Like a deer in the headlights, this cabinet minister couldn’t explain his own steep cuts
Most journalists are accustomed to encountering a politician who is thrown by a question, or who seems uncertain while formulating an answer.
Occasionally, though, you get the “deer in the headlights” look, with a politician seemingly unprepared for the entire thing, and at a loss to answer most questions with anything behind the boilerplate talking points drilled into them during a comms briefing.
That happened this week when Nova Scotia’s rookie minister of tourism and culture fielded reporters’ questions about dramatic cuts to hundreds of community groups and arts programs — and appeared either unable or unwilling to answer them.
Tim Houston’s government is dealing with a $1.2-billion deficit. The new budget lays out about $130 million in program cuts.
Dave Ritcey, who made his way into Tim Houston’s cabinet in a shuffle in late 2024, had a face Wednesday that spoke volumes as reporters peppered him with questions about a budget that had steep cuts to arts, culture and other groups.
Here’s a CBC video of the exchange.
Asked about whether a film development fund was cut, Ritcey said, “I’ll have to get back to you on that.”
He generally deferred to staff, and was not able to explain the decision-making process.
The frustration in the media corps seemed evident. One reporter said, “Given the magnitude of the cuts that your government has introduced, a bare minimum expectation would be that the people responsible for them could speak about them in more detail than we’ve heard from any member of your cabinet so far.”
Ritcey’s response? He stammered a “sorry,” paused, and then listened as a similar question was put to him. Then he said, “I’ll get back to you on that.”
As for what groups were told, Ritcey said departmental staff handled the cuts with written notifications.
Reporter: “What explanation did they provide when they sent those letters and emails?”
Ritcey: “I’ll need to get back to you on that.”
When reporters pointed out that the form letters did not contain an explanation, Ritcey was asked if the recipients deserved one. “That’s what I’ll leave to the staff,” he said.
Another exchange followed.
Reporter: “The public doesn’t vote for your staff, they vote for you. They elected your government. Shouldn’t you be able to stand here and account for your decisions to the very people who voted for you?”
Ritcey snapped back into a message track — the phrase used for the soundbite-aspiring phrases that politicians and their advisers land on in hopes of catching reporters’ attention. (They often don’t work.)
“Like I said, Michael,” Ritcey said, “we’re focusing on Nova Scotians and we continue to invest in arts and culture.”
And that was basically it for that scrum.
We’ll see if Ritcey gets back to them.