The Progressive Conservative Party
The provincial Tories have released their full platform.
Tim Houston announced the platform, they’re calling, “Solutions for Nova Scotians,” at a campaign stop in Halifax Thursday.
“This is not a platform of promises, it is a platform of solutions,” he said. “No one cuts their way out of an economic downturn. A failure to make the right investments could severely damage our healthcare system and our economy.”
Houston outlined several key areas of focus for the $553 million plan.
-Recruiting doctors
-Rebuilding the economy
-Updating the education curriculum to focus on environmental stewardship, financial literacy, and diversity teaching
-Enacting the toughest environmental penalties in the country for individual and corporate littering
-Recruiting trades workers, immigrants, and bringing home Nova Scotians who’ve had to move away for work
-IVF funding for couples struggling to conceive
-Creating $500 tax credit for kids in sports and the arts
-Establishing a chronic illness treatment and prevention program with in-home treatment
-Increasing the affordable housing supply by dedicating unused NS Lands
-Providing cancer treatment coverage for volunteer firefighters
-Opening operating rooms beyond 9-5 hours to shorten surgery wait times
-Doubling the budget for rural roads.
He also touted his recently announced Better Pay Cheque Guarantee plan.
Houston said the PCs will balance the budget in six years.
The New Democratic Party
The NDP are taking aim at the province’s lackluster mental healthcare.
Leader Gary Burrill made the announcement in Lower Sackville Thursday morning.
“The Liberals have ignored the growing mental health needs of people in Nova Scotia,” he said. “Universal and accessible care should be available to anyone in Nova Scotia who needs help, through mental health clinics.”
Burrill promised an NDP government will create same-day and next-day mental health clinics across the province.
The Liberal Party
Liberal Leader Iain Rankin is in Sydney Thursday, there he added details about the $605 million childcare deal the province signed with the federal government earlier this month.
Rankin said after school programs are being expanded, with 7500 new spaces for three to five-year-olds by 2026. Only 500 exist now.
“I’m proud to be part of this transformational moment for child care in Nova Scotia,” he said. “We are prioritizing the right things for children and families.”
Rankin said there will be 4,000 spaces by March 2023, and another 4,000 between 2023 and 2026.
