “These are things the government could do today.”

She also said there needs to be a place in government that champions rural issues and the rural economy.

“Our people, our communities, know what we need to do. But does Tim Houston know what we need to do? The premier is long on talk, but short on action,” she said. “It’s been almost a year, and that big detailed platform of his is nowhere to be found at the moment, has yet to make a real impact on people’s lives in this province.”

She said tens of thousands more people are without primary health care now than when Houston took office last August.

“Across the province people are struggling to put a roof over their heads, and if they find one they are struggling to keep it there. The price of everything has gone up, and Tim Houston has told us, like his federal counterpart, that his plan is to do nothing.”

Speaking to reporters after her acceptance speech, Chender said she “was shocked to hear, after an initial signal that the government would do something to address the skyrocketing cost of living, the premier say ‘we’re not going to do anything.’ That’s not a position we can accept. People need direct support, and they need it now.”

She said after Houston said that “everything was on the table” to give Nova Scotians some relief, she expected something.

“I believe that the role of government is to ensure that people can live a dignified life and to help people take care of each other.”

https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/chender-comes-out-swinging...

In a Narrative Research poll, at 62% satisfied with the PC government continued to score highly. In terms of voting intentions the PCs are at 43% support while the Liberals are at 30%, the NDP at 22%, and the Greens at 4%. 

Nova Scotians remain highly satisfied with the provincial government’s performance led by Premier Houston, with six in ten (62%, compared with 60% in May 2022) satisfied, according to the latest survey by Narrative Research. Satisfaction is the majority viewpoint across the province and various population segments.

Decided voter intentions have remained stable compared with May 2022. Four in ten decided voters (43%, compared with 42% in May 2022) would vote for the PCs if an election were held today. Three in ten would vote for the Liberals (30%, compared with 27%), while two in ten would vote for the New Democratic Party (22%, compared with 25%). Few decided voters would support the Green Party (4%, unchanged) or the People’s Party of Canada (1%, unchanged). The PCs are most preferred outside of Halifax, while in Halifax, voter intentions are split among the PCs, Liberals, and NDPs. Support for the PCs is elevated among males and those with household incomes of $100K or higher. Support for the NDP is elevated among females and younger Nova Scotians.

When asked who they would prefer as Premier, Tim Houston remains the preferred choice of one-third (34%, unchanged from May 2022). Zach Churchill of the Liberal Party is preferred by 18% (compared with 17% for next party leader in May 2022), while preference for Claudia Chender of the NDP stands at 17% (compared with 16% for next party leader in May 2022). Few prefer either the new Green Party leader Anthony Edmonds (4%), or Jonathan Dean of the Atlantica Party (1%). Preference for Chender is elevated in Halifax and among younger Nova Scotians, while preference for Houston is elevated among males and those with household incomes of $100K or higher.

https://narrativeresearch.ca/satisfaction-with-nss-houston-governments-p...

As with the rest of Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia was devastated by the ferocity of Hurricane Fiona, with its record-breaking strength as the worst in Canadian history induced by global warming of the Atlantic Ocean that creates ever stronger hurricanes. The climate crisis and related hurricanes hitting Atlantic Canada are only expected to get exponentially worse. 

Residents walk past downed trees on MacDonald Street following the passing of Fiona, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on September 24. 

 

With post-tropical storm Fiona taking its place as one of the biggest catastrophic events in Atlantic Canada history, communities began to pick up the pieces while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau connected the storm to climate-induced mayhem.

Trudeau was in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island Tuesday to tour the extensive damage and pledge better ways to build more resilient infrastructure, The Canadian Press reports. In Toronto, the DBRS Morningstar credit rating agency projected insured losses from the storm as high as C$700 million, even after insurance companies refuse to cover their customers’ flood damage.

“Climate change is worsening the region’s risk to major storms like Hurricane Fiona,” CP says. “DBRS Morningstar says insurers may be more cautious when assessing risk in the region, likely raising premiums to cover the rising costs of payouts.”

On Saturday morning, Fiona left a trail of destruction across a wide swath of Atlantic Canada, stretching from Nova Scotia’s eastern mainland to Cape Breton, PEI, and southwestern Newfoundland. The record-breaking storm is being blamed for two deaths, one in Newfoundland and Labrador and the other in Nova Scotia.

Power was knocked out, scores of homes were flattened, roads were washed out, and the resulting cleanup is expected to take months if not years to complete. At the height of the storm, 415,000 Nova Scotia homes and businesses were in the dark, including 210,000 in the Halifax region and 65,000 in Cape Breton. By late Tuesday afternoon, more than 180,000 Atlantic Canadian homes and businesses were still without electricity, more than 122,000 of them in Nova Scotia and about 61,000 in PEI.

https://www.theenergymix.com/2022/09/29/atlantic-canada-reels-as-pm-link...

Nova Scotia is hiring private sector nurses at $134/hr plus up to $3,000 per month for accomodation and $1,000 for travel expenses and LPNs get $125/hr instead of using $40/hour public sector nurses and wasting tens of millions to fill empty positions. This of course attracts more nurses out of the public sector without improving overall healthcare in the country The same thing is happening in Ontario and New Brunswick. Is this one way to slowly privatize the nurses while making the corporations rich?

As Nova Scotia tries to deal with a shortage of health-care professionals that has put the entire health system under strain, the province is devoting tens of millions of dollars toward the services of "travel nurses."

The provincial government is paying the private contract nurses at least double the hourly wage of public-sector nurses. The higher pay often comes with greater flexibility in scheduling, which some nurses say is attracting many early career staff to move out of the public sector — even as health officials grapple with recruitment and retention.

Travel nurses, who are sometimes known as "agency" or "locum" staff, are health-care workers who are employed by private companies that provide extra nursing staff where they're needed.

Many companies will fly nurses around the country on short- or long-term contracts, often working within public-sector hospitals and long-term care homes. The nurses are required to be registered and licensed to work in the province where they're sent, including in Nova Scotia.

But in some provinces where travel nurses are being employed, unionized nurses have raised concerns about the practice....

Starting in late 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nova Scotia's Department of Seniors and Long-term Care turned to travel nurses to supplement staffing at long-term care homes around the province.

"We had a lot of staffing shortages historically in this sector, and Omicron just made it that much more difficult," Barbara Adams, the minister of seniors and long-term care, said, referring to the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19.

The department allocated $3.1 million in December 2021 for travel nurses. After the Omicron wave began, the department had to increase the amount by $18.4 million, which Adams said is on track to be completely spent within this budget year. ...

"We had a lot of beds closed in the sector, and that was creating problems for the acute care sector," the minister told CBC News in a recent interview.

According to a briefing note obtained by CBC News, by March 11, 2022, there were 247 long-term care beds closed due to staffing issues. This was around the time an increasing number of health-care staff were off sick due to COVID-19. At least 296 patients were waiting in hospital for a nursing home bed placement. ...

The move has drawn the attention of the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union. "Travel nurses have been around for several years but not used very much, mostly in acute care and mostly in our rural settings," union president Janet Hazelton said. In the last two years, she said she's seen an increased reliance on travel nurses. ... "This is a new thing for us," she said. "It's something that is a concern for sure, for all of the nurse unions across the country." ...

The hourly wage for LPNs was set at $124.80, for RNs at between $134 and $138.60, and for PSWs at $96.80. Each travel nurse was also approved for up to $3,000 per month for accommodations and up to $1,000 in travel expenses such as a vehicle rental, and was given a Northwood-issued cellphone. The province also approved $280,000 for administrative costs.

President Janet Hazelton of the nurses' union said these rates can be $70 to $100 more an hour than the rates paid to her members, which is a concern.

Adams, the seniors minister, acknowledged there is a gap in pay, but said from her own personal experience as a physiotherapist who worked in a long-term care home during the pandemic, the greater problem for morale among regular staff is having too few people on the floor. ...

The added cost to taxpayers of hiring travel nurses is "not ideal," she said, and noted that the province is taking steps to expand the number of nursing school seats to get more staff, but in the meantime she declined to put any kind of end date on the travel nurse program.

"We're going to continue that program until such time as we don't need it anymore," she said.

Hazelton agreed that patient safety is important but said it should be achieved through educating and attracting more full-time nurses in the public sector.

"We need to look at a longer, more sustainable fix than this," she said. "Travel nurses are not the answer. They may be a Band-Aid, but they're not the answer. We need a better solution than that." ...

ulie McCutcheon is an RN who has been working as a travel nurse mostly in emergency rooms since 2010. She works  casually in the public sector but said the cost of housing for one person was probably her "most driving force" in getting into travel nursing.

McCutcheon's home community is Peterborough, Ont., a city that has seen some of the fastest-rising housing prices in Canada.

"I wanted my own place," she said. She investigated travel nursing and decided to pack up her car and take a contract in another province.

"I just had a desire to travel and a sense of adventure," she said. McCutcheon has worked all over Canada, including two contracts in Digby and one in Sydney, N.S. She's now back in Ontario. ...

And the higher pay she gets working as a travel nurse has allowed her to afford her to save toward the cost of a down payment on a house.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-private-nursing-s...

A retired RCMP officer criticizes decision by Nova Scotia police watchdog.

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A retired RCMP officer who gathered information about “serious allegations” regarding another police force in 2020 has harsh words for the failure of Nova Scotia’s police watchdog to officially investigate.
It all began in October, when the Mass Casualty Commission entered more than 2,000 documents into public evidence, a month after wrapping up public hearings.
Among them was a heavily redacted internal RCMP report prepared by Costa Dimopoulos, who was brought in from RCMP J Division in New Brunswick to assist Nova Scotia RCMP with managing issues arising in the aftermath of the April 2020 tragedy.
That document, known as a situation report (SITREP), contained explosive allegations made against unidentified members of another police force. ...
According to the SITREP, “…two persons (redacted) came forward and provided information alleging serious criminal behaviour being committed by (redacted)...."
Dated July 10, 2020, the report also states, “there is significant detail provided by both witnesses of non-criminal behaviour in relation to Police Act violations..."
The SITREP indicates the claims were made to senior RCMP members during a detachment visit after the tragedy.
When the document was made public, commission lawyer Emily Hill said much of the detail in the report was redacted by the inquiry because the accusations were unrelated to the mass shooting.
Hill stated it was rather entered into evidence because “relationships between police agencies as well as the role of oversight bodies such as SIRT must be examined to understand and comment on policing in Nova Scotia.”
The RCMP referred the matter to the Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT), but the police watchdog did not proceed with a formal investigation.
Last month, John Scott, who became SIRT’s interim director after the time of the report, told CTV News his overview of the file indicated there was no evidence of criminality for the watchdog to pursue.
“There was nothing to investigate,” he said. “And it didn’t meet our mandate.”
Scott also confirmed the target of the accusations was a member of the Truro Police Force.
Michael Scott of Patterson Law, which represents many of the Nova Scotians most affected by the mass shooting, remains troubled by the lack of information.
Michael Scott has asked the commission in writing for an unredacted version of the SITREP.
“We can’t understand how it could be reasonably suggested that it wasn’t within SIRT’s mandate and worth some sort of investigation,” says Scott.

“We have several accounts of why that certain investigation didn’t go forward that are, from the outside, impossible to reconcile,” he adds.
The author of the RCMP report, who has since retired from the force, has his own harsh criticism of SIRT’s decision, revealed in an email made public by the Mass Casualty Commission.
The email, written by Dimopoulos on Oct. 28 and addressed to SIRT, describes the police watchdog’s determination there was no criminality to investigate “a bold statement to make considering the level of detail in the report…that I disclosed.”
He went on to say his internal report spoke to "…significant historical allegations of a criminal nature made by very credible witnesses.”
Dimopoulos also expressed concern “…the lack of an official credible and disclosable (SIC) review by SIRT does a disservice to the witnesses who came forward, the credibility of SIRT…and the policing profession as a whole in Nova Scotia….”

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/retired-rcmp-officer-criticizes-decision-by-...

It's official! Thanks to global warming, Hurricane Fiona was the most costly storm to ever hit Atlantic Canada.

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More than $385 million in damage to Nova Scotia, $220 million in Prince Edward Island.
Post-tropical storm Fiona caused $660 million in insured damage, according to an initial estimate by Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada said Wednesday the storm was the most costly extreme weather event ever recorded in Atlantic Canada in terms of insured damages based on the estimate provided by CatIQ.

IBC added that many of those affected by the storm were located in high-risk flood areas and floodplains where residential flood insurance coverage is not available.

As a result, the bureau said the overwhelming majority of costs for the disaster will be borne by government.

The storm made landfall in Nova Scotia on Sept. 24 and ripped through the region, knocking out power to more than 500,000 customers in the Maritimes.

The hurricane caused violent winds exceeding 100 kilometres per hour, torrential rainfall, flooding and downed trees, and resulted in several deaths, the IBC said.

The bureau said the storm also washed at least 20 homes into the ocean, primarily in Port aux Basques, N.L.

More than half of the insured damages were in Nova Scotia, said the IBC, at more than $385 million, with Prince Edward Island following with more than $220 million in insured damages.

The second most expensive extreme weather event in Atlantic Canada was Hurricane Juan in 2003 at $192 million, according to the IBC.

While post-tropical storm Fiona was the most expensive extreme weather event in Atlantic Canada, it was the 10th most expensive natural disaster in Canada as measured by insurance payouts, according to the IBC.

The 2016 Fort McMurray wildfires topped the list at $4 billion. Five of the 10 most costly natural disasters in Canada happened within the last five years, including the British Columbia flooding in 2021 ($675 million) and the 2020 hailstorm in Alberta ($1.2 billion).

IBC said insurance claims from severe weather events have more than quadrupled across Canada since 2008, with the "new normal" for insured catastrophic damages in Canada at $2 billion a year.

That's compared to an annual average of $632 million between 2001 and 2010, according to the IBC.

Amanda Dean, IBC's Atlantic vice-president, said Canada needs to improve its resilience to extreme weather events as climate change takes its toll.

"Climate change is real, and the fatalities, emotional turmoil and financial consequences we've witnessed must be a call to action — we must prioritize the protection of all Canadians from the impacts of climate change," said Dean in a news release Wednesday.

Experts have said that hurricane Fiona highlighted the gaps in residential insurance coverage, as much of the damage was not covered.

Residential policies usually require add-ons to cover floods, and even those don't normally cover storm surge damage.

Possibly the only insurance to cover storm surge damage is offered by The Co-operators Group Ltd., which began offering storm surge insurance to homeowners in Atlantic Canada and British Columbia in 2018.

IBC is a member of the federal, provincial and territorial Task Force on Flood Insurance and Relocation and has been advocating for a national public-private flood insurance program for residents in high-risk areas, the organization said.

"Canada must prioritize its work on a national adaptation strategy, including a high-risk flood insurance pool, to address climate-related disasters such as extreme heat, wildfires, floods, windstorms and hail. Increased collaboration across the public and private sectors is essential to defending Canadians from these events," said the IBC in the release.

The bureau also provided a provincial breakdown of insured damage estimates:

Nova Scotia: More than $385 million.
Prince Edward Island: More than $220 million.
New Brunswick: More than $30 million.
Quebec: More than $11 million.
Newfoundland and Labrador: More than $7 million.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/fiona-atlantic-canada-insured...

Support for Premier Houston's PCs remains strong at 42% but the Liberals at 27% have dropped into a statisical tie with the at 25%. Furthermore Claudia Chender of the NDP is preferred by 20%, compared to Zach Churchill of the Liberal Party who is preferred by 17 percent for Premier, but Premier Houston still leads with 35%. 

Nova Scotians remain highly satisfied with the provincial government’s performance led by Premier Houston, with six in ten (61%, compared with 62% in August 2022) satisfied, according to the latest survey by Narrative Research. Satisfaction is similar across the province.

Decided voter intentions have remained stable compared with August 2022. Four in ten decided voters (42%, compared with 43% in August 2022) would vote for the PCs if an election were held today. One-quarter would vote for the Liberals (27%, compared with 30%), while a similar proportion would vote for the New Democratic Party (25%, compared with 22%). Few decided voters would support the Green Party (5%, compared with 4%). Support for the NDP is highest in HRM and lowest elsewhere in mainland Nova Scotia.

When asked who they would prefer as Premier, Tim Houston remains the preferred choice of one-third (35%, compared with 34% in August 2022). Claudia Chender of the NDP is preferred by two in ten (20%, compared with 17%), while Zach Churchill of the Liberal Party is preferred by 17 percent (compared with 18%). Few prefer either the Green Party leader Anthony Edmonds (5%), or Jonathan Dean of the Atlantica Party (1%).  While support for Houston is similar across the province, support for Chender is higher in HRM relative to the rest of mainland Nova Scotia. 

https://narrativeresearch.ca/satisfaction-with-houston-governments-perfo...

Facing the same shortage of medical staff as the rest of the country, Nova Scotia's College of Physcians will now US trained doctors to practice in the province, partly in the hopes of attracting some Nova Scotians trained in the US home.

Quote:

U.S.-trained doctors who want to practise in Nova Scotia no longer have to prove their skills through additional certifications to be fully licensed in the province.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia has agreed to accept American Board-certified physicians without the need for them to write Royal College exams first.
Dr. Gus Grant, CEO of the college, said the change will remove a barrier for doctors who trained in the United States but would like to practise in the province.

"If you were a professor at Harvard in cardiology and you wanted to come to Nova Scotia to get in touch with your Celtic roots, can you imagine how insulted you'd be if I said you have to challenge the Royal College exams before you get a full licence?" said Grant, who is in Vancouver for national meetings.

Grant said the change might be particularly attractive to Nova Scotians who may have studied in the province, but did their residencies south of the border and have been practising in the U.S. for years.

"I can't think of many of my med school classmates who would fancy the task of challenging the certification exams in the middle of their career," said Grant. "Because they're unattracted by the notion of getting a provisional licence when they enjoy a full one in their own jurisdiction."
Colleges across the country have been grappling with the issue of recognizing medical credentials for years. The shortage of doctors and other medical professionals has increased pressure on licensing bodies to make it easier for those who are competent to practise in Canada.

Grant said the decision to recognize the competency of U.S. trained doctors does meet one of the priorities of the college, "to address the access to care."

"Our challenge is to address access to care in a way that is in a public interest, that ensures safety," said Grant. "We are very much aware of the context we're in right now.

"Many people can't access the care that they need but that doesn't change our mandate — that our responsibility is to license competent physicians and not to license incompetent physicians."

Doctors trained elsewhere than Canada or the United States will continue to be issued provisional licences and have to write Royal College exams in order to be fully licensed to practise in Nova Scotia but Grant said his organization and others like it are looking at what other countries might be appropriate for accommodation.

"I think we have to take measured steps in doing that," said Grant. "Medical training varies greatly around the world but we're certainly open to the idea of examining which jurisdictions are substantially similar to Canada."

Although Nova Scotia is the first province to extend this recognition to U.S. doctors, Grant predicted others might soon follow suit.

"I'm at national meetings right now. I think we can anticipate that there (will be) other colleges who will be doing the same thing."

A former PC Party MLA, Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, who now sits as an independent, has accused the PC caucus of previously forcing an NDA on a former junior staffer with the PC caucus. The PC government is now calling for her removal from the House of Assembly over comments she made the debate on a bill that she introduced that would ban non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in sexual assault and harassment cases. The NDP have also introduced a separate bill on the issue of banning NDAs in these cases. In response, she has taken legal action against the Progressive Conservative government by filing a notice of intended action that the government confirms has been received. The parents of the dead staffer allege she was forced into making the NDA.
The previous leader of the PCs had to resign in 2018Jamie Baillie "was forced to quit after an investigation found he had acted inappropriately and breached the legislature’s policy on workplace harassment" ... Smith-McCrossin tabled an unsigned copy of the alleged NDA, which she said she found after her employee’s death. The province’s current community services minister, Karla MacFarlane, was the interim leader of the party at the time, but she denied having any knowledge of an NDA ever being used"..
This could cost the PCs dearly with voters. 

An independent Nova Scotia MLA says she plans to take legal action against the Progressive Conservative government for calling to remove her from the House of Assembly over comments she made last week while debating a bill to ban non-disclosure agreements in sexual assault and harassment cases.

Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin says correspondence has been sent to the minister of justice challenging the legality of a notice of motion calling for her to be removed from the chamber unless she apologizes for and retracts the statements she made.

“I believe, and so does my lawyer, that it’s a very undemocratic step to have me removed,” Smith-McCrossin told reporters Tuesday afternoon. I’ve been elected by the people of Cumberland North to be here in this legislature to represent them, to be their voice, and I believe that I should be able to do so, based on democracy.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice confirmed a notice of intended action was received and is under review.

Last week, Smith-McCrossin tabled legislation aimed at prohibiting the misuse of NDAs, specifically for victims of sexual assault and harassment.

During second reading of the bill, Smith-McCrossin said it was personal and alleged that one of her former employees was “coerced” into signing an NDA with the Progressive Conservative caucus. The MLA said she introduced the legislation in honour of the woman, who was a junior staffer with the PC caucus at the time. The woman, who later worked for Smith-McCrossin, died unexpectedly at the age of 33 last June. CBC reported her death was due to a brain hemorrhage.

The alleged incident is said to have happened in 2018, when Smith-McCrossin was still a member of the PC caucus. In January of that year, then-PC leader Jamie Baillie was forced to quit after an investigation found he had acted inappropriately and breached the legislature’s policy on workplace harassment.

Smith-McCrossin tabled an unsigned copy of the alleged NDA, which she said she found after her employee’s death.

The province’s current community services minister, Karla MacFarlane, was the interim leader of the party at the time, but she denied having any knowledge of an NDA ever being used. “There was no disclosure agreements at all between the caucus, between any individual,” she told reporters last week. “I know for certain I did not sign anything.” And on Monday, MacFarlane said Smith-McCrossin “misled” the house, and made a notice of motion that Smith-McCrossin not be allowed to take her seat until she apologizes and retracts her statements.

In response, Smith-McCrossin said “I only speak the truth.” Tuesday afternoon, MacFarlane again insisted that the alleged NDA “never, ever” came from the caucus, herself, or anyone she knew. She called the situation “discouraging and frustrating” and said the caucus is “very upset” with the allegations.

MacFarlane said the intent of her notice of motion was not to expel Smith-McCrossin, but in hopes she would “retract her incorrect statements and make an apology. The step was simply to set the record straight and have a conversation – one that the individual will not have outside the chamber, unfortunately,” she said. “I am totally open to having that conversation, setting the record straight.”

The parents of Kaitlin Saxton, the former staffer, said in a statement that while their daughter is gone, they feel they “should come forward in one final attempt to lay this to rest.” Katherine and Michael Saxton alleged their daughter was coerced into signing the NDA, “but what was worse for her was the total abandonment she endured from her ‘friends’ in the caucus office.” It said she was “ghosted,” “treated like a pariah,” and was “just beginning to live again” when she began working for Smith-McCrossin. “Sadly her life ended abruptly. Kait was smart, beautiful, compassionate and funny. Our lives will never be the same,” the statement said.

Opposition leaders have questioned the government, asking whether a conflict of interest is keeping the party from moving the NDA bill forward.

Last April, when the NDP first tabled their bill on the matter, the government seemed to be supportive — but in the fall, Justice Minister Brad Johns told reporters it was not a priority.

During question period Tuesday, Liberal leader Zach Churchill asked if the government was considering legislation to restrict the use of NDAs “whose intent is to protect perpetrators, and not victims of sexual assault and harassment.”

Premier Tim Houston responded that he agreed NDAs should “not be used to silence victims of sexual assault,” but added that the province is hearing from “two sides. This is a very complex issue, we’ve had a number, now, of people reach out from the other side, talking about why they may have entered into one of these,” he said. “We have to honour those victims as well. We’re doing the research, we’re listening to both sides, we’re taking the issue very seriously.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/9600450/elizabeth-smith-mccrossin-nda-legal-a...

Both the NDP and Liberal opposition parties have supported  former PC Party and now independent MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin when the PC Houston government tried to remove her from the legislature over her fight for the banning of Non Disclosure Agreements (NDA) on sexual abuse and harassment and on the alleged government's forcing of a PC staffer to sign such a NDA.  They also supported her when the PC government legally threatened her after accusing her of sharing private health information involving the death of a constituent who died while awaiting medical care in a hospital's emergency department. The PC government is starting to sound the Republican Tennessee government.

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said the government did the right thing by relenting on the motion. The motion amounted to "an intimidation tactic," she told reporters. "Bringing it [forward] would have set a very dangerous precedent for how and when members can be removed from the House."

Chender said the motion should be withdrawn if there is a process that allows for that.

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said this is the second time the government has tried to "bully" Smith-McCrossin into standing down on an issue. "And both times she has stood her ground and the government has pulled their horns in and I think that's an indication that what they did was wrong," Churchill told reporters.

Smith-McCrossin received a legal threat from the Justice Department earlier this year when she made public the story of a constituent who died while awaiting medical care in the emergency department at the hospital in Amherst. The government accused her of sharing private health information, but Smith-McCrossin noted that she was representing her constituents and had the permission of the family to share their story.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/non-disclosure-agreement-eliz...

The three major wildfires that have in quick succession have occurred in Nova Scotia, including one that is already the largest in Nova Scotia history and two others that have already caused mandatory evacuations of more than 17,000 people in the Halifax region and destroyed more than 200 homes, are connected to climate change. These wildfires plus the record number also occurring in New Brunswick during the month of May when conditions are rarely so hot and dry bring home the risk to areas of Canada that are not normally thought of high risk for climate-change induced wildfires both environmentally and economically. 

 

Fast-spreading blazes across Canada’s East Coast – as seen in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in recent days – signal how climate change is increasing the risks of wildfires in the country, experts say.

A wildfire northwest of downtown Halifax has already damaged or destroyed 200 homes and structures, as well as forced thousands of residents to evacuate their suburban homes.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick has also seen an “unprecedented” number of fires so far this year, according to Premier Blaine Higgs.

Canada’s eastern provinces, like the West, are no strangers to seeing wildfire activity in the spring and summer months, but the volatility of this year’s season and the conditions leading up to it are raising concerns. And the longer the seasons get, the larger the impact on communities.

“What is unique about this situation is the time of year — the fact it’s occurring in May and that it spread so rapidly,” said Anthony Farnell, Global News’ chief meteorologist.

In Nova Scotia, a lack of snow cover this past winter meant there was less spring melt and on top of that, the province, in particular Halifax, saw half of the average amount of rainfall, leading to the “driest April” on record, said Farnell.

“Unfortunately, it continues to be very dry, warm and extremely low relative humidity — and it’s that low humidity that really leads to dangerous conditions,” he added.

On top of the dry spell in the region — although some rain is expected Friday — wind action and severe storms have exacerbated the situation in Halifax, fire officials say.

But is climate change the culprit?

“Without a doubt … we believe that climate change contributes to volatility,” Halifax fire Deputy Chief Dave Meldrum told reporters during an update Monday.

A warming climate is leading to more frequent drought and the outcome in many places is fires that are very hard to control, said Jennifer Baltzer, who holds the Canada Research Chair in forests and global change at Wilfrid Laurier University.

“The fires we are seeing out west and in Nova Scotia this year fit into a trend of larger, more frequent and more severe wildfires in Canada and around the world,” she told Global News.

Hotter, drier conditions mean a larger area is susceptible to burning.

“So if there is an ignition source, whether human-caused or lightning, the forests will be more likely to burn and the associated hot, dry weather conditions will support the rapid spread of the fire,” Baltzer explained.

https://globalnews.ca/news/9735170/nova-scotia-wildfires-climate-change/

The Barrington Lake wildfire is now the largest ever recorded in Nova Scotia history as heat and drought conditions associated with the climate crisis enabled it to spread rapidly. There are also three other out-of-control wildfires burning in the province.
[quote] Four out-of-control wildfires continue to burn throughout Nova Scotia, including the largest wildfire ever recorded in provincial history.

Despite the best efforts of firefighters, the Barrington Lake fire in Shelburne County now covers more than 200 square kilometres.

Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton says six more water bombers are flying in from the United States on Friday and over the weekend, and an unspecified number of firefighters from the U.S. and Costa Rica are on their way to help battle the blaze.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/barrington-lake-blaze-in-nova-scot...

Nova Scotia has endured record-breaking rainfalls and flooding in the last few days, following on the record-breaking wildfires in June and the record-breaking Hurricane Fiona last fall. Four people are missing and another five barely escaped from the same cars that were submerged by floodwaters.  Some of the flooded areas were the same ones devastated by wildfires last month, thereby increasing the level of flooding because of the lack of vegetation to absorb rainwater. 

“It’s pretty obvious that the climate is changing – from Fiona last year to the wildfires in the spring and now flooding in the summer,” Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said in an interview. “We’re getting storms that used to be considered one-in-50-year events … pretty regularly.” (https://cfjctoday.com/2023/07/22/record-breaking-downpours-from-thunders...)

 

These are unprecedented rainfall totals for the region, more akin to a heavy rainfall event you’d see somewhere like Florida instead of the Canadian Maritimes. For some perspective, Halifax typically averages about 95 mm of rain during the entire month of July.

Significant flash flooding swept through communities near Halifax, N.S., on Friday evening after relentless tropical downpours dropped 150-200+ mm of rain on the area in just a few hours. Rushing floodwaters inundated roads throughout the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), effectively cutting off access to some communities. ...

Search and rescue crews continued to look for four people reported missing after two vehicles were submerged by floodwaters on Friday night. Three of five people were able to exit one vehicle, leaving two children missing, while two of the four individuals were able to flee the other vehicle, leaving a man and youth missing. ...

Many roads remain impassable or are closed. A map of roads blocked due to flooding in the Halifax region can be found here.

An evacuation order remains for the Fancy Lake area in Lunenburg County, but it has been rescinded for people living near St. Croix River system.

• Historic rainfall totals

Widespread rainfall totals of 100-200+ mm fell across the Halifax area, with the heaviest rains hitting communities west and north of Halifax proper.

Some of the heaviest rain fell over areas devastated by wildfires in late May and early June, which likely exacerbated the extent of the flooding in the affected areas. ...

A sizable plume of tropical moisture streaming into the region from the south fuelled the heavy rainfall. Persistent thunderstorms tapped into this moisture like a reservoir, efficiently wringing out copious amounts of water over the region.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/record-flooding-nova-scotia-leads-140551325.html

PC candidate Twila Grosse won the Preston byelection. The NDP's Colter Simmond finished second. All three candidates were African Canadian. The electoral district includes the majority African Nova Scotian communities of North Preston and East Preston, plus the communities of Cherry Brook, Lake Loon, Lake Echo, Mineville, Montague Gold Mines, Westphal, and part of the Tam O'Shanter Ridge neighbourhood of Dartmouth. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_(electoral_district)#:~:text=The%20electoral%20district%20includes%20the%20majority%20African%20Nova,of%20the%20Tam%20O%27Shanter%20Ridge%20neighbourhood%20of%20Dartmouth.) The Liberals, who previously held the riding, finished third. The by-election was controversial because Dorothy Rice, Nova Scotia's chief electoral officer, had "ordered the Liberals to remove signs and other campaign material that she said contained false statements concerning a potential dump in the riding's Lake Echo area. Rice had also asked the PCs "to clarify signs that implored local residents to vote against the "Liberal carbon tax." She said the word "federal" should be inserted before Liberal."

Progressive Conservative Twila Grosse has won a provincial byelection in the Nova Scotia riding of Preston, taking a seat held by the Liberals for most of the last 20 years.

Grosse beat out Colter Simmonds of the NDP and Liberal Carlo Simmons, who were both in a distant race for second place in the five-way contest about an hour after polls closed Tuesday night.

Elections Nova Scotia said Grosse captured 1,950 votes, well ahead of Simmonds of the NDP with 1,145. Liberal Simmons trailed the NDP candidate by more than 100 votes.

The byelection, called on July 7, became necessary after Liberal Angela Simmonds stepped down in April.

Health care, affordable housing, gas prices and economic development were among the main issues during the campaign.

There were 11,125 registered voters in the riding, according to Elections Nova Scotia.

Heading into the byelection, the governing Progressive Conservatives held 31 seats in the provincial legislature, followed by the Liberals with 16 seats, the New Democrats with six and one Independent.

The Liberals captured 43 per cent of the votes in the riding in the 2021 provincial election, with the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats almost equally splitting the remaining ballots cast.

The campaign managed to generate some controversy in its closing days.

Last week, Dorothy Rice, Nova Scotia's chief electoral officer, ordered the Liberals to remove signs and other campaign material that she said contained false statements concerning a potential dump in the riding's Lake Echo area.

Rice called in the RCMP to assist with a formal investigation under the provincial Elections Act after the Liberals refused to comply with her order. She had acted on a complaint by the Progressive Conservatives over what they said was misleading material wrongly asserting that Premier Tim Houston was doing nothing to stop plans for the dump.

In a statement from the Liberal campaign for Simmons in which the candidate congratulated Grosse for her victory, party leader Zach Churchill took a parting shot at the Progressive Conservatives and Elections Nova Scotia.

"It's unfortunate that the Houston Conservatives chose to run a campaign that played on misinformation towards voters rather than speaking on its own record in government for the last two years, which was unfairly supported by Elections Nova Scotia," Churchill said.

Meanwhile, Rice had also asked the Progressive Conservatives to clarify signs that implored local residents to vote against the "Liberal carbon tax." She said the word "federal" should be inserted before Liberal.

Elections Nova Scotia said the byelection saw the first use of an electronic ballot system in Canada during early voting. The system allowed voters to choose a candidate on an electronic tablet in the polling station rather than marking a paper ballot.

https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/tories-twila-grosse-wins-provincial-byelecti...

Like Hurricane Fiona last year, Hurricane Lee is hitting the Maritimes and New England because of the warmer waters created by the climate crisis provide the energy to keep hurricanes going further northward in what is the new normal. Experts warn that policy makers need to take projections of increased hurricane activity seriously and start upgrading their dams, roadways and neighborhoods for these future storms.  “We definitely in our coastal communities need to be thinking about how can we make our shorelines more resilient. Garner said. ”Do we need to change ... where those flood zones are located, kind of thinking about how to perhaps protect the shorelines and think about solutions for that and adaptation kinds of things?” she said, adding that policy makers can also implement measures to keep emissions down so the worst of effects of climate change don't materialize."

From left, car dealership owner Rick Durand Owner of Durand Cadillac and controller Michelle Bettez react beside three vehicles that fell into a sinkhole that was washed out of his car dealership Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in Leominster, Mass. after more than 9 inches of rain fell overnight. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

When it comes to hurricanes, New England can't compete with Florida or the Caribbean. But scientists said Friday that the arrival of storms like Hurricane Lee this weekend could become more common in the region as the planet warms, including in places such as the Gulf of Maine.

One recent study found climate change could result in hurricanes expanding their reach more often into mid-latitude regions, which includes New York, Boston and even Beijing. Factors in this, the study found, are the warmer sea surface temperatures in these regions and the shifting and weakening of the jet streams — strong bands of air currents that encircle the planet in both hemispheres.  “These jet stream changes combined with the warmer ocean temperatures are making the mid latitude more favorable to hurricanes,” Joshua Studholme, a Yale University physicist and l ead author on the study. “Ultimately meaning that these regions are likely to see more storm formation, intensification and persistence.”

Another study simulated tropical cyclone tracks from pre-industrial times, modern times and a future with higher emissions. It found that hurricanes will move north and east in the Atlantic. It also found hurricanes would track closer to the coasts including Boston, New York and Norfolk, Virginia and more likely to form along the Southeast coast, giving New Englanders less time to prepare. “We also found that hurricanes are more likely to move most slowly when they’re traveling along the U.S. East Coast, which causes their impacts to last longer and increase that duration of dealing with winds and storm surge, things like that. And that was, again, for cities that included New York City and Boston,” said Andra Garner, lead study author and an assistant professor of environmental science at Rowan University.

Kerry Emanuel, a professor emeritus of atmospheric science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has long studied the physics of hurricanes, said parts of Maine will see more frequent hurricanes and heavier rains with each storm.  “We expect to see more hurricanes than we’ve seen in the last few decades. They should produce more rain and more wind," said Emanuel, who now lives in Maine. “We certainly have seen up here an increase in the destructiveness of winter storms which is a very different beast. I would say the bulk of the evidence, the weight of the evidence is that we’ll see more rain and more wind from these storms.”

One reason for the trend is the region's warming waters. The Gulf of Maine, for example, is warming faster than the vast majority of the world’s oceans. In 2022, the Gulf recorded the second-warmest year on record, beating the old record by less than half a degree Fahrenheit. The average sea surface temperature was 53.66 degrees (12 degrees Celsius), more than 3.7 degrees above the 40-year average, scientists said. “Certainly, when we think about storms forming and traveling at more northern latitudes, sea surface temperature comes into play a lot because hurricanes need those really warm ocean waters to fuel them,” Garner said. "And if those warm ocean waters exist at higher latitudes than they used to, it makes it more possible for storms to move in those areas." ...

Experts warn that policy makers need to take projections of increased hurricane activity seriously and start upgrading their dams, roadways and neighborhoods for these future storms.  “We definitely in our coastal communities need to be thinking about how can we make our shorelines more resilient," Garner said. ”Do we need to change ... where those flood zones are located, kind of thinking about how to perhaps protect the shorelines and think about solutions for that and adaptation kinds of things?” she said, adding that policy makers can also implement measures to keep emissions down so the worst of effects of climate change don't materialize.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/climate-change-bring-storms-hurrican...

The Tim Houston PC government is abandoning the hydro power Atlantic Loop saying it is too expensive. It is instead proposing to replace its coal fired energy with wind and solar energy. While environmentalist critics support the idea of using wind and solar, they worry that this is a stalling tactic and that they don't see how Nova Scotia can reach its goal of  decommissioning all of its remaining coal plants by 2030 and the change in form of proposed energy to delay making any type of change.

The Atlantic Loop could have expanded electrical grid connections between Quebec and New Brunswick and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to provide greater access to renewable electricity. Nova Scotia announced Wednesday it's abandoning plans to connect to Quebec, but will continue to import hydroelectricity from Labrador via the Maritime Link through Newfoundland. (CBC)

Nova Scotia is abandoning the proposed Atlantic Loop in its plan to decarbonize its electrical grid by 2030, Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton announced Wednesday.

The province unveiled its clean power plan calling for 30 per cent more wind power and five per cent more solar energy in its power grid. Nova Scotia's plan relies on continued imports of hydroelectricity from the Muskrat Falls project in Labrador via the Emera-owned Maritime Link.

Right now Nova Scotia generates 60 per cent of its electricity by burning fossil fuels, mostly coal. Nova Scotia Power must close its coal plants by 2030 when 80 per cent of electricity must come from renewable sources in order reduce greenhouse gas emissions causing climate changes. The clean power plan calls for an additional 1,000 megawatts of onshore wind by 2030 which would then generate 50 per cent of the the province's electricity.   "We're taking the things already know and can capitalize on while we build them here in Nova Scotia," said Rushton, "More importantly, we're doing it at a lower rate so the ratepayers of Nova Scotia aren't going to bear the brunt of a piece of equipment that's designed and built and staying in Quebec."

The province says it can meet its green energy targets without importing hydro from Quebec through the Atlantic loop. It would have brought hydroelectric power from Quebec into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia via upgraded transmission links. But the government said the cost is prohibitive, jumping to $9 billion from nearly $3 billion three years ago with no guarantee of a secure supply of power from Quebec. "The loop is not viable for 2030. It is not necessary to achieve our goal," said David Miller, the provincial clean energy director. 

Miller said the cost of $250 to $300 per megawatt hour was five times higher than domestic wind supply. Some of the provincial plan includes three new battery storage sites and expanding the transmission link with New Brunswick. Both were Nova Scotia Power projects paused by the company after the Houston government imposed a cap on the utility's rate increased in the fall of 2022. The province said building the 345-kilovolt transmission line between Truro, N.S., and Salisbury, N.B., and an extension to the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station would enable greater access to energy markets.

Miller says Nova Scotia Power has revived both. Nova Scotia Power did not comment on the new plan, but Rushton spoke for the company. "All indications I've had is Nova Scotia Power is on board for what is taking place here today," he said. ...

Former Liberal premier and opposition MLA Iain Rankin said Wednesday that Nova Scotia is still moving too slowly if it hopes to meet its goal of decarbonizing the grid.  He said he supports the plan to add new wind and solar powered energy to the system, but that he's unconvinced the province will be able to decommission all of its remaining coal plants by 2030. "It should have started on Day 1 and not two years in," he said. "The plan previously when we were in government was to close five of the eight coal plants by 2025, so when I don't see one coal plant closed and three are delayed, I don't have confidence that eight of them will be closed by 2030." He also questioned how the province will pay for the new plan without increased support from the federal government.  Kings–Hants MP Kody Blois said Wednesday that he expects the federal government will make a contribution and that he will be pushing for it. 

In June, Premier Tim Houston claimed the Atlantic Loop had the potential to bankrupt the province, but the feds disagreed, arguing it was "least costly option for households" as the province worked to get off coal. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/clean-power-plan-abandons-atl...

Nova Scotia PC Premier Tim Houston Premier Approval has decreased slightly in the latest Angus Reid poll, falling 2% to 48%, with housing affordability becoming an important issue in Halifax.

Housing affordability is an important issue across the country and Nova Scotia is no exception, as the province deals with the highest rental inflation rate in the country. Premier Tim Houston and the Progressive Conservative government has maintained the province’s rent cap, despite campaigning against it when his party unseated the former Liberal government. The cap, however, does not apply to new leases. The province is taking longer-term action to address the housing shortage, with a five-year plan to create 41,200 new housing units at an estimated cost of $1.7 billion. Spending on housing and health care may have driven positive assessments of Houston from residents in the province, but have also generated fiscal storm clouds that may prove difficult to navigate in the future. Approximately half of Nova Scotians approve of Houston (48%).

https://angusreid.org/premiers-approval-francois-legault-doug-ford-david...

Until now the Tories have polled below their approval ratings, while the Liberals, during the previous eight years, always polled above; I suspect the simultaneous (lack of) popularity of each party's federal cousins was (and is) a factor there.

The Tim Houston PC government has retreated on its plan to develop wind power offshore. 

Canada and Nova Scotia share jurisdiction of waters extending from shorelines outside bays to the 200 mile territorial limit. Both levels are working together to create rules to approve and manage offshore wind farms in Nova Scotia. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The Nova Scotia government is tapping the brakes on its plan to fast-track wind farms inside bays where it has sole control of development. "We're pausing any consideration of waters within provincial jurisdiction until the framework for jointly managed offshore areas is in place," Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Canada and Nova Scotia share jurisdiction of waters extending from shorelines outside bays within the country's exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 miles. Both levels are working together to create rules to approve and manage offshore wind farms in Nova Scotia that will produce electricity without creating greenhouse gases that cause climate change. ...

The decision to focus first on jointly managed waters — in essence a go-slower approach — capped several months of lobbying by fisheries groups concerned that wind farms inside bays would displace already crowded fishing grounds. "I would say that the fishing industry is very, very pleased that the province has listened to the many, many voices both within our industry and other industries," said Ginny Boudreau, executive director of the Guysborough County Inshore Fishermen's Association. Its members fish in Chedabucto Bay, at the entrance to the Strait of Canso. It was one of two bays the province had selected for potential development. "There are many industries that are already using that space. It's a very high traffic area for several industries including the fishing industry and I don't really think that there is space available for the type of development that would be necessary to generate enough energy to be beneficial," said Boudreau.

The province says the ongoing consultations "will help inform our decisions for the regulatory framework for both areas. Our decision to focus on jointly managed waters first reflects that we are listening to the feedback through this process," Rushton said. ...

Seabed leases for wind farms inside bays could be issued as early as next year, according to its offshore wind road map it issues in May. "In waters under provincial jurisdiction, early commercial-scale offshore wind could be developed closer to shore at relatively competitive costs, establishing a foundation for future larger-scale developments in joint-managed waters," the road map states. The provincial goal is to offer licences for five gigawatts of electricity from offshore wind by 2030, about twice the total amount of power generated by Nova Scotia today.

Twenty percent of that would come from provincial waters. ...

In the meantime the joint federal-provincial effort continues. Ottawa has introduced legislation to empower a joint federal-provincial offshore board to regulate marine wind power. Nova Scotia will follow suit with mirror legislation once that passes.

A five-member panel has been created to lead consultations on how and where development should take place. ...

One of the representatives said he was pleased with the pause but is still opposed to ocean-based wind farms.  "Lobsters migrate into bays and shoal water when it's warm to reproduce and carry on their life cycle. The bays and inlets need just as much protection as the offshore waters,' said Dan Fleck of the Brazil Rock Lobster Association, representing lobster fishermen in southwestern Nova Scotia. "It's bewildering that a 450-year-old fishery, that has fed people for centuries, could be risked by dumping thousands of tons of concrete and other construction materials for the sake of a technology which could be obsolete in 15 years," he said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/government-retreats-offshore-...

PC Premier Tim Houston's approval rating has dropped slowly from a high in 73% in March 2022 to 44% today. 

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston endures a four-point drop in approval. Houston will be hoping to earn some good will with what he and his finance minister have called the largest tax break in the province’s history, as a part of the 2024 budget. Some critics have stated that this claim is “misleading”:

 

https://angusreid.org/premier-approval-march-2024/