Church Teaching The family is the primary unit in society. The priority of the family over society and the State must be affirmed.
The demands of the common good… are strictly connected to respect for and the integral promotion of the person and his fundamental rights. These demands concern above all the commitment to peace, the organization of the State’s powers, a sound juridical system, the protection of the environment, and the provision of essential services to all, some of which are at the same time human rights: food, housing, work, education and access to culture, transportation… Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 166
The Role & Development of the Family
“Honour your father and mother.”
– the 4th Commandment
The family is the primary unit in society. It is where education begins and the Word of God is first nurtured. The priority of the family over society and the State must be affirmed. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 209-214
The Church teaches that the proper role of government and other human institutions is to foster human life and dignity by maintaining social conditions that enable and encourage us to serve God in one another, and thereby to promote that which is truly in the common interest. This begins with nurturing and enabling families, as well as supporting the elderly and other marginalized members of society.
A society built on a family scale is the best guarantee against drifting off course into individualism or collectivism, because within the family the person is always at the centre of attention as an end and never as a means. It is patently clear that the good of persons and the proper functioning of society are closely connected with the healthy state of conjugal and family life. Without families that are strong in their communion and stable in their commitment, peoples grow weak.
The priority of the family over society and the State must be affirmed. The family does not exist for society or the State, but society and the State exist for the family.
Every social model that intends to serve the good of man must not overlook the centrality and social responsibility of the family. In their relationship to the family, society and the State are seriously obligated to observe the principle of subsidiarity. In virtue of this principle, public authorities may not take away from the family tasks which it can accomplish well by itself or in free association with other families; on the other hand, these same authorities have the duty to sustain the family, ensuring that it has all the assistance that it needs to fulfil properly its responsibilities. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 209-214
The Church teaches that the proper role of government and other human institutions is to foster human life and dignity by maintaining social conditions that enable and encourage us to serve God in one another, and thereby to promote that which is truly in the common interest. This begins with nurturing and enabling families, as well as supporting the elderly and other marginalized members of society.
Health Care
The demands of the common good concern above all commitment to a sound juridical system, the protection of the environment, and the provision of essential services to all, some of which are at the same time human rights: food, housing, work, education and access to culture, transportation, basic health care, the freedom of communication and expression, and the protection of religious freedom.
Among the causes that greatly contribute to underdevelopment and poverty, mention must be made of illiteracy, lack of food security, the absence of structures and services, inadequate measures for guaranteeing basic healthcare, and the lack of safe drinking water and sanitation. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 166, 447
Support for the Elderly
If the elderly are in situations where they experience suffering and dependence, not only do they need health care services and appropriate assistance, but and above all they need to be treated with love. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 222
Education
May Nazareth remind us what the family is, what the communion of love is,
its stark and simple beauty, its sacred and inviolable character; may it help us to see how sweet
and irreplaceable education in the family is; may it teach us its natural function
in the social order. May we finally learn the lesson of work.
Pope Saint Paul VI, Address at Nazareth (5 January 1964)
Maintaining employment depends more and more on one’s professional capabilities. Instructional and educational systems must not neglect human or technological formation, which are necessary for gainfully fulfilling one’s responsibilities. Young people should be taught to act upon their own initiative, to accept the responsibility of facing with adequate competencies the risks connected with a fluid economic context that is often unpredictable in the way it evolves. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 289, 290
“[T]here is a growing loss of the sense of history… A kind of “deconstructionism”, whereby human freedom claims to create everything starting from zero, is making headway in today’s culture. The one thing it leaves in its wake is the drive to limitless consumption and expressions of empty individualism. Concern about this led me to offer the young some advice. “If someone tells young people to ignore their history, to reject the experiences of their elders, to look down on the past and to look forward to a future that he himself holds out, doesn’t it then become easy to draw them along so that they only do what he tells them? He needs the young to be shallow, uprooted and distrustful, so that they can trust only in his promises and act according to his plans. That is how various ideologies operate: they destroy (or deconstruct) all differences so that they can reign unopposed. To do so, however, they need young people who have no use for history, who spurn the spiritual and human riches inherited from past generations, and are ignorant of everything that came before them”. Pope Francis, Fratelli tutti, 13
Culture, Arts & Tourism
Faced with rapid technological and economic progress, and with the equally rapid transformation of the processes of production and consumption, a great deal of educational and cultural work is urgently needed. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 376, 401
Certain economically prosperous countries tend to be proposed as cultural models for less developed countries; instead, each of those countries should be helped to grow in its own distinct way and to develop its capacity for innovation while respecting the values of its proper culture. A shallow and pathetic desire to imitate others leads to copying and consuming in place of creating, and fosters low national self-esteem.
We forget that “there is no worse form of alienation than to feel uprooted, belonging to no one. A land will be fruitful, and its people bear fruit and give birth to the future, only to the extent that it can foster a sense of belonging among its members, create bonds of integration between generations and different communities, and avoid all that makes us insensitive to others and leads to further alienation.” – Fratelli tutti, 51-53
Green Party of Nova Scotia Role of the Family
The party has published no current specific statement concerning its policies relating to the role of or support for the family.
Health Care & Elder Care
Food & Nutrition
The party states that it:
– acknowledges that adequate food is a fundamental human right, is a main determinant of people’s health and well-being, and that access to affordable, healthy, local food is very limited in Nova Scotia.
– recognizes that insufficient government supports and the dominance of a few large food chains, which are often inconveniently located, have contributed to difficulty for local producers to compete, and to the need for charity-based food provision.
– supports legislative and financial measures to ensure that people can access affordable, healthy, culturally relevant, and local (where possible) food.
Health Care
The party states that it:
– joins the people in Nova Scotia in valuing our universal public health care and supports their desire for an expansion of services to include prevention, universal pharmacare, and sexual reproductive, palliative, dental, and eye care.
– supports action that proactively addresses root causes of health problems, including addressing inequalities associated with social determinants of health, such as income, race, age, and gender thereby reducing the need for emergency services, and chronic and acute care.
– recognizes that the health impacts of climate change will not be distributed equitably and will often disproportionately affect marginalized groups.
– recognizes that the health impacts from pollution and toxic waste are not distributed equitably due to environmental racism and the associated targeting of Black and other racialized communities for the locations of toxic sites.
– supports working with local health authorities to conduct climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessments to identify and address vulnerabilities to climate change in our health systems (e.g., assessing if patients are vulnerable to extreme heat in rooms without air conditioning, determining how much back-up power generation is required in a power outage, etc.).
– supports action to eliminate barriers to accessing quality healthcare.
– recognizes that health care has eroded from inadequate planning for health professionals’ training, insufficient funding to maintain services and increasing reliance on private sector provided services which cost more and risk profit-motivated losses in the safe delivery of quality services many of which require users to pay leading to greater inequalities.
– supports renegotiation of equalization payments to ensure adequate funding to eliminate privatization, increase training, better prepare for health crises, and expand programs.
– supports measures for the prevention of and treatment for mental health and addiction-related health needs with adequate services and support to all areas of the province with respect, compassion, and without stigma.
– supports a community-based, public healthcare system which ensures training of health care staff and provision of infrastructure to provide and maintain sufficient quality services to all areas of the province.
Education & Young Workers
The party states that it:
– joins the people of Nova Scotia in valuing the provincial universal public education system and supports their desire for an expansion to universal access to post-secondary education and beyond.
– acknowledges that Education has been severely underfunded such that there is a desperate need for improvement of classroom and school conditions to increase the well-being of learners, teachers, and all school-based personnel.- acknowledges that education is not just training for future jobs but an opportunity for all students to realize their unique learning drives, goals, strengths, and needs to develop into citizens who participate fully in society.
– recognizes that the education system requires diverse programming to facilitate development of skills in critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creative problem-solving, and citizenship, as well as in computer and digital technologies.
Culture, Arts & Tourism
That party states that it:
– understands ‘cultural heritage’ to include buildings, architecture, monuments, historical communities, books, works of art, as well as folklore, traditions, language, and local knowledge, and natural features such as parks.
– recognizes that Nova Scotia is richer for the art and cultural heritage of all its people including First Nations, Acadian settlers, those brought by displacement and force, immigrants past and present, and supports measures that strengthen and enrich Nova Scotia’s cultural development.
– recognizes that Nova Scotian communities and individuals benefit immensely from the presence, preservation, and promotion of arts, crafts, cultures, and heritage.
– supports measures that enable creative individuals and industries to establish and thrive in Nova Scotia as well as policies which facilitate public engagement with the Arts.
– recognizes the limitations and inequity of having one official language and supports a review of provincial status for non-English languages in Nova Scotia.
– supports the revitalization of Nova Scotia’s culture and efforts to facilitate the development and production of cultural products such as cuisine, written works, music, film, fashion, and public art.
Liberal Party of Nova Scotia Role of and Support for the Family
Childcare
The party states that:
– in order to promote sustainable economic growth, provincial families need access to larger numbers of childcare spaces.
– of 5,000 new daycare spots in non-profit daycares claimed to have been established by the current government, almost half—2,165 spaces—are actually before and after school program spaces, while 1,187 spaces have closed. This means that only 1,680 new, full-time, non-profit daycare spaces have been opened by the current government.
– in order to create more spaces, it is necessary to expand the provincial agreement with the federal government to allow private daycare operators to access funding. Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick all have agreements that allow for some level of private expansion.
– the party advocates aggressive negotiation with the federal government to allow private daycare operators to expand, spurring the creation of more affordable childcare spaces and allowing more Nova Scotians to enter the workforce if they want to.
Child Poverty
The party states that:
– the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and its purpose to protect and promote the well-being of all children, received renewed global direction in 1989 through the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child.
– a 2023 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Nova Scotia (the “Report”) states that Nova Scotia has the highest rate of child poverty among the Atlantic Provinces, and the second highest in Canada, highly impacting racialized and immigrant children in particular.
– the UN’s definition of “child poverty” extends beyond monetary deprivation and encompasses a multidimensional scale citing “well-being” as the positive opposite of poverty.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
The party states that it:
– supports organizations and individuals committed to raising awareness about diseases, conditions and illnesses that affect all Canadians.
– Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is the most common neurodevelopmental disability in Canada, and yet it remains highly misunderstood by the general population.
– this lack of understanding can lead to the exclusion of individuals with FASD from community and peers, and result in social isolation for children and parents and tremendous inequities in supports for children, youth, adults and families.
– FASD diagnosis is not specific to a particular population or group of people, and is a lifelong disability that impacts the brain and body of someone who was exposed to alcohol during fetal development.
– children with FASD often have issues with learning, attention, memory, and problem solving, along with poor coordination, impulsiveness, and speech and hearing impairments, as well as emotional, behavioural, and social problems, which get worse as they age, which exacerbates the mental health challenges they are predisposed to.
– FASD is an “invisible disability” the stigma and lack of empathy experienced by families are accompanied by a general lack of understanding of the effects by service providers, educators, family members and caregivers.
– society improperly ascribes blame and shame to mothers, families and communities without giving consideration to the multiple factors that can contribute to Prenatal Alcohol Exposure (“PAE”), which results in a person being born with FASD.
– people with FASD have the same rights as all others; the right to identity, culture, connection and safety; the right to access education, health care and disability supports; and the right to be heard and be free from discrimination.
– such rights are not being upheld by service providers and systems currently in place to support children, youth, adults and families with FASD.
– when unsupported, 90% of people with FASD will experience mental health issues and they are over 20 times more likely to face substance use challenges.
– 35% of teens with FASD report suicidal ideation, with 13% reporting at least one serious suicide attempt in the past year.
– individuals with FASD are also disproportionately represented in the child welfare and criminal justice systems.
– early assessment, diagnosis, and intervention are critical protective factors against adverse outcomes.
– section 96A of the Liquor Control Act, which requires the posting of warning signs, is outdated and has never been enacted.
– it recognizes the need to eliminate stigma and blame directed at biological mothers for FASD and the need to support birth moms and families with compassion and empathy.
The party advocates:
– legislation to provide for the education of first responders, health care providers, service providers, educators, family members and caregivers on the harm and cost of PAE.
– affirming the need to eliminate stigma and blame directed at biological mothers and the necessity of embracing birth moms with understanding and empathy.
– affirming that people with FASD have the same rights as all other Nova Scotians; the right to identity, culture, connection and safety; the right to access education, health care and disability supports; and the right to be heard and be free from discrimination.
– taking legislative steps to provide dedicated support to Nova Scotians with FASD and their families.
– taking steps to update and enact Section 96A of the Liquor Control Act, including detailed instructions for the design and locations of signage warning of the harms caused by PAE.
– supporting Bill S-253 The National Framework on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Act.
Foster Families
The party advocates introduction of a retirement saving plan for foster families, providing financial support after age 65, to ensure that foster families can afford the cost of living after their many years of service caring for the province’s most vulnerable.
Youth Programs
The party:
– states that organizations like BGC Canada run youth programming that keep at-risk youth engaged, out of trouble, and out of the provincial justice system. These programs save lives and save our justice system resources in the long run.
– advocates investment of $4M in ongoing operational funding to expand these programs and ensure that they can serve their communities.
Health Care & Elder Care
The party states that:
– there is a need to rethink how healthcare is approached within the province, from increasing the availability of primary care providers to keeping hospitals and emergency rooms open.
– it proposes to fundamentally change the NSHA business practices to increase availability of Collaborative Care and Primary Care Clinics embedded in communities.
– in order to fix healthcare, focusing on health more broadly, including broader access to preventative screening, more gyms, recreation centers, and parks, a focus on anti-poverty and housing-first policies to keep people healthy and out of the ER, closing the gap on women’s health, supporting chronic care and home care, and making more investments in health research and the health economy.
Collaborative Care
The party states:
– the province has a shortage of family doctors. The Municipality of Clare has a phenomenal primary care model that is fully staffed with healthcare professionals eager to work there.
– Healthcare professionals have indicated interest in working in collaborative settings, which improve working conditions, reduce administrative burden, and keep doctors in the province. Emulated province-wide, the model can end the family doctor waitlist and attach patients to primary care providers.
The party advocates:
– implementing a collaborative care model province-wide by building and expanding 40 collaborative health care clinics across the province, including working closely with existing clinics to make sure they’re running efficiently and are able to take on more patients.
– increasing the annual incentive for physicians from $5,000 to $10,000 if they agree to join a collaborative care practice and increase their patient rosters, and introduce bonuses and incentives of up to $15,000 for allied health professionals who commit to working at a collaborative health clinic for a minimum of 5 years.
– beginning with areas of the province that have the highest percentage of their residents currently waiting on a family doctor, including New Glasgow, Yarmouth, Bridgewater, Bedford, Amherst, Sackville, Halifax Penninsula, Clayton Park, Middleton, Sydney, and Dartmouth/Cole Harbour.
Primary Care
The party advocates:
– to help address the family doctor waitlist, expanding the number of training positions for family doctors, accelerating pathways for international medical students, and reducing the administrative burden for family positions; and forgiving up to 20% of health professional student’s loans for up to 5 years.
– recruiting more physician assistants.
– investing to reopen emergency rooms, build collaborative care clinics, and build a new hospital in the Annapolis Valley Region.
Women’s Health
– to address significant challenges faced by women, the party advocates naming a Minister of Women’s Health to ensure that a gender lens is applied to the delivery of health care, and a blueprint adopted for improving women’s health.
– to ensure that an appropriate amount of research funding is put toward women’s health, the party further advocates requiring that 50% of all research funding in the province be used to study women’s health, including establishment of an Atlantic centre of excellence for women’s health.
– to relieve the burden of their cost, the party advocates providing free menstrual products in all provincial buildings accessible to the public.
Mental Health
The party advocates investing in mental health walk-in clinics, equitably distributed throughout the province, to give Nova Scotians more access to mental health care, the clinics to be attached to proposed collaborative care centres.
Preventative Care
To promote healthier choices, the party advocates:
– expanding early screening for preventative health, improving health data collection, including updating family doctor waitlists monthly.
– expanding access to gyms, recreation centers, parks, trails, and public programming, to ensure that there are no barriers to anyone, no matter their level of ability, who wants to make healthier choices, including improvement of 100 trails and community recreation infrastructure projects, removing HST from gym memberships, and piloting a project to evaluate the effect of free recreation center memberships.
Hospice & Palliative Care
The party states that:
– Canada has one of the highest costs for care during the last three to six months of life compared with other high-income nations (Canada (US$21,840), England (US $9352), the Netherlands (US $10,936) and the US (US $18,500) due mainly to the high use of hospitals to deliver end of life care.
– enhancing end-of-life care services outside of hospital sites would make urgent care in hospitals more available to patients requiring treatment for illness or prolongation of life.
– end-of-life care in a hospice setting has been proven to be a more cost-effective and patient-centred approach to providing quality palliative care than in a hospital acute care setting.
– Nova Scotia has the lowest resident-to-hospice bed ratio in the Maritime provinces, and is not equitably available to its residents.
– among its four top priorities is improving access to healthcare by building and expanding 40 collaborative healthcare centres across the provinceto attach people to primary care providers, reduce wait times, and keep people out of emergency rooms.
The party advocates:
– promoting the provision of palliative end-of-life care in a variety of settings, including residential hospices, to be consistently and adequately funded across Nova Scotia, as a cost-effective, compassionate alternative to acute care in a hospital setting.
Elder Care
The party states that:
– prioritizing person-centered care, accessibility, affordability, and comprehensive support helps create a society that values and supports the well-being and dignity of our senior population.
– collaboration among stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, community organizations, and elderly individuals themselves, is crucial to the development and implementation of effective policies to meet the diverse needs of our aging population.
– such policy frameworks aim to optimize and improve the quality of care extended to Nova Scotia seniors, ensuring dignity, respect, and well-being, in alignment with its principles.
The party advocates:
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to prioritize person-centred care, by implementing approaches that prioritize the unique needs and preferences of each elderly individual, promoting autonomy, choice, and independence; developing and enforcing guidelines and standards for long-term care facilities and home care services to ensure a safe, supportive, and respectful environment for the elderly; and by enhancing training programs for healthcare professionals and caregivers, focusing on compassionate and empathetic care, communication skills, and recognizing and addressing the diverse needs of the elderly.
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to enhance accessible and affordable care, by increasing investments in home care services, enabling elderly individuals to receive necessary care and support within the comfort of their homes, while alleviating the burden on long-term care facilities; expanding the availability of affordable and accessible respite care services to support family caregivers, ensuring they have the opportunity to take breaks and maintain their own well-being; and by implementing measures to address wait times for long-term care placements, ensuring timely access to appropriate care for elderly individuals in need.
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to prioritize age-friendly infrastructure and housing, by collaborating with municipalities to develop age-friendly communities with accessible infrastructure, including sidewalks, public transportation, and public spaces that accommodate the needs of elderly individuals; encouraging the development of affordable housing options that are suitable for the elderly, including accessible design, proximity to essential services, and social amenities; and by providing financial incentives and support for retrofitting existing housing to make them more accessible and age-friendly.
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to prioritize comprehensive health and wellness, by increasing funding for geriatric healthcare services, including specialized medical care, rehabilitation, and mental health support for the elderly; strengthening community-based programs promoting healthy aging, including physical activity initiatives, nutrition support, and preventive healthcare services; and by enhancing collaboration between healthcare providers, social workers, and community organizations to ensure holistic care and support for elderly individuals, addressing their physical, mental, and social well-being.
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to promote the prevention of elder abuse by: implementing comprehensive elder abuse prevention programs, raising awareness and providing training to professionals and community members to identify and address elder abuse cases; enhancing support services for elderly individuals who have experienced abuse or neglect, ensuring they have access to legal assistance, counseling, and protection measures; and by strengthening enforcement and penalties for elder abuse, working closely with law enforcement agencies and justice systems to protect the rights and well-being of the elderly.
Seniors’ Social Isolation
The party states that:
– seniors constitute 20% of Nova Scotia’s population, a percentage that is projected to grow in the years ahead.
– many of Nova Scotia’s seniors are isolated within their communities and have a low quantity and quality of relationships with others.
– keeping older adults socially connected has been described as a major emerging issue facing seniors in Canada.
– supportive services that prevent isolation are a key determinant of seniors’ quality of life, health and independence.
– promoting the sustained public awareness of programs and services available to counteract social isolation and loneliness will mitigate seniors’ isolation and promote the social fabric of Nova Scotia’s communities.
The party advocates:
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to launch and maintain an ongoing public awareness campaign to inform all Nova Scotians of the social inclusion programs and services available to counteract social isolation and loneliness (including 211, the annual Aging Directory, the Continuing Care program, Age Friendly Communities, outreach programs of long term care facilities, and many distinctive socially oriented groups across the province).
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to mandate the Minister and Department of Seniors and Long-term Care to continually monitor and update programs and services available to counteract social isolation and loneliness, and by promoting social inclusion, particularly of seniors and those living in rural areas and those belonging to marginalized and racialized communities.
Education & Young Workers
The party:
– states that one of the provincial government’s primary responsibilities is providing children with a safe, productive place to learn, where each student gets the attention they need to succeed.
– to improve the provincial education system, it advocates (i) initiating a proactive, long-term strategy for building schools across the province that accounts for the future growth of communities; (ii) hiring more educational staff to ensure schools have the personnel they need to run smoothly and provide a high quality education; (iii) investment in professional development for existing school staff and new hires, increasing their capacity to support students who have complex needs; (iv) implementing a provincewide strategy to address violence in schools following the recommendations outlined in the 2024 Auditor General’s report; (v) implementing the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies educational curriculum in all elementary schools to help all students improve their emotional and social competency, and (vi) implementing a course with a focus on developing strategies and skills for building and maintaining mental health in all high schools.
To advance equality and eliminate racism in Nova Scotia, the party advocates:
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to promote education and public awareness on this issue by: implementing anti-racism education programs in schools and educational institutions, fostering understanding, empathy, and cultural competence; developing comprehensive curricula that include the history, contributions, and experiences of diverse communities, promoting inclusivity and combating stereotypes; and by providing resources and training for educators to address and challenge racial bias in classrooms.
Culture, Arts & Tourism
To advance equality and eliminate racism in Nova Scotia, the party advocates:
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to foster community engagement and collaboration by: fostering partnerships with community organizations, advocacy groups, and ethnic associations to develop and implement strategies for combating racism; establishing advisory committees or task forces to provide input and guidance on policies and initiatives related to racial equality; and by amplifying the voices of racialized communities through inclusive consultation processes and community forums.
Multilingualism & Cultural Diversity
The party states that:
– implementation and fostering of language education, accessible language services, cultural exchange, anti-discrimination measures, and economic integration initiatives, create an inclusive and welcoming society that values and celebrates cultural diversity.
– collaboration among community organizations, cultural groups, and individuals from diverse backgrounds, is essential to designing and implementing effective policies that reflect the needs and aspirations of Nova Scotia’s multicultural communities.
– public policy that promotes and celebrates multiculturalism and multilingualism in Nova Scotia aligns with the guiding principles of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party (“NSLP”), and emphasizes inclusivity, diversity, and equality.
The party advocates:
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to foster multilingual education and support by developing programs that support the teaching and preservation of Indigenous languages, ensuring their revitalization and transmission to future generations; increase funding and resources for language instruction programs in schools, community centers, and adult education institutions, offering opportunities to learn and maintain languages spoken by diverse cultural communities; and by establishing language proficiency assessment and certification programs to recognize and validate language skills, facilitating employment opportunities, and promoting cultural diversity in the workforce.
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to foster cultural exchange and integration by encouraging cultural exchange programs that facilitate interactions between different cultural communities, fostering understanding, respect, and appreciation for diverse backgrounds; supporting community-led initiatives that promote multicultural events, festivals, and exhibitions, celebrating the rich cultural heritage of Nova Scotia’s various communities; and by supporting multicultural community centers to serve as hubs for cultural activities, language classes, and social integration programs, providing spaces for interaction and learning.
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to foster accessible language services by increasing the availability of interpretation and translation services in public institutions, healthcare facilities, and other essential services, ensuring equitable access for individuals with limited English or French proficiency; collaborating with community organizations and language professionals to provide training and certification programs for interpreters and translators, maintaining high standards of quality in language services; and by promoting the use of multilingual signage and information materials in public spaces and government offices, improving accessibility and inclusivity for individuals with diverse linguistic backgrounds.
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to foster inclusion and anti-discrimination by strengthening anti-discrimination legislation to protect individuals from discrimination based on language, ethnicity, or cultural background, ensuring equal opportunities for all residents of Nova Scotia; establishing a Multiculturalism Advisory Council comprising representatives from diverse cultural communities to advise the government on policies, programs, and initiatives related to multiculturalism and multilingualism; and by implementing public awareness campaigns to promote the importance of cultural diversity, challenging stereotypes, and fostering a culture of inclusivity and acceptance.
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to foster economic integration and entrepreneurship by: providing support and resources to facilitate the economic integration of immigrants and newcomers, including language training, job placement services, and entrepreneurship support; broadening mentorship programs that connect newcomers with established members of the community or business professionals, fostering networking opportunities and facilitating their successful integration into the workforce; and encouraging the development of culturally diverse businesses and markets, recognizing the economic benefits of multicultural entrepreneurship and promoting cross-cultural economic partnerships.
Animal Welfare
The party states that:
– enhancing animal welfare standards and promoting responsible stewardship of animals in Nova Scotia contributes to a compassionate and ethical society, and promotes environmental sustainability.
– climate change represents a serious threat to wildlife and habitat conservation and protection.
– animal adoption shelters and agencies in Nova Scotia are increasingly reporting capacity challenges due to inflation and the increased cost of living, the surrender of animals brought into homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as staff shortages.
The party advocates:
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to advance animal protection and welfare by strengthening animal protection laws and regulations to ensure comprehensive coverage for all animals, including domestic pets, livestock, wildlife, and animals used in research and entertainment; establishing a dedicated Animal Welfare Enforcement Unit within the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture to enforce animal welfare laws, investigate complaints, and collaborate with law enforcement agencies to address cases of animal cruelty and neglect; and by promoting the adoption of animal-friendly practices in agriculture, fishing, and other industries involving animals, ensuring their well-being, and minimizing unnecessary suffering.
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to enhance animal rescue and shelter support by: increasing funding and resources for animal shelters and rescue organizations to improve the quality of care provided to abandoned, abused, and neglected animals; promoting the adoption of shelter animals by raising public awareness about the benefits of adopting from shelters and encouraging responsible pet ownership; and by establishing a network of foster homes to provide temporary care for animals awaiting adoption, reducing the strain on overcrowded shelters.
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to promote animal rights and ethics, by: advocating for the recognition of animals as sentient beings, ensuring their protection from unnecessary pain, suffering, and exploitation; prohibiting cruel practices such as cosmetic testing on animals, fur farming, and the use of animals for entertainment purposes where it involves unnecessary harm or distress; and by promoting alternative methods to animal testing, encouraging the development and use of non-animal testing alternatives in research and product development.
New Democratic Party of Nova Scotia Role of the Family
As of November 16, 2024, the party has published no complete statement of its proposed policies in a form that can be downloaded or saved by voters in easily-accessible and persistent form for use as a comprehensive and enduring record of the commitments and undertakings the party has made in seeking election. Instead, the party has published a series of “commitments” accessible only online, in a format which can easily be edited by the party at any time, and which can be viewed by voters at any time only in a piecemeal fashion.
As of November 16, the party’s online commitments include a statement that its priorities in improving public services include:
– delivering more childcare where needed, by establishing a pilot program with four new publicly-owned and operated child care centres in underserved areas, and providing capital funding to schools for more child care spaces closer to home for parents, and make child care opportunities fairer for all through a centralized waitlist.
Health Care & Elder Care
As of November 16, the party’s online commitments include statements that:
– provincial health care continues to fall apart. The wait list for people trying to get a family doctor keeps getting longer and longer. Many have been on the list for more than three years with no end in sight.
-the situation could get even worse as a quarter of the province’s doctors are over age 60 with retirement looming. The total number of doctors in Nova Scotia isn’t keeping up with demand.
– the most recent accountability report shows the number of hours Emergency Rooms were unexpectedly closed jumped 32% in just a year.
– Nova Scotia now has the longest wait time for medically necessary care in the country, at 56.7 weeks.
Its online commitments include:
– building family doctor clinics across the province, including opening 15 collaborative family clinics within one year, to connect every Nova Scotian on a waitlist to primary care.
– continuing to open 15 clinics per year over three years to ensure doctors and patients can choose where to provide and receive care.
– to connect patients to doctors faster, moving to automatic, location-based attachments.
– attracting, training, and retaining more doctors, nurse practitioners, and other health professionals by offering new recruitment and retention incentives for long-term commitments.
– providing a $1400 refundable tax credit for family and friend caregivers.
– reducing the cost of prescriptions by providing free contraceptives, eliminating Seniors’ Pharmacare premiums, waiving family drug deductibles, making HIV prevention medication universally available to anyone who needs it.
– lowering the cost of home cancer care and covering home cancer drugs through Pharmacare.
– removing expensive parking fees at hospitals for families of those needing care.
– defending and expanding access to reproductive health care by making surgical abortion procedures available in underserved regions and addressing delays to abortion access by increasing the number of sonographers.
– reducing the stigma of abortion by regulating anti-choice pregnancy centres and making health-focused information more available.
Long-Term Care
The party’s online commitments include a statement that its priorities in improving public services include:
– to improve public long-term care services for seniors, fast-tracking long-term care beds for senior to address a shortage of around 2,000 single rooms for seniors needing long-term care. The party undertakes to build a single long-term care room for every senior who wants one, remove the profit from long-term care by prohibiting public money from being spent to fund new beds in for-profit homes. In addition, more well-trained care staff will be hired, to increase the minimum daily hours of direct care in every part of the province.
Mental Health Care
As of November 16, 2024, the party’s online commitments include:
– delivering supportive, safe, quality care to when mental health crises are reported to 911, by fast-tracking the expansion of civilian-led and health-focused crisis response teams across the province, freeing up police resources and helping remove stigma for those suffering from mental illness.
Health Care and Elder Care
Housing
The party’s online commitments include statement(s) that:
– a good home is the foundation of Nova Scotians’ lives. It’s at the centre of childrens’ futures, parents’ security, and communities’ heart and soul.
– for too many Nova Scotians, housing has become a source of anxiety and insecurity, with doubts about making next month’s rent, the future of their leases, and eviction for sake of higher rents.
– the spiraling cost of rent is hurting people across the province, from young families trying to get ahead to seniors on fixed incomes – and everyone in between.
– home ownership has become a pipedream for most first-time buyers.
– renters under the current government are vulnerable through no fault of their own.
– one-sided manipulation of the rental market and the housing crisis it’s created must end.
Education & Young Workers
The party’s online commitments include a statement that its priorities in improving public services include:
– to make schools work better for students, teachers, parents and staff, enforcing indoor air quality standards, requiring regular water quality testing, and providing capital funding to improve student safety and comfort, and acting act immediately on the Auditor General’s recommendations to reduce school violence which has increased an alarming 60% over the past seven years. In addition, reducing class times to provide one-on-one help for more students. This will include accelerating new school construction in high-growth areas and using factory construction to build and add entire new, comfortable and energy-efficient classroom wings to existing schools.
Culture, Arts & Tourism
The party has published no current statement regarding its policies concerning:
• Culture, Arts & Tourism
Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia Families & Education
The party states that as of November 19, 2024:
– it is building seven new replacement schools across the province.
– it is building four new schools to address growth in the Greater Halifax / Dartmouth area and surrounding communities.
– offered, during its current term in office, new teaching jobs to every Bachelor of Education graduate in the province.
– introduced cell phone restrictions in all schools.
– reduced daycare fees by 50%, with a plan to reduce fees to an average of $10/day by March 31, 2026.
– in order to keep schools safe, it will: ensure that a new Code of Conduct gives school administrators the power they deserve, including power of suspension and addressing problem behaviours, using their professional judgement to balance individuals’ rights to education with the broader right to learn; and hire two police officers to work within the Department of Education to focus exclusively on supporting school teams with security protocols, incident prevention, and incident response.
Health Care & Elder Care
Prior to forming the current government, the party stated that:
– Nova Scotians agreed that the province has incredibly dedicated health professionals, and that once a patient was in the system, they did receive extraordinary care. The trouble was getting in.
– to its mind, timely access to the healthcare they need was not politics, but personal.
To promote healthcare in rural Nova Scotia, to embrace modernization, and to ensure that health professionals are available when needed; and to ensure that healthcare professionals feel respected and valued, and are empowered to make decisions at the local level rather than waiting for someone in Halifax to make a decision, the party advocated a practical plan for primary health that included:
– telehealth/virtual care for everyone on the waiting list for a primary care provider.
– opening operating rooms so that surgeons could operate outside of Monday to Friday, 9-5, to address the backlog.
– working to meet the benchmark standards for wait times established by the Wait Time Alliance.
– improved recruitment and retention of healthcare providers, including improved salaries for family physicians and increased local decision-making.
– establishing a clinical health services plan in every region.
– putting a team lead in place to be accountable for recruitment on a local level.
– creating mentoring relationships for new graduates.
– increased residency seats and supports for foreign-trained physicians.
– modernizing the system by expanding the existing virtual care framework to allow specialists to see patients virtually, and to other healthcare providers (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, etc.)
– to address chronic illnesses, establishing a Chronic Illness Treatment and Prevention program for in-home treatment focusing on those with chronic illnesses.
– to promote preventive healthcare, making physical education mandatory in the grades 10-12 curriculum; working with schools and local community organizations to institute a healthy eating course for every grade 12 student; establishing a virtual smoking cessation program through virtual care.
– to improve administrative efficiency, enabling decisions to be made as close to the patient as possible and driven by patient behaviours; moving from process-centred decisions to patient-centric decisions, focused on results; and consolidating the Department of Health and Wellness and the NSHA with a reoptimized structure; and establishing a culture of continuous improvement by appointing a healthcare auditor.
The party states that during its current term in office it has:
– established a new medical school at Cape Breton University to train 30 new doctors for Nova Scotia each year.
– opened an International Medical Graduate Assessment Clinic to license about 45 new doctors for Nova Scotia each year.
– opened 31 primary care clinics at pharmacies, to enable pharmacists to diagnose, treat, and prescribe for some illnesses.
– hired 265 net new doctors, and more than 1,750 net new nurses, and established a pension plan to help retain doctors in Nova Scotia.
– extended virtual care to everyone in the province.
– provided new services for keeping of health records, cardiac catheterization, and diabetes patients.
– established 2, 200 new long term care beds, and workng to open more than 5,700 replacement long term care beds.
– established new mental health hospitals in Halifax, Sydney, and Kentville.
In addition, the party has undertaken to:
– establish an internal travel nursing team, to end the need to hire external companies.
– implement a universal, no-cost shingles program for Nova Scotians 65 and older, including free access to the vaccine to everyone.
– to support women’s health, create a new Menopause Centre of Excellence.
– provide free parking at all Nova Scotia Health facilities and the IWK.
Seniors’ Care
Prior to forming government after the most recent election, the party:
– acknowledged a federal government statement that the provision of long term care is a provincial responsibility.
– stated that in Nova Scotia, over the prior decade, long-term care operating budgets had been slashed with no new beds had been built, with a result that thousands of vulnerable Nova Scotians having mobility and cognitive difficulties were stuck on waitlists for needed care; and that the only option to home care was nursing home or residential care. More incremental options were required.
– it was up to government to acknowledge that, as home care expanded, there remained a large gap in the range of options available for seniors and their families.
To better serve seniors, the party proposed:
– building more single bedrooms.
– addressing human resources challenges in the provincial system by normalizing the workload of staff and making training more accessible.
– creating a new option of care between home and nursing home, called “Supportive Living,” to allow seniors and their families with more choice and control over care options.
To that end, it:
– committed to building at least 2,500 new single rooms, including a total capital investment (without federal support of: $465,750,000.
– submitted a more ambitious proposal to the Federal Government to seek infrastructure dollars and support for a total project of 3,500 new single bedrooms, meaning an extra 1,000+ single bedrooms if the Federal Government agreed to invest alongside the Province (for a total capital investment,with federal support, of $821,000,000).
– committed to hiring 2,000 health professionals with skills appropriate for supporting the changing health and social care needs of residents, by reinstating the CCA training grant, resuming accredited CCA training programs hosted by long-term care properties, ensuring properties with 30% of unaccounted staff absences for a period of two consecutive months to an administrative audit.
– proposed preparing the long-term care system for the future by working with communities to establish new care options for providing seniors with expanded housing options, while reducing the stigma attached to seniors with limited resources; ensuring that seniors have a comfortable, safe living environment that is truly home.
– committed to ensuring strict regulation and accreditation.
– opening up government-owned spaces to allow expanded facilities and infrastructure.
Mental Health Care
Prior to forming the current government, the party stated that:
– mental health concerns were of even greater concern coming out of the COVID pandemic than they were going in. The province had seen job losses, financial uncertainty, reduced social interactions, increased substance abuse, domestic violence, and many other pressures and situations piling on to people.
– statistics suggested that at least one in five individuals experienced issues related to their mental health – and that the numbers were climbing.
– although many of the mental conditions experienced by Nova Scotians were likely manageable, had proper support been available, support was too often elusive, due to a failure of government.
– for the party leader, ensuring that Nova Scotians have access to regular, reliable, publicly-funded mental health and addictions support was not politics, but personal.
– the party was committed to modernizing provincial mental healthcare, including both with the services provided and the approach taken in providing them.
To modernize both the services provided and the approach taken to provincial healthcare, the party proposed:
– a separate department dedicated to mental health and addictions.
– opening of billing codes to allow private practitioners to deliver their services to everyone.
– 24/7 mental-telehealth service.
– a 9-8-8 mental health crisis line, separate from 9-1-1.
– attracting new mental health professionals to Nova Scotia.
– increased training options for health professionals and educators.
2024-25 Budget
In its 2024-25 budget, the party:
states that in 2023-24, out of a budgeted total of $14,820,301,000 which it estimates will close at actual expenditures of $15,531,008,000, it spent:
– an estimated $1,396,735,000 for Community Services.
– an estimated $1,877,523,000 for Education and Early Childhood Development.
– an estimated $5,231,929,000 for Health and Wellness.
– an estimated $453,303,000 for Public Service.
– an estimated $1,439,246,000 for Seniors and Long-term Care.
– an estimated $253,047,000 for Service Nova Scotia.
has allocated, for the 2024-25 fiscal year, of a budgeted total of $16,518,722,000 (a 6% increase):
– $1,579,169,000 for Community Services (an increase of 11%).
– $1,999,180,000 for Education and Early Childhood Development (an increase of 6%).
– $5,536,898,000 for Health and Wellness (an increase of 6%).
– $413,429,000 for Public Service ( a decrease of 9%).
– $1,362,710,000 for Seniors and Long-term Care (a decrease of 5%).
– $181,457,000 for Service Nova Scotia (a decrease of 28%).
The party has published no further current specific statement concerning its policies relating to:
– the role of or support for families
– education or young workers
– culture arts or tourism
Points to Ponder Points to Ponder: Family, Community & the Common Good
A conscience well formed by the social teachings of the Church will seriously consider the following questions:
Families & Child Well-Being
1) In what circumstances, if any, is it appropriate for governments to place limits on the right of parents to make decisions pertaining to the care or education of their children?
2) To what extent is child poverty a problem in Canada? To the extent that it is a problem, what should be done about it?
3) Some political parties have suggested that in order to maximize return from national and/or provincial economies, full participation by all eligible workforce members, including all parents – whether members of single- or two-parent families – is critical, so that economic well-being can be optimized. Moreover, they say, to achieve full economic participation it is critical to ensure that affordable child care is accessible by all families. Let us consider the following question: Which is more important for children: a stable and dignified home with loving parents, one of whom might be available to stay home part or full time, or maximized economic returns? To the extent that being home with a parent is best for a child, how can that be encouraged by society? Is it possible, for example, to ‘level the housing playing field’ for families having single parent providers?
Health Care
Given that the Church speaks of a right to adequate health care, consider the following questions that any informed Catholic should ponder before voting for a particular political party:
1) What should be done to ensure that adequate levels of quality health care are available to all who need it, without undue delays or waiting times?
2) While birth control pills are covered by provincial health care and at least one party has proposed coverage (including travel, if needed) for in-vitro fertilization, the costs of counseling for Natural Family Planning are not. Is it reasonable to provide drugs and expensive, invasive procedures to young couples free of charge, while requiring those who seek natural, non-chemical methods, to pay? Or, should the federal government consider providing coverage for proven natural family planning methods?
3) In a publicly-funded healthcare system, does there exist any obligation for an individual person to take reasonable measures to avoid health issues (e.g., wearing a mask during a pandemic, or a helmet while riding a bicycle), so as to avoid becoming a publicly-funded health care burden when preventable illness or injury occurs? If so, what can or should be done to encourage individuals to adopt such measures?
4) It is it wise for a country to ensure that it is self-dependent for important health care products, such as vaccines against serious illnesses? If so, what can or should the federal and provincial governments do to encourage and support such self-dependence?
Care for the Elderly
1. Some parties are calling for increased space in publicly-funded facilities for the elderly and long-term care patients. Should any other solutions, such as nurturing a culture of life-long intergenerational family cohesiveness and support, including home caregivers, be considered also, in addition or as alternatives to long-term residential care?
2. Who should be responsible for long-term support for the elderly? Themselves? Their families? The federal or provincial governments? Charitable institutions? Some combination of these? To what extent?
3. What, if anything, should be done to promote physical, spiritual, and emotional health among residents and staff in public and private homes and long-term care facilities? For example, are such facilities sometimes too large for proper inter-human connection, or sanitation? Is centralization of management of such facilities a concern? For example, can over-centralization affect the rates of infection or spread of viruses, etc.?
Education
1. It has been suggested that too many Canadians fail to understand basic democratic principles, such as the responsibilities of federal, provincial, and local governments, and the proper roles of non-governmental institutions such as charities, schools, businesses, news media, and moral and religious organizations. What, if anything, can or should the provincial government do in order to promote a more comprehensive understanding of civics and the proper roles of institutions in Nova Scotia?
2. Should a course of study of economics, at least one semester in length, be mandatory in high school? If so, what topics should be included? Macro economics (the study of provincial, national, and international economics)? Micro economics (the study of personal budgeting and financing, etc.)? Both? To what extent?
3. To what extent should the study of history be mandatory in high schools? What aspects of history should be offered?
4. Should natural family planning (NFP) techniques be taught in high school?
5. Should history courses be required in high school? If so, how many? What topics should be covered?
Culture, Arts & Tourism
Pope Francis has spoken of “ideological” or “cultural” colonization, in the process of which the popular and dominant values of the powerful are imposed on local populations. When decisions are made by governments regarding the purpose of investments injected into arts and culture, who is being consulted? Whose voices are being listened to?