From school boards to dog adoption, N.S. Tories have pulled back from 2021 promises
CTV
Campaign promises to fund mental health care, reinstate public school boards and give tax breaks for dog adoptions are among the pledges that, nearly three years into his mandate, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has either tossed aside or been slow to enact.
Campaign promises to fund mental health care, reinstate public school boards and give tax breaks for dog adoptions are among the pledges that, nearly three years into his mandate, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has either tossed aside or been slow to enact.
On the cover of the Progressive Conservatives' 140-page 2021 party platform, the smiling would-be premier's picture is surrounded by bold yellow text that reads, "Hope for health care," "Better paycheque guarantee," and "Universal mental health care."
Houston's government was quick to implement some promises after its Aug. 17, 2021, election, such as new climate change legislation, extended operating room hours to reduce surgery wait times and virtual health care for people without a family doctor. But several key pledges have been nixed.
Their campaign document promised to bring back school boards, which were dissolved in 2018 by the Liberal government in favour of a single advisory council to oversee regional education districts. "Abolishing school boards abolished a critical check and balance in the system," it said. "As such, your PC government will return to school boards."
However, a statement last week from the premier's office confirmed the province has abandoned the idea. "We are not reinstating school boards," spokesperson Catherine Klimek said in an email. Instead, Klimek said, the Department of Education has been working with families to "better understand" how to increase local input in schools and government and is focused on "enhancing" the role of the existing school advisory committees.
The premier has also turned away from his "better paycheque guarantee." The proposal was to give Nova Scotia companies a 50 per cent rebate on their provincial corporate taxes if they used the savings to pay their employees more (excluding a company's top 20 per cent earners.) Houston began walking back from the promised rebate in October. "There are lots of priorities in government and those priorities shift," he said at the time.
The premier's office confirmed last week that the better paycheque guarantee is out and instead the government will be indexing personal income tax brackets to inflation beginning with the 2025 tax year -- something opposition parties and labour groups have long called for. It will also begin indexing some non-refundable tax credits.
