ON MARCH 5, hundreds of Nova Scotians gathered in front of Province House, the provincial legislature, in Halifax. Many held handmade signs, including one featuring Premier Tim Houston transformed into a Donald Trump doppelganger, and slogans like “Nobody voted for Tim Trump,” “Please dump the Trump playbook,” and “We want democracy. Not autocracy.”
The rally had been organized by community groups and labour organizations to push back against far-reaching legislation that Houston’s government introduced in February. The proposed omnibus bills would, among other things, overturn a four-decade moratorium on uranium mining, give the government more control over universities, and allow non-unionized civil servants to be fired without cause.
“No one knew this was coming,” says Lindsay Lee, one of the protesters, who works at the advocacy organization Ecology Action Centre. “This is not something people were consulted on in any way.”
Houston’s power plays follow a disturbing trend among Canadian premiers seeking to quash dissent and centralize executive control over decision-making, often to override the power of municipal governments or the legislative process. Alberta premier Danielle Smith introduced a bill last year that would allow the government to fire mayors and municipal councillors. Ontario’s Doug Ford is obsessed with tearing up Toronto bike lanes and has ranted about getting rid of “bleeding-heart” judges through American-style judicial elections. In British Columbia, David Eby introduced legislation in March that would allow the cabinet to bypass the legislature in order to respond to tariff threats. After public outcry, Eby walked back that portion of the bill.