Feb 25, 2025:
Public LETTER posted on the “Protect Nova Scotia Democracy” Facebook Group – February 25, 2025.
by Michelle Schofield Bull
Dear Mr. Premier, Nova Scotia MLAs:
First of all, thank you for withdrawing the legislation which would have prevented the Auditor General from doing her job freely and fairly. I am very glad you saw the error of your ways and realised that the practices of the Alberta government may not, in fact, be best practices. That’s a good start.
However, the FOIPOP Commissioner, the Communications NS staff, the NS Ombudsman and other arms-length bodies which scrutinize the NS government have also been hired by the public to report to us on what our government is up to and to keep an eye on this. They all need to be free to do their jobs without being thwarted by Ministers who find their scrutiny “vexatious.” Please withdraw any legislation limiting their ability to do their jobs.
Other things have also been drawn to the public’s attention lately that indicate a rather alarming trend on the part of this government to avoid public scrutiny and public input on what you are doing. For example, the following passage was taken from a fundraising letter sent by Cole Harbour MLA Leah Martin, and, possibly, by other MLAs. It says in part:
“Will you pitch in here right now to help us withstand NDP attacks, overpower the special interests and professional protestors, bypass the media when we need to, and stay on track with our plan to Make It Happen for Nova Scotia?”
Allow me to remind you that the NDP, along with the Liberal and Independent members of the legislature, were elected by the people of Nova Scotia to represent our interests in the Legislature. In fact, they received nearly as many votes as the Conservatives did, approximately one quarter of the population voted for these people, as for yourselves. The fact that you received four fifths of the seats for half the ballots cast is a flaw in our electoral system. It doesn’t change the fact that nearly half the voters voted for opposition parties.
The NDP, Liberals and Independents are members of His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition and it is not your role to fight with them. You are supposed to cooperate with them, listen to them and work together with them to govern this province in the best interests of all Nova Scotians, with an eye to what is good for the rest of the country, and world, as well. By the way, you are also supposed to listen to your own backbenchers. They are not just there to rubber stamp whatever comes out of the Premier’s office, on pain of losing their membership. They are also representing the people.
Limiting debate in the House, limiting the power of the law amendments committee, and other provisions you are making in Bill 1 will not actually help you in your elected task. They will, in fact, concentrate power in the person of the Premier and his office. This is not the democracy Nova Scotians want. It verges, in fact, on dictatorship. It removes longstanding powers from the Legislature and limits its ability to do what it was elected to do. I request you to withdraw this legislation as well.
Secondly, those people whom you are labelling “special interest groups and professional protestors” are also Nova Scotians, whom you promised in your victory speech to represent. The Ecology Action Centre, whom I believe you singled out, the Council of Canadians, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, and many other groups are formed by Nova Scotians to represent the interests of Nova Scotians and they enjoy the support and confidence of many Nova Scotians of all parties.
Your efforts to discredit these groups by calling them names and dismissing their concerns is deplorable. It shows your utter lack of respect for anyone who disagrees with you but also your fear that Nova Scotians may listen to them. These groups base their concerns on science and research, and you would do better to listen to their well thought out objections to some of your more dangerous environmental legislation. Furthermore, they work in partnership with Indigenous people, whom you acknowledged the legal and moral obligation to pay attention to. In dismissing their partners, you are also dismissing the First Nations of this land.
Good leaders listen to all the views presented, not just to those that agree with their own plans. Good leaders pay attention when someone raises a problem with their plans, just in case they might be right. It prevents problems later on when they’re much more expensive and difficult to fix. No one person or even a small group of people, such as the Premier’s Office or the Cabinet, holds all the knowledge or the wisdom. If you want to be a good government, you will listen to all your citizens, not dismiss them with name calling. You started well in your first term, actually consulting medical professionals about how to fix health care. Perhaps you should continue the same way and consult environmental professionals and not just mining companies, who, by the way, actually are a special interest group.
Lastly, Martin said “bypass the media when we need to.” Democracies only function when there is a free and independent press. The media works for the people of this province. We want free and independent journalists to have access to you and what you are doing. They need to be able to ask you questions, their questions, not your pre-scripted ones, in order to do their job, which is to report back to us on what and how you are doing. They form another layer of scrutiny of government and are essential to a working democracy. Dictatorships always try to control the free press and turn it into a party newsletter, like Pravda. Nova Scotians want a free press.
It is alarming to see that this government is systematically trying to erode the checks and balances on absolute power. You are limiting the power of officers the public has put into place to keep an eye on you. You are limiting their access. You are treating the loyal opposition as enemies. You are treating organised groups of Nova Scotian citizens as the enemy. In fact, anyone who does not toe the party line is treated as an enemy. This is not the way a good government functions. This is the way an incipient dictatorship functions.
As a Nova Scotian who cares deeply about democracy as well as our beautiful province, I implore you to rethink these tactics. You have been elected by us, you are paid by us to serve us. Stop interfering with other groups whom we have chosen and whom we employ for the same purpose. Stop treating us, your employers, as enemies or as dupes to trick so you can do whatever you want, whether it is in our interests or not. You did this in the election by not mentioning these drastic and unpopular measures you planned to undertake if elected. We are alert now and we do not want any more undemocratic actions from our government. Please rescind Bill 1 and rethink your resource extraction projects.
Sincerely yours, Michelle Bull