HALIFAX: Fixing health care remains Premier Tim Houston’s top priority as he looks to improve the lives of Nova Scotians and entice more newcomers.
“If we want to grow the economy of the province – I’m very passionate about population growth as a tool for economic development and growth – government has to make sure people can access health care,” Houston tells The Reporter in a year-end interview.
Serving as leader of the opposition to the Liberals for three years gave his Progressive Conservative Party time to read the pulse of Nova Scotians, he says.
“We prided ourselves on really understanding the issues and only really talking about things that were possible and would make a difference,” he says. “The campaign platform that we ran on was the result of years of research. The ideas and solutions that we put forward in that platform same thing – it was stuff that we knew.”
Houston says he’s confident he can meet his health care election promises.
“Now that we’re in office, we’re executing,” he says. “There’s a lot of work to be done, but I do feel very encouraged that we are moving, even incrementally, in the right way.”
Not long being sworn in as premier at the end of August, Houston travelled around the province meeting with front-line health care workers to get their insights on the ailing health care system.
Some of the fixes implemented to date include free virtual care for people without a primary-care doctor, a trial with private clinic Scotia Surgery in Dartmouth and the IWK Health Centre to reduce surgery wait times for children, and funding to add staff and 2,500 new single-room beds for long-term care facilities.
Houston says addressing the doctor shortage will take time. As of Dec. 1, 82,088 Nova Scotians, or 8.3 per cent of the population, were on a wait list for a primary care physician.
“We’re concerned about the number,” he says. “We believed it would get a little worse before it gets better and it’s getting worse.”
He says access to virtual care has given peace of mind to some people without a doctor, but efforts to recruit physicians and other health care workers will ramp up.
Houston is pleased with the work from Dr. Kevin Orrell, the long-time Sydney-based orthopedic surgeon enlisted by the new PC government to head up a newly created office to recruit and retain health-care professionals.
The premier’s been getting on the phone himself.
“I personally have been reaching out to health care professionals and doctors in other jurisdictions and talking to them about maybe having an interest in Nova Scotia,” he says.
A campaign to attract health-care workers will launch early in the new year, along with another to recruit workers in the skilled trades, he says.
More pacts with private health-care outfits like Scotia Surgery and Canadian virtual-care provider Maple Healthcare are possible, he says.
“We are looking to mobilize all of the potential resources for the benefit of Nova Scotians.”
To address shortfalls in addictions and mental health, the government is looking at opening up billing codes to allow private practitioners to deliver their service to everyone.
“(It’s) to really mobilize the resources of the province for the benefit of Nova Scotians.”
Houston was blunt about the impact of the newest strain of COVID-19 right before the Christmas holidays, particularly on already-stressed health-care workers.
“It just really sucks,” he says. “We’ll get through this with Dr. Strang’s leadership like we have in prior waves. But we’re seeing high case numbers. We’re not used to seeing high case numbers in Nova Scotia, so that’s adding even more anxiety.”
The province’s housing shortage Houston’s other top concern.
In the runup to the summer’s election, the Pictou East MLA was a vocal critic of the Liberal government’s two per cent ceiling on rent hikes, arguing the solution to the housing crisis is more housing supply.
Houston says he still sees adding housing as the answer, but his government’s extension of rent caps for two years is a necessary stopgap.
“We’re taking these steps now because we can’t allow tenants to pay the price through significant rent increases for the failures of government,” he says. “Government dropped the ball on the housing file. As a new government, we’re picking it up.”
The two-year extension provides a deadline to boost supply, he says. “I think we can make significant progress in that time.”
On forestry, Houston says his government supports the Lahey Report and is taking steps to implement the recommendations in the independent review of the province’s forestry practices.
Rather than a blanket ‘no’ to clear cutting, people should have a better understanding the practice, he says. “We just need to be smart about what we’re doing. There will be some stands that maybe a clear cut is appropriate. Maybe there’s a disease running through. Maybe it’s just a degraded stand of wood that needs to be cut and started over again.”
Forestry and other key industries such as fishing and agriculture should get “a thoughtful approach,” he says.
“That means really looking in front of you and understanding different perspectives and then moving forward.”
Houston’s government has committed to getting the province off coal by 2030 but doesn’t expect Nova Scotia ratepayer to pay the price.
“We’ve already invested $5 billion over last ten to 15 years to green our grid,” he says. “Asking rate payers to swallow $2 billion more is a non-starter in my mind.”
The province is seeking federal support for the proposed Atlantic Loop electricity grid that would bring in more hydro power from Labrador and Quebec.
“We’ve had no commitment, but lots of discussion.”
His government is also open to independent sources of green energy generated in the province.
On the situation with Island Employment, Houston said it’s important to have a similar agency operating in Cape Breton, and he committed to finding ways to fund the new entity and support people.
“That includes the workers. The workers will have opportunities to apply for jobs at the other entity. I think that’s happening. Believe it’s fair to say that some of them are working now,” the premier stated. “It’s another agency, it’s another organization so for the province to say you can’t do your hiring process, you have to do this, I don’t think that would be fair to them. It wouldn’t be good.”
Houston was working as an accountant in Bermuda when his wife Carol Houston convinced him to move their family to Pictou County, where she had roots. Frustration drew the Halifax native into politics.
He aims to boost prosperity by doubling the province’s population to two million by 2060.
“People have really woken up to the quality of life we have,” he says. “There’s so much potential for this province. If we start to move forward on things, then we’ll really unleash that potential.”
With the COVID pandemic continuing to rage, Houston is planning a low-key Christmas with his wife and two kids, 22 and 20.
“It’s been a busy year,” he says. “I want to recharge and get ready for an exciting 2022.”