Chender: Budget doesn’t do enough to give Nova Scotia families a break

HALIFAX — NSNDP Leader Claudia Chender made the following statement in response to the Houston government’s 2024 Budget:

“Money for a school food program in this budget is a win for Nova Scotia families. New Democrats have been pressing for this program through both Liberal and PC governments. It is an idea whose time has come.

Otherwise, this budget is what we have come to expect from the Houston government. There are over a billion dollars in additional appropriations but no new money to keep rural emergency rooms open or provide primary care to the 153,000 Nova Scotians on the doctor waitlist. There is nothing to help with out-of-control power bills, and this government's refusal to index income assistance in the middle of an inflationary crisis is just plain callous.”

In every part of this province, we have thousands of people in need of housing and many middle-class families who struggle each month to pay the rent, yet we see almost nothing to help those Nova Scotians in this budget. In fact, this budget spends less on housing than it did last year.

Premier Houston’s ideological opposition to building affordable housing is ignoring the ways in which his government has exacerbated affordability issues through policy choices, and he insists on making the same choices again and again.”

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