N.S. Liberals promise to create plan to reduce rent costs, PCs say they will reduce road congestion

With one week until the Nova Scotia provincial election, party leaders are keeping themselves busy on the campaign trail.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston announced his party will invest millions into new highways and other infrastructure, if re-elected, while Liberal Leader Zach Churchill promised to create a new platform to better support renters.

New Democratic Party Leader Claudia Chender cast her ballot Tuesday morning in Dartmouth, N.S.

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Liberals to create plan to protect renters, bring down rent costs

Churchill says, if elected, his party will implement a comprehensive plan to protect renters and bring down skyrocketing rent costs.

"The housing crisis is one of the most pressing issues facing Nova Scotians today. Our goal is to make sure no Nova Scotian pays more than 30 per cent of their income on housing," said Churchill.

"Tim Houston has ignored renters, leaving families to fend for themselves in an overheated market. And while we agree with the NDP on some of their housing policies, they just don't go far enough. Our plan is the only one that strikes the balance of strong renter protections with necessary incentives to build more housing."

Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Zach Churchill makes an announcement on Nov. 19, 2024. (CTV Atlantic/Carl Pomeroy)

The Liberals say their plan includes:

• establishing a rent bank, a low-cost, high-value program that can provide quick turnaround, zero-interest loans to renters that find themselves stuck
• implementing a fairer system where the cap is based on inflation, market conditions, and vacancy rates on a regional basis until adequate housing supply is reached and there is a healthy vacancy rate of three per cent
• ending fixed-term lease abuse by ensuring landlords cannot offer tenants fixed term leases longer than one year. Extensions beyond the fixed term would automatically transition the lease to month-to-month.
• reducing the cut-off rental supplements to 30 per cent from 50 per cent
• implementing a residential tenancies enforcement unit

PCs to invest millions to reduce congestion, repair and expand existing highways

Houston says he will spend $810 million on roads and highways in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), if re-elected.

He says these projects would happen over five years and represent the “largest-ever investment in HRM’s roads and the largest investment in time savings for residents battling traffic.”

“When combined with our 2024-2025 capital plan, our PC government will invest over $1.3 billion in roads and highways over the next five years,” said Houston. “This historic investment shows how we feel about Nova Scotia’s future: that we are a province of growth, of action, and that we are meeting the challenges of the future.”

Houston says his government has already invested more than $500 million this year alone on improving roads, including highways, repaving, bridge replacement, maintenance and other infrastructure work.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston makes an announcement about road congestion on Nov. 19, 2024. (CTV Atlantic/Paul DeWitt)

“Whether we are talking about highways in the HRM or our gravel roads in our rural communities, every Nova Scotian has the right to safe and reliable travel whether they are going to their home, work, school or anywhere else,” he said.

NDP leader casts her ballot

Chender cast her ballot Tuesday morning at a Dartmouth South polling station. She’s represented the riding at the Nova Scotia House of Assembly since 2017 and this is her first election as leader of the NDP.

When voting, Chender said she kept “all the people in mind” who want a government that cares about them.

Nova Scotia NDP Leader Claudia Chender casts her ballot Tuesday morning at a polling place in the Dartmouth South riding.

Concerns over voter turnout

Chender is urging people to vote.

“We are very lucky to have the opportunity to choose who represents us in every riding in this province and in the legislature,” she said.

“It happens once every few years and we are certainly doing our best to make sure everyone knows the election is happening and we encourage everyone to get out and vote.”

Churchill also shares concerns about voter turnout. In this new era of social media dominance and policies restricting the sharing of news, he’s worried the message is being suffocated.

“We've got really good journalists in this province that are writing very fairly about the party platforms and the ideas in this campaign, and their reach is limited now online,” he said. “So I do think that is going to be an ongoing issue in terms of informing voters."

Nova Scotians head to the polls on Nov. 26.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.