On Wednesday, several hundred people gathered in front of the Nova Scotia Legislature for the “Special Interests” for Democracy Rally. Mi’kmaw activists came together alongside environmental, labour, policy, justice, and community groups to protest proposed legislation made by provincial Premier Tim Houston in recent weeks.
As many provinces look to shore up plans to weather the current climate of economic turmoil and uncertainty, the Houston government is instead cynically leveraging the US-Canada trade war to introduce environmental deregulation and attack “special interest groups” it claims are “somehow harming the province.”
Since last month, the government has been attempting to advance troubling bills that would open a pandora’s box of environmental harm, while undermining important mechanisms of government accountability. At the same time, trying to silence any opposition.
Omnibus bills proposed sweeping attacks on environmental protection and government oversight
On Tuesday February 18, 2025, the Nova Scotia government tabled bills1 to roll back environmental protections, narrow long-established freedom of information rights, and shield itself from scrutiny and public accountability.
The government’s excuse for these sweeping measures was the need to counter economic threats from south of the border. Despite these claims, in the following week, the government was promptly forced to walk back proposed changes to the Auditor General Act and its plan to amend access to information rules.
The bills were preceded by a Progressive Conservative fundraising letter ramping up the government’s scapegoating narrative against “special interest groups” — read, environmental and health advocacy groups. This move further aims to silence opposition to the government’s planned backslide on environmental protection.
Scrutiny forces reversal on measures that would have undermined the Auditor General
Following backlash from opposition parties, civil society, and the media, Premier Tim Houston was forced to back down on proposed changes that would weaken the independence of the Auditor General’s office.
As an independent office, Nova Scotia Auditors General have performed a vital function ensuring government accountability over the years.2 The proposed measures in Bill 1 would have allowed the government to keep the AG’s audit reports secret, indefinitely and regardless of the importance of the issue. Moreover, Bill 1 would allow the AG to be fired without cause by a 2/3 majority vote in the Legislature (a majority that the current government conveniently has).
Further reversals pending on plans to amend access to information rules
In a statement issued Tuesday, Privacy Commissioner Tricia Ralph called on the government to withdraw proposed amendments to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Ralph warned that, if allowed to move forward, the changes could diminish government accountability and limit the public’s access and privacy rights
During question period the following day, the premier suggested that he plans to heed Ralph’s comments.
In its current form, Bill 1 would give a new and wide discretion to Freedom of Information (FOI) staff to refuse to deal with requests that they consider “trivial”, “frivolous” or “vexatious”. This leaves far too much to the discretion of staff to refuse to provide documents. As Ralph pointed out in her statement, the potential for abuse of process — by staff answerable only to politicians — is too broad.
We’re still waiting on how the government plans to ‘heed’ the Privacy Commissioner’s warning as the government has yet to release a revised version of the Bill.
Government points finger at “special interest groups”
While the government attempts legislative changes designed to dismantle democracy in Nova Scotia, Houston’s government is pointing the finger at a spectre of unnamed “special interest groups,” claiming they are somehow harming the province.
Adopting the slogan, taking the “no” out of Nova Scotia, the government announced plans to end longstanding moratoriums on uranium mining and fracking and silence “special interest groups” it claims are responsible for that pesky and persistent “no.”
Who exactly are these groups and what are they opposing? Indigenous, environmental, health, and community groups voicing public concern regarding these environmentally destructive practices.
Fracking is responsible for a myriad of impacts, including groundwater, surface water, and drinking water well contamination;3 harmful chemical exposures;4 massive amounts of contaminated wastewater; earthquakes; and contributions to climate change caused by methane leakage and greenhouse gas emissions when extracted gas is combusted.5
In addition to the typical impacts of mining operations, such as habitat disruption, mine tailings and water contamination, the process of uranium mining entails additional risks from radioactive mine tailings and hazardous chemicals.6 Researchers have found exposures associated with uranium mining increase the risk of lung cancer.7
Proposed legislation violates Indigenous rights
On March 4, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs sent a scathing rebuke to the Houston Government over the proposed removal of the longstanding bans.8 The Chiefs say it is “unacceptable that this government is fast-tracking the extraction of natural resources that will permanently devalue and damage our unceded lands and adversely impact the exercise of our section 35 rights.”
The Chiefs added, that the “sweeping legislative proposal is another example of the provincial government choosing not to engage or consult with the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia prior to introducing significant changes in the mining sector.” They also pointed out that the Mi’kmaq played a pivotal role in getting uranium mining and fracking banned in the province.
We need a government that’s accountable to the people of Nova Scotia
Meanwhile, a different special interest group, the Mining Association of Nova Scotia (MANS) — which represents dozens of industry interests with deep pockets — appear to be in lockstep with the Houston government. “Take the ‘no’ out of Nova Scotia” appeared in a MANS report on ending the ban on uranium exploration and mining the same day Houston used the phrase in a letter to caucus. This raises the question — whose interest is this government serving?
The reality is that irresponsible extraction of Nova Scotia’s resources will only expose us all to dangerous environmental damage and, for fossil fuel projects, to runaway climate change. These ill-conceived policies will leave us subject even further to the whims of corporations unconcerned about the lives and well-being of all Nova Scotians.
A call for the Nova Scotia government to do better
Governments should not cynically leverage a time of crisis, like a trade war, to advance an anti-environmental deregulation agenda and reduce accountability. Yet, the Nova Scotia government appears to be taking a page directly out of Trump’s playbook, with policies that undermine environmental protection and rhetoric that silences its opponents.
As respected journalist Joan Baxter pointed out in a recent piece published in the Halifax Examiner, “rhetoric can be just as damaging as the policies that undermine democracy because it adds to the already deep and dangerous polarization and populism leading liberal democracies to the precipice.”9
Transparency and accountability are crucial in a functioning democracy. The recently introduced omnibus bill and public attacks on civil society groups erode what Nova Scotians have come to count on. We urge the government to reconsider this dangerous path.
Rather than a fire sale of Nova Scotia’s natural heritage, let’s focus on renewable green energy, environmental stewardship, respect for Mi’kmaw rights, government accountability, and a strong open democracy. These are the keys to true self-sufficiency and long-term sustainability for us and for future generations of Nova Scotians.
References
1 Bill 1 – An Act Respecting Government Organization and Administration, (text of bill when introduced at first reading on February 18, 2025)
Bill 6 – An Act Respecting Agriculture, Energy and Natural Resources, (text of bill when introduced at first reading on February 18, 2025)
2 Auditor General’s Report November 1, 2017, Chapter 4: Environment: Environmental Assessments, pp. 43-53. This is one of four major environmental issues examined in the Nov 1, 2017 audit report.
3 Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Fractures in the Bridge, Unconventional (Fracked) Natural Gas, Climate Change and Human Health, January 2020, 2020-CAPE-Fracking-Report-EN.pdf
6Emerging health risks and underlying toxicological mechanisms of uranium contamination: Lessons from the past two decades – ScienceDirect; Environment International, Volume 145, December 2020, 106107
7May 2022 , Lung Cancer and Radon: Pooled Analysis of Uranium Miners Hired in 1960 or Later, Environmental Health Perspectives, 130(5) May 2022
8Mi’kmaw Chiefs send stinging rebuke to N.S. Premier Tim Houston, Halifax Examiner
9Premier Tim Houston has a hate on for ‘special interest groups’ but won’t say who they are. Here are the actual special interests in Nova Scotia, Halifax Examiner
