Houston government's 2nd term is likely to be harder than the first

Jean Laroche · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 27, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Premier Tim Houston's ninth sitting arsenic premier — his longest since taking office — could foreshadow what the adjacent 3 oregon 4 years volition beryllium similar for him and his Progressive Conservative government.

Traditionally, re-elected governments look stronger governmental headwinds aft their inaugural terms.

"I deliberation 2nd presumption are ever harder for governments," said Lori Turnbull, who teaches governmental subject successful the module of absorption astatine Dalhousie University.

"Whatever honeymoon play they whitethorn person had is astir apt implicit and voters are expecting much results."

The Houston authorities strode into Province House this league with the benignant of taxation relief budget the PCs promised during the caller predetermination campaign, but it was rapidly overshadowed by a wholly antithetic governmental agenda.

The PCs tabled authorities to pave the mode for hydraulic fracturing, oregon fracking, and uranium mining successful Nova Scotia, a measure that would person allowed the enactment successful powerfulness to occurrence the auditor wide without cause, and changes to the entree to accusation instrumentality that would person allowed elder officials to simply disregard immoderate requests.

The nationalist outcry forced the authorities to ditch oregon modify immoderate of those plans.

Because it won a record-breaking majority in past November's wide election, the premier and his squad besides changed the rules of the House, giving themselves the powerfulness to bounds statement and shorten the clip absorption members person traditionally utilized to hold the bill-making process.

The information the enactment successful powerfulness didn't request to wield what is sometimes referred to arsenic "the hammer," is simply a testament to however rapidly this authorities reacted to the nationalist backlash.

Having a 43-member caucus besides means the PCs person much radical astir the array bringing their constituents' voices guardant — voices that are harder for the authorities to brushwood disconnected arsenic simply absorption posturing.

Although the Houston authorities continues to blasted erstwhile governments for what they did oregon didn't do, it's the PC grounds that volition progressively beryllium scrutinized during this 2nd term.

Turnbull pointed to Houston's committedness to "fix wellness care" successful the 2021 election.

She said astir Nova Scotians astir apt saw that arsenic aspirational alternatively than an achievable first-term goal.

"I deliberation radical benignant of appreciated that that's wherever [Houston's] head was, but cipher thought that wrong 4 years' clip Houston was going to lick the household doc problem," said Turnbull. "But successful the 2nd term, present you've really had immoderate clip to fig retired wherever the problems are, what you request to do.

"Now radical are retired of patience and they privation to spot wherever your results are."

Trying to hole wellness care has been a costly endeavour, but the Houston government's effort has been buoyed by billions of dollars successful unexpected gross that person filled provincial coffers successful caller years acknowledgment to grounds numbers of radical moving here.

Turnbull said that wealth and beefed-up transportation payments are nary longer a fixed due to the fact that of the plateauing colonisation growth.

"I surely don't deliberation that it's going to beryllium imaginable for provincial governments to number connected immoderate windfall, number connected thing coming successful that possibly we didn't see," said Turnbull. "It doesn't look similar that's the mode the upwind is blowing.

"In the discourse of [U.S President Donald] Trump and the tariffs and the commercialized wars and the uncertainty, it's a hard clip to beryllium a premier of a tiny province."

Turnbull noted that 2 premiers — Newfoundland and Labrador's Andrew Furey and Dennis King of Prince Edward Island — person near oregon announced plans to permission authorities successful caller weeks, an denotation of the benignant of uncertainty facing Canada's elected officials.

"We're looking astatine 4 years of erratic, crazy, bonkers behaviour by the president of the United States," Furey said Feb. 25, the time helium announced his plans to resign erstwhile a successor is selected.

"This is going to beryllium a pervasive occupation for Canadians for the adjacent 4 years."

That world apt isn't appealing to Houston, but it's what the antheral who won the largest bulk successful the province's past is facing 3½ years aft winning the premier's job.

WATCH | Why 2nd presumption are much difficult: