Premier’s objection to transit terminal suspect: Younger
Posted Jun 17, 2010 05:48:57 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The mayor is hoping to meet with Premier Darrell Dexter today to discuss a sudden snag in plans for the new Dartmouth bridge bus terminal.
The province says the current proposal isn’t what it approved in prior talks with the city – and the sudden objection could put the whole project on hold, a development that isn’t sitting well with one councillor-turned MLA.
Andrew Younger, who represented East Dartmouth-The Lakes before being elected to the provincial Liberal party, says the premier is probably reacting to a small group of people who don’t want the expansion built on the public park.
“I can’t think of any other reason why the premier would get involved in an issue like this which has gone through public hearing,” said Younger.
The Liberal Service Nova Scotia critic says if the province had concerns they should have been raised weeks ago, noting the plans have been public for weeks.
“The premier is raising concerns after the fact and after they’ve had ample opportunity to raise concerns if they had any,” he said.
Younger points out that the NDP had no representatives at recent consultations and public hearings on the projects.
But Premier Darrell Dexter says extra scrutiny is never amiss, particularly where common land is concerned.
He says basically, the city changed the game plan after getting it approved.
“What they did was come up with a plan that was completely different from the one that they brought to the legislature, and of course completely different from the one that was presented to the law amendments committee,” he said. “That’s where citizens have the opportunity to come in and to comment on the changes to the legislation.”
HRM and provincial staff met yesterday and more discussions are expected before there’s any resolution.
