Achi news desk-
HALIFAX –
Proceedings ended today in the Nova Scotia legislature after a spring sitting that saw the government present a budget and pass two of the three bills it introduced.
The Progressive Conservative government adopted legislation that overhauls the province’s electrical grid, and a broad omnibus bill that enacts measures in the budget but also amends 15 provincial acts.
However, the Tories shelved a bill that would have consolidated the Town of Antigonish with Antigonish County, in the face of growing public opposition.
The $16.5-billion budget was heavy on health spending, but it also indexed provincial income tax rates to inflation – a move the government says will provide relief from rising living costs.
Premier Tim Houston says the sit-in shows his government is ready to listen, after it abandoned the municipal consolidation bill and a contentious subsidy for wine bottlers that wineries complained was undermining their operations.
But the Opposition Liberals and the NDP say the government has moved with the political winds on those two issues because the Tories did not do their “homework” ahead of time.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on April 5, 2024.
