Nova Scotia House of Assembly

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Nova Scotia House of Assembly - Wikipedia

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(Redirected from Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia)

Nova Scotia House of Assembly Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse
65th General Assembly of Nova Scotia

Type
Type	Lower house (1758–1928) then unicameral house of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia
Sovereign	The lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada)
History
Founded	1758; 266 years ago (1758)
Leadership
Speaker	Danielle Barkhouse, PC since September 5, 2024
Premier	Tim Houston, PC since August 31, 2021
Leader of Opposition	Claudia Chender, NDP since December 10, 2024
Structure
Seats	55

Political groups	Government Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia (43) Official Opposition Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (9) Other Parties Nova Scotia Liberal Party (2) Independent (1)
Elections
Last election	November 26, 2024
Next election	TBD
Meeting place

Legislative Chamber, Province House, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Website
nslegislature.ca/

The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (French: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; Scottish Gaelic: Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia, and together with the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia makes up the Nova Scotia Legislature.^[1]

The assembly is the oldest in Canada, having first sat in 1758;^[2] in 1848, it was the site of the first responsible government in the British Empire. Bills passed by the House of Assembly are given royal assent by the lieutenant governor^[3] in the name of the King of Canada.

Originally (in 1758), the Legislature consisted of the Crown represented by a governor (later a lieutenant governor), the appointed Nova Scotia Council holding both executive and legislative duties and an elected House of Assembly (lower chamber). In 1838, the council was replaced by an executive council with the executive function and a legislative council with the legislative functions based on the House of Lords. In 1928, the Legislative Council was abolished and the members pensioned off.

There are 55 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) representing 55 electoral districts.^[4] Members nearly always represent one of the three main political parties of the province: the Nova Scotia Liberal Party, Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia, and Nova Scotia New Democratic Party.

The assembly meets in Province House. Located in Halifax, Province House is a National Historic Site and Canada's oldest and smallest legislative building. It opened on February 11, 1819. The building was also originally home to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, and the location of the "Freedom of the Press" trial of Joseph Howe. Its main entrance is found on Hollis Street in Halifax.

Officers

A number of officers of the house are appointed in accordance with legislation passed by the house. These officers fulfil numerous functions as prescribed in the relevant legislation. There are two categories of officers:

Officers under the authority of the speaker

The Speaker of the House has authority over the following offices and officers:

Clerk
Hansard
House Operations
Legislative Committees
Legislative Counsel
Legislative Library
Legislative Television Broadcasting Services
Sergeant-at-Arms
Speaker's Administration Office

Independent officers

These include the Auditor General, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Office of the Conflict of Interest Commissioner.^[5]

The Chief Electoral Officer of Nova Officer as head of Elections Nova Scotia is also appointed by a majority vote of the house and is considered an officer of the house.

Party standings

Affiliation		Members
	Progressive Conservative	43
	New Democratic	9
	Liberal	2
	Independent	1
Total		55
Government majority		+29

Current members

Riding	Member	Party	Notes
Annapolis	Carman Kerr	Liberal
Antigonish	Michelle Thompson	Progressive Conservative
Argyle	Colton LeBlanc	Progressive Conservative
Bedford Basin	Kelly Regan	Liberal
Bedford South	Braedon Clark	Liberal
Cape Breton Centre-Whitney Pier	Kendra Coombes	NDP
Cape Breton East	Brian Comer	Progressive Conservative
Chester-St. Margaret's	Danielle Barkhouse	Progressive Conservative
Clare	Ronnie LeBlanc	Liberal
Clayton Park West	Rafah DiCostanzo	Liberal
Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley	Larry Harrison	Progressive Conservative
Colchester North	Tom Taggart	Progressive Conservative
Cole Harbour-Dartmouth	Lorelei Nicoll	Liberal
Cole Harbour	Tony Ince	Liberal
Cumberland North	Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin	Independent
Cumberland South	Tory Rushton	Progressive Conservative
Dartmouth East	Tim Halman	Progressive Conservative
Dartmouth North	Susan Leblanc	NDP
Dartmouth South	Claudia Chender	NDP	Leader of the New Democratic Party
Digby-Annapolis	Jill Balser	Progressive Conservative
Eastern Passage	Barbara Adams	Progressive Conservative
Eastern Shore	Kent Smith	Progressive Conservative
Fairview-Clayton Park	Patricia Arab	Liberal
Glace Bay-Dominion	John White	Progressive Conservative
Guysborough-Tracadie	Greg Morrow	Progressive Conservative
Halifax Armdale	Ali Duale	Liberal
Halifax Atlantic	Brendan Maguire	Liberal	Liberal until February 22, 2024; joined Progressive Conservative caucus.
Halifax Atlantic	Brendan Maguire	Progressive Conservative
Halifax Chebucto	Gary Burrill	NDP
Halifax Citadel-Sable Island	Lisa Lachance	NDP
Halifax Needham	Suzy Hansen	NDP
Hammonds Plains-Lucasville	Ben Jessome	Liberal
Hants East	John A. MacDonald	Progressive Conservative
Hants West	Melissa Sheehy-Richard	Progressive Conservative
Inverness	Allan MacMaster	Progressive Conservative
Kings North	John Lohr	Progressive Conservative
Kings South	Keith Irving	Liberal
Kings West	Chris Palmer	Progressive Conservative
Lunenburg	Susan Corkum-Greek	Progressive Conservative
Lunenburg West	Becky Druhan	Progressive Conservative
Northside-Westmount	Fred Tilley	Liberal	Liberal until October 22, 2024; joined Progressive Conservative caucus.
Northside-Westmount	Fred Tilley	Progressive Conservative
Pictou Centre	Pat Dunn	Progressive Conservative
Pictou East	Tim Houston	Progressive Conservative	Premier of Nova Scotia
Pictou West	Karla MacFarlane	Progressive Conservative	Resigned April 12, 2024
Pictou West	Marco MacLeod	Progressive Conservative	Elected May 21, 2024
Preston	Angela Simmonds	Liberal	Resigned April 1, 2023
Preston	Twila Grosse	Progressive Conservative	Elected August 8, 2023
Queens	Kim Masland	Progressive Conservative
Richmond	Trevor Boudreau	Progressive Conservative
Sackville-Cobequid	Steve Craig	Progressive Conservative
Sackville-Uniacke	Brad Johns	Progressive Conservative
Shelburne	Nolan Young	Progressive Conservative
Sydney-Membertou	Derek Mombourquette	Liberal
Timberlea-Prospect	Iain Rankin	Liberal
Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River	Dave Ritcey	Progressive Conservative
Victoria-The Lakes	Keith Bain	Progressive Conservative
Waverley-Fall River-Beaverbank	Brian Wong	Progressive Conservative
Yarmouth	Zach Churchill	Liberal	Leader of the Opposition

Committees

Standing Committees

Assembly Matters
Community Services
Natural Resources and Economic Development
Health
Human Resources
Internal Affairs
Law Amendments
Private & Local Bills
Public Accounts
Veterans Affairs

Committees of the Whole House

Bills
Supply
- Supply Subcommittee

Select Committee

Recent Former Select Committees

(final reports filed)

Electoral Boundaries
Fire Safety
National Unity
Petroleum Product Pricing
Workers' Compensation Act

Special Committee

to Review the Estimates of the Auditor General and the Chief Electoral Officer

Seating Plan

References

^ Government of Nova Scotia (2016-09-06). "About the Legislature". Nova Scotia Legislature. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
^ How Canadians Govern Themselves
^ Constitution Act, 1867, ss. 69 & 88; Nova Scotia House of Assembly
^ Chapter 32 of Nova Scotia Acts of 2019
^ "Supporting Offices". Nova Scotia Legislature. Nova Scotia House of Assembly. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2020.

External links

Canadian legislative bodies

Parliament of Canada

Legislative assemblies

Indigenous assemblies

Defunct bodies

Provincial upper houses	Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland Nova Scotia Prince Edward Island Quebec
Territorial bodies	Keewatin (Council) Northwest Territories (Temporary Council, 1st Council, 2nd Council)
Pre-Confederation bodies	British Columbia colonies Mainland Vancouver Island United Colony Lower Canada Parliament Council Assembly Special Council Newfoundland Commission Province of Canada Parliament Council Assembly Province of Quebec Council Red River Colony Council Assembly Upper Canada Parliament Council Assembly

v t e Politics of Nova Scotia
The Crown	Sovereign King Charles III
Lieutenant-Governor	Michael Savage Former lieutenant-governors
Premier	Tim Houston Former premiers Executive Council (Cabinet)
Opposition leader	Claudia Chender Former opposition leaders
House of Assembly	Current members Past General Assemblies
Speaker of the Assembly	Danielle Barkhouse Former Speakers
Political parties	Progressive Conservative New Democratic Liberal Green Nova Scotians United
Elections	2024 general election Past elections
Other provinces and territories	BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PEI NL YU NT NU

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