Roundtable #4: Cape Breton MLAs Reflect On Fall Legislature Session

CAPE BRETON - Three of the island's MLAs have very different perspectives on the latest session of the provincial legislature, the first sitting to follow the August election that saw Nova Scotians trade in a Liberal majority government for a Progressive Conservative (PC) majority administration under incoming Premier Tim Houston.

The fall sitting marked the first experience on the government benches for Allan MacMaster, who spent 12 years as an opposition PC MLA for Inverness but now sits as Deputy Premier, Finance Minister and Minister of Labour Relations. 

"The biggest difference for me was Question Period, where - instead of asking the questions - I was the one answering the questions," MacMaster laughed. 

"But I enjoyed it - it was a good first sitting. We went in there quite quickly after the election, and a lot of us felt quite rushed, like we were rushed in there, but it's important for us to be there, and it was important for the opposition to hold us to account in that legislature."

The fall sitting marked a changing of the guard for the New Democratic Party (NDP), as leader Gary Burrill - who had held the post in the previous two election campaigns - announced that he would resign as leader as soon as NDP members chose a replacement in the months to come.

Cape Breton Centre-Whitney Pier MLA Kendra Coombes, who won the seat in a 2020 by-election and was re-elected nearly a year later, praised Burrill for his approach in Province House.

"He is a truly giving man, and a deep thinker - you cannot have a conversation with Gary that's only on the surface," Coombes declared. 

"Even in the legislature, if we get riled up as MLAs and we're doing some yelling, and Gary feels 'enough is enough,' he sets the tone and gets you back to where you need to be to get back to work."

For Fred Tilley, who served as principal of the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) Marconi Campus in Sydney before winning the Northside-Westmount seat for the Liberals this past summer, the early days of the new legislature session had a first-day-of-school feel.

"There's a lot to take in - I describe it as 'drinking from a fire hose,'" Tilley remarked. "But now I've gotten that down to a good-sized garden hose, so I'm dealing with that and fitting that in nicely. And I'm very proud of the legislation and amendments that we have introduced as a caucus."