HALIFAX – After asserting the Fire Marshall deemed a planned teachers’ job action unsafe and despite no evidence to the contrary, Liberal MLA Iain Rankin is being accused of “making stuff up” by the opposition.

After the announcement Saturday that schools would be closed over safety concerns, Rankin took to Facebook in a post obtained by News 95.7 defending the government move, in which the member for Timberlea-Prospect wrote “the Fire Marshall said the job action planned will not provide a safe environment [sic] government needs to make an action call.”

The word ‘fire’ does not appear once in a 12-page submission of safety concerns from school boards across the province leading up to the job action, while a Nova Scotia Teachers Union spokesperson said they had no idea what Rankin was talking about.

They said the fire department was ‘usually more concerned about how much paper and artwork is hanging on walls and bulletin boards.’

The province’s Fire Marshall, The Department of Education and Rankin’s office have not responded to requests for comments that were issued on Sunday.

Rankin did not provide comment on Monday when asked as he left the house after a vote for a recess in the legislature.

Progressive Conservative leader Jamie Baillie said the comment was designed to be a distraction from the fact the government had just “locked out students.”

“I’m sure Mr. Rankin, a Liberal MLA, is feeling the pressure from his constituents,” Baillie said when asked about the post.

“But what he is saying is made up, it is Mr. McNeil who decided to lock our students out of their schools, Mr. Rankin should represent his constituents and deal with that, instead of trying to distract from the real issues.”