Nova Scotia privacy commissioner questions transparency around cabinet records

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s information and privacy commissioner says new rules regarding public access to provincial cabinet records will result in less transparency.

In a letter to the ministers of justice and Service Nova Scotia, David Nurse said legislative changes coming into effect on April 1, 2027, will completely shield all cabinet records from requests made under the province’s freedom of information law.

Nurse’s letter, released Friday as part of an annual report, said current rules already limit disclosure of records that would reveal the substance of cabinet discussions, but background information is generally disclosed if a cabinet decision has already been released to the public. 

If a request for cabinet records is denied, the public still can request the background information five years later and it must be handed over. Under the new rules, that time limit will be extended to 15 years. 

“To me, (the changes) just feel like an unnecessary step backwards,” Nurse said in an interview Friday. “We don’t need more secrecy around government decision making …. We want to see more openness, more trust that the public can handle the truth.”

Nurse noted that Progressive Conservative Premier Tim Houston used freedom of information requests when he was in opposition. At the time, Houston was keen to learn why then Liberal premier Stephen McNeil was refusing to disclose details about the government’s contract with the operator of the ferry service that links Yarmouth, N.S., with Maine. 

“That obviously proved to be a very beneficial tool and a way to hold the previous government accountable,” said Nurse. “So why deny future journalists and future opposition parties and members of the public the ability to hold the government accountable?”

Houston’s government introduced changes to freedom of information laws as part of a controversial omnibus bill in February 2025. 

Among other things, one change would have allowed the government to fire the auditor general without cause. Another change would have given cabinet ministers the power to block the release of auditor general reports. But those proposed changes were both withdrawn before the bill passed. 

Nurse said some of the changes, however, were positive, such as the plan to make the privacy commissioner an officer of the legislative next April. The commissioner was also granted the power in 2025 to tell departments to disregard information requests deemed frivolous and vexatious. 

Nurse said the government has responded to his letter by saying it is not considering further changes to the legislation. Still, he said he’s hopeful improvements will be made. 

Justice Minister Scott Armstrong and Service Nova Scotia Minister Jill Balser issued a joint statement Friday saying the new act brings Nova Scotia in line with other jurisdictions and provides strong oversight and access rights.

“We respect the role of the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, who was given the opportunity to comment ahead of this legislation’s introduction, and will continue working with them as the new act is implemented,” said the statement. 

“We are focused on practical implementation and will continue working through regulations, tools and guidance to support consistent application of the act.”

NDP Opposition Leader Claudia Chender said in a statement Friday that Nurse was right to raise his concerns, and that the changes take away transparency, moving the province in the wrong direction.

“Nova Scotians deserve a government that doesn’t hide their spending or decision making from the people who elected them,” Chender said. “People want to know what’s going on, not just what the government wants them to hear.”

One of Nurse’s duties is to review information requests if the applicant does not agree with a department’s decision. His report says 80 per cent of those disputes were resolved informally in 2025-26. 

Meanwhile, the office’s backlog on those files, previously four-years long, has been cut to three years. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2026.