Nova Scotia.

• Author: Boucher, Annette M.
• Position: Legislative Reports

On October 8, 2013 a provincial election was held in Nova Scotia. The party standings prior to the election in the House of Assembly were: NDP 31, Liberal 13, PC seven, and Independent one. As a result of the electoral map redistribution, there were 51 electoral districts for this general election and the Liberals formed a majority government. Currently the party standings in the House of Assembly are: Liberals 33, PC 11, and NDP seven.

On October 22, 2013 the cabinet was sworn into office. In addition to Premier Stephen McNeil there are 15 cabinet ministers of which five are women. Two days later the MLAs were sworn into office. There are 27 first-time elected members out of the 51. Broken down by political party there are 22 new Liberals and five new PC members. There are also a total of 14 women MLAs.

The House of Assembly elected first-time Liberal MLA the Hon. Kevin Murphy as Speaker. Murphy's election made history as he is the first Speaker using a wheelchair. Mr. Murphy became paralyzed during a hockey game at the age of 14. The House of Assembly also elected a Deputy Speaker--new Liberal MLA Margaret Miller.

The fall sitting of the First Session of the 62nd General Assembly commenced on November 28, 2013 with the Speech from the Thorne and lasted 10 days. During the sitting 11 public bills and two private bills were introduced and received Royal Assent.

Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne

This was an excellent opportunity for first-time elected members to make their maiden speeches in the House of Assembly. Thirty-two members made speeches during 12 hours and 38 minutes of proceedings over nine sitting days.

Point of Order

The Speaker made his first ruling on December 4 arising from the first Question Period of the sitting held the previous day. The House Leader for the NDP rose on a point of order relative to a government backbencher asking a question of the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal during Question Period. He was of the view that Question Period was reserved for...