Avalon

The legislature is our representatives who review the operation of government and make it accountable to the voters. It is the first and best line of defense for making government work for the people, keeping it on track, making sure our issues are dealt with and protecting us from badly conceived or the lack of legislation.

However the Nova Scotia Legislature only sat 39 days last year! And a number were not even full days. Is that enough time? Given the number of issues facing Nova Scotians (lack of regional development, the economy, democratic deficit, Nova Scotia Power, climate change, health care, scandals etc) is that enough time to debate the issues and decide on proposed solutions? Nova Scotia’s large government operates every day yet how can the legislature exercise oversight of government operation when it only sits 39 days a year? Is there enough time to hear citizen’s petitions and deal with complaints?

Can a legislature be a healthy one if it only sits a short time each year? Should we as citizens feel reassured that our government is as accountable and as effective as it can be?

When we think of government here in Nova Scotia we probably think of the provincial legislature in downtown Halifax where our elected representatives meet to debate bills.

But why do we need a legislature? English political history is the gradual curtailment of the monarch’s absolute powers starting at Magna Carta and culminating in the concept of an independent legislature that oversees and restrains the monarch. How? By giving the legislature the sole power to make laws from bills sent to it.

It is very important to note that the legislature is NOT government; it is an independent body of the people’s representatives who watch over the shoulder of government to hold it accountable (the oversight) and who have the power to approve or defeat proposals from government (the restraint). Our government these days is made up of the premier, the cabinet and the government bureaucracy who rule with the technical consent of the Queen. At times the legislature must adopt an adversarial role to protect the people’s interests from the actions of the government by voting down bills thereby sending them back to government for revision.

To operate effectively the legislature needs to be completely independent from the government otherwise it’s ability to hold the government accountable to the people and to restrain it is compromised. Happy is the government who has control of the legislature.

That is the theory anyway. But what about practice here in Nova Scotia … ?