MacMaster: Review regulations immediately

HALIFAX, NS –  Progressive Conservative Transportation Critic Allan MacMaster says he is shocked that the NDP's Transportation Minister knew nothing about the Acadian Lines' problems with his government's regulations, even though officials met with his department as recently as February and expressed these concerns at a 2010 regulatory hearing.
 
“There’s no excuse for the Minister to not be up to date on what’s going on. If he wasn’t over-his-head in the asphalt business perhaps he would be aware of what was happening with our main bus service,” said MacMaster, referring to the NDP government’s costly, time consuming and failing effort to run a paving operation.
 
MacMaster’s Inverness constituency lies along Acadian Lines’ Halifax to Sydney route. He says seniors and students count on the buses to travel to other towns and transport large packages and belongings.
 
MacMaster noted that New Brunswick’s Transportation Minister said his government has ruled out subsidies, but is considering a review of intercity bus regulations. MacMaster said Minister Maurice Smith should be doing the same.
 
“Privately run companies are capable of providing transportation services in Nova Scotia and creating jobs,” said MacMaster. “The problem is the Dexter NDP doesn’t allow businesses to grow and thrive. They just know how to tax and regulate someone out of business.”
 
MacMaster says a PC government will create a province-wide integrated transportation strategy to ensure travelling Nova Scotians and our products are able to access local, national and international systems.

A PC government is committed to creating the winning conditions for a stronger economy: balancing the budget, lowering taxes, scrapping the job-killing labour law brought in by the NDP and adopting an energy plan that affordably integrates economic and environmental goals.    
 
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