On the heels of a convincing election victory one month in the past, Nova Scotia’s premier is adopting a extra measured tone relating to assessing his province’s relationship with the federal authorities.
Tim Houston’s Progressive Conservatives have been returned to energy Nov. 26, capturing 43 of the legislature’s 55 seats after a marketing campaign throughout which he attacked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal authorities on a lot of fronts. In reality, he justified his resolution to name a snap election and ignore the province’s fixed-date election regulation — which had set the vote for July 2025 — by claiming he wanted a robust mandate to face as much as Ottawa.
However in a current end-of-year interview with The Canadian Press, Houston was extra conciliatory, saying a Dec. 9 assembly at his Halifax workplace with Trudeau was performed with “a spirit of collaboration.”
“We began to see straight away that the tone was completely different,” he mentioned, including that no matter comes of Trudeau’s management of the Liberal social gathering, Nova Scotia will retain its vital relationship with the federal authorities. Trudeau, in the meantime, has been going through rising strain from inside his caucus to step down.
Excessive on Houston’s record of grievances has been Ottawa’s imposition of carbon pricing within the province and its refusal to pay your complete invoice for the expensive work wanted to guard the Chignecto Isthmus, the low-lying land hyperlink between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that’s more and more susceptible to extreme flooding.
Throughout the provincial election marketing campaign, the premier accused the federal authorities of shirking its duty for the isthmus, occasionally accusing Ottawa of “making an attempt to tear us off.”
Nonetheless, his language has grow to be noticeably much less strident for the reason that election win.
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“I’d say they have been extra open-minded to taking a look at other ways we might finance it (the isthmus mission), so I’ll let that unfold,” mentioned Houston. “It’s not resolved but, I don’t need to give that impression, however definitely we try to work in the direction of a decision that each events can dwell with.”
The federal authorities has mentioned it’s keen to pay 50 per cent of the estimated $650-million mission to strengthen the dike system and rail line alongside the very important land hall towards rising sea ranges. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are to separate the opposite half of the price, and the provinces have subsequently requested the Nova Scotia Court docket of Attraction to rule on whether or not the duty for the work belongs completely to the federal authorities.
Houston mentioned the authorized problem — Ottawa ought to file its response in January — goes forward, with hearings scheduled to start in March.
“They haven’t filed but and we haven’t withdrawn,” he mentioned. “That stuff remains to be on the docket and I’ll hold that on the docket till there’s a decision.”
Nova Scotia can’t afford to be distracted by squabbles with Ottawa because the province tries to fend off threats from the president-elect of the US, who says he’ll impose a 25 per cent tariff on Canadian items when he will get into workplace in January until border safety is improved. Houston mentioned he’s on board with Trudeau’s Workforce Canada method to Donald Trump due to the very important commerce relationship Nova Scotia has with its southern neighbour.
In line with Nova Scotia authorities statistics, almost 70 per cent of the province’s exports between January and September 2024 have been to the U.S. Exports have been up 6.6 per cent over the identical interval in 2023, rising to $3.5 billion, the majority of which vary from seafood and agricultural merchandise to lumber and tires.
“We need to be a part of a constructive decision … The premiers are united on this, it’s their Number one precedence,” mentioned Houston, who added that conferences would most likely be arrange with governors from key buying and selling companion states within the new yr.
As for coping with Trump, Houston mentioned it’s finest to take him at his phrase no matter whether or not he will get his level throughout on social media or by conventional channels.
“He’s the president-elect of the US so he needs to be taken critically, irrespective of which type he presents his concepts and ideas,” Houston mentioned.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
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