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Speaker Bars 36 People From Nova Scotia Legislature

Beginning Sept. 1 the temporary bans are intended to enforce legislative order by excluding identified gallery attendees from Province House.

Thirty-six people have been temporarily banned from Nova Scotia Province House.
MLAs are scheduled to return to Province House Sept. 8. Some people who were in the gallery on the night of Mar. 24 when a protest forced an adjournment will not be allowed to visit.
According to Province House, all 36 of the bans issued last week were related to the March 24 incident.
Speaker of the House Danielle Barkhouse said that the bans are meant to hold those identified accountable for interrupting legislative proceedings.

Overview

  • A singing and shouting protest that interrupted business in the legislative gallery on March 24 led the Speaker to order a review and consider consequences for participants.
  • House officials have sent written notices to 36 people and the bans take effect Sept. 1 with the legislature scheduled to resume sittings on Sept. 8.
  • Ban lengths vary by conduct: three months for refusing to leave when ordered, six months for participating in the demonstration, and 12 months for those judged to have verbally abused MLAs.
  • The Speaker and House clerks say the decision followed an extensive review of security footage, access records and open-source information and was meant as a moderate enforcement step.
  • Critics and some named recipients call the measures an overreach that narrows public access, while legal experts note parliamentary privilege will make court challenges difficult.