Here's what happens if no party wins a majority in the provincial election

When it comes to participating in minority governments in Nova Scotia, former NDPMLA Kevin Deveauxhas plenty of experience.

He did it three times during his tenure at Province House from1998 to 2007.

Now an international expert on parliaments, Deveauxsaid how the government is constructed when no party holds a majority of seats is determined by law, through convention rather than statute.

"The rule is that the party that was governing before the election has the first right to try and form a government under a new government, after an election," said Deveaux.

"So if it is a minority, the [Rankin]Liberals will automatically have the right to try and form the government, even if they don't have the most seats."

Deveaux said giving the party in power the first crack at governing, even if another party wins more seats, is one of the more misunderstood rules of minority government.

"It doesn't seem to make logical sense that if the Tories or the NDPended up with more seats, why would the Liberals be the ones that have the right to form the government first," said Deveaux.

"But our convention is, 'You were the government before the election, you have the first right to try and form a government after the election.'"

The MacLellan minority government

That's what happened in the 1998 election when the government of Russell MacLellancontinued to hold power despite losing 20 seats in that vote and finishing tied with the NDPat 19 seats in the Nova Scotia legislature. The PCs finished third with 14 seats.

MacLellan was able to broker a deal with then PC leader John Hamm,who held the balance of power.

That unwritten agreement lasted just 15months. The PCs triggered an election by voting against a budget that included a $600-million health investment fund.

The minority government options

Getting the first shot at governing is the first step. Remaining in power is the harder part, according to the former MLA for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage.

"In Canada, the options are actually quite limited," said Deveaux. "In other countries you'll see formal coalitions where there is a formal agreement and you'll have a junior partner and a senior partner and they will basically be voting as one government."

That's not the tradition in Canada. Parties form more loose arrangements where legislation moves through the House on a case-by-case basis, as happenedin 1998 and again in 2003 and 2006.

"In those circumstances they formed the government and they basically, almost on an ad hoc basis, on a bill-by-bill or budget-by-budgetbasis, will negotiate each as they go through the House," said Deveaux.

The former politician likened it to a "dance" in which the government leads but needsa partner willing to follow in order to make it work.

But as the MacLellan government learned in 1998, when it tried a business-as-usual approach to choose its own Speaker, the opposition parties can use its majority of votes to its advantage. NDP and PC MLAs joined forces to reject the Liberal choice, then elected opposition members to sit as Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

The Hamm/MacDonald minorities

Deveaux, who was NDP House leader from 2003 to 2007, was a central figure in shepherding legislation through the House during two minority governments.

"You know it was day-to-day, constant discussions," said Deveaux. "And that was critical to what I think was a successful period of time, particularly under the John Hamm minority government from 2003 to 2006, because we did have a sense that no one wanted to go back to the polls. We needed to make this work."

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According to Deveaux, he and House leaders Ron Russell, for the PC government, andManning MacDonaldrepresenting the Liberals,were in constant talks.

"The three of us would literallysit down practically every day when the House was sitting and work out how we were going to make sure that, on that day or that week, we were going to make sure that the business got done, but at the same time the opposition felt that it had some influence in the process."

Legislature committees

One tangible difference during a minority House is the makeup of the legislature's six standing committees. When the opposition parties have more seats combined than the party in power, they control those committees.

It's a significant shift.

Since returning to power in 2013, the governing liberals have used their majority to limit the scope of the once-powerful public accounts committee, and government MLAs have repeatedlyrejected topics and witnesses opposition MLAs have put forward to appear before the other standing committees.

A minority House would change those dynamics.

"You can't do that in a minority because whoever is the government in a minority parliament doesn't have the majority of the seats on the committee," said Deveaux.

That means a minority legislature could see the public accounts committee mandate restored and the topics handled by the other committees dictated by opposition politicians rather than restricted to only government-approved topics or witnesses.

Accountability

Although critics of minority governments claim they are inefficient or make governing more precarious or difficult, Deveauxdisagrees.

"What to me is critical, and what I think is good about minority governments in our system, is that it holds the government much better to account," he said. "If I know I have a majority of the members in the parliament I can shut down any debate I want."