Politics of Nova Scotia - Current Politics

Current Politics

The province's revenue comes mainly from the taxation of personal and corporate income, although taxes on tobacco and alcohol, its stake in the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, and oil and gas royalties are also significant. In 2006/07, the Province passed a budget of $6.9 billion, with a projected $72 million surplus. Federal equalization payments account for $1.385 billion, or 20.07% of the provincial revenue. While Nova Scotians have enjoyed balanced budgets for several years, the accumulated debt exceeds $12 billion (including forecasts of future liability, such as pensions and environmental cleanups), resulting in slightly over $897 million in debt servicing payments, or 12.67% of expenses. The province participates in the HST, a blended sales tax collected by the federal government using the GST tax system.

The election on June 13, 2006 elected 23 Progressive Conservatives, 20 New Democrats and 9 Liberals, leaving Nova Scotia with a Progressive Conservative minority government. The next election was held on June 9, 2009 with the NDP winning for the first time ever. They captured a majority with 31 seats to 11 for the Liberals and 10 for the PC Party.

Most recently MLA's were criticized by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation for their pension plan, which costs taxpayers $11 million annually. The ratio of funding for the pension, according to the report, is $22 taxpayer dollars per $1 contributed by public officials.