Taxpayer watchdog group urges N.S. government to rein in spending

Nova Scotia’s finance minister says the government is trying to rein in its spending.

Nova Scotia Finance Minister John Lohr says the province’s projected $1.2-billion deficit is factoring into every decision government makes.

As the finance department works to build the 2026-27 budget, the province has introduced a new staffing directive, looking to eliminate jobs when new hires are bought in to fill departmental vacancies.

“For every position they fill, they have to eliminate a position,” said Lohr during a scrum with reporters last week. “So it’s a two-for-one. And it will be in place for the foreseeable future.”

Lohr couldn’t say how many civil service jobs may be cut, nor how many job vacancies exist, but said the government employs more than 12,000 people.

These job cuts will target departmental jobs, not frontline employees like teachers, health-care workers or corrections staff, said Lohr.

“We’re looking for creative solutions, we’re not looking at mass layoffs,” said Lohr. “This is incremental and will be felt over time.”

Devin Drover, the Atlantic director with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, says the Tim Houston government needs to rein in their spending.

“The Houston government needs to get spending under control and actually figure out where the waste is,” said Drover. “And part of that is conducting a comprehensive program review.”

The taxpayer lobby group argues Nova Scotia could balance the budget by returning to 2022 spending levels on all non-health-care programming.

“If the provincial government stopped spending so much on non-health-care programs, they would be able to balance the budget,” said Drover. “These measures would save nearly $1.8 billion, which is enough to stop borrowing and begin reducing the debt next year.”

The Houston government cut the HST by one per cent this year and while Nova Scotians continue to struggle with the rising cost of living, Drover says Premier Houston should go further and cut an additional 1.5 per cent, saying it would save households on average $600 per year.

The province’s next fiscal update will come in December, giving Nova Scotians a clearer picture of the deficit.

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