From the desk of Andrew Younger

The legislature appears to be winding down for the spring session. Looking back now on two terms of this government, it is interesting to look at a growing trend in bills where the details are not in the actual bill or act, but are in fact found instead in regulations approved at some later time by cabinet. This is an extremely important issue. So important that when this issue was raised in the 1940s and again in the 1970s in Ottawa it was determined that a committee of parliament should be struck to form regulations.

The imbalance between the legislature and the Cabinet is becoming greatly exacerbated through the inclusion of discretionary powers in legislation the intent of which is to allow cabinet as a collective or as individual ministers to make law through ministerial orders and orders-in-council instead of simply guiding policy. Some of the bills which are before this house during this session of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly significantly increase the movement of power to cabinet and away from the elected members of the House of Assembly. It points to a scenario where the role of the legislature is in decline. This means not only are opposition members left with increasingly limited options to challenge governance by the ruling party, but the role of government backbench MLAs which was once vital in the British Westminster tradition of parliamentary democracy, has all but disappeared.

From a practical point of view, it also lessens the opportunities when a government – particularly a minority government – could fall due to a vote of the House of Assembly. This is because the more legislation moves towards regulation and away from legislation in the elected assembly, the less often government must meet the house as they can effectively create their own law as needed by orders-in-council.

This session bills ranging from amendments to the Electricity Act to Security Guards were introduced with little detail other than a promise that the details would come later in regulations. What we are seeing is an overuse of regulations. The result is no legislative oversight of rules that impact our daily lives. A few years ago the PC Party introduced a bill putting a cap on minor injuries in vehicle accidents. However, it was not until the regulations were brought through cabinet that people realized the definition of a minor injury was much more broad than anyone expected it would be.

J.R. Mallory wrote that the effect of this is that “Only when the aggrieved party challenges the regulation in court can its legality be authoritatively determined” Essentially we have reams of regulations governing every aspect of our lives in Nova Scotia and yet no real confidence in the absence of legislative oversight that they are not in excess of other laws or the constitution.

The Canadian Encyclopedia comments that “The dwindling ability of the legislature to hold the executive accountable has had a debilitating effect on the disciplinary impact of the doctrine of collective and ministerial responsibility to the legislature, a doctrine upon which rests the whole notion of responsible government.”

We should take that statement to heart because it sums up the concern I raised today in the legislature about the bills we are watching move through the process in the House of Assembly. As we look upon the bills which the cabinet has brought forth in this session and the last, in many there appears to be a significant shift away from the authority and supremacy of the legislature as provided for not only in the Westminster tradition of parliamentary democracy but also the tradition of the Canadian Constitution and British North America Act.

Nova Scotians should be concerned as their elected voice in the oldest legislature in Canada – the seat of responsible government – is further weakened.

It’s been a couple of years since I was scuba diving on the Arrow which sits on the bottom of Chedabucto Bay off Arichat. The Arrow was an oil tanker which sank on February 4, 1970. To this day, as the power of the waves break it down, it slowly leaks oil into the marine environment. I think of that wreck when people talk about drilling on Georges Bank. A decision on whether the moratorium should be extended to prevent drilling is due by June 1, 2010 and the government is not yet showing its hand, despite being firmly opposed to drilling on Georges while in opposition.

There is talk that the technology has improved and perhaps it is reasonable to allow drilling on Georges – or at least testing to see if oil or gas does exist. The technology hasn’t changed much in the past few years, and certainly hasn’t changed since the NDP came to power. The unfortunate accident last week in the Gulf of Mexico which saw the sinking of a BP oil rig and a massive oil slick is evidence of what can happen with the latest technology. We can’t take that risk on Georges Bank.

Georges Bank is one of the richest fishing areas in the world. Those riches resulted in the development of communities like Yarmouth, Pubnico, and Digby Neck. The bank continues to sustain fishing and tourism industries in the region and internationally. Interestingly, between 1976 and 1982 ten test wells were drilled on the US side of Georges Bank. They reported no commercial quantities of oil or gas, so while that is a small test sample, there is no reason to think allowing exploration on Georges Bank will suddenly be a huge financial gain to Nova Scotia and Southwest Nova Scotia in particular.

We should also be looking to our neighbours to the south. While the US government recently opened the possibility of inshore and offshore oil and gas exploration in US waters, President Obama specifically excluded Georges Bank. In fact Georges Bank is effectively excluded for exploration on the US side until 2017. On fishery issues we work with the US government on management decisions. While we don’t always agree there is good cooperation. There is no reason a decision on this issue should be any different.

Maybe one day there will be some oil and gas exploration and extraction method that is so safe and so proven that there would be no risk. That day is not today, and it’s not likely to happen in the next few years. If Oil and gas exists in commercial quantities on Georges Bank it’s not going anywhere so there is no lost opportunity in taking the cautious approach and continuing the moratorium

Some things in life just aren’t worth the risk. Drilling and exploration activities on Georges Bank fall into that category.

Budget estimates continue today in the legislature. But a break was taken to recognize and officially pardon Viola Desmond.

Ms. Desmond, respresented at the legislature by her sister, was charged with tax evasion for sitting in the white only section of a New Glasgow theatre.

I looked up in the legislature and saw Wayne Adams who was the first black MLA in Nova Scotia – and a Liberal. He joined the celebrations.

It was heartwarming to be in the legislature for this important moment in Nova Scotia history.

This announcement is on the heels of a long awaited apology for former Africville residents by the Halifax Regional Municipality. We’ve come a long way in Nova Scotia since Viola Desmond was removed by police from a New Glasgow theatre, but we must acknowledge we still have a ways to go and we should not give up the fight against injustice, discrimination, and racism.

The legislature debated a resolution today presented by the Liberals that the NDP member for Antigonish misled his constituents during the by-election by continuing to make promises to balance the budget this year, not cut services, and not raise taxes. We all know now that the NDP budget will raise the debt, raise taxes, and hurt the working poor and middle income families most of all. The member for Antigonish got up to respond, but was unable to do so. He instead read a prepared statement written by some NDP staffer about how wonderful Antigonish is. He’s right that Antigonish is a great place, but it’s his responsibility to answer to the people who elected him and he is unwilling to do that. He needs to respond to the people who elected him just like every NDP member must do so.

The NDP were elected on June 9th to a majority government. The infamous Deloitte report was released on August 7th and it clearly showed how bad the state of the finances in this province are. Yet during the fall by-election the NDP made the exact same promises using the same brochure that promised to balance the budget this year and not raise taxes. It was misleading and deceitful. Maurice Smith, the Member for Antigonish is unwilling to answer as to why he ran on promises that certainly by then the NDP – as government – knew could not be met.

The thing is Stephen McNeil was ridiculed by Darrell Dexter during the election for saying that it was impossible to promise a balanced budget since the finances were likely in bad shape. Yet what has happened is Stephen has been proven right. The NDP can’t balance the budget, and they are dropping – or modifying them. Stephen stole the show in the debate on this – he spoke from the heart and powerfully reflected the anger of all Nova Scotians over the deceit of the NDP. It’s a majority government so we have a few years to wait before the next election, but more and more I am hearing from Nova Scotians who will never vote NDP again – the fact they won’t even answer their critics is proof they are not fit to govern.