Explain hiring PC party donors, friends - QP

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Yesterday when the Premier and I were having an exchange about his hiring of personal friends, he said, and I quote, "I have a lot of friends in Nova Scotia, and I pick the very best people based on my surveillance of the landscape." When the Premier surveilled the landscape, did he notice that regular people across the province are finding themselves unable to put gas in their fuel tanks, fill their grocery carts, or pay their power bills?

THE PREMIER « » : I spend every day all day talking to Nova Scotians from one end of this province to the other, and I feel the impacts of inflation - very real on them. I'm very in tune with the pressures that Nova Scotians are under. Nova Scotians are also very honest with me about how they feel about what's possible, what we should be doing, and what the challenges are.

You know what they're most open and honest about? About how optimistic they are to have a government that is looking down the road - five and 10 years down the road - and taking this province on a path to what is really possible to support Nova Scotians. That's the Nova Scotia they want. That's the government they want, and they seem very pleased that they have it.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Last year, Tom Hickey, the new head of Invest Nova Scotia, donated $2,250 to the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party. His family donated another $3,750. Wayne Crawley, the new head of Build Nova Scotia, donated $1,000 to the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative Party a year earlier.

I would like to ask the Premier why he seems more focused on finding jobs for his political donors than helping regular Nova Scotians.

THE PREMIER « » : Just a couple of things, Mr. Speaker. Number one, it's ridiculous to insinuate that I had to find a job for two of the busiest, most successful business people in this province.

If we could keep it real for just a couple minutes, these are interim appointments. They have already hit the ground running trying to get things set up. We're looking for full-time, permanent CEOs. They're there on an interim basis helping their province, stepping up for their province. I encourage the members opposite, if they want to be part of the longer term, to put some names forward for permanent CEOs. We'll certainly engage in that.

The reality is, from my business career, from my job as Premier and later, I have interacted with a lot of business people. I know a lot of business people. If I had to exclude people from opportunities for standing up to support this province just because I know them, just because they're my friend, it would be a very small pool.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Picking your friends and excluding people are two different things. I look forward to hearing at a later date when the interim appointment for the Nova Scotia Health Authority CEO is going to expire.

In 2016, when calling for an emergency meeting of the Public Accounts Committee to investigate hiring practices, the now-Premier, then-Opposition member, said, "Nova Scotians expect public servants to be hired based on merit in a fair and transparent manner." I will table that.

In a letter to the editor from the same year titled Move Past Pork Barrel Politics, the now-Premier wrote, "I keep waiting for" the Premier "to move past petty political moves like the partisan hirings . . . and get on with running the province." I'll table that.

Now it appears that the Premier thinks that his personal friends deserve to make $1,500 a day while many Nova Scotians don't deserve to make $15 an hour. Nova Scotians do expect public servants to be hired based on merit. Can the Premier explain why he's changed his tune?

THE PREMIER « » : My tune rarely changes and certainly hasn't changed here. The reality is we're running a government for the people of Nova Scotia. You know what Nova Scotians ask me? They said, Premier, please sort out the mess of 12 years of NDP and Liberal governments. Please sort out the mess. (Interruptions)

THE SPEAKER « » : Order, please. The Premier has the floor.

THE PREMIER « » : Please till the ground and plant those seeds, Mr. Premier. Please water them and grow this province for what's possible, and that's exactly what we're doing. Members opposite can take runs at successful Nova Scotians and smear them merely because they're successful, but we're not interested in that. We're only interested in running the province forward in an optimistic way. That's what Nova Scotians expect.