Mr. Speaker, this year Province House, home to Nova Scotia's legislature, turns 200 years old. I quote:
It stands, and will stand, I hope, to the latest posterity, a proud record of the Public Spirit, at this period of our History: And as I do consider this magnificent work equally honorable and useful to the Province, I recommend it to your continued protection.
Those are the words of Lord Dalhousie, governor of Nova Scotia, at the opening of Province House 200 years ago.
More than the symmetry of its Palladian architecture, its locally quarried sandstone or the fine quality of its ornamental plasterwork, Province House has been an esteemed home to history for two centuries. It is where Joseph Howe fought for freedom of the press. It is where Nova Scotia peacefully established the first responsible government in the British Empire. It is where we joined Confederation in 1867.
It is where future generations of Nova Scotians, again in the words of Lord Dalhousie, will continue in “this magnificent work”.