NDP chastises N.S. government over environmental racism recommendations

The leader of Nova Scotia's Official Opposition says the government's refusal to release the recommendations from a panel on environmental racism is the latest example of the Progressive Conservatives ducking transparency.

On Thursday, Justice Minister Becky Druhan refused to say why the government is withholding the recommendations or even if she's read them. A government spokesperson said on Friday that the panel shared its recommendations at the end of June 2024 and that a public report was not part of its mandate.

Druhan did not say that Thursday.

During a news conference at Province House on Friday, Chender told reporters that there is no way to know what actions the Tories are taking and what actions are being ignored if the public does not get to see the recommendations.

"How can we measure progress if no one knows what the goal was in the first place?" she said.

'This was an opportunity'

Halifax Needham MLA Suzy Hansen, whose amendment to the Progressive Conservatives' signature environmental legislation in 2022 led to the creation of the panel, told reporters that she is frustrated and disappointed by Druhan's comments.

Hansen said people from communities with a history of environmental racism put their faith in the process and participated in the hope that it would lead to improvements. Those people deserve to see what's in the report, she said.

"This was an opportunity for the government to show that they in good faith are going to do the right thing. And they didn't do any of that by hiding the information," she said.

As she was pressed by reporters on Thursday about whether she'd read the recommendations, Druhan noted that the report was ordered before she became justice minister. Hansen said that shouldn't matter, and that it's Druhan's job as minister to know what's in the report.

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Chender said the Tory position on the panel recommendations follows a continued delay on a report looking at transportation in the province — despite portions of it making its way into the Tories' election platform — and a lack of details around a 10-year, $170-million infrastructure deal the province signed with the federal government in February.

Public Works Minister Fred Tilley told reporters on Thursday that it's up to Ottawa to release the text of the agreement, which he expects will happen soon. He also said the transportation study would come soon, but could not be more specific.

Chender linked the delays in releasing information or holding it back altogether to recent attempts by Premier Tim Houston to pass legislation that would have curbed the powers of the province's auditor general and privacy commissioner. Houston pulled back on that in the face of strong public outcry.

Regardless, Chender said there is only one conclusion that can be drawn based on mounting examples.

"I think that this government believes that they are above accountability."