N.S. premier announces Treasury Board members, new House leader
CBC
Premier Tim Houston has announced more key appointments as his government settles into its second mandate.
An order-in-council dated last Thursday, the same day Houston's new cabinet was sworn in, shows that Environment Minister Tim Halman will chair the Treasury and Policy Board, the powerful committee that sets spending plans and policies for government operations.
Joining Halman in the group is Seniors and Long-term Care Minister Barb Adams, Finance Minister John Lohr, Agriculture Minister Greg Morrow, Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Kent Smith, Public Works Minister Fred Tilley and Social Development Minister Scott Armstrong.
For Tilley, the announcement comes as another win following his decision just before the provincial election call in October to cross the floor from the Liberals to join the Progressive Conservatives. At the time, Tilley was open about his desire to join cabinet and help shape provincial budgets.
Meanwhile, Houston announced Monday that newly minted Education Minister Brendan Maguire will be the new PC government House leader in the legislature.
It's the job of the government House leader to shepherd bills through the legislature and to try to work with the opposition party House leaders to ensure the law-making process proceeds in an orderly fashion. This proved a difficult task at times during the Tories' first mandate.
Maguire, who left the Liberals earlier this year to join the Tory caucus and cabinet, replaces Emergency Management Minister Kim Masland. Masland was the PC House leader during the government's first term in office.
The Tories announced that Hants West MLA Melissa Sheehy-Richard will serve as deputy House leader. Kings West MLA Chris Palmer is the party's new whip, Hants East MLA John MacDonald becomes caucus chair and Victoria-The Lakes MLA Dianne Timmins begins her time as a newly elected official at Province House as deputy PC caucus chair.
MORE TOP STORIES
Egmont MP Bobby Morrissey says federal help for Prince Edward Island's struggling oyster fishery is expected early in the new year.
Calgary police have charged a man with defrauding numerous seniors out of about $186,000 in a string of incidents over a five-week period.
A Brampton lawyer allegedly connected to fugitive Ryan Wedding was granted bail Tuesday morning by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Rankin Inlet hamlet councillors recently passed a motion that has had them avoid drinking alcohol for the 12 days leading up to Christmas, with the goal of setting a positive example for the community.
Jason Jacques says he learned a lot about the importance of choosing his words carefully in his first few months as the interim parliamentary budget officer (PBO).
Durham police say a man is dead after suffering multiple stab wounds in Oshawa Tuesday morning.
An internal review of technical outages that caused significant delays at airports and international land borders this fall has exposed critical flaws with the Canada Border Services Agency's IT services.
Two people are in life-threatening condition after being pulled from a house fire in Scarborough Tuesday morning, according to Toronto Fire Services.
Whenever the door opens at the British Grenadier Bookshop, proprietor Steve Douglas doesn’t know who is going to walk through.
A northeastern Ontario potato farmer says he’s shipping more bags of potatoes to southern Ontario to make up for waning demand.
Halifax’s registry of rental properties is now available to the public online, showing what HRM staff believe are the “bulk” of rentals in the city.
A New Brunswick tenant says he’s being pushed out of his rented bungalow as retribution for complaining about his landlord, but his landlord says she’s the victim of an unfair tenancy tribunal ruling that is preventing her from using the unit to house family.
Snow and freezing rain could affect morning commutes on Tuesday, according to a special weather statement issued by Environment Canada.