Transportation minister looks for provinces, territories to collaborate on car thefts

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston fired the opening salvos of a snap election he called Sunday, saying he needs a strong mandate in order to help the province “stand up” to the federal government.

Voters in the Maritime province will go to the polls on Nov. 26, several months ahead of the province’s fixed election date of July 15 , 2025.

“Nova Scotia needs a government with a renewed fresh mandate to stand up for our province,” Houston told supporters during a rally at a pub in the Halifax suburb of Bedford. “Otherwise our province risks becoming a political football in a federal election that could be held simultaneously with the current scheduled fixed election date. That is not in Nova Scotia’s best interest.”

In the months prior to the election call, Houston had increasingly complained about the burden he says Ottawa’s carbon pricing model has placed on Nova Scotians at the gas pumps. Also high on the premier’s list of grievances is Ottawa’s refusal to pay the entire cost of the expensive work needed to protect the Chignecto Isthmus, the low-lying land link between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that is increasingly prone to severe flooding.

Houston ratcheted up his criticism of the isthmus disagreement on Sunday.

“The Trudeau government refuses to take responsibility, in fact they are trying to rip us off … and they are willing to rip us off even if it means cutting us off from the rest of Canada,” he said.

Houston also took a swipe at the provincial Liberals, attempting to tie them to federal policies – a tactic he previously employed on several occasions during a short 10-day sitting of the legislature in September.

Meanwhile, the premier said his Progressive Conservative government was also asking for a new mandate because it is planning significant spending to deal with the province’s housing shortage and high cost of living.

“It’s only right to go back to the people for support and direction on the course forward,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Houston paid a short visit to the province’s Lt.-Gov. Arthur LeBlanc at his official residence in downtown Halifax in order to dissolve the legislature ahead of the 31-day campaign. He emerged and didn’t speak to assembled reporters, opting instead to quickly jump onto a big, bright blue campaign bus sporting his image on the side and the words “Make it Happen.”

Both of the province’s opposition leaders were critical of an early call they said broke the premier’s promise to adhere to a fixed election date.

“This is a needless election that’s going to cost Nova Scotians $13 million for no good reason at all,” Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said in an interview. “Tim Houston is doing this out of what’s perceived to be his own self interest.”

Churchill, who is entering his first election as leader of his party, said the government’s record will be a target on the hustings.

“He can’t stand on his own record,” he said of Houston. “More people don’t have a family doctor than ever before, life’s more expensive than ever before and more people can’t afford rent or to buy a home.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender, who is also leading her party into an election for the first time, said in an interview that the government is vulnerable on a number of fronts, but especially when it comes to its pledge to “fix” the province’s health system.

“They have not been able to get people off that family practice wait list … it (the number) is double now what it was when Tim Houston came into office. Emergency rooms are as crowded as ever and many are closed more than they are open.”

The Tories are looking for a second consecutive mandate from Nova Scotia voters after sweeping the Liberals from power in August 2021 — a victory that was the result of a nearly single-minded focus on the need to deal with the province’s ailing health-care system.

The province’s Need A Family Practice Registry — seen as an important indicator of how well the health system is doing — was updated earlier this month for the first time since June when it hit a record 160,234 people without a doctor.

New figures indicate a marked improvement, with 145,114 people on the registry.

The numbers are still far higher than the summer of 2022, when there were slightly more than 100,000 people on the list. However, those on the wait-list for a family doctor do have full access to virtual care through the Maple platform after the government made a concerted effort to expand the option.

The Tories have defended their health record by pointing to community clinics and collaborative practices that have given residents increased access to care. As well, they have said that since 2021 they have bolstered emergency medical care by adding more health workers and resources into the system.

As of September, Nova Scotia has added about 300 doctors to the provincial health system since September 2021, according to the provincial health department.

At dissolution, the Progressive Conservatives held 34 seats in the 55-seat legislature. The Liberals held 14 seats, the NDP had six and there was one Independent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2024.

OTTAWA – Another week, another raft of imminent challenges to Justin Trudeau’s leadership of both the country and the Liberal Party.

The prime minister, whose presence at the party helm has stirred criticism and calls for his resignation from within his own ranks, is facing two deadlines in the coming days: one from Liberal MPs who want him to resign and another from the Bloc Québécois as they threaten to trigger an early election.

Discontent with Trudeau’s leadership has been mounting for months amid persistently dismal approval ratings and two recent byelection losses in long-time party strongholds.

At a Liberal caucus meeting Wednesday, 24 MPs delivered a letter to the prime minister asking him to resign and giving him until Monday to respond.

Trudeau told these MPs that he would reflect on what they had to say during the three-hour meeting, but one day later, he told reporters he would stay on as Liberal leader.

“We’re going to continue to have great conversations about what is the best way to take on Pierre Poilievre in the next election — but that’ll happen with me as leader going into the next election,” he said, as a group of Liberal MPs gathered at the press conference applauded.

Liberal MP Sean Casey, who signed the letter, told reporters later on Thursday that he’s “moving on” following the prime minister’s comments.

“This is a decision that he had every right to make, and he made it. I did my job by voicing what I was hearing from my constituents,” Casey said.

“Now I’ve got to take my energy and direct them to winning my seat and not on internal party matters. As far as I’m concerned, it’s closed.”

Lori Turnbull, a political science professor at Dalhousie University, says the challenge for the dissenting Liberal MPs is that there’s nothing they can do to force the prime minister to change his mind.

“The problem is that there’s no ‘or else,’ other than leaving the caucus themselves and/or voting to defeat the government,” Turnbull said.

“Which would mean they end up precipitating an election with Trudeau as a leader, which is the thing they don’t want to do.”

Meanwhile, the Bloc has given the Liberal government until Tuesday to pass two pieces of legislation that would increase old-age security payments for seniors and bolster supply management.

If the Liberals do not comply, Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet has said his party will begin discussions with other opposition parties about toppling the minority government.

Most Liberals voted against a Bloc motion earlier this month calling for the government to give a royal recommendation to a bill that would increase pensions for seniors under the age of 75 by 10 per cent, a plan estimated to cost $16 billion over five years.

The Liberals increased old age security payments for people over the age of 75 in 2022, with the intention of targeting the most vulnerable seniors, but the other opposition parties have backed the Bloc push to expand the measure to those aged 65 to 74.

Turnbull said the Bloc turning on the government won’t necessarily mean an imminent election, since it would take all three major opposition parties to trigger one.

“The NDP will likely continue to support the government for a while, in which case the Bloc is free to stand against the government … and not have the consequence of an immediate election,” she said.

Turnbull says New Democrats, who tore up their supply-and-confidence agreement with the Liberals last month, need more time to distinguish themselves from the governing party before heading into a federal election.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

REGINA – Saskatchewan’s election campaign entered its final day Sunday, with both main party leaders vying for government in what has shaped up to be the tightest race in nearly two decades.

Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party is seeking a fifth-straight majority after 17 years in office, while Carla Beck’s NDP is looking to take back government for the first time since 2007.

Political experts say Moe is still favoured to win, given his party’s strength in rural areas, but the question is: How small of a Saskatchewan Party majority could it be?

Election day is Monday.

“I think the parties are much closer than they’ve been in 17 years,” Charles Smith, a professor of political studies at St. Thomas More College in Saskatoon, said in a recent interview.

“For the first time in well over a decade, (the NDP) is competitive in ways they haven’t been.”

Tom McIntosh, a political scientist at the University of Regina, said the electoral map favours the Saskatchewan Party.

“The NDP are the sort of happy warriors of the campaign,” McIntosh said.

“I’m not sure the Sask. Party is showing that same kind of enthusiasm. That would be hard to do when you know you’ve got a massive majority, and you know it’s going to be substantially cut by any measure.”

Daniel Westlake, a political studies professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said Moe may lose a lot of urban seats, including those in the smaller cities of Prince Albert and Moose Jaw.

“I’m hesitant to predict anything with any kind of certainty, but right now, it looks like a race where the Saskatchewan Party probably loses seats but still forms government,” Westlake said.

Polls have suggested a tightening race between both parties, but the breakdown on constituencies means an uphill fight for the NDP.

To win a majority in the 61-seat legislature, the NDP would need to sweep the 28 seats in the three largest cities — Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert — and hope for help elsewhere.

At dissolution, the governing Saskatchewan Party had 42 seats, while the Opposition NDP had 14. There were four Independents and one seat was vacant.

The campaign has largely focused on health care, affordability and crime, though Moe raised the issue of school change rooms later in the race.

In his pledge, Moe said his first order of business if re-elected would be to ban “biological boys” from using school changing rooms with “biological girls.”

He made the promise after learning of a complaint at a southeast Saskatchewan school about two biological boys using a girls change room. The pledge was not previously included in his party’s platform document.

A parent of the two children subject to the complaint is an NDP candidate. Moe has said he didn’t know that when he made the promise.

Beck has said the ban would make vulnerable kids more vulnerable. She’s also promised to repeal a Saskatchewan Party law that requires parental consent when children under 16 want to change their names and pronouns at school.

Beck has said voters want the next government to deal with more pressing issues, including classroom sizes, fixing health care and being able to afford gas and groceries.

Smith said he thinks Moe’s change-room plan is meant to lure social conservatives who might be eyeing the right-wing Saskatchewan United Party.

“I also think attacking a candidate’s children is very concerning, although he (says) he didn’t know it,” Smith said.

McIntosh said the change-room issue isn’t top of mind for voters.

“Where it does motivate people, they were likely already going to vote Sask. Party anyway,” he said.

On Saturday in Saskatoon, Moe said incumbent provincial governments have had it tough.

“And that’s likely, you know, the case we’re having — a challenging election I would say here in Saskatchewan,” Moe said.

Blaine Higgs’ New Brunswick Progressive Conservatives were defeated last week to Susan Holt’s Liberals. Higgs, who lost his own seat, was in power for six years.

Beck said Saturday in Saskatoon there’s a “feeling of change” out there.

“I’m not taking anything for granted. I’m not built that way. I know we’re going to have to knock every door and pull every vote, but I am feeling optimistic,” Beck said.

A spokesperson for Moe said he didn’t have any public events scheduled for Sunday.

Moe has promised broad tax relief and to continue withholding federal carbon levy payments to Ottawa.

His platform is to cost an additional $1.2 billion over four years. He says his tax reduction plan would save a family of four $3,400 over four years. It also includes tax credits for those looking to grow their families or put their children in sports and arts.

Moe has promised deficits in the first two years, followed by a surplus in 2027.

On Sunday, Beck told supporters in Regina people have had enough of Moe’s Saskatchewan Party.

“(The Saskatchewan Party) has used fear tactics, playing on worst instincts, because they are terrified of losing power,” she said.

“This province belongs to the people of Saskatchewan, not any politician. Saskatchewan belongs to you.

“We are better than this, and we know damn well you deserve better than this.”

She has pledged to spend more to fix health care and education, pause the gas tax, and remove the provincial sales tax on children’s clothes and some grocery items.

Beck says her promises are to cost an additional $3.5 billion over four years, with plans to balance the budget by the end of her term.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2024.