Nova Scotia’s Minister of Business Geoff MacLellan announced Thursday he is leaving politics, in large part because of the heavy toll he said public life has had on his personal life, especially his relationship with his two children.
“Without a doubt, the number one reason are my two kids, Jorja, who’s nine, and Daniel, who’s seven,” MacLellan told reporters following a regularly scheduled cabinet meeting.
He said his children know him more as a politician than as a dad: “So for me, that is really important that they actually know their dad as a person, because they don’t.”
MacLellan, the MLA for Glace Bay, said he will remain in his seat for the time being, but will not seek re-election.
He said even during his time at home, away from legislature sittings or cabinet responsibilities, he wasn’t able to disconnect from the job.
“Even when I’m there, I’m not there all the way a lot of times,” he admitted. “To take them to the beach and have a hot Saturday afternoon at the beach, all I’m thinking about who I have to call on Monday and what meetings I have and what I’ve missed and who’s going to be upset because I didn’t return an email.”
‘I felt very numb’
Although MacLellan made it official Thursday, he said he had been mulling over retirement for months and only made the decision two days ago.
“I felt very numb, and have felt numb since,” he said. “It’s hard to get your head around.”
The announcement came following what could be Premier Stephen McNeil’s last cabinet meeting. Nova Scotia Liberals pick a new leader on Saturday.
MacLellan said the timing of McNeil’s departure seemed appropriate for his own political exit.
“I came in with the boss … and I’m going out with the boss,” he said.
For his part, McNeil paid tribute to his colleague and friend, noting his steadfast loyalty.
“Has never wavered in his support for me, for the decisions that we’ve made as a government,” said McNeil. “I love the guy. I love him for who he is.
“He is a big part of my extended family.”
Other Liberals retiring
MacLellan will be the sixth member of the Liberal caucus to announce they will not be seeking re-election. He first won a seat in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly on June 22, 2010, in a byelection and has been re-elected twice since.
He started his political career on the opposition benches but when the Liberals won government in 2013, McNeil appointed him minister of transportation and infrastructure renewal.
He has also been minister of energy and is the government House leader, a job that involves setting the government’s agenda at the legislature.
In recent months, his cabinet colleagues Karen Casey and Leo Glavine have also announced their retirement from provincial politics. Environment Minister Gordon Wilson and former cabinet minister Margaret Miller made their retirement plans public earlier, as did backbench MLA Bill Horne.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
