Nova Scotia NDP wants ‘robust’ legislature session to deal with budget, tariff threat

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s NDP leader is cautioning the government against rushing through the upcoming sitting of the legislature as the province’s economy faces economic threats from the United States.

The new session, which opens Friday with a throne speech, will be the first since the governing Progressive Conservatives were re-elected in a landslide on Nov. 26, with the NDP overtaking the Liberals to form the official Opposition.

Premier Tim Houston called the election after a short 10-day sitting in September, and NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Wednesday that a more robust session is needed this time to deal properly with potential U.S. tariffs and the government’s budget.

She said the Tories — who captured 43 of the legislature’s 55 seats — need to be prepared to have difficult conversations and shouldn’t be gearing up to “steam roll” through the opposition because of its massive majority.

“I think it’s hugely important,” Chender told reporters. “We are seeing across the country and around the world — certainly to the south of us — that there is increasingly a move away from democratic norms, citizen engagement and good governance.”

Chender said her party will push for a more comprehensive Team Nova Scotia approach to tariffs, aimed at protecting the province’s traditional industries such as forestry, fishing, agriculture and mining. “Now is the time to diversify, to work with other provinces to remove trade barriers within Canada and ensure that our economic growth is sustainable and forward looking,” she said.

With Houston in Washington, D.C., Wednesday as part of a delegation of Canadian premiers lobbying U.S. politicians and business officials about the potential tariffs, Chender also called for a more comprehensive response plan from the province involving workers, business leaders and the Mi’kmaq.

“Tariffs or not, the Trump administration has shown us that we are too dependent on our economic ties with the United States,” she said.

The NDP leader said her party will also advocate for solutions to long-standing problems such as housing shortages, affordability and health-care accessibility during the legislative sitting.

“This is a budget session,” Chender said. “We have pushed for years to have more accountability, more oversight and more robust debate and we will continue in that vein.”

The budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year is expected to be tabled soon after the legislature opens.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2025.

Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press