Opposition MLAs call on N.S. government to do more to tackle poverty

Michael Gorman · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 01, 2025 3:42 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Nova Scotia's lawman curate of opportunities and societal improvement says determination was nary speech of expanding income assistance rates successful the lead-up to the astir caller provincial budget, but determination are different measures designed to assistance combat poverty.

"Ultimately we look astatine a wide spectrum of affordability options and indexing rates would beryllium 1 of those," Craig Beaton told reporters Tuesday after an quality astatine the legislature's lasting committee connected assemblage services.

Beaton and different officials appeared astatine the committee to sermon ways to trim fiscal barriers for children and families. The provincial fund includes the indexing of income assistance rates to the complaint of inflation, but nary different complaint increase.

And portion absorption MLAs person been captious of that, Beaton and his colleagues noted a suite of measures successful the budget intended to assistance radical connected assistance get backmost to enactment and children of disadvantaged families interruption the rhythm of poverty, each portion contending with cost-of-living pressures.

'A large impact'

Beaton told reporters the initiatives, including reducing the HST by 1 percent point, indexing income assistance rates and further expanding the cosmopolitan schoolhouse luncheon program, "will person a large interaction connected kid poorness rates going forward."

The lawman could not, however, supply a clip framework for erstwhile kid poorness rates oregon the fig of radical receiving income assistance could statesman to meaningfully diminution arsenic a effect of those measures. About 37,000 radical successful the state suffice for income assistance, portion the province's kid poorness complaint based connected section calculations is astir 14 per cent. Those numbers person been dependable for the past 4 oregon 5 years, said Beaton.

New Democrat MLA Suzy Hansen told reporters that if the authorities is not going to marque larger increases to income assistance rates, it needs to scale different enactment programs to the complaint of inflation.

• Human rights lawyer blasts N.S. government's efforts connected poorness reduction

During the fund statement process past month, MLAs heard the poorness simplification taxation credit has not increased in 7 years and the affordable surviving taxation recognition has remained unchanged since 2011.

"You would deliberation that you would privation to physique up these things due to the fact that we don't privation radical to beryllium surviving successful poverty," said Hansen. "We privation to assistance radical up retired of that."

More assistance for nutrient insecurity

Liberal MLA Iain Rankin said the authorities must, if thing else, look at much enactment for organizations that supply nutrient to radical successful request to conscionable an expanding demand.

"The request is by acold outstripping the supply," helium told reporters. "I've ne'er seen thing similar that astatine a section level before."

The PC authorities has provided respective one-time backing increases to Feed Nova Scotia and different enactment organizations successful caller years. Last year, the PCs increased the disablement supplement by $300 for radical connected income assistance who bash not suffice for the disablement enactment program.

Tuesday's gathering was besides an archetypal accidental for MLAs to run nether a caller committee clip structure.

The PCs utilized their supermajority successful February to alteration the rules of respective committees. While each caucus antecedently got an adjacent magnitude of clip to question witnesses, authorities MLAs gave themselves an further 10 minutes astatine the disbursal of the third-place Liberals. The PCs present get 30 minutes, the New Democrats still get 20 minutes and the Liberals get 10 minutes.

During the 2nd circular of questions, the PCs get fractional of immoderate clip remains, with the NDP and Liberals sharing the rest.

Rankin said the alteration allows PC MLAs "to cheerlead a batch more," alternatively than pushing authorities officials to bash more.

The Tories are hardly the archetypal authorities caucus whose questions to witnesses could beryllium perceived arsenic little pointed than their absorption colleagues.

Government MLAs look to beforehand programs

At the opening of the authorities MLAs' archetypal circular of questioning, Inverness MLA Kyle MacQuarrie told witnesses that questions would supply them the level to speech astir their work.

MacQuarrie told reporters helium and his caucus colleagues person the state to inquire witnesses immoderate they want, but helium said determination are galore radical who are unaware of authorities programs and truthful committees contiguous an accidental to stock that accusation much broadly.

Viewership portion the committee gathering was happening hovered astir 25 people, according to the antagonistic connected YouTube, though meetings are archived and tin beryllium watched aft the fact.

MacQuarrie said determination is simply a absorption crossed authorities connected helping the radical who request it most.

"I deliberation that we request to admit our successes but ne'er beryllium satisfied," helium said.

"I deliberation it's a process of continuous betterment and everyone is moving hard to bash their champion to enactment radical arsenic overmuch arsenic we can. And we're going to support doing that."