Op-Ed: The Liberals’ latest affront to democracy, and why you should be outraged

By: Lisa Roberts and Susan Leblanc, NDP members of PAC

Nova Scotians should be outraged at the erosion of democracy that took place last week in the form of changes to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

PAC is the legislature’s watchdog committee. It’s where opposition MLAs can publicly question government officials about how public money is being spent.

It was through effective questioning at PAC that former Halifax Needham MLA Maureen MacDonald uncovered the McNeil Liberal government’s plans to hike seniors Pharmacare premiums.

But those days are behind us now. Last week, Liberal MLAs on the committee used their majority to limit meetings to one per month. For nearly thirty years, PAC had been meeting weekly, with breaks in the summer and over the winter holidays. This move will cut the average number of meetings annually by almost two-thirds, stifling the work of accountability.

We’re in the middle of a health care crisis, and it seems that the Liberals want to avoid scrutiny. The NDP has proposed topics like homecare, and mental health and addictions services, but these topics were rejected by the Liberal members of the committee.

It isn’t that PAC shouldn’t change or be improved. NDP members of the committee did just that in Spring 2018 when we suggested that Auditor General’s reports be tabled a day before his appearance at the committee, streamlining the process and freeing-up dates to follow up with government departments about his recommendations.

But clearly, a more effective PAC was never the goal of the Liberals. Now with just 12 meetings a year, we’ll be hard-pressed to even examine every AG report. Which means some government departments may not have to account for their use of funds or whether they have followed the Auditor General’s recommendations.

The Premier says this is fine. He says we have a new Health Committee, and that opposition MLAs should stop complaining. When he offers this justification, he ignores that the Health Committee isn’t equal to PAC or at least what PAC used to be. The one thing the committees do seem to have in common is that McNeil’s Liberals are blocking the opposition’s proposals for discussion topics, rendering both committees much less effective than they could and should be.

Does any of this really matter? Yes.

When 100,000 Nova Scotians are without a family doctor, emergency rooms are bursting at the seams, and people can’t get the mental health care and long-term care they need, it’s crucial that we have the opportunity to find out how our money is being spent. The move to limit the scope of this important committee is egregious, and is an insult to the people of Nova Scotia.