HALIFAX — A lot has changed in Nova Scotia since the Progressive Conservatives won a commanding majority in the 2021 election with a focus on health care.

And while the health care system is still struggling – more than 145,114 people are waiting for a family doctor – the affordability crisis has risen to the top of the priority list for voters who want to compete with family care. health for the main issue before the elections of November 26.

“The ability of people to afford groceries and afford housing — that trumps just about everything,” said Jeffrey MacLeod, a political science professor at Mount Saint Vincent University, in a recent interview.

Robert Huish, a political scientist at Dalhousie University, agrees. “Nova Scotia has traditionally been a place with a lower cost of living than other parts of the country. Now we have rents that rival Toronto and exceed Montreal,” he said.

Tim Houston and the Progressive Conservatives remain at the top of the polls midway through the provincial election – a recent Abacus Data poll puts the Conservatives at 45 per cent support, with the NDP and Liberals battling for second place at 26 percent and 25 percent. cent of support respectively.

But if the Liberals and NDP want to catch up, and if the Conservatives want to maintain their majority or expand it, then they all need to reckon with the affordability crisis, MacLeod and Huish say.

“If the opposition parties can indeed make the case that this government, the Houston government, has created many of the problems that exist with income inequality and the housing crisis because of its lack of foresight, then this will be bad news” for the conservatives. , MacLeod said.

“It could really change the outcome on Election Day, and it could cost them their government if they’re not careful.”

The Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia says as of Oct. 30, there were 1,335 people experiencing active homelessness in the Halifax area – a big increase from the 417 people on the list when Houston became prime minister. Additionally, approximately 7,020 households are on the public housing waiting list in Nova Scotia, and half of them are seniors.

An August report from the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives says the living wage in Halifax rose to $28.30 an hour. The organization describes a living wage as the take-home pay a person needs to cover rent, clothing, housing, transportation, health care and basic household expenses. The minimum wage in Nova Scotia is $15.20 per hour.

“The fact that (the cost of) rent has exploded so much as a result of the pandemic has left a lot of people in really precarious situations,” Huish said, explaining that Nova Scotia is grappling with a shortage of affordable housing and a rental apartment vacancy rate of around one percent.

This means that during the election campaign, “affordability is going to be a major issue.”

MacLeod said that over the past three and a half years, the Progressive Conservative government has set ambitious goals for population growth, while housing, infrastructure and access to health care have not. not keeping up with the pace. In October 2021, the Houston government announced a plan to double the province’s population to two million by 2060.

Earlier this week, Liberal Leader Zach Churchill jumped on the Conservatives’ record on immigration, saying the party’s policies are preventing the government from being able to provide adequate housing and other services. Churchill said that in the last fiscal year, the Conservatives welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through their nominee program, exceeding the Immigration Department’s limit by more than 4,000.

Churchill said immigration must be done “responsibly”.

In response, Houston told reporters that its commitment to doubling the population was an “ambitious goal.”

Churchill’s party is promising to create a rent bank — modeled on a similar program in British Columbia — that would offer tenants an interest-free charge if they fall behind on their bills. If elected to govern, the party would also cut the harmonized sales tax by two percentage points – one point more than the Conservatives – and eliminate all HST on groceries that are not already taxed, such as snack foods and roast chickens.

Claudia Chender’s NDP, meanwhile, made a series of promises related to housing and affordability, including imposing a rent control system, banning fixed-rent leases and cutting the city’s rent cap in half. province, at 2.5 percent. Chender also promises to prioritize the use of manufactured housing to expand public housing stock and increase loans to help pay down payments on housing.

In trying to solve the housing crisis, the ruling Conservatives have “over-relied” on the private sector to build housing, leading to the creation of new housing that many middle- and low-income people cannot afford. allow, MacLeod said. .

When asked earlier this week if he planned to do more to help low-income Nova Scotians struggling with the cost of living, Houston listed a number of previously announced measures. These include his government’s home heating rebate, indexing social assistance rates to inflation and a one-point reduction in the HST.

The Conservative platform, released Friday, includes a promise to cap electricity rate increases so they do not exceed the national average.

MacLeod said “proven” measures to lift people out of poverty and ensure they can afford housing would include increasing income support and wages so people can afford to afford housing. accommodation, shopping and other necessities.

“Tax cuts don’t solve this problem,” he said.

The Conservative leader also announced plans to increase the minimum wage to $16.50 an hour by next year if he is re-elected.

“We know the government can do certain things. They can’t do everything,” Houston said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published November 9, 2024.

Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press