Chebucto News June 10

Michèle Raymond
Thursday June 10, 2010

After a challenging but productive session of the House, it’s good to look back and see that there was real progress made in matters provincial and local, despite a budget which has had to incorporate a variety of measures to keep the provincial debt from growing into a chronic, incurable “structural” deficit.

That budget has been designed, after wide and unprecedented consultations by the Minister of Finance, to bring the debt back under control within four years, so the province will no longer be haunted by a debt whose interest must be paid every year at all costs, but at unpredictable rates dependent on the vagaries of the world economy.

To eliminate this debt, the province will begin by reversing the two-per-cent HST cut by the federal government, and government departments have been asked to find savings in their existing budgets. Over the next four years, every dollar of increased provincial revenue will be matched by three dollars of provincial savings. It won’t be painless, but at the end of it, we in NS will be masters of our own destiny in a way that’s been impossible for a long time.

In the meantime, there are obligations, but also opportunities. The budget supports an Innovation Fund to help government departments take advantage of technology to save money and energy; this is the kind of investment that will pay dividends long into the future.

Despite the constraints imposed by being one of the most debt-ridden provinces in Canada, NS has made real legislative progress.

I am pleased to be part of the government which has finally established a public process for establishing and administering the expenses of representation. The legislature’s Internal Economy Board has been replaced by a new, and more transparent Management Board,and the public will finally know how, and why, money is spent running the legislative process. I hope it means Nova Scotians can feel a renewed sense of ownership, and pride, in the governing of this province.

I’m also proud to be part of the government which has finally banned the cosmetic use of pesticides. A ban has been long debated, in the face of overwheming evidence that pesticides damage not only dandelions, but human beings. (Most recently, there is even a suggestion that pesticide exposure may be related to an apparent epidemic of attention deficit disorder in young children).The ban on sale and
use of non-essential pesticides (on lawns and ornamental plants) will be phased in beginning next year.

The province has also announced aggressive new targets for renewable energy, requiring 40 per cent of electricity to come from non-fossil fuel sources by 2020, and is working on a broad portfolio of energy
sources: wind, tidal, biomass, solar and geothermal.

One of the most interesting initiatives, from my point of view, is the provincial commitment to help South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering turn the huge, abandoned TrentonWorks factory into Daewoo’s North American base for producing wind turbine parts. This puts our province at the heart of wind energy production on this continent.

Further, the $25-million Manufacturing and Processing Investment Credit should serve to foster innovation and productivity all around the province. (And I hope that our own Brenton Gray’s boatyard, recently purchased by Canadian Marine Engineering, will be a big part of a renewed emphasis on manufacturing here).

NS has taken advantage of federal infrastructure money (the ‘economic stimulus’ package designed to create work in a time of recession), in a variety of ways. A $710-million investment should produce about 7000 person-years of work, and $300 million in new tax revenue, but equally important, these projects will build and repair roads, bridges, ferries, schools, hospitals and housing, and enhance energy efficiency in many existing provincial government buildings.

I was delighted last week that Halifax Atlantic was the scene of an announcement of $14 million joint provincial-federal investment for affordable housing in HRM. Out of this, $3 million will build a new Ida Mae Marriott manor on Lyons Avenue, with 18 units for low-income seniors and three for persons with disabilities, while another $5.9 million is being spent on improving roofs, siding, windows, doors and kitchens for the 246 units at Greystone. (The remaining $5 million will be spent on 950 other units around HRM).

Broader initiatives include an Affordable Living Tax Credit, of $53 million this year alone, eliminating provincial income tax for 18,000 lower-income seniors receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement, and a poverty reduction credit to help about 15,000 low-income Nova Scotians, And, although HST may be higher, it’s on a narrower range of items; there is no provincial HST on necessities like children’s clothing, shoes, diapers and feminine hygiene products, and of course, home heating.

Like the province as a whole, the Public Service Superannuation Pan has been threatened by its indebtedness. There are 7 retired pensioners for every 10 employees currently paying into the plan, and that ratio is dropping steadily, with 2000 people now eligible to retire,and 4000 more by 2015. That means the plan can only pay 69% of its obligations, and borrows to pay the rest, at about $100 million/year interest. By stabilizing indexing for the next five years, at a guaranteed 1.5%, whether or not inflation occurs (as it did not last year), the plan can secure better borrowing rates and, with with limits to future pension plans, should return to fully funded status this year.

There have been many other legislative initiatives, large and small, but I believe we are working to a new, more sustainable future for this province, and for Halifax Atlantic. The only way to ensure that though, is by citizens letting their representatives know how things are going. I hope you will do just that as the new government moves forward.

« Previous Article
Doctors Nova Scotia