NDP rolls on with rent control, Liberals and Tories talk health care

It's Day 30 of Nova Scotia's 31-day provincial election.

The varied views on rent control

In the final days of the election, NDP Leader Gary Burrill is sticking with the issue his party believes is resonating the most with voters: affordable housing and rent control.

Burrill made an appearance on the Dartmouth waterfront on Sunday with Dartmouth South candidate Claudia Chender and Dartmouth resident Mike Sangster.

Sangster has lived in the same Dartmouth apartment building for 25 years. But he's preparing to move out after receiving notice in the spring that his rent will increase by $850 a month to $1,850 on Sept. 1 if rent control is no longer in place, or in the month following whenever it is lifted.

Sangster's landlord also plans to increase the monthly parking fee to $150.

When Stephen McNeil's Liberal government introduced rent control last fall in the face of a housing crisis, its shelf life was tied to the removal of the COVID-19 provincial state of emergency or Feb. 1, 2022, whichever came first.

Chender and Burrill said Sangster's story and those like it have become increasingly common and the necessary response is permanent rent control, something the NDP has promised if it forms government.

"One of the most common things I find people say is, 'They're not allowed to do this, are they?'" said Burrill.

"And we have to say that for most people in Canada in most parts of the country they're not allowed to do it, but they are allowed to do it in Nova Scotia because we don't have permanent rent control."

While the Liberals and Tories both oppose permanent rent control and focus instead on the need to increase affordable housing supply — something the NDP is also promising — there are differences between their two positions.

As he did in the spring, Liberal Leader Iain Rankin, who replaced McNeil as leader in February, said on Sunday that he would not tie the existence of rent control to the state of emergency. He said letters such as the one Sangster and other tenants have received would not be considered accurate if his party is re-elected to form government.

"Rent control will stay in place until we have a better supply mix in the market," said Rankin, adding it could be for a period of years.

"I think that it was an effective tool to use and we will use it to protect Nova Scotians."

Tory Leader Tim Houston said he's sympathetic to Sangster's story and, if his party forms government, it would study whether rent control needs to be extended in the short term even after the state of emergency is lifted.

But Houston said he continues to believe the best answer is to increase the housing supply as quickly as possible.

"We need to fix the housing crisis. I don't feel that rent control fixes it, so I'd rather move right to actual solutions."

Liberals call the midwife

Rankin campaigned through the Annapolis Valley on Sunday, including a stop at the family farm of Kings West candidate Emily Lutz.

Rankin talked about improved health care for women.

He revisited the party's promise to spend $1.75 million a year to increase the number of midwives in the province from 16 to 24. The increase was determined based on a needs assessment that showed service gaps in the Annapolis Valley and Cape Breton, said Rankin.

The issue, which Kings South Liberal candidate Keith Irving pushed for the party to champion, is a close one for Rankin because he and his wife, Mary, plan to use a midwife later this year for the birth of their child.

Rankin said they made the choice after hearing positive feedback from people they know who have used midwives, including his sister.

"Just the fact that they are so caring and they go through the whole process from beginning to end and everyone I've talked to had a positive experience [with] it," he told reporters while standing in an apple orchard.

The aim of the promise is to ensure equitable access to the service around the province, said Rankin.

Houston's health-care timeline

Houston spent his Sunday campaigning in Cape Breton where he continued to talk about health care.

Health care has been the central focus for the Tories from the beginning of the campaign, with a pledge to increase spending by $423 million in the first year alone of a mandate as the Tories work to expand primary care access, build more long-term care beds and attract thousands more health-care professionals.

Change won't happen overnight, but Houston said he thinks it won't take long for the public to begin noticing a difference.

"I think, you know, in the first few months as we travel the province and work with health-care professionals, I think there's a lot of things that can be changed relatively quickly," he said.

People understand it will take time to increase access to primary care and build long-term care beds, but Houston said the party's plan gives people the sense that "there's light at the end of the tunnel."

"We're committed and we're going to be completely focused on it," he said.

"I think certainly in one mandate I would expect that we would see significant, positive improvement. I feel very strongly about that and that's the measuring stick that I'll be holding myself to."

MORE TOP STORIES