Throne Speech opens fall session of NS legislature
Posted Sep 25, 2014 05:42:56 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s Liberal government has opened the fall session of the legislature with a throne speech that takes aim at public sector labour costs.
The government says unsustainable wage increases have exceeded the province’s ability to pay in recent years, and added to the mounting debt.
The throne speech says that, as a result, there will be a slowdown in hiring.
The government says it is also considering whether some services can best be delivered by the private sector, although it does not specify which services are being examined.
One of the steps the government says it plans to take to reduce costs is cutting the number of health authorities from 10 to two.
The health minister says legislation to do that will be introduced Monday.
The speech laid out four priorities for the McNeil government: fiscal sustainability, economic growth, education, and demographics.
