The Nova Scotia House of Assembly is the legislative branch of the provincial government of Nova Scotia, Canada. The Assembly is the oldest in Canada, having first sat in 1758[1], and in 1848 was the site of the first responsible government in colonies of the British Empire. There are 52 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) representing 52 electoral districts. Members nearly always represent one of the three main political parties of the province, the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia, Liberal Party of Nova Scotia, and Nova Scotia New Democratic Party. The Assembly meets in Province House, a National Historic Site and Canada's oldest and smallest legislative building. It is located in Halifax. It opened on February 11, 1819. The building was also the original home to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, and the location of the "Freedom of the Press" trial of Joseph Howe. Its main entrance is found on Hollis Street in Halifax. The building is ornately decorated with, among other things, plaster British falcons. Several have been missing their heads since the 1840s. At that time, a Member of the House, Lawrence O'Connor Doyle, went on a rampage, knocking the heads off with his cane upon hearing that a dispute between the United States and New Brunswick had been ruled in favour of the Americans. He had mistakenly assumed them to be eagles.
