At least 5 MLAs to gain right to taxpayer-funded Halifax apartment

Jean Laroche · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 20, 2025 5:27 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Nova Scotia Finance Minister John Lohr volition soon beryllium flat hunting, joining different members of the legislature who measure taxpayers for a Halifax pied-à-terre.

As portion of a alteration to the House of Assembly Act, the Speaker, 2 furniture ministers — including Lohr — and astatine slightest 2 PC backbenchers volition beryllium eligible for the lodging allowance, which is already utilized by 25 of the 55 MLAs successful the House.

"The three-hour thrust daily, I've done it for a agelong time," said Lohr, who was archetypal elected arsenic the MLA for Kings North successful 2013. "I truly didn't caput that astir of those years, but it becomes tiring."

Under the existing rules, representatives who unrecorded astatine slightest 100 kilometres from Province House — known arsenic extracurricular members — are eligible for the allowance. Now that region is being amended to 50 kilometres.

An autarkic sheet made up of 3 elder bureaucrats suggested the alteration arsenic portion of a reappraisal of the salaries and benefits disposable to members of the House.

Lohr, whose home is conscionable a fractional kilometre abbreviated of the existing 100-kilometre limit, said helium intends to look for a Halifax flat erstwhile the alteration is formally adopted by the House.

His furniture workfellow Scott Armstrong, the curate of opportunities and societal development, said helium would see taking vantage of the entitlement.

The Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley MLA said his ministry "is beauteous hands on," meaning plentifulness of clip spent successful the city.

"There's a batch of times I'm present astatine night, moving hard," helium said.

Armstrong suggested if helium wasn't successful cabinet, helium mightiness beryllium little inclined to rent a spot successful the city.

Others inactive deciding

Other caller extracurricular members — Speaker Danielle Barkhouse, the PC MLA for Chester-St. Margaret's; Melissa Sheehy-Richard, the PC MLA for Hants West; and Dave Ritcey, the PC MLA for Truro-Bible Hill-Millbrook-Salmon River —all said they were not definite if they would avail themselves of the new entitlement. Barkhouse lives adjacent Chester, Sheehy-Richard has a location successful Windsor and Ritcey is simply a Truro resident.

There is lone 1 MLA who has the close to an flat but is reimbursed for a hotel room instead. Independent MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, who represents Cumberland North, rents a country during sittings alternatively of renting an flat year-round. 

The Nova Scotia Legislature usually sits doubly a year, in the outpouring and fall, and usually for six to 8 weeks. That's among the slightest magnitude of time for immoderate legislature successful Canada.

This week, an all-party committee of the legislature adopted different non-binding recommendations including expanding the lodging allowance to $2,100 a period and increasing the disbursal allowance for MLAs by $921 a month. 

A measure earlier the House volition supply MLAs with their archetypal wage summation since 2013, 1 of the panel's binding recommendations.