N.S. government trade bill to be amended following public safety concerns

The Nova Scotia government is amending its interprovincial trade legislation after professional regulators identified unintended consequences that they say risked public safety.

Premier Tim Houston first announced Bill 36 this session while in Ontario to encourage provinces across the country to knock down trade barriers and spur economic growth in the face of tariffs from the United States government. The law is intended to get provinces to allow for the free flow of goods, services and labour movement throughout the country.

But the heads of a number of regulatory groups told members of the legislature's public bills committee on Wednesday night that the manner in which the legislation is written means it would trump their ability to regulate who is working in the province in their respective professions, removing oversight intended to protect the public.

Dr. Jane Corkum, registrar of the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association, said the bill as written would open the floodgates to unregulated practice of veterinary medicine in the province.

"It could expose the public, pets and our animal agriculture sector to some unignorable risks," she said.

Corkum, like other presenters, said that's because the bill's language would remove regulators' jurisdiction over professionals coming into the province to practise. That would leave them without the ability to monitor who is even coming into the province to work or be able to detect people posing as regulated professionals.

"By failing to consult with the impacted professional regulators, government missed an opportunity to work with subject matter experts to create legislation that is truly in the public interest," she said.

Lack of consultation

The lack of consultation was a recurring theme among presenters.

Representatives for the province's barristers' society, college of social workers, association of architects, chartered professional accountants and professional engineers all said they were not consulted on the legislation before it was tabled. They also all noted that they've already taken their own steps to removing barriers to people coming here to work, and they did it in a way that does not compromise public safety.

Pal Mann, CEO of Engineers Nova Scotia, said he was troubled by the lack of consultation because the organization has already seen an increase in calls from the public to confirm people who present themselves as engineers are the real deal.

The executive director of the Nova Scotia Regulated Health Professions Network said they did get a meeting with the premier after expressing concerns about the bill superseding a previous piece of legislation Houston has touted as one he is most proud of: The Patient Access to Care Act.

Jennifer Hemeon told the committee the premier assured her that amendments would be coming to clarify that Bill 36 would not override the legislation that allows for the regulation of health-care professionals in the province. Hemeon said she had not seen the actual text of the amendments, but trusted the premier.

The premier's office shared the amendments with CBC News late Wednesday night. Although it is clear they will address the concerns of Hemeon's group, it is not clear if they will satisfy the concerns of the other regulators.

On Thursday, the premier's office confirmed in a statement to CBC News that the amendments should satisfy the concerns of the remaining professional regulators.

"We have also made amendments to make it clear that out-of-province license or certificate holders must be in good standing, with no outstanding complaints, in a reciprocating jurisdiction and must register with the equivalent Nova Scotia regulator to obtain licensing or certification and insurance."

'Very sloppy'

Interim Liberal Leader Derek Mombourquette expressed dismay at the lack of consultation with the regulators.

In an interview, he noted that this is the most recent example of the government bringing forward legislation where a lack of consultation created a problem.

"It's been very sloppy the way that they've been presenting legislation," he said.

"And now we're in a situation where we all want to support interprovincial trade and we all support breaking down those barriers, but you do have these organizations that are coming in that could have been consulted and should have been consulted beforehand."

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The Progressive Conservatives faced harsh criticism this session for legislation that would have affected access to information laws and the auditor general. The province's privacy commissioner and auditor general both noted that neither was consulted by the government before that legislation was drafted.

Houston has said amendments are also coming to address those concerns.