Critical voices excluded from the provincial budget lockup today

Several organizations that strongly advocate for workers, taxpayers, and the voices of students, seniors, and the less fortunate are very disappointed to learn that they have not been invited to the upcoming Nova Scotia Budget Lockup. Nova Scotia Federation  of Labour President Danny Cavanagh says this breaks a long-standing tradition of our participation, which has existed for over a decade. The Nova Scotia Federation of Labour represents 70,000 union members across Nova Scotia and is a strong voice for workers.

“We are disappointed to have been excluded. We wrote to the office looking after invites on Friday, just after 10:30 a.m., and have not even been given a response, leading us to conclude this is not an oversight,“ says Cavanagh.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia (CCPA – NS) is a nonpartisan research institute whose mandate is to advance justice and environmental sustainability in the province. The CCPA-NS publishes alternative budgets and has had representatives in the stakeholder budget lockup every year.

“We are disappointed and discouraged by being excluded for what appears to be an attempt to silence criticism,” says CCPA-NS Director Chrisine Saulnier.

The Advocates for the Care of the Elderly (ACE) Team is deeply disappointed in the Tim Houston government’s first-time exclusion of itself and other civil society organizations from the Budget 2025 LockUp. The Lockup is where our elected officials receive the feedback so essential to a functioning democracy. The ACE Team is concerned by the creeping secrecy this government is hiding.

“We are all disappointed, and finding this out late on a Friday before a long weekend feels intentional, given the Premier’s comments about special interest groups. This vetting process, as we understand it by the Premier’s office, is leaving out essential voices in our province, and that’s shameful. We all call on the government to reconsider this decision and include a wider range of perspectives from the excluded groups in the Budget Lockup,” Cavanagh concludes.