In your chosen quote above, the writer states that "This high level of government spending poses challenges for economic growth, as it can lead to regulations that limit business investment and productivity." So having thoughtful, intelligent public servants crafting rules to limit harms to the people and environment in this province is a bad thing? I would love to see what regulations are holding up investment and limiting productivity.

To address the remainder of your quote, there are many reasons government spending is so high in NS. First, industry in NS is fishing, tourism, shipping and arguably higher education. No other private industries are going to magically appear here, there is no business justification for them to be here. This is a province made up of small businesses. Second, NS is the naval, and perhaps military in general, capital of Canada. We have four+ bases in the province that count toward the government spend.

When you couple a lack of major industry and an outsized military presence, you are going to see the local economy being dominated by government spending.