Society & Government platforms

Here's what the candidates in Cole Harbour-Dartmouth, and their parties, are promising.

Child welfare and children in care

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Liberal

  • Introduce a retirement saving plan for foster families, providing financial support to foster families after age 65

    "A Nova Scotia Liberal government will introduce a retirement saving plan for foster families, providing financial support to foster families, after age 65, to ensure they can afford the cost of living after their many years of service caring for our most vulnerable. These families give so much to our province and we have a responsibility to ensure they receive the support they need." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

We don't have any NDP policies on Child welfare and children in care.
We don't have any PC policies on Child welfare and children in care.

Domestic abuse and gender-based violence

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Liberal

  • Create an office in the Department of Health to take a public health approach towards preventing intimate partner violence

    "A Nova Scotia Liberal government will expand initiatives detailed by the Mass Casualty Commission to put a stop to the epidemic of intimate partner violence. We’ll create an office in the Department of Health to work closely with groups across the province to take a public health approach towards preventing intimate partner violence." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

  • Replace the $4M the federal government used to provided to women's shelters

    "We’ll begin by directly replacing the approximately $4M that the federal government is no longer providing to women’s shelters in Nova Scotia. This is money that saves lives and provides housing and opportunities to women and children fleeing domestic violence. We have a moral obligation to restore that funding." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

NDP

  • Fund organisations that fight intimate partner violence
  • Ensure access to trauma-informed counselling for all survivors of sexualised violence
We don't have any PC policies on Domestic abuse and gender-based violence.

Elections and democratic engagement

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Liberal

  • Implement proportional representation

    "Our province needs electoral reform to make sure that politicians are accountable to the people and our system reflects the society we live in. A Nova Scotia Liberal government will amend the Elections Act to implement a moderate proportional representation model that maintains strong regional representation. We will appoint an expert commission to determine the details of the plan and ensure that our electoral system maintains the protected representation of Acadians and African Nova Scotians." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

  • Require any governing party that calls an early election to pay a $250,000 fine

    "Nova Scotians expect their politicians to follow the law, including the fixed election date. A Nova Scotia Liberal government will strengthen our fixed election date legislation so that any governing party that breaks that law to call an early election must pay a $250,000 fine." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

  • Require any governing party that calls an early election to pay a $250,000 fine
We don't have any NDP policies on Elections and democratic engagement.
We don't have any PC policies on Elections and democratic engagement.

Government budgets and spending

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Liberal

  • Pass a law requiring all provincial spending to be approved by the legislature
  • Review all non-approved spending by the current government
  • Provide $1.1M in additional funding to the Auditor General's office

    "A Nova Scotia Liberal government would provide $1.1M in additional funding to the Auditor General’s office. The Auditor General has indicated that this funding is necessary so the office can better examine healthcare-related spending." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

"Each year the Houston government has spent more than a billion dollars in out-of-budget spending, which was not voted on and approved by the legislature. As the Auditor General has said, this financial mismanagement is costing Nova Scotians—there’s absolutely no way to tell if we are getting the best value for this money. A Nova Scotia Liberal government will pass a law that requires all provincial spending to be approved by the legislature and will review all non-approved spending by the current government to save up to $828M a year." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

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We don't have any NDP policies on Government budgets and spending.
We don't have any PC policies on Government budgets and spending.

Government ethics and modernisation

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Liberal

  • Empanel a commission to make recommendations to improve government, the public service, municipalities, and the extended public service

    "In order to ensure that Nova Scotians are getting the best from their government, a Nova Scotia Liberal government would empanel a Commission on 21st Century Governance to examine and make recommendations to improve all branches of government, the public service, municipalities, the extended public sector, service delivery, program management, digitization, and AI preparedness." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

  • Allow all provincial staff to work from home or a hybrid setting if their position allows

    "A Nova Scotia Liberal government will allow all provincial staff to work from home or work in a hybrid setting if their position allows, which will improve work conditions, save the government money on office rent, reduce congestion in Halifax, and provide more opportunities to those that live in rural areas." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

  • Create a Nova Scotia Ethics Commissioner

    "Many provinces in Canada have an ethics or integrity commissioner to ensure that legislators are behaving ethically, and public money is being spent responsibly. A Nova Scotia Liberal government would create an Ethics Commissioner position that would be responsible for ensuring ethical behaviour by politicians and public servants, and ensure that public money is being spent responsibly. This commissioner would be an officer of the Legislature and would be able to investigate actions and spending by MLAs, staff, and public servants to ensure they meet high standards of ethical behaviour. They would also proactively work to educate MLAs and prevent ethics issues before they happen." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

  • Give the Privacy Commissioner authority to enforce the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and make binding orders

    "Nova Scotia is the only province where the Privacy Commissioner can’t make binding orders on the government. A Nova Scotia Liberal government would give the Privacy Commissioner order- making authority by making them an official commissioner of the Legislature. This will allow the Privacy Commissioner to properly enforce Nova Scotia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, ensuring more transparency from our government." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

We don't have any NDP policies on Government ethics and modernisation.
We don't have any PC policies on Government ethics and modernisation.

Human rights

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We don't have any Liberal policies on Human rights.

NDP

  • Fully fund the 2SLGBTQIA Action Plan
We don't have any PC policies on Human rights.

Immigration

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Liberal

  • Focus immigration targets on bringing in professionals in critical areas, including healthcare, teaching, construction, and agriculture

    "We will ensure immigration targets are focused on growing the number of professionals we need in critical areas, including but not limited to:

    1. ʘ Physicians and healthcare professionals,
    2. ʘ Teachers and early-childhood educators,
    3. ʘ Construction workers and the skilled
    4. tradespeople, and
    5. ʘ Agriculture and aquaculture workers."

    Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

We don't have any NDP policies on Immigration.
We don't have any PC policies on Immigration.

Infrastructure

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Liberal

  • Invest in highway infrastructure

    "A Nova Scotia Liberal government will invest in critical highway infrastructure to increase safety on our highways, complete the 100-series highways, and improve the flow of goods and people around our province. Specifically, our priorities include making improvements to safety infrastructure across the province, completing controlled access highways on the 101 and 103, and ensuring proper exits on the 104." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

  • Build a new, six-lane bridge with active transportation infrastructure and bus lanes, to replace the MacKay Bridge

    "A Nova Scotia Liberal government would work with the Halifax Dartmouth Bridge Commission to build a new, six lane bridge with active transportation infrastructure and bus lanes to support rapid transit in Halifax. This will reduce congestion and protect the people and goods that travel that bridge every day." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

  • Enhance maintenance efforts for ditches and culverts in rural areas

    "A Nova Scotia Liberal government will invest in maintaining rural road infrastructure by enhancing maintenance efforts for ditches and culverts to keep our roads safe and protect private property." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

  • Expand cell service across the province, with a focus on highway corridors

    "If you are on a 100-series highway in Nova Scotia you should have reliable cell service. A Nova Scotia Liberal government will expand cell service across our province, starting along our highway corridors." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

  • Create a fund to build emergency access and connector roads in areas deemed high-risk

    "A Nova Scotia Liberal government will create a fund to build emergency access and connector roads in areas deemed high-risk by municipalities, emergency management officials, and other experts. We will make funding available to any community that completes the FireSmart Neighbourhood Recognition Program so they can implement safety improvements that will protect lives and property in cases of wildfires." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

We don't have any NDP policies on Infrastructure.
We don't have any PC policies on Infrastructure.

Justice system

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Liberal

  • Invest $4M in ongoing operational funding to expand youth programming for at-risk youth

    "Across the province, organizations like BGC Canada run youth programming that keep at-risk youth engaged, out of trouble, and out of our justice system. These programs save lives and save our justice system resources in the long run. A Nova Scotia Liberal government will invest $4M in ongoing operational funding to expand these programs and ensure that they can serve their communities." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

  • Ensure adequate funding for the criminal justice system

    "A Nova Scotia Liberal government will ensure adequate funding for the criminal justice system, which has fallen under neglect by this government and currently allows offenders to walk free without a trial over and over. We’ll hire the judges the system needs, and make targeted investments to get cases tried on time." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

  • Ban the misuse of NDAs in sexual assault and harassment cases

    "Too often, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are being used to silence victims and maintain the power imbalance. We will ensure that no Nova Scotian is forced to sign these agreements. A Nova Scotia Liberal government would ban the mis-use of NDAs in cases of sexual assault and harassment." — Better Deal for Nova Scotians, retrieved 2024-11-09

We don't have any NDP policies on Justice system.
We don't have any PC policies on Justice system.

Recreation

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Liberal

  • Improve 100 local trails and community recreation infrastructure projects
  • Remove the provincial HST from gym memberships
  • Run a pilot project for free recreation centre memberships
We don't have any NDP policies on Recreation.
We don't have any PC policies on Recreation.