N.S. premier ran on taxes and health care, but pivoted in 2025 to focus on energy

Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston speaks to reporters after the provincial budget was tabled at the Nova Scotia legislature in Halifax, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

HALIFAX — In the year since the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives under Premier Tim Houston won a resounding second mandate, the government’s focus has largely been on a topic that didn’t get much attention during the 2024 election campaign.

Houston’s Tories have lifted a moratorium on fracking and a ban on uranium mining, and opened calls for offshore oil and gas exploration bids. They’ve introduced measures to streamline both the environmental assessments for energy projects and the permitting processes for mining. And the premier laid out plans for a massive offshore wind energy development.

To top it off, in October, Houston named himself energy minister.

Political science experts say that had Houston given voters details about his energy ideas, the November election campaign — after which the Progressive Conservatives won 43 out of 55 seats — may have looked different.

“If there had been more details about critical minerals, what that means for private property potentially, that would have been the dominant discussion in the election campaign,” Tom Urbaniak, a political scientist at Cape Breton University, said in an interview Tuesday.

“There wasn’t specific discussion about uranium or fracking, or even the fact that (natural resource development) would be the headline push of the second mandate,” Urbaniak said.

Instead, the Progressive Conservative campaign focused on lowering some taxes, raising the minimum wage, and hiring more doctors to support the health system. Much of those promises have been fulfilled. The Department of Health says there are 453 more physicians working in Nova Scotia now than in 2021 when the Progressive Conservatives were first elected. The department was not immediately able to provide the number of new doctors hired since the November 2024 election.

To address affordability, the premier pledged to “ensure power-rate fairness” by capping increases to the Canadian average, which has not yet happened. The Department of Energy did not immediately respond to a question about progress toward implementing the promised cap.

Lori Turnbull, a political scientist with Dalhousie University, said Tuesday that political parties never do exactly what they include in campaign materials, because unpredictable challenges arise once they enter office.

“But I think the question is, did you intentionally not tell us because you knew it would be controversial, and you didn’t want the campaign to be taken over by something like this? Because it is an issue that is polarizing,” Turnbull said, adding that she can’t speculate on when Houston decided he would make a push for natural resource development.

“If you start talking about the possibility of fracking, possibility of opening up uranium mines, and all of the environmental and health risks that go along with that, that’s the type of thing that, even though it might not be anyone’s Number 1 issue … these other things can become the split issue in the campaign,” she said.

On the campaign trail, the premier did not hold a stand-alone press conference to highlight his natural resources plans, as he did with many election promises. The campaign material said, “the path to future economic prosperity must include a refocusing back to our natural resources.” It made note of critical mineral potential, without specifics, and said efforts will be made to develop sustainable aviation fuel and hydrogen.

When asked why natural resource development was not emphasized as a key issue on the campaign trail, a spokesperson for the premier said Houston made it clear to voters he would be focused on growing the economy.

“Then (U.S.) President Trump launched a tariff war against Canada. That made it even clearer we must be more self-sufficient — at a time when a new prime minister is pushing Canada to be an energy superpower and our deficit remains a reality. So we acted,” said Catherine Klimek.

There has been criticism over Houston’s speedy push for mining and natural resource development, with the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs raising concerns in June about government failing to consult with them before the province issued a request for exploration proposals for three sites with known deposits of uranium in. No companies came forward with a bid.

Environmental advocates, meanwhile, have said they worry about the potential environmental and health risks tied to fracking and uranium mining.

When asked about these concerns, Klimek said, “Premier Houston is a Nova Scotian first. He would never put our province at risk. Technology has evolved, and today resource development is governed by rigorous, modern safeguards.”

On Dec. 22, the government said it was putting Dalhousie University in charge of a $30-million program that will see a call for onshore natural-gas exploration in the new year. Officials said new natural-gas development will allow the province to cut back on burning coal for electricity generation and help it hit its 2030 emission targets.

However, a former university president who oversaw the report that led to a decade-long ban on fracking in Nova Scotia has questioned the government’s claims that natural gas would lower emissions and energy prices.

By Lyndsay Armstrong

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2025.