N.S. election: PCs promise free hospital parking, Liberals to reduce immigration levels

Nova Scotia party leaders (left to right) Liberal Zach Churchill, NDP Claudia Chender, and Conservative Tim Houston are shown in these recent photos. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Riley Smith

Nova Scotia’s political parties continue to make announcements and promises as they approach the upcoming provincial election on Nov. 26.

On Thursday, Nova Scotia’s Progressive Conservatives promised easier parking access for workers and people visiting hospitals and health-care centres, while the Liberals promised to make changes to immigration levels until there is more housing and other services available.

The NDP is scheduled to make an announcement about affordability this afternoon in Halifax.

PCs promise free parking at hospitals, health-care centres

Nova Scotia PC Leader Tim Houston announced he will eliminate fees for everyone parking at a Nova Scotia Health Authority or IWK property, including patients, health-care workers and visitors, if his government is re-elected.

Houston says the total cost of free parking will be $8 million. Hospital foundations or other organizations that depend on parking fees for revenue will have any resulting shortfall covered by the provincial government, according to Houston.

“Free parking may not sound like a big deal to some – but it adds up to hundreds of dollars a year,” said Houston. “Whether we are talking about reducing the HST by one point, increasing the basic personal exemption on income taxes, indexing income taxes to inflation or removing tolls on the MacKay and Macdonald bridges, we are looking for ways, big and small, to allow Nova Scotians to hold on to more of their own money.”

Houston said this is just another change made by the PC government to improve access to health care in Nova Scotia.

In March 2023, Houston announced $58.9 million to build the province’s second medical school campus at Cape Breton University in Sydney, N.S. That campus is on track to open in the fall of 2025, and will offer 30 seats for first-year medical students.

Houston noted his government has already announced the following:

• a new international Medical Graduate Assessment Centre for internationally-trained physicians
• 200 additional nursing seats at Nova Scotia post-secondary institutions
• expanding the scope of practice for pharmacists and other health-care workers
• creating a new internal travel nurse team to provide care to the areas that most need it

“Since coming to office I’ve been clear that we need to do more and go faster to improve health care in Nova Scotia,” said Houston. “Free parking at health-care sites is just the next step of a plan that is working. Let’s recruit more doctors and nurses. Let’s make health care more accessible. Let’s make it happen.”

Liberals promise to make changes to ‘unsustainable immigration levels’

Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Zach Churchill announced his party would reduce immigration levels until there is housing and services to support more growth in the province.

He also said his government would ensure immigration targets are focused on growing the number of professionals that are needed in critical areas, such as:

• health-care professionals
• education workers
• skilled tradespeople
• agriculture and aquaculture workers

“Tim Houston’s goal to double the population is reckless and it’s putting significant strain on our province,” said Churchill. “Year after year, Tim Houston has exceeded the Department of Immigration’s own population targets by thousands of people. We need to grow at a sustainable rate where people who move here can find a place to live, a doctor close to home, and a school for their children to go to that isn’t overcrowded.”

Churchill says a Liberal government would also develop a comprehensive infrastructure development strategy based on population growth and immigrant patterns for education, transportation, health-care infrastructure and social programs.

“The Houston government has treated newcomers as revenue sources, but we need to treat them as people. And we’ll do that by developing a smarter and more sustainable approach to immigration,” said Churchill.

NDPs to make affordability announcement

Nova Scotia NDP Leader Claudia Chender is scheduled to make an announcement about affordability at the Alteregos Café and Catering in Halifax at 1:15 p.m. Thursday.

As part of the announcement, Chender will attend a roundtable with Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, and young workers.

CTV News will have more details on that announcement when they become available.