N.S. Liberals release election platform, promise Atlantic carbon pricing plan

The Nova Scotia Liberals were the first provincial party to release their 2024 election platform in downtown Halifax Monday.

The fully costed platform shows the party would run three consecutive years of deficits before achieving a $90 million surplus in their final year in office in 2028-29, if elected.

Churchill calls it a "better deal for Nova Scotians,” showcasing how they would manage and lead the province over the next four years.

“This is not only our platform, but it is our contract with you (Nova Scotians),” said Churchill. “This is a real plan that can deliver a better deal and better results for people that live in this province.”

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The platform is built on five core pillars that include: the cost of living and making life more affordable, the economy, creating more housing, improving health-care access, and government services.

Cost of living

The Liberals have already announced a series of tax cuts including cutting the HST from 15 per cent down to 13 per cent, which will cost $542 million per year. Churchill says it will save the average family $1,500 per year.

The Liberals also pledged to remove all HST on goods purchased in grocery stores and reduce income taxes by raising the personal exemption amount to $15,750, which they say will save $1,270 per year.

If elected, the Liberals vow to make public transit free, which would cost the province $53 million annually.

Housing

The Liberals pledge to build 80,000 new homes by 2032 and spend $38 million per year to build more non-profit housing.

Health care

The Liberals will spend $16 million annually to build and expand 40 collaborative care clinics across the province.

They would also make parking free at all health-care facilities across the province, which would cost the province $10 million annually.

Traffic

To ease traffic congestion, the Liberals would spend $6.3 million per years over the next four years to address traffic congestion while spending $40 million per year on highway infrastructure projects.

The Liberals propose spending $17.6 billion next year while projected revenues estimate they would bring in $17.8 billion.

Churchill says they can make life more affordable for Nova Scotians immediately.

“We are a party that believes in being responsible with taxpayers’ money and we can afford this if we stick to our budget,” said Churchill. “We’re OK running deficits in the first few years to achieve this because people do need tax reliefs and they need money in their pockets, but we will get back to a balanced budget by year four of our mandate.”

Carbon pricing

Progressive Conservatives Leader Tim Houston has been critical of Churchill, suggesting he supports the federal Liberals and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s carbon pricing policy.

Churchill has rejected this notion and says the suggestion he supports the carbon tax is false and misleading.

“We will eliminate the carbon tax by bringing in an Atlantic cap and trade model that does more for the environment and costs people less,” Churchill says.

Churchill says a cap-and-trade model could work for all Atlantic Canadians.

“I have talked to the (New Brunswick) Premier Holt and she agrees with this plan and we think we can convince other provinces to work with us in a made in Atlantic Canada solution to carbon pricing,” he says.

NDP, PCs housing announcements

The NDP made an announcement regarding the high cost of housing and rent at an independent grocery store in Halifax’s north end.

“The price of housing in our province, whether you rent or you own, is out of control,” said NDP Leader Claudia Chender. “Nova Scotians really need a break right now.”

The NDP introduced at housing rebate plan that would target households who bring in under $70,000 per year. The rebate would provide a refundable tax-credit that would save Nova Scotians an average of $900 per year on their rent or mortgage payments.

“Every month people are being forced to spend too much of their paycheque on housing,” said Chender.

The housing rebate, combined with the proposed cut to the annual rent cap increase announced last week, would save renters and put more money in their pockets, said Chender.

“For the last three years, the Houston government, like the Liberals before them, have done nothing to address these high housing costs,” she said.

The PC Leader Tim Houston pledged to cut down payments for first-time homebuyers if elected.

The Tories are proposing to lower the minimum down payment required to the two per cent on homes priced up to $500,000 (that’s down from five per cent).

Houston said the initiative would make homeownership more attainable for many Nova Scotians who are feeling the pinch from the high costs of living and increase in housing costs.

“For many Canadians, the dream of homeownership that previous generations took for granted is increasingly out of reach,” said Houston. “We all know this issue started outside of Nova Scotian borders but unfortunately we are not seeing a lot of leadership from the federal government on the file.”

The election will be held on Nov. 26.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.