HON. KAREN CASEY: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am rising in accordance with Rule 29 (1) and raising a matter of privilege at the first opportunity for which I request your consideration, and in accordance with Rule 29 (2) I have provided you with notice of my intention to raise this point of privilege prior to the meeting of the House today.

MS. MICHELE RAYMOND: Mr. Speaker, I rise today on a point of privilege of which I have given you notice. This is not actually the first time that I have almost needed to rise on a point of privilege during my three terms of office as representative for Halifax Atlantic but I do hope it will be the last.

HON. STEPHEN MCNEIL: Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Rule 29(2), I am raising a question of privilege in the House of Assembly at the earliest opportunity upon the first meeting of the House.

Additionally, I would like to highlight that I have served notice of this motion prior to the opening of this session in order to allow your full consideration of the matter. This is because of the severity of the matter - misleading the House, especially on matters as fundamental as the budget of the province, is one of the most serious breaches that one can imagine.

SPEAKER'S RULING: Breach of the Rules of the House in committees is a breach of the member's privileges. (Pt. of Privilege by Hon. M. Samson [Hansard p. 3221, 11/07/12]) Not a breach of privilege; a point of order that can be dealt with in that committee.

HON. MICHEL SAMSON: Mr. Speaker, on a point of privilege. Once again, this morning, we witnessed an example of this majority NDP Government ignoring the rules and traditions of this House. This morning at the Law Amendments Committee the Minister of Communities, Culture and Heritage sat as a voting member of the committee examining Bill No. 94, the House of Assembly Act, dealing with the new proposed electoral boundaries for Nova Scotia.

SPEAKER'S RULING: Calling a Meeting of a Committee - Notice (Pt. of Privilege by Hon. M. Samson [Hansard p. 3201, 11/05/12]) Chair of an Assembly committee has the authority to call a meeting of the committee.

HON. MICHEL SAMSON: Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of privilege. It's 8:29 p.m., and I've just been handed this note advising that there's a meeting of the Law Amendments Committee taking place at 8:30 p.m. this evening.

Mr. Speaker, as a member of this House for 14 years, I've never seen a committee being called with such short notice, which obviously takes away our rights and privileges as members of this House to be prepared, for our staff to be prepared and to actively participate in such a meeting.

SPEAKER'S RULING: Letter from Attorney General to Electoral Boundaries Commn. Breached privileges of member. (Pt. of Privilege by Hon. C. d'Entremont [Hansard p. 2580, 09/26/12] Not a prima facie breach of privilege.

The second issue - on Friday there was a point of privilege. On Friday the honourable Progressive Conservative House Leader rose on a point of privilege. He asked me to rule on whether a letter from the Attorney General to the recent Electoral Boundaries Commission breached his privilege as a member of the House of Assembly.

HON. CHRISTOPHER D'ENTREMONT: Mr. Speaker, on a point of privilege. I wonder if you could look into the matter of a ruling on the propriety of a letter written by the honourable Minister of Justice on June 14, 2012, which I believe violates the privileges of the members of this House. The letter as discussed in Question Period - and I will table another copy - was written to the Electoral Boundaries Commission and gives firm direction. The minister neither sought nor received any direction from this House of Assembly in advance of sending the letter.

HON. STEPHEN MCNEIL: Madam Speaker, I'm pleased to be able to rise today and present a petition, which the operative clause is:

"THEREFORE, your petitioners call upon the Nova Scotia House of Assembly to use its powers over the Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities, the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (UARB) to deny any General Rate Application presented by NSPI requesting a rate increase in 2013, 2014 and 2015."

Madam Speaker, there are over 28,000 Nova Scotians on this on-line petition that I would like to table.