The Nova Scotia government opened a new legislature session Friday with a throne speech focused on a renewed push toward resource development.

“The government will bring in and develop regulations that enable development while ensuring we protect the environment,” Mike Savage, the former mayor of Halifax Regional Municipality recently installed as the province’s lieutenant governor, read in the speech from the throne.

“If people tell you that it can’t be done . . . they are trying to scare you,” the speech reads. “The government will create an environment that is attractive to investment because that will bring jobs and prosperity here. That is what the government owes you.”

While offering scant mention of the new resource development push in the Progressive Conservative party platform that propelled it to a record 43 seats in the November election, the throne speech dedicated four of its 11 pages to an emphasis on resource and critical mineral development.

“There are countless opportunities for resource development in our province but they will be met with resistance,” Savage said in reading from the speech.

“We must band together and push back against voices who look only to oppose. In doing so we can ensure that Nova Scotia is a generational economic success story. That’s what we must do because that is what we owe one another.”

The government promised in the speech to help traditional Nova Scotia industries – fishing, farming and forestry – to evolve and thrive.

“There are also emerging sectors that can position our province for growth,” the speech reads. “Growth that will bring with it prosperity for the families in this province. Like hydrogen. This industry can provide greenhouse gas-free energy and add $5 billion to our economy.

“We are blessed with incredible onshore and offshore wind speeds. We must use this to our advantage. This sector is projected to be worth $4.6 billion within seven years.

“And we must harvest and develop our deposits of critical minerals. Antimony. cobalt. copper. graphite. lithium and others. We have an abundance of critical minerals that the world needs. These minerals are the building blocks of the green revolution.”

The speech referenced imposed barriers to development and investment in the province.

“We allowed sectors of our economy to become captured by special interests,” the speech reads “Opposing investment and job creation cannot be our default. Giving groups vetoes that impoverish our fellow Nova Scotians will no longer be tolerated.

“If we want to be ready to face tariffs or any future economic threat, we need to build an economy that is independent, resilient and resource-focused.”

The government promised in the speech to “reverse bans to allow for meaningful discussion, discussions that will ask, ‘How do we do this safely?’”

The government says increased industrial development will bring growth that will bring revenue to the province.

‘Only possible with growth’

“We want to keep investing in health care, keep investing in affordable housing,” the speech reads. “And we want to keep cutting taxes and fees. But these things are only possible with more economic growth.”

In a response to the speech in the House, Opposition and NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Nova Scotia has to be ready for fast-changing situations that affect the province, its traditional industries and its economy.

Chender said the NDP is pleased to hear from the speech that the government “intends to take economic development seriously in Nova Scotia; in fact, it’s the first time that we’ve heard about economic development in four years, including on the campaign trail.”

Chender said the NDP is “deeply worried about this government’s desire to overturn long-held bans on fracking and uranium mining against the advice of Nova Scotians.”

Chender said the throne speech has it backwards and that “meaningful discussion is welcome and important and we do that before we reverse the will of the people and scientific study.”

“The government also refers in this speech to a veto held by special interests,” Chender said. “Some of the special interests that the government is seeking to demonize so early in their term would be thrilled to know that they have a veto on this majority government’s attempt to do whatever it is that they want to do. I assure you that is not the case. The only body with a veto over policy in this province is this government, and we certainly hope that they use it wisely, thoughtfully, with regard to science, consultation, meaningful consultation with the Mi’kmaq and in a way that benefits all Nova Scotians.”

Chender said the bans were put in place “to protect our environment, our drinking water, our forests, our fisheries, our health and our province.

“We are ready for meaningful conversation; we have yet to have ever had it with this government.”

Chender said Premier Tim Houston has not provided any specifics about how lifting the bans would benefit Nova Scotians.

“We don’t know which projects would go forward, where they would be or how Indigenous communities, municipalities and industry would be consulted,” she said. “We don’t know who would benefit with weak royalty regimes and signals of reduced environmental assessments. There are questions that need to be asked and answered before we move forward.”

Interim Liberal Leader Derek Mombourquette said everyone wants to play a part in what the province’s economy will look like in the future.

“This idea that there are these special interest groups that exist across the province that are deterring us from growing as a province, it makes no sense to me,” Mombourquette said. “People are ready to collaborate, people are ready to have this conversation and one of the themes from the speech from the throne is that (the government is) looking for enemies to the cause and I just don’t see that or understand it.”

Mombourquette said regulations are in place around resource development and government ultimately decides if they want to make a push in that direction.

“They say they want to do that but I’m not seeing any real, tangible facts around that,” he said. “The only thing that we’ve heard is there is a buzz in Nova Scotia. There is a lot of work to this, there is a lot of regulation that they say are going to bring forward.”

Mombourquette said development is based on the market demand but exploration and development “take some years to happen.”

The throne speech outlined government achievements from its first term in health care, housing, mental health delivery, new and improved schools and reduced daycare fees.

The House session will resume Tuesday, when the budget will be presented.