The Government of Nova Scotia has introduced legislation introduced that will provide clarity to the Expropriation Act and support continued infrastructure investments.
Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mark Furey introduced amendments to the Expropriation Act to ensure landowners who have been impacted by expropriation are reasonably compensated.
The changes will also clarify what can be claimed through legal processes under the act and will transfer the hearing of certain claims, where no land is taken, from the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.
“Nova Scotians have told us that infrastructure investments such as highways and health-care services are a priority,” said Furey. “To do this, we need to ensure the expropriation process provides landowners with fair and reasonable compensation while balancing the interests of taxpayers and ensuring responsible financial management and more clarity to all concerned.”
Disturbance damages are recognized as all reasonable costs, expenses and financial losses a landowner incurs when their land is expropriated.
Since 2008, the Nova Utility and Review Board has heard 72 expropriation claims; of these 28 were withdrawn.
If the bill passes, the changes will be retroactive to June 1, 2019.
