Nova Scotia expected to table budget today with focus on health care – again
Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservatives will table the second budget of their mandate today, and the focus is expected once again to be on health care.
Ever since Premier Tim Houston's party was elected to govern in August 2021, the government has made its central mission repairing a health-care system beset by long wait-lists and an ever-growing list of people without a doctor.
Houston has been on a health-care spending spree in recent weeks.
He committed $59 million to set up a medical school at Cape Breton University; $37 million on a health institute at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S.; and $25 million on developing health-care analytics programs at Saint Mary's University in Halifax.
That money was in addition to funds set aside in last year's budget, which pumped an additional $413 million into an ailing system that was expected to consume $5.7 billion in spending -- about 43 per cent of government spending.
Finance Minister Allan MacMaster is expected to release the budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year around 1:15 p.m.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING | Trump charged over classified documents in 1st federal indictment of an ex-president
Donald Trump said Thursday that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, igniting a federal prosecution that is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former U.S. president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.

Freeland's budget bill passes House after Poilievre pledges to block it
The federal budget implementation bill passed the House of Commons on Thursday, after days of Conservative attempts to block it.
Supreme Court of Canada won't hear unvaccinated woman's case for organ donation
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear the appeal of an Alberta woman who was unwilling to be vaccinated in order to get a life-saving organ transplant.
Special rapporteur David Johnston cuts ties with crisis management firm Navigator
Canada's special rapporteur on foreign interference has ended ties with crisis communications firm Navigator, his office confirmed on Thursday.
How the lack of gravity in space impacts astronauts’ brain
What happens to the brain when you take gravity away? According to a new study looking at astronauts both before and after space travel, that experience causes physical changes that researchers believe requires at least three years between longer missions to recover from.
Are more interest rate hikes on the way? Here's what experts say
In the wake of the Bank of Canada’s unexpected rate hike, economists are pointing to further tightening in the near term.
'Tremendous amount we could be doing': Expert shares tips for preventing, adapting to wildfires
As wildfires rage across Canada in what’s being called an unprecedented season, one expert says there’s more that individuals and communities can do to adapt and prevent forest fires from causing widespread devastation.
10-year-old girl survives more than 24 hours alone in the rugged Cascade mountains after getting lost while out with her family
Rescuers in Washington state are praising the resourcefulness of a 10-year-old girl who survived on her own for more than 24 hours in the rugged terrain of the Cascade mountains after getting lost while out with her family.
Wildfire battles continue as heat, air quality alerts affect most of Canada
Air pollution from wildfires remained well above healthy levels across much of southern and northern Ontario and several communities in British Columbia and Alberta on Thursday.