Politics of Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is a parliamentary democracy. Its unicameral legislature, the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, consists of fifty-one members. As Canada's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is the head of Nova Scotia's chief executive government. Her duties in Nova Scotia are carried out by the Lieutenant-Governor, John James Grant. The government is headed by the Premier, Stephen McNeil, who took office October 22, 2013. Halifax is home to the House of Assembly and Lieutenant-Governor.

History

From Confederation to World War I

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia (1867-1916) - seats won by party
Government Liberal Con Liberal
Party 1867 1871 1874 1878 1882 1886 1890 1897 1897 1901 1906 1911 1916
    Liberal 36 24 22 6 24 28 29 25 34 36 32 26 31
    Conservative 2 14 12 32 14 10 9 13 3 2 4 12 12
    Independent 4 1 2
Total 38 38 38 38 38 37 38 37 38 38 38 38 43

From 1920 to 1967

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia (1920-1967) - seats won by party
Government Liberal Con Liberal PC
Party 1920 1925 1928 1933 1937 1941 1945 1949 1953 1956 1960 1963 1967
    Liberal 29 3 18 22 25 22 28 27 22 18 15 4 6
    Conservative 3 40 24 8 5 5
    Progressive Conservative 8 13 24 27 39 40
    United Farmers 6
    Labour 5 1
    Cooperative Commonwealth Federation 3 2 2 2 1 1
Total 43 43 43 30 30 30 30 37 37 43 43 43 46

From 1970 to present

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia (1970-2013) - seats won by party
Government Liberal PC Liberal PC NDP Liberal
Party 1970 1974 1978 1981 1984 1988 1993 1998 1999 2003 2006 2009 2013
    Liberal 23 31 17 13 6 21 40 19 11 12 9 11 33
    Progressive Conservative 21 12 31 37 42 28 9 14 30 25 23 10 11
    New Democrat 2 3 41 32 3 19 11 15 20 31 7
    Cape Breton Labour 1 1 1
Total 46 46 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 52 51

Nova Scotia elected minority governments in the 1998, 2003 and 2006 elections. The Progressive Conservative government of John Hamm, and later Rodney MacDonald, required the support of the New Democratic Party or Liberal Party after the election in 2003.

Current politics

The province's revenue comes mainly from the taxation of personal and corporate income, although taxes on tobacco and alcohol, its stake in the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, and oil and gas royalties are also significant. In 2006/07, the Province passed a budget of $6.9 billion, with a projected $72 million surplus. Federal equalization payments account for $1.385 billion, or 20.07% of the provincial revenue. While Nova Scotians have enjoyed balanced budgets for several years, the accumulated debt exceeds $12 billion (including forecasts of future liability, such as pensions and environmental cleanups), resulting in slightly over $897 million in debt servicing payments, or 12.67% of expenses.[1] The province participates in the HST, a blended sales tax collected by the federal government using the GST tax system.

The election on June 13, 2006 elected 23 Progressive Conservatives, 20 New Democrats and 9 Liberals, leaving Nova Scotia with a Progressive Conservative minority government. The next election was held on June 9, 2009 with the NDP winning for the first time ever. They captured a majority with 31 seats to 11 for the Liberals and 10 for the PC Party.[2]

Most recently MLAs were criticized by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation for their pension plan, which costs taxpayers $11 million annually.[3] The ratio of funding for the pension, according to the report, is $22 taxpayer dollars per $1 contributed by public officials.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Nova Scotia Finance (2006). "2006-2007 Estimates" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-11-10. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  2. ↑ Smith, Amy; Jackson, David (May 6, 2009). "N.S. heads to polls June 9". The Chronicle Herald. Archived from the original on May 6, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  3. 1 2 Lacey, Kevin (Sep 14, 2010). "CTF releases new study on Nova Scotia MLA pensions and benefits". Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved 2010-09-14.

External links

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