The Progressive Conservatives
PC Leader Tim Houston announced his plan for diversity in education at a campaign stop in Halifax Friday.
Houston committed to consult with Mi’kmaq, Black, and Acadian community leaders to include their history in schools.
“A PC Government will revamp our curriculum so that every child knows that they belong in Nova Scotia,” he said. “Teaching each other to value and respect diversity empowers students to be more open to other perspectives.”
He also promised to change the structure of the education system to put the Council on Mi’kmaq Education and the Council on African Canadian Education in regular contact with the Minister of Education.
Houston will spend the rest of the day campaigning in the Annapolis Valley and southwestern shore.
The New Democratic Party
The NDP’s Gary Burrill committed to expanding emergency mental health response programs to every health zone.
The Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team is already operating in HRM.
In Halifax Friday morning, Burrill said the rest of the province deserves the same mental health support.
“Mental health emergencies put people and their families at risk,” he said. “Families need to know that wherever they are in the province if they are experiencing a mental health emergency, help is there for them.”
Burrill said mental health response often falls to police, who aren’t trained to respond.
He said an NDP government will build mental health emergency teams, staffed by mental health professionals, in all four health zones.
The Liberals
Iain Rankin released the Liberals’ affordability and equity platform in Dartmouth Friday.
“Nova Scotians are moving home, and others are moving to the province,” he said. “Our population is growing, and our economy needs to grow for everyone. As it does, we want to ensure that life here is affordable, fair and that no one is left behind.”
Rankin said increasing housing supply is important and committed:
-to develop a 10-year plan for a long-term provincial housing strategy
-introduce renter compensation equal to one month’s rent for each year living there, up to a maximum of 6 months, if evicted for a renovation
-rebate the provincial portion of HST on affordable rental units construction projects
-launch a new provincial loan fund for non-profits to rent properties at risk of being sold or converted to other types of housing
-expand energy efficiency programs for low-income people
He also promised the following measures to improve affordability and equity:
-$3 million for a “Healthy Lunches for Healthy Kids” elementary school pilot program provide
-support the Office of Equity and AntiRacism Initiatives to develop a provincial Anti-Racism Strategy and accelerate the land titles initiative for African Nova Scotians
-work with the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial (CSAP) to develop legislation, independent from the Education Act, on Acadian culture education
-$500,000 over three years for a 25 African Nova Scotian student cohort to enter the Bachelor of Social Work in 2022
