NDP election platform promises affordability and better access to housing, health care

Promises to build 30,000 affordable rental homes, make Halifax ferries free and temporarily remove the provincial tax on gasoline were centrepieces of the Nova Scotia NDP election platform released Wednesday.

Party leader Claudia Chender said the party's planned gas tax "holiday" would save drivers 15.5 cents per litre at the pump, but she did not say at what point the tax would be reintroduced.

"We see this as a temporary measure while [gas]prices are high, while inflation is high, while people are pinched to afford the cost of a commute," she told reporters, adding that improving public transit with new rapid bus routes is also among NDP priorities.

When asked if Nova Scotia can afford to spend the extra $2 billion the NDP says its promises would cost between 2025 and 2027, Chender said inaction would carry too great a cost.

"Nova Scotia can't afford not to fix the housing crisis, can't afford not to fix our access to primary care, can't afford not to make sure that everyone can pay the bills each month," she said.

Chender said that, if elected, the NDP would increase income assistance rates and remove the provincial tax on phone bills, internet and groceries that are not already tax-free.

Help for cost of home heating

Her party would also address the high cost of home heating by removing the HST from the purchase and installation of heat pumps, and would go ahead with a task force recommendation to create a 50 per cent discount on electricity and fuel oil for low-income Nova Scotians.

To tackle health-care access, the NDP says it would open 15 new collaborative family doctor clinics in its first year in power, with 15 additional clinics added in each of the next two years.

The NDP's many housing-related promises had been announced before the release of the full platform. Those pledges include capping rent increases at 2.5 per cent and giving households that earn less than $70,000 a rebate averaging $900.

"We hear everywhere we go that people cannot afford to live, and that is absolutely our focus," Chender said. "We know that if people can't afford housing, they can't be healthy. They can't afford their groceries and other necessities."