LEGISLATURE
Province House viewed from the courtyard. Image credits: Communications Nova Scotia, 2006.
The Nova Scotia Legislature sits at Province House on Hollis Street in downtown Halifax. Province House is the oldest legislative building in Canada, and the smallest provincial Legislature building. I am lucky to have Province House right in the centre of my constituency.
There are 55 constituencies in Nova Scotia, and each one's residents elect a single Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) during a provincial election. You can read more about the other sitting MLAs, their constituencies, and their roles in Legislative business at the Legislature's official website.
As your MLA, I go to the Legislature and do my best to represent your views and interests.
The Nova Scotia Legislature sits at Province House on Hollis Street in downtown Halifax. Province House is the oldest legislative building in Canada. I am fortunate to have Province House right in the centre of our constituency.
On this page, I will break down the day-to-day elements of a Legislative Sitting you might find me working on when the House is in session.
Statements By Members
The Legislature begins each day with the Daily Routine. This is a standard agenda, and is called Government Business.
One part of the Daily Routine is Statements By Members, commonly known as Member's Statements. Depending on the number of MLAs in the House at the time and how much time remains to complete Daily Routine, each MLA is given up to two 60-second opportunities to make a statement about anything that isn't being discussed as Legislative business in some other way on the House floor.
If you take a look at my YouTube channel, you will see just how many different things can be recognized in a Member's Statement. If you know someone in the constituency who deserves to be recognized in the Legislature, please let us know! We are pleased to offer congratulations, recognition, and condolences. Just get in touch with my office and we will see what we can do.
Oral Questions Put To Ministers By Members
Once the time allotted for Statements By Members expires, it's time for 50 minutes of Oral Questions Put To Ministers By Members - better known as Question Period!
With my experience in Finance, Environment, Mental Health and Addictions, Acadian Affairs and Francophonie, and 2SLGBTQIA+ Affairs, you will notice that most of the questions I ask during Question Period are related to these portfolios.
Government and Private Members' Bills
A bill is a piece of proposed legislation that an MLA introduces to the House for their consideration, debate, and potentially make into law.
There are Government Bills, which the governing caucus introduces, and Private Members' Bills, which other caucuses and MLAs introduce. All MLAs can vote on and debate all bills. The Nova Scotia Legislature website goes into further detail about the life cycle of a bill.
The bills I have introduced in the Legislature since being elected are all Private Members' Bills - see below.
Supply Motion
Every Spring, a budget is presented for expenses and revenues through the next 12 months. As the Finance Spokesperson for my caucus, I deliver our response. MLAs are able to give detailed speeches about what they think should have been, or should not have been included. This can be programs, offices, departments, or even just specific amounts of money. This is called a Supply Motion.
After this, the House splits into two committees: the Committee of the Whole House on Bills and the Subcommittee of the Whole House on Bills. During these committee meetings, called Estimates, MLAs are able to ask Cabinet Ministers detailed questions about their respective departments and how it relates to the budget that was just tabled.