The Nova Scotia government is weakening democracy by packing bills with an unreasonable number of legislative changes, say opposition parties and political scientists.

Alex Marland, a political scientist at Acadia University, said the government appears to be using its dominant majority — it has 43 of the 55 seats in the legislature — to ram through legislation and reduce debate with what are known as “omnibus” bills.

“At a high level, this really says that a democracy is not functioning very well,” Marland said.

Each of the five omnibus bills introduced so far this session are connected by a theme, a spokesperson for Premier Tim Houston’s office said in an email. Bills are bundled, the email said, to “make it clear that the government has made certain areas a priority.”

“When you look

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