PCs continue efforts to reduce opposition question time at N.S. legislative committees

Progressive Conservative MLAs resumed a process on Tuesday that they started earlier this year to reduce the time opposition parties have to ask questions during legislative committees.

Government members of the standing committee on veterans affairs used their majority to give themselves an additional 10 minutes for questions at the expense of the third-place Liberals. Now the Tories will get 30 minutes, the NDP 20 minutes and the Liberals 10 minutes during the first round of questioning.

That's a break from the custom of each of the three parties getting 20 minutes. In the subsequent round, which in the past was equally divided three ways, the PCs will now receive 50 per cent of the time that remains, with the NDP and Liberals splitting the other half.

During Tuesday's meeting, NDP MLA Suzy Hansen said she was disappointed to see the government bring forward the same motion that was pushed through at the human resources and community services committees in February.

"Transparency and accountability are weakened whenever limitations are placed on the amount of the time members of the opposition have to speak and ask questions," Hansen said.

"Committees are an opportunity for all of us to work together to make sure that we can improve things for all Nova Scotians and we should not be playing politics by saying that one party deserves more time than the other."

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When the PCs made the changes at previous committees, they argued it was in the interest of fairness because they have so many members. The party elected 43 MLAs in the last election compared to the NDP's nine and the Liberals' two. There is also one Independent MLA in the legislature.

PC MLAs Nick Hilton, Chris Palmer, Ryan Robicheau, Melissa Sheehy-Richard and Damian Stoilov supported the rule change for the veterans affairs committee.

Later on Tuesday during a meeting of the standing committee on natural resources where the PCs also pushed through changes to time allotment, New Democrat MLA Susan Leblanc noted the committee's previous custom was for MLAs to simply raise their hand if they had a question and the committee chair would keep a speakers list.

Leblanc said that if the committee is to move to time allocation, it should be divided evenly three ways.

Progressive Conservative MLAs who voted in favour of the change during that meeting were David Bowlby, Brad Johns, Kyle MacQuarrie, Tom Taggart and Julie Vanexan.