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Lt.-Gov. Mayann Francis inspects the guard prior to delivering her speech from the throne during the opening of the second session of the 61st General Assembly of the Nova Scotia legislature on Thursday in Halifax.Mike Dembeck/The Canadian Press

A Throne Speech promising "vision" and a "new trajectory" wasn't enough to change the channel on a long-running political scandal, coming only hours after the governing NDP cut ties with one of its veteran members over allegations of "persistent" problems with his expenses.

Trevor Zinck, twice elected in a Dartmouth riding, was ejected from the caucus and will sit as an Independent. His actions are being weighed by the Speaker, who could refer the matter to the police or to the Auditor-General.

The revelation came after weeks of public outrage over inappropriate spending by politicians, and the timing left Premier Darrell Dexter on the defensive.

"Of course these things are frustrating, but that doesn't relieve you of the responsibility of dealing with them no matter when they show up," he said. "You guys operate media outlets … I'm sure you can spare some time for the things that we're doing here that are positive in nature."

The Throne Speech on Thursday set out a number of priorities and initiatives aimed at improving health care, growing the economy and ensuring the government lives within its means.

For the speech, Mr. Zinck's seat had been moved to the opposite side of the legislature.

He explained that he had simply fallen behind on his paperwork, citing the stress of caring for his father and the loss of an assistant. But NDP caucus chairwoman Vicki Conrad said they listened to his side of the story and made the unanimous decision to remove him.

Speaker Charlie Parker said he had been notified of five specific problems, amounting to a "few thousand" dollars.

"I'll be asking for all advice from legal counsel on what they think the nature of the issue is," he said. "Whether it's fraud or not I don't know until I've had the chance to sit down with a good lawyer."

Ms. Conrad said the problem - which she characterized as being reimbursed for unpaid bills - became apparent after the party won a majority last spring.

"Steps to ensure proper procedures were not working," she said. "This week information was brought to the Speaker and the caucus. The caucus discussed the situation with Mr. Zinck, heard his explanation and answers, and we decided to suspend him because members feel we do not have the necessary trust in his conduct as a member of this caucus."

Mr. Zinck is reportedly talking to opposition party leaders about his status. His allegiance cannot change the balance of power, though, and it's unclear whether the other parties will be interested in taking him on in the face of continuing public fury about excessive spending by politicians.

The scandal was sparked last month when Auditor-General Jacques Lapointe reported that numerous politicians had made inappropriate purchases under a secretive system of lax rules.

The fallout caused the resignation of Progressive Conservative MLA Richard Hurlburt, who had expensed an $8,000 generator that he kept at his home. Liberal MLA Dave Wilson has also resigned, for reasons that have not been made public. After the expulsion of Mr. Zinck, there are 31 NDP members in the legislature, along with 10 Liberals and eight Tories.

"What's interesting about this is he is NDP," said local commentator Ralph Surette. "They were brought in supposedly to do it differently."

The Premier said that Mr. Zinck is unwelcome in the NDP caucus as long as his actions are being probed by the Speaker.

"At this point there is no avenue for him to come back to the caucus, unless he was able to adequately satisfy the Speaker in relation to those matters," Mr. Dexter said.

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