Role & Purpose of Government

The party states that:
– it is unique in that it is dedicated to building thriving and sustainable communities that embody the its principles of ecological wisdom, social justice, participatory democracy, nonviolence, sustainability, and respect for diversity.
– its principles underpin all of its policies and guide it to act in the interest of:

1. Ecological Stewardship,
2. Justice, and
3. Democratic Governance,

which give rise to overarching policies affecting multiple areas of policy.

The party further states that it understands that:
– that the future of Nova Scotia is dependent on there being justice brought for the climate, the economy, languages, and for the racialized, Mi’kmaq, African Nova Scotian, Acadian, 2SLGBTQQIA+, women, children and youth, children in care, those living with disabilities, and migrant communities, such that communities care for each other and every resident has the means to not only survive, but to thrive.
– true democracy requires evidence-informed policy development in consultation with all individuals, communities, organizations, and affected stakeholders such that all peoples feel welcome and supported in participating in social, economic, environmental, and political decision making that takes into account the knowledge and priorities of all Nova Scotians.

Taxes, Services, Stewardship & Reform

The party states that it:
– recognizes that governance is the process of making and enforcing decisions for a society and that in a democracy it must operate with the public good as the goal.
– supports governance where:
* equitable citizen participation is paramount,
* decisions made serve all of society and the ecological processes on which society depends, and
* government is held accountable to the citizens it serves

Participation in Government
The party states that it:
– supports Participatory Democracy in which everyone in Nova Scotia has the right to express their views and can directly participate in the decisions which affect their lives.
– supports education and greater public awareness around electoral and legislative processes.
– supports public access to information, which is Open By Default according to the International Open Data Charter of the Open Government Partnership, unless there are legitimate reasons why some data cannot be released, to promote transparency, accountability and ethical conduct.
– supports fair hiring of public servants and fair and transparent processes for making appointments to provincial agencies, boards, and commissions as well as the empowerment of all to serve as non-partisan professionals.
– supports measures to increase the engagement of all demographics in the political process such as lowering the voting age.

Policy Making
The party states that it:
– recognizes that decisions need to be based on measurement of multi-factors that serve all of society and the ecological processes on which society depends instead of based on singular measurements of economic factors such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
– supports measuring values – natural, human, and social capital (along with built and financial capital) as well as the costs borne by the society as a whole to repair or control pollution, the climate crisis and poverty, ensuring equitable distribution of the burden of that cost.
– supports full accounting of the well-being of Nova Scotia by such measures as the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) for all public and private operations.

Finance
The party states that it:
– supports fiscal management that respects Nova Scotian values, and addresses the needs of all people of Nova Scotia when making decisions regarding income, investments, incentives, and service provision.
– supports government investment in measures to improve equity and enhance ecological capability such as increasing training of health professionals, converting to green buildings and vehicles, and purchasing land for ecological protection including parks, and recreation.
– supports fair, progressive taxation.
– supports the use of fiscal measures, such as carbon incentives to facilitate rapid transition to a green economy free of fossil fuels.

Accountability
The party states that it:
– supports government reporting of targets, expectations, and progress toward those ends.
– supports full transparency of all MLA compensation and benefits.
– supports accountable governance, free from preferential lobby influence and partisan hiring and contract awarding with oversight and enforcement for conflict of interest.
– supports comprehensive investigative powers for the Auditor General with a scope of work that expands as required.

Electoral Reform
The party states that it:
– acknowledges that there are financial barriers to standing as a candidate for political office.
– supports political financing that helps level the financial playing field for all parties and for those standing as independent candidates.
– believes that fairness and more inclusive participation would be enhanced through measures to reduce the influence of money in politics, such as:

1. public funding through financial assistance such as: per-vote subsidies to parties and child care payments,
2. caps on donations, rebates for donations and on overall campaign spending, and
3. transparency of campaign reporting.

– supports political finance benefits, access, and inclusion for independent candidates comparable to candidates of political parties.
– acknowledges that the selection of representatives through democratic elections is a critically important process in establishing and maintaining the legitimacy of governments.
– supports electoral reform in Nova Scotia toward a system of voting that is proportional, fair, and democratic, acknowledging the experiences of the many democracies around the world where systems of Proportional Representation are already in use.
– supports a non-partisan, democratic, and consultative process, such as a Citizen’s Assembly, to design an electoral system of Proportional Representation that is suitable for Nova Scotia’s particular needs.
– supports fair election rules that provide the same opportunities to independent candidates as for those of political parties, such as access to voters’ lists.

Municipal Elections

The party states that it:
– supports empowering Nova Scotia’s many municipalities to engage in their own democratic reforms, adapting election processes to suit the needs of local democracies.
– supports options for municipalities to extend municipal voting rights to permanent residents, with provincial support for the implementation of any such decision.
– supports provincial political finance reforms extending to municipal elections.

Courts & Public Safety
The party states that it:
– supports a commitment to nonviolence, and believes that peace, and security for communities should not rest mainly on threats of force, violence, or punishment, but on cooperation, sound economic and social development, environmental safety, and respect for human rights.
– recognizes many people in Nova Scotia face unsafe living conditions, police brutality, increasing amounts of gun violence, domestic violence, and the highest human trafficking  rates in Canada.
– recognizes that police services can disproportionately negatively impact those who are Black, Indigenous, or other people of colour, 2SLGBTQQIA+ peoples, and those living in poverty.
– recognizes Nova Scotia’s colonial history involving the settler-colonial relationships.
– recognizes that the use of police services to deal with issues of mental health, poverty, and civil engagement are detrimental to the healthy development of Nova Scotian society.
– recognizes that the prison/jail system is currently not serving its intended purpose of rehabilitation, and supports developing evidence-informed alternatives to reduce rates of recidivism/support individual rehabilitation.
– supports measures to improve police and justice services, such as through:

1. reallocation of police service resources to ensure the use of appropriate responders,
2. use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms that are culturally appropriate, and
3. public education to strengthen understanding around consent to reduce instances of sexual abuse and to end prejudice and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Role & Purpose of Government  | Taxes, Services, Stewardship & Reform  |  Intergovernmental Relations  |  Courts & Public Safety 

The party states that its top priorities are to:

1. make life more affordable for all Nova Scotians, through targeted actions to provide immediate relief addressing the current affordability crisis, including lowering HST and income taxes by $3,000 for the average family, lowering your power bills, and lowering grocery prices.
2. make housing more affordable and accessible by building 80,000 new homes by 2032, protecting renters, and fixing the broken property tax system.
3. improve access to healthcare by building and expanding 40 collaborative healthcare centres across the provinceto attach people to primary care providers, redue wait times, and keep people out of emergency rooms.
4. stop the current government’s efforts to double the population, by limiting population growth to in-demand workers and their families until the province has enough housing, healthcare, and schools to support more growth.

Election Reform

Proportional Representation
The province states that:
– electoral reform is needed to make sure that politicians are accountable to the people and our system reflects the society we live in.
– it advocates amending the Elections Act to implement a moderate proportional representation model that maintains strong regional representation, including appointment of an expert commission to determine the details of the plan and ensure that the electoral system maintains the protected representation of Acadians and African Nova Scotians.

Fixed Election Dates
The party:
– states that Nova Scotians expect their politicians to follow the law, including the fixed election date.
– advocates strengthening the fixed election date legislation so that any governing party that breaks that law to call an early election must pay a $250,000 fine.

Policy Reform
To advance equality and eliminate racism in Nova Scotia, the party advocates:
– urging the Government of Nova Scotia to address systemic racism by: conducting comprehensive reviews of provincial government policies, practices, and institutions to identify and eliminate systemic racism and biases; implementing strategies to increase representation of racialized individuals within public sector employment, ensuring diversity at all levels of governance; and investing in research and data collection to identify gaps and disparities, guiding evidence-based policy decisions to dismantle systemic racism.

The party states that the first major step it proposes in addressing the cost of living crisis is to implement a package of tax cuts that will save the average family $3,000 each year, including a 2-point HST cut—saving individuals an average of $700 a year, and changing income taxes so that thousands more of taxpayers’ income will no longer be taxed—saving hundreds more each year at tax time.

In particular, the party states that:
– it advocates cutting the HST from 15% to 13%.  Nova Scotians pay the highest sales tax in the country, while provincial revenues have increased significantly over the past two years.  Taxpayers deserve to get some of that money back.
– Nova Scotians pay some of the highest income taxes in the country, with an extremely low personal basic exemption amount that hasn’t been indexed to inflation. It advocates a one-time increase to the personal basic exemption to $15,705 and ensuring it remains indexed to inflation; and doubling the benefit currently received by earners under $75,000.  These changes would result in Nova Scotia having the lowest personal income taxes in Atlantic Canada.
– it also proposes eliminating the Carbon Tax.  While it is important that the province do its part in the fight against climate change, the federal carbon tax isn’t the right fit for Nova Scotia. From 2017-2022, under the previous Liberal government, a Cap and Trade model worked to reduce emissions without punishing Nova Scotians. The party advocates working with other Atlantic Provinces to establish a Cap and Trade program that will reduce large industrial pollution.

Ethics Commissioner
The party:
– states that many Canadian provinces have an ethics or integrity commissioner to ensure that legislators behave ethically, and public money is being spent responsibly.
– advocates creation of an Ethics Commissioner position that would be responsible for ensuring ethical behaviour by politicians and public servants, and ensuring that public money is being spent responsibly. The commissioner would be an officer of the Legislature and empowered to investigate actions and spending by MLAs, staff, and public servants to ensure they meet high standards of ethical behaviour. They would also proactively work to educate MLAs and prevent ethics issues before  they happen.

Privacy Commissioner
The party:
– states that Nova Scotia is the only province where the Privacy Commissioner can’t make binding orders on the government.
– it advocates giving the Privacy Commissioner order-making authority by making them an official commissioner of the Legislature, thereby improving enforcement of Nova Scotia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and ensuring more transparency from provinicial government.

Budget Reform
The party:
– states that each year the current government has spent more than a billion dollars in out-of-budget spending, which was not voted on and approved by the legislature. As the Auditor General has said, this financial mismanagement is costing Nova Scotians—there’s absolutely no way to tell if we are getting the best value for this money.
– advocates passing a law that requires all provincial spending to be approved by the legislature, and a review of all non-approved spending by the current government to save up to $650M a year.
– advocates providing an additional $1.1 million in funding to the Auditor General, as requested by the Auditor General, to enable the office to better examine healthcare-related spending.

Government Services
To ensure that Nova Scotians are getting the best from their government, the party advocates:
– empanelling a Commission on 21st Century Governance to examine and make recommendations to improve all branches of government, the public service, municipalities, the extended public sector, service delivery, program management, digitization, and AI preparedness.
– allowing all provincial staff to work from home or work in a hybrid setting if their position allows, which will improve work conditions, save the government money on office rent, reduce congestion in Halifax, and provide more opportunities to those that live in rural areas.

Courts & Public Safety
The party advocates:
– creation of a fund to build emergency access and connector roads in areas deemed high-risk by municipalities, emergency management officials, and other experts, including to any community that completes the FireSmart Neighbourhood Recognition Program so they can implement safety improvements that will protect lives and property in cases of wildfires.
– implementation of a province-wide vulnerable persons registry to ensure that at-risk Nova Scotians can stay safe during emergencies. This will also be a tool to help proactively provide support to Nova Scotians in ensuring they are prepared for emergencies.
– ensuring adequate funding for the criminal justice system, which has fallen under neglect by the current government and currently allows offenders to walk free without a trial over and over, including hiring necessary judges and making targeted investments to get cases tried on time.

Sexual Assault Cases
The party states that:
– too often, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are being used to silence victims and maintain power imbalances.
– no Nova Scotian should be forced to sign such agreements.  It advocates banning mis-use of NDAs in cases of sexual assault and harassment.

Firefighters
To support firefighters, the party advocates:
– paying the full cost for volunteer firefighters to receive either basic or advanced medical first responder training, whichever the firefighter chooses, and
– creating a provincial office of the Fire Commissioner to help coordinate provincial fire services, increase links between departments, and ensure that all firefighters receive needed support from the provincial government.

Role & Purpose of Government  | Taxes, Services, Stewardship & Reform  |  Intergovernmental Relations  |  Courts & Public Safety

The party’s constitution states that it believes that the social, economic and political progress of Nova Scotia can be assured only by the application of social democratic and egalitarian principles to the governance and administration of public affairs; and that the Principles of Social Democracy can be briefly described as:

(1) That the production and distribution of goods and services shall be directed to meeting the social and individual needs of people within a framework that sustains the environment while maximizing the economy now and in the future;
(2) That the dignity and freedom of the individual is a basic right that must be maintained and extended to all persons regardless of race, ethnic background, religion, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or disability;
(3) That the abolition of poverty and the elimination of exploitation are achievable goals and must be the priority of any thinking and compassionate government; and
(4) That the people have a right to a meaningful voice in public policy through consultation and participation in all levels of public decision-making.
(5) As an organization existing on the unceded and unconquered territory of the party is committed to the principles of truth and reconciliation and living as treaty people in Mi’kma’ki, and shall take guidance from the Calls to Action in the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

 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.

The party’s online commitments include statements that its priorities for the 2024 election are to deliver solutions that make Nova Scotians’ lives:
– better
– more affordable
– more secure.

Public Services
As of November 14, the party’s commitments state 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.
– 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.
– 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 wil be hired, to increase the minimum daily hours of direct care in every part of the province.
– standing up for equity-seeking groups by fully funding the 2SLGBTQIA Action Plan in order to fight stigma and discrimination particularly for 2SLGBTQIA youth and funding organizations that fight Intimate Partner Violence and support Nova Scotians experiencing gender based violence to ensure that survivors of sexualized violence have access to trauma-informed counselling. The party further advocates ending misuse of Non-Disclosure Agreements protect victims of sexual assault from personal and institutional cycles of abuse, bullying, and bad behaviour.

The party has published no current statement concerning its policies relating to solidarity with:

The party has published no current statement concerning its policies relating to:
• Intergovernmental Relations
• Courts & Public Safety

As of November 19, 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 undertakings accessible only online, in a format which can easily be edited by the party at will, and which can be viewed by voters at any time only in a piecemeal fashion.

As of November 19, these undertakings include indications that the party’s current priorities include:
– reducing provincial HST and income taxes to make life easier for families and workers in N.S.
– training and hiring even more doctors with a new medical school at CBU and an International Medical Graduate Assessment Centre.
– raising the minimum wage, bargaining fairly, and helping Nova Scotians keep more of what tjey earn.

Role & Purpose of Government

The party’s mission, vision, and value statements state that:
– the party sees a Nova Scotia that is an economic, social and environmental leader for others in the world to follow.
– the party’s mission is to form a fiscally responsible, socially progressive government that promotes individual achievement and personal responsibility, is accountable to its citizens, listens to its people, embraces innovation, preserves the best of our unique heritage and diverse cultures and learns from the past.
– the party values:

+ Responsibility – defining good government as one that lives within its means and whose leaders spend a tax dollar as if it were their own
+ Accountability – expecting governments at all levels to answer to the people for the decisions they have made
+ Entrepreneurship – providing a climate where our best and brightest can succeed through hard work and initiative
+ Self-Reliance – supporting people who are able to help themselves become independent
+ Compassion – caring for those in society who, through no fault of their own, need support
+ Stewardship – passing on a natural environment to future generations that is the same or better than the one we inherited
+ Patriotism – taking pride in our cultures, our communities and our province as part of a strong, united Canada
+ Respect – treating all citizens equally, regardless of ability, race, gender, religion, language, First Nations status, marital status and/or sexual orientation

Taxes, Services, Stewardship & Reform

The party’s 2024-25 budget proposes:
– continued strategic and necessary investments to transform healthcare, build more housing, help families, and grow the economy. Nova Scotia is continuing to grow with more people living and working here, and with increasing opportunities for the province’s young people.
– to continue work accomplished so far while preparing the province to seize future opportunities, maintaining key priorities of:

+ Supporting Nova Scotians and Building Communities: helping Nova Scotians to meet the costs of living, including indexation of tax brackets and the basic personal amount, a Supportive Housing Action policy, province-wide school lunch program, a Human Rights Remedy to help people with disabilities better meet their needs, and helping to build resilient communities.
+ Action for Healthcare: continuing to implement the government’s multi-year roadmap to world-class healthcare, including investing in virtual care, expanding services, introducing new clinical approaches and using more digital solutions for a more coordinated, modern healthcare system that meets the demands of a growing population.
+ Building a Skilled Workforce for More Housing and a Healthy Economy: critical to the future is a skilled workforce and investments support preparing Nova Scotians for in-demand jobs now and in the future.
+ Key investments in housing and strategic infrastructure are critical to build a strong green economy of the future.

In its 2024-25 budget the party further states that in view of a sharp rebound in the provincial economy and accelerating population growth, the province is well-positioned to make these priority investments:
– revenues for 2024-25 are increasing relative to previous year estimates.
– during its remaining term in government it will continue to place emphasis on achieving a sustainable fiscal position. Its four-year fiscal plan reflects that deficits being incurred to address healthcare and other priorities are manageable and within Nova Scotia’s growing economic capacity.

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 it spent an actual total of $15,531,008,000 (a 5% overrun), including:
– an estimated $235,983,000 for Cyber Security & Digital Solutions
– an estimated $34,783,000 for Finance and Treasury Board.
– an estimated $453,814,000 for Justice.
– an estimated $712,947,000 for Municipal Affairs and Housing.
– an estimated $277,679,000 for Restructuring Costs.
– an estimated $133,867,000 for Refundable Tax Credits.
– an estimated $792,341,000 for Debt Servicing.

has allocated, for the 2024-25 fiscal year, of a budgeted total of $16,518,722,000 (a further 6% increase), including:
– $276,224,000 for Cyber Security & Digital Solutions (a 17% increase).
– $48,790,000 for Finance and Treasury Board (an increase of 40%).
– $468,687,000 for Justice (an increase of 3%).
– $680,055,000 for Municipal Affairs and Housing (a decrease of 5%).
– $659,765,000 for Restructuring Costs (an increase of 137%).
– $126,316 for Refundable Tax Credits (an decrease of 6%).
– $822,863,000 for Debt Servicing (an increase of 4%).

The party has published no further current specific statement concerning its policies relating to:
– intergovernmental relations.
– courts & public safety.