Houston government softens language in transportation bill

Jean Laroche · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 25, 2025 8:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The Houston authorities has softened connection successful a bill that would give it sweeping caller powers implicit transit and proscription infrastructure passim the province, but the advocacy radical for Nova Scotia municipalities remains acrophobic it inactive isn't enough.

The archetypal connection successful the projected changes to the Joint Regional Transportation Agency Act suggested the state could unilaterally undertake projects to physique oregon region infrastructure, oregon "do thing necessary" to guarantee the creaseless question of radical and goods.

According to Bill 24, the provincial authorities could simply walk connected the outgo of the enactment to a municipality once the task was completed.

The Federation of Nova Scotia Municipalities, the enactment that speaks for the province's municipal governments, called that archetypal connection "tremendously concerning."

Amendments introduced Tuesday during statement connected the measure noted the state would effort to consult and negociate with municipalities connected projects it felt were necessary. 

"The outgo of immoderate enactment undertaken … shall beryllium apportioned betwixt the municipality and the Crown successful close of the Province successful the mode agreed upon by them," said 1 amendment.

But the adjacent amendment made it wide the state would support its powerfulness to walk on the costs, if determination was nary statement betwixt the parties.

Thrust of measure inactive 'a immense concern'

Pam Mood, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities, said the thrust of the measure remains "a immense concern."

"What it said earlier is we are going to travel in, we're going to archer you this is what needs to beryllium done, we're going to archer you to bash it and if you don't bash it successful a tenable magnitude of time, we're going to travel successful and bash it and measure you," said Mood, the politician of Yarmouth.

"But present it … basically says apportioning costs of enactment successful a mode agreed upon. We'll person to beryllium down and fig retired however that [will] work."

The projected authorities present says the municipal affairs curate volition "make tenable efforts" to consult the federation and municipalities "impacted by ministerial enactment taken pursuant to this Act."

Mood wasn't impressed with that alteration either.

"That doesn't adjacent doing so," she said. "When you say I'll marque an effort to bash something, you're saying if it happens, it happens, if it doesn't, it doesn't. That's simply not enough."

During an speech with reporters intended to explicate the changes, Public Works Minister Fred Tilley downplayed however upset immoderate municipal leaders had been with the archetypal mentation of the bill.

"Well, it was conscionable treatment that we had astir the mode the connection read," said Tilley. "So we agreed with our partners and adjusted the connection accordingly to marque the measure much astir what we were attempting to do."