The Nova Scotia legislature will open a new session on March 9, a year after the last sitting.
The date was announced Wednesday by the clerk of the House of Assembly but it is not immediately clear if the session will open with members attending Province House in person or if it will be held at least partially online.
“As far as I know there haven’t been any decisions made," James Charlton, clerk of the House, said Wednesday afternoon. “The default decision would be an in-person until the members of the House decide to do something otherwise.”
Claudia Chender, the MLA for Dartmouth South and House leader for the New Democratic Party caucus, said she and her colleagues were not surprised by the announcement and they are eager to get back to the House.
“March 9 will be just a day shy of a year since we were there last and it’s time communities across Nova Scotia are able to have their voices heard through their elected representatives again,” Chender said.
The House will open with a speech from the throne to be read by Lt.-Gov. Arthur LeBlanc, a speech that will contain a legislative plan from the Liberal government and its new leader.
The Nova Scotia legislature is the only provincial governing assembly in Canada that has not met to perform its governance role since March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding restrictions took hold.
Some members of the legislature gathered briefly on Dec. 18 to hear Premier Stephen McNeil prorogue or discontinue the session, with Feb. 16 pegged as a date to recall the House.
Allan MacMaster, House leader for the Progresive Conservatives, said McNeil and the Liberals did not negotiate in good faith the first time around.
"The premier requested he be the only MLA present on Dec. 18," MacMaster said.
"When the legislature resumes, all members should be able to participate in compliance with public health rules for public safety," the Inverness MLA said. "Our democratic institution has to adapt to ensure it continues to exist. That includes where we actually meet. It is almost an entire year since we last met to discuss the people's business and we look forward to returning."
"When the legislature resumes, all members should be able to participate in compliance with public health rules for public safety. Our democratic institution has to adapt to ensure it continues to exist. That includes where we actually meet."
Allan MacMaster, MLA
Chender said the parties are still in discussion about the format for the return.
“I think everyone is watching how COVID continues to move in and out of our province but based on where we are right now, our hope is that we will be able to follow the negotiated plan we had for a fall sitting, which was to sit in person as a smaller percentage of our caucuses and to vote by proxy,” Chender said.
“Every member would still have a vote on all legislation but there would just be fewer members of every caucus in the chamber at any time which would allow for physical distancing and masking and for us to observe all the other public health protocols.”
Both opposition parties pushed the government to hold virtual House sittings as the pandemic restrictions continued through 2020. Chender said the last House sitting in the spring lasted only about 13 days, while other jurisdictions often see their elected representatives sit for months.
Chender said it was expected that the House opening would be pushed to a later date.
“With a new premier coming in on the weekend, Feb. 16 was quite a tight timeline,” Chender said of the Liberal leadership convention to be held Saturday to replace McNeil as party leader and premier.
The new premier -- Randy Delorey, Labi Kousoulis or Iain Rankin -- will have to swear in a cabinet and have a transition and join in the discussion about how the next House sitting will play out, she said.
Legislation tabled but not passed before prorogation will die on the order paper.
“It essentially disappears and any bills that we would want to pursue that haven’t been passed into law would have to be reintroduced in a new session.”
“I think everyone is watching how COVID continues to move in and out of our province but based on where we are right now, our hope is that we will be able to follow the negotiated plan we had for a fall sitting, which was to sit in person as a smaller percentage of our caucuses and to vote by proxy.”
Claudia Chender, MLA
With unpassed legislation being revamped from the last 2020 sitting and, presumably, new legislation emerging from promises made by the incoming premier while contesting the leadership, the worry is that the majority government might try to push too much through too quickly.
“That’s always the case with a majority government and that’s what we’ve seen from the last four years, so we don’t expect anything different,” Chender said.
“We certainly anticipate that the government will have a legislative agenda that it will bring forward. This spring will be a budget session and we assume that their priority will be passing a budget and we’ll see a lot of that legislative activity signalled in the budget that comes forward.”
At the time of prorogation, the Liberals held 26 seats, the Progressive Conservatives had 18 sitting members and the NDP had five MLAs. There are two independents.
