Opposition readies for budget as house resumes

The spring session of the Nova Scotia legislature begins Monday, and the survival of the minority Tory government hangs on whether the upcoming budget will be good enough for one of the opposition parties to support.

"I'm hopeful that both parties will vote for our budget as they did last summer," said Premier Rodney MacDonald, who won unanimous support for his budget in July after a quick trip to the polls.

Securing support from both the NDP and Liberals may be tougher this time around.

MacDonald's Progressive Conservatives have been downplaying the budget, expected to be tabled this week, as a stay-the-course fiscal plan and have talked about putting off some of the promises they made during the election.

Interim Liberal Leader Michel Samson said the Tories should not take his party's support for granted.

"We're prepared to work to make government in the best interests of Nova Scotians, but at the end of the day we're not prepared to support a budget which is not going to meet the approval of Nova Scotians," Samson said.

However, NDP Leader Darrell Dexter doesn't think that's much of a threat.

"They are agreeing to support each other on key pieces of legislation, and that's the way that the last house played out and the next house will probably play out that way as well."

Dexter said the Tories have called the house back earlier than usual so the budget vote comes before Liberals choose their new leader in April. The Tories are banking on the third-party Liberals not wanting to trigger an election before they pick a new boss, he said.

Of the 52 seats in the legislature, the Tories hold 23, the NDP has 20 and the Liberals nine.