REALITY CHECK: Liberal leadership hopeful withheld information about environmental racism as Justice Minister

HALIFAX — Liberal leadership hopeful and former Attorney General Becky Druhan actively withheld information about environmental racism from the public during her time as a PC cabinet minister, according to documents obtained under Freedom of Information.

In 2021, NDP MLA Suzy Hansen successfully pushed the Houston government to begin reviewing and addressing the legacy of environmental racism in Nova Scotia. This work began with a panel of experts commissioned to study the issue and make recommendations.

Druhan, a former PC Justice Minister, was briefed on the Environmental Racism Panel’s report as early as December 2024. In January 2025, Druhan sent an email to staff asking for advice on “what to say if pressed about public release of the report.” Druhan then spent the next several months refusing to say whether or not she had read the report or if its recommendations would be made public. A draft document was later leaked to CBC after Druhan left the PC caucus.

“Not only did the former Justice Minister help hide the Environmental Racism Report, these documents show she then spent months working with the Houston government trying to manage public reaction instead of doing the work to help African Nova Scotians and Indigenous people who continue to live with the impacts of environmental racism,” said Suzy Hansen, Official Opposition Critic for African Nova Scotian Affairs. “It’s deeply hurtful to community. It tells people: what you lived through – and continue to live through – doesn’t matter to the people in power.

“African Nova Scotians and Indigenous people were ignored for months while the Houston government tried to get their story straight. People are still living with the impacts of the Shelburne dump and the Boat Harbour cleanup. Becky Druhan had the power to make a real difference as the minister, but she refused to use it and she participated in the Houston government’s plan to keep community members in the dark. People deserve so much better than that.”

Instead of working to address policy decisions that can make systemic racism worse, during the spring session of the Legislature, the Houston government made deep cuts to programs and services for African Nova Scotian and Indigenous communities.

“The Houston government just doesn’t get it. African Nova Scotian and Indigenous communities have spent years fighting to have their voices heard. They deserve a government that listens – but instead, they’ve seen secrecy and funding for their communities put on the chopping block,” said Hansen. “We need the Houston government to take responsibility and take action, instead of making decisions that hurt people and perpetuate systemic racism.”

-30-