NDP accused of interfering in road work

Nova Scotia's NDP government is getting a rough ride over improvements made to a road that passes by a cabinet minister's home.

The government's new chip-sealing operation repaired about 40 kilometres of road this year, including Renfrew Road in front of John MacDonell'sproperty in East Hants.

McDonell says he lobbied unsuccessfully for the road to be paved with asphalt. He says he tried to get the chip-sealing stopped but the district road supervisor pushed for the work.

But the Progressive Conservatives accuse the government of political interference.

"Mr. Speaker, it's not about the work getting done, it's how it got done," Hants West MLA Chuck Porter said in the house of assembly Tuesday.

Porter accused the NDP of being "sneaky." He said the government hid the work by referring to the road by a different name.

Transportation Minister Bill Estabrooks said the road needed work and had been on the province's priority list for two years.

Premier Darrell Dexter slammed Porter's premise and argued that politics played no part.

"Perhaps we've paved the road that goes by his house. I don't know because I don't keep track where everybody lives," Dexter said. "We pave the roads that need to be paved."

Porter said none of the paving or chip sealing work was done in his district. He also noted that there was no tender for the work because it was a government operation.

Dexter called the allegations "sad" and "reprehensible."