Municipal Government Act (Chapter 18 of 1998).

The purpose of this Act is to (a) give broad authority to councils, including broad authority to pass by-laws, and to respect their right to govern municipalities in whatever ways the councils consider appropriate within the jurisdiction given to them; (b) enhance the ability of councils to respond to present and future issues in their municipalities; and (c) recognize the purposes of a municipality set out in Section 9A.
The ACt contains measures on: administration, financing, powers, tax collection, deed transfer and bylaws. Part VIII, planning and development, has the purpose to (a) enable the Province to identify and protect its interests in the use and development of land; (b) enable municipalities to assume the primary authority for planning within their respective jurisdictions, consistent with their urban or rural character, through the adoption of municipal planning strategies and land-use by-laws consistent with interests and regulations of the Province; (ba) ensure that every municipality develops and adopts one or more municipal planning strategies (c) establish a consultative process to ensure the right of the public to have access to information and to participate in the formulation of planning strategies and by-laws.
Part IX regulates subdivisions; an application for subdivision approval shall (a) be made to the development officer; and (b) include a plan of subdivision prepared by a Nova Scotia land surveyor. Other sections conver: Time limits for subdivision approval application; Limitations on granting subdivision approval, etc. Other parts concern Municipal government role on fire management services, solid-waste resource management, sewers, boundaries, and freedom of information.