In recent weeks, Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservative (PC) government released its 2025–2026 budget, alongside several other bills, which signalled the beginning of its new government mandate. Its budget included funding for new initiatives such as a school lunch program, a search for critical minerals, and the privatization of the Halifax bridges. These changes were highly anticipated, supported, and are part of what brought the PCs to power. Amidst this, the PC government also put out a series of bills that changed the rules of the legislature.
Several of these rule changes happened because PCs hold a supermajority in the Nova Scotia legislature. If a rule change has support from more than two-thirds of the house, then it will pass; the Auditor General Act is one of them. If all members of the PCs voted the same, they would be able to do this because their party has 78 percent of all seats. Here, I look to explain these controversies that were released at the same time as the well-supported budget.
The PC government was under fire for Bill 1, which was said by the NDP opposition leader, Claudia Chender, to “undermine our democracy and restrict information for Nova Scotians.” Bill 1 received widespread criticism from across the province because it looked to remove the protections of the Auditor General, Kim Adair. Since 2021, Adair has been responsible for issuing reports and opinions on the government’s fiscal actions, conducting audits on businesses, and holding the government to account in the management of its funds.
The PC government tabled Bill 1, called the “Auditor General Act” on February 18, which allowed for them to fire Adair without cause and put power in the hands of the government to classify some of her financial reports and opinions. This would have severely limited the transparency of how the PC government is handling public funds.
Premier Tim Houston backtracked on this decision after the auditor general, the NDP, and Liberals pushed back against Bill 1. Adair said that to properly do her job, “it means being free from outside control and influence.” She continued, “The ability to remove the auditor general without cause, combined with the ability to control our public reporting, impacts the independence, integrity and objectivity of the office.”
Shortly after, Houston released a statement announcing he “no longer supported the proposed amendments.” “The proposed changes came out of a scan that looked to modernize the office by looking at best practices around Canada,” said Houston. “Some things become something they weren’t intended to be, and I believe this is the case with the Auditor General related amendments.”
Chender has been vocal in opposing recent rule changes by the PCs as well. “All Nova Scotians deserve to have their voices heard, regardless of how they voted,” she said in a February media release. “Opportunities to debate and question government policies are an important part of how our democracy works.”
Chender said this in response to the PCs reducing selected debates from one hour to 15 minutes and limiting “bell ringing” (a tactic to delay voting on a bill), and a change to the public bills committee. This committee is responsible for hearing public opinions and making changes in real time. Now, the PC government is no longer allowed to make instant changes to bills while hearing from the public. “It’s going to make law that is less representative and ultimately it’s a government that’s less accountable,” said Chender.
This story is developing, and although some changes to the Nova Scotia budget are very positive, it is important to remain informed on the issues that can affect governmental transparency. The PCs will hold power for approximately the next four years, and during this time, they can pass major changes to the rules of voting, debating, and transparency. Houston is known to frequently adjust his opinions on legislation, which will make for a highly active legislature until the next election in or before 2028.
