Subhead:Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston eliminated the $700,000-a-year Publishers Assistance Program as part of a series of budget cuts announced in late February.#
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is applauding Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston for cancelling government subsidies to book publishers and is urging other governments to follow suit.
“Houston made the right call,” said Devin Drover, Atlantic director and general counsel for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to bankroll publishing houses that openly describe themselves as politically driven and committed to pushing radical ideology.”
Nova Scotia’s now-cancelled Publishers Assistance Fund previously distributed taxpayer money to private publishing houses. The CTF criticized the program after it provided $135,000 in public funds to Fernwood Publishing in 2024.
Fernwood Publishing, which operates out of Halifax and Winnipeg, describes itself as “politically driven, not profit driven” and says its mandate is to publish “radical analysis” aimed at contributing to “structural change.”
