STRAIT AREA: The region is receiving a lot of attention from the province’s major political parties.
Since the start of the election last month, Liberal leader Iain Rankin has been in the area twice, along with multiple visits just before the writ was dropped, Progressive Conservative leader Tim Houston has been in the Strait area three times, with plans to return this weekend. NDP leader Gary Burrill was in the riding of Inverness just before the official start of the election, and returned again on July 25.
Following a campaign event in Inverness with candidate Damian MacInnis and in Guysborough-Tracadie with candidate Lloyd Hines on July 31, Rankin told The Reporter he’s received a great reception in the area.
“People are excited about what’s next and it’s great to have connections pretty well all around this whole region,” he said. “Just being from Cape Breton, it’s a special place for me, and I just want to be able to connect with the people here and understand their concerns, and let them know that we’re ready to keep on investing in Cape Breton… There’s a future for Cape Breton that’s a big part of how we’re going to recover from the pandemic.”
On Aug. 1, Rankin attended the Lennox Passage Yacht Club’s annual Harbourfest and visited local residences and businesses with Richmond Liberal candidate Matt Haley.
While campaigning on Aug. 2, Houston told The Reporter that he is planning to tour the area again this weekend.
“We’re confident in those areas, we have great candidates across all four,” he said of the local ridings. “We feel good about the message that we’re sharing with Nova Scotians and the vision we’re putting before them. It’s resonating with people.”
Houston said health care is the number one issue for Nova Scotians in this election.
“There are really big issues in health care, health care is a mess. We’ve been very up front with Nova Scotians that we can fix it. It’s going to a big investment, it’s going to take a bit of time but with the right team, we can fix health care,” he noted. “First and foremost, and this is what we’re hearing at the doors, is that people want to know that they can get access to health care. They want to know that they can age with dignity in this province, and the government has looked the other way from these things.”
Houston said his party has the only plan to rebuild the economy, and as a professional accountant, he is “very focused” on the economy.
“We know we have to pay for these things. We’ve actually put forward an economic plan that leading economists in the country have taken notice and said, ‘wow, that’s smart,’” he stated. “We’ve put forward great ideas on the economy, we understand the crisis in health care, we understand the crisis in housing, and we know the issues that are on the minds of Nova Scotians.”
The PC leader said his party has put forward the only fully costed platform with 10 years of projections.
“The money that has to be spent in health care, that bill is already due, we’re the only party that has the courage to pick it up and acknowledge it,” Houston stated. “The government is just pretending it’s not there, but it’s already there and if we don’t have a healthy people, we can’t have a healthy economy.”
The PCs projections call for six years of deficits, Houston said, because some of their economic initiatives will take time to have an impact.
“We’re just being honest about all this with Nova Scotians. There’s an investment that is required in health care. We are willing to make it, we will make it and we’ll all be better off for it in the not-too-distant future,” he said. “The reality is this province is going to run deficits because we have to invest in people and we have to invest in infrastructure.”
The Liberal leader called Houston’s spending promises “an act of desperation” which would move the province into a structural deficit.
“We were in an enviable fiscal position when the pandemic hit and we adjusted to make the right investments, but we need to make sure we’re spending taxpayer money wisely,” Rankin said.
“Eventually, they’re going to have to either cut or increase taxes; that’s just the reality, someone needs to pay, and that’s why I believe that it does put core services at risk – the reckless spending that they’re proposing.”
Rankin said the Liberals are running on five significant platform planks, one of those being health care.
“We were able to get some of the ideas out there where we think we can go next, but keep in mind that before the election started, I was investing heavily in long-term care; we had a major announcement to rebuild 2,300 beds and then add 500 beds,” Rankin said. “And then we had some significant investments for mental health in the budget to expand supports. So we were already investing in areas that needed health care and our platform piece that came out in the second week of the campaign is in addition to that.”
Last week, the Liberals unveiled their health care platform, committing to another $134 million in new spending initiatives including doctor recruitment, care for seniors, new mental health walk-in clinics, and an expansion of virtual care.
“We think that that’s the right approach to target money and not get into billion dollar deficits which add to the debt burden,” Rankin said.
The Liberal health care platform aims to provide 270 more seats for Licensed Practical Nurses at the NSCC and reserves 30 seats for continuing care assistants to upgrade to be a licensed practice nurse. They said those who qualify will receive free tuition for the two-year program in exchange for a guarantee they will work for five years in the long-term care sector.
The Liberals are also promising to invest $69 million over the next four years in the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC).
The Liberals hope the plan will increase access and affordability for part-time students and people facing systemic barriers by adopting a part-time, per course, modernized tuition model.
To meet demand at NSCC, the Liberals are committing to add 800 new seats, including 400 seats in health-related disciplines and 400 in residential construction trades, information technology, green energy programs, as well as licensed practical nurses; double the Pathways program from 500 to 1,000; and modernize the NSCC’s registration system to a course-based structure.
Rankin said the NSCC promise is a “key differentiator” between the Liberals and the other parties.
“It will impact job opportunities for Cape Bretoners all around the island, especially with our historic infrastructure builds,” Rankin stated. “We need the right skilled training, whether it’s plumbing, electrician, machinists, etc. all those high paying careers are in demand. This is the most significant investment in our Nova Scotia Community College in almost 20 years to help address those wait lists, and it’ll also add additional spaces for LPNs so that we have more trained health care workers. And we’re going to provide some upgrading opportunities for CCAs as well. This is a really important, core part of our rebuild strategy.”