HON. DENISE PETERSON-RAFUSE: Mr. Speaker, I know one mistake that will not be made again in our province - Nova Scotians will not hire McNeil Movers in the next election.

MR. SPEAKER: Order please, I want to remind the honourable member for Chester-St. Margaret's the term "McNeil Movers" is unparliamentary and I will not stand for its use again.

MR. SPEAKER: Just before we move on to the next member's statement, I'm compelled to bring it to the members' attention that, particularly to the member for Queens-Shelburne, the use of the term "McNeil Government" is unparliamentarily. There was a previous ruling - and I'll clarify the use of the name of the current Premier (Interruptions) Order, please.

Page 5220

MS. LENORE ZANN: ... Nova Scotians now know that they can't take the Premier at his word any longer. They also know that the McNeil Government doesn't seem to care what they think and the lack of consultation done by this government is unprecedented and disrespectful. Those are the Premier's true colours.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. I would like to remind the member we're getting into some unparliamentary language here, inferring that the Premier is dishonest and disrespectful.

...
Page 5221

MR. BAILLIE: This government has had enough trouble getting its facts straight, whether it's being sneaky with the digital animation industry or being too cute with the facts . . .

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. I would like to get the honourable Leader of the Official Opposition to retract the word "sneaky". It's an unparliamentary term.

MR. BAILLIE: Mr. Speaker, that press release was wrong. It was either deliberately wrong or it was incompetently wrong, but it was wrong, and it would be far better for everybody . . .

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. I'd like to remind the honourable Leader of the Official Opposition he's inferring the government issued deliberate misinformation. That is, in fact, unparliamentary.

The honourable Leader of the Official Opposition.

MR. BAILLIE: I was open to the possibility that it was just incompetent, Mr. Speaker, so I accept your ruling on that.

THE PREMIER: Mr. Speaker, we do believe it's in the public interest. The honourable member is intentionally clouding the water. She knows what she is referring to was brought forward. We didn't deny it, we just said we wouldn't give waiver. Is she afraid to have a debate on the conversation?

Page 4509

MS. MAUREEN MACDONALD: The Premier makes things up just like he made things up about the Film Tax Credit. Mr. Speaker, this organization says in their release that of particular concern to us is that these cuts are not shared equitably among the long-term care sector. Some long-term care organizations will feel these budget impacts while others will not. We believe that equity should prevail in decisions that are intended to be in the economic interests of Nova Scotia.

...

Page 4510

Page 3860

HON. MAUREEN MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, if Stephen Colbert was watching the Premier's media interviews and Question Period performance over the past week, he would probably say the Premier was being truthy. "Truthy" is a condition where the message bears no resemblance to the facts. The Premier has said that the Film Tax Credit still exists, that it hasn't been cut, and that it won't have much of an impact on the film industry.

Mr. Speaker, I would recommend to the Premier that he stick to the facts and forget about being truthy.

HON. STERLING BELLIVEAU: Now the McNeil Government has turned their sights to picking the pockets of rural ferry users, and picking fights with doctors and creative industries.

MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. I want to remind the honourable member for Queens-Shelburne that the phrase "picking the pockets" is an unparliamentary phrase.

HON. PAT DUNN: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Natural Resources. On Thursday, members of the mining industry learned that this government reneged on a promise to extend the fuel tax rebate to the mining industry. In a November 10, 2014 press release, the Minister of Natural Resources said, ". . . the government will start phasing in a fuel-tax rebate program for mining and quarrying vehicles, and introduce a revised Mineral Resources Act, in 2015."

My question, why did the minister renege on a promise he made only five months ago?

...