Houston government unveils another $1.6B capital budget

The Nova Scotia government is once again planning to spend roughly $1.5 billion on capital projects in the coming fiscal year.

It's the third year in a row the governing Progressive Conservative government has earmarked around that amount to spend on roads, schools, hospitals and other construction projects.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Finance Minister Allan MacMaster suggested the province's capital spending plan was being dictated in part by an ongoing shortage of skilled workers in the construction trades.

"We can't be putting out more work than the marketplace can handle," he said.

"We have a large capital budget because we're trying to build the infrastructure we need for a province that's growing, and we are faced with the reality that there are labour shortages and there are not enough people, in some cases, to complete projects."

But MacMaster was quick to add that a stable workforce would not necessarily trigger more capital spending.

As it has done previously, the Houston government is planning to spend the largest share of its capital budget on health-related infrastructure, including the single largest and most expensive project in the province's history: the redevelopment of the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre.

That project is still in the planning and design stages, with no money in this year's capital plan for construction. The provincial government won't say how much money is earmarked for that redevelopment this year. Instead it's offering up a $302-million budget figure for that work as well as another major upgrading project at the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Hospital.

There's another $108 million for other "health-care builds," including work on the:

• Cumberland Regional Healthcare Centre in Amherst.
• IWK Health Centre's emergency department in Halifax.
• North Cumberland Memorial Hospital in Pugwash.
• South Shore emergency department in Bridgewater.
• and Yarmouth Regional Hospital's emergency department. 

There is also money to build seven schools, some of which are already well underway:

• Breton Education Centre.
• Eastern Shore Consolidated School.
• Ecole Baie Sainte-Marie.
• Ecole sur la peninsule d'Halifax.
• Ecole Wedgeport.
• Springhill Elementary School.
• St. Joseph's A MacKay Elementary School.

There is no money set aside to build four schools in the Halifax region, as promised by the Houston government last summer. A Finance Department official told reporters those projects were "still going through [the Education Department's] process."

The Houston government announced its plans for about $500 million worth of roadwork late last year. The Department of Public Works has also set aside money to begin construction of new ferry terminals in Blandford and Big Tancook Island, so that the province can start the ferry service promised by the previous Liberal government. 

The department recently re-tendered that work when the original bid came in at nearly double the cost anticipated by the department.

Former Liberal cabinet minister Kelly Regan, MLA for Bedford Basin, said the lack of progress on the QEII redevelopment, as well as the lack of information on the schools promised for Halifax, as proof the governing PCs "don't care" about the capital region.

"If they did, we'd know where those schools are going," said Regan. "They'd be under construction and the [Halifax Infirmary] would be under construction, as well."

Asked why she felt the Houston government didn't care about Halifax, Regan responded: "Because they don't need it to get a majority government."

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