Justice issues will be on the list for legislation next week when the government sits down for the spring sitting of the legislature.
“There will be a number of pieces of legislation and the legislation this spring will be very broad in nature,” Premier Rodney MacDonald said yesterday. “It will touch on a lot of areas — there will be justice issues, issues that will impact on the economy and growing the economy in Nova Scotia.”
The legislature will be back in session starting April 24 and MacDonald said aside from legislation, the Tories will focus on getting the budget passed for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
The majority of provinces have tabled their budgets for the year, but MacDonald said Nova Scotia’s was delayed for a variety of reasons.
Waiting for the results of the crown share panel on monies owed the province is one of those reasons.
“That was one of the issues — certainly not the main issue,” he said. “There’s many, many factors that play a role in the timing of the budget.”
In terms of the growth of the province’s economy, MacDonald said he’s not concerned about traffic being down at the Port of Halifax after several major companies have pulled out of the region in the past two months, including Caterpillar Inc.
“Yes, the port is facing challenges, but there’s a lot of work being done at their level, in conjunction with the province, to promote what’s happening here,” he said.
Slowing port activity will not affect the Atlantic Gateway’s future, MacDonald said.
“We’re not just investing for the next year or two, we’re investing in the future,” he said.
Finally, the premier said he couldn’t say how long the legislature would sit.
“As long as it takes to pass the budget and debate the bills,” he said.
He would not give specifics on any of the legislation the Tories might bring forward at Province House over the next few weeks.
