Susan Leblanc pushes government to commit to free birth control for all in N.S.

SUSAN LEBLANC: My question is for the Minister of Health and Wellness. For many Nova Scotians, the cost of birth control prevents them from accessing this basic form of health care. It’s estimated that one in three Nova Scotian workers do not have health benefits, and not all benefit plans offer equal coverage of the care. Insufficient access to birth control leads to worsened health, well-being, and socio-economic outcomes for patients, families, and communities. The minister has worked extensively as a health care provider. Does she find it acceptable that so many Nova Scotians can’t access this important medication?

HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON: Certainly, we’re looking at universal birth control over the last number of months. We know that there are a number of people, through Family Pharmacare, who can access birth control, providing that there is a medication component. I certainly know in the instance of IUDs, in order for those to be covered under Family Pharmacare, there does need to be a medicinal and hormonal component to that. We continue to look at ways to support Nova Scotians. We also know that through the Department of Community Services, as well, there’s free birth control available to those who meet the criteria. We are working all the time to cover things that are important to Nova Scotians, and we’ll continue to do that review.

SUSAN LEBLANC: The minister will know that there are gaps in providing contraception. Earlier this year, British Columbia became the first province to provide access to free prescription contraception.Nova Scotia needs to follow suit. It’s estimated that for every dollar spent on contraception access, there’s up to $90 in public savings. The Access Now Nova Scotia Coalition has called on government to urgently address this issue, supported by organizations like the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia College of Family Physicians, the Dalhousie Department of Pediatrics, the Dalhousie Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the North End Community Health Centre, and many others. I will table that list. Will the minister commit to ensuring that every Nova Scotian has access to no-cost contraception?

MICHELLE THOMPSON: Our Pharmacare Program is under incredible pressure, as we all know. Not only do we have advancing technologies and therapies, but we also know the costs of drugs are going up. As a department, we continue to look at what we’re best able to supply to Nova Scotians. We want to make sure we have things that are accessible to them and that are needed. There are always competing priorities, and we will continue to balance and look at those over the coming months. We will do what we can to support Nova Scotians.

Susan Leblanc asks minister why rent supplements keep being restricted

SUSAN LEBLANC: My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Last week, after changing the rent supplement program to no longer allow a statutory declaration in place of a lease, the minister told reporters that “it’s got to be quite rare that someone doesn’t have a lease.” I can table that. In fact, Speaker, it is not. For example, data from the CBRM shows that 6 per cent of rental agreements don’t have lease agreements and 28 per cent don’t have leases in rooming houses. I can table that. Given this information, will the minister reverse this policy change and allow statutory declarations in place of leases?

HON. JOHN LOHR: What in fact has happened is that before we made our change it was just routine. There was the option of one -provide a lease or provide a statutory declaration. We’ve changed the policy so that we require a lease but if there is not a lease available, we will accept a statutory declaration, if there are other corroborating documents along with that. We are not slamming the door on that, but we’re saying it’s not just a routine (a) or (b), one or the other. There needs to be more corroborating information with that statutory declaration.

SUSAN LEBLANC: This is new news and has not been shared, I think, with constituency offices or the public. This change that I just talked about comes on the heels of a slew of changes to the program that will make it harder for people to qualify but the government is being opaque about the details of the changes. The minister last week said that maybe a power bill could be used in place of a lease. Today he is saying a statutory declaration with corroborating documents. My office wasn’t given any of thisinformation or options. Nova Scotia Legal Aid staff lawyer Nora MacIntosh was given a $900 fee estimate when she simply tried to access the policies the department uses for the rent supplement program. I can table that. My question to the minister is: Why is the government so secretive about how to access this already restrictive program?

JOHN LOHR: What I can say is that we have one of the most successful rent supplement programs in the country. I’ve said this before in the House: When I meet with my other provincial counterparts, one of the questions they often ask federal ministers is, Can we use that money for something else? They’re not fully subscribed with their rent supplement program. We’re more than fully subscribed: We’re four times over. We’ve got a $52 million program -of which approximately $42 million is provincial money -in what was meant to be a cost-share program. I have raised that issue with the federal Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities. We need the feds to stepup more than that. That’s clear. We’re working hard on this program. We’re proud of the program we have.

Susan Leblanc asks minister to guarantee a roof for everyone sleeping outside

SUSAN LEBLANC: My question is for the Minister of Community Services. Last night, temperatures dipped to zero degrees, and there is snow forecast in many parts of the province this week. We don’t know where a Winter shelter will be in HRM, but we do know that it will only be 50 beds, not nearly enough to meet the needs of the hundreds of people facing Winter outdoors.Living outside in the Winter can be deadly. Why hasn’t this government put forward a plan to house every person in HRM this Winter? THE SPEAKER: The honourable Minister for Community Services.

HON. TREVOR BOUDREAU: Thank you to the member for the question. We recognize the urgency of temperatures dropping and homelessness here in the province certainly here in HRM, but also across the province. Absolutely, we are working hard with our partners, with HRM, to secure a location for this shelter. I also will take the opportunity to talk about the Pallet shelters that will be coming, 200 of them for across the province: 100 of them for here in HRM, as well as 100 more for the rest of Nova Scotia. We know the urgency, we sense it. We’re continuing to work with our partners, we know there’s more to do, and we’ll continue to do what we can.

SUSAN LEBLANC: Let’s do the math here. We’ve got 50 beds in a shelter. We’ve got 100 Pallet shelters somewhere else. Since this government was elected two years ago, the number of chronically homeless people in HRM alone has more than doubled as a result of its housing policies. There are now more than 1,000 people actively homeless in HRM, many of them in Dartmouth. The minister is referencing a number of things: sheds, tiny homes, shelters. They do not add up to a warm place indoors for every single person who needs one. When will the minister guarantee a roof for every person living outside this winter in Nova Scotia?

TREVOR BOUDREAU: We recognize that everyone deserves a safe place to live. Over the past two years, this government has made significant investments in supporting people who are experiencing homelessness. I think of a couple of innovative projects, including The Bridge, that has been quite successful, and The Overlook. Again, we have talked about the Palletshelters as well as the tiny homes. Just for some perspective: Over the last two years, 417 new supportive housing units have been created by this government. We know there’s more to do -we do know there’s more to do, and we’ll continue to do what we can to support our most vulnerable. THE SPEAKER: The honourable member for Halifax Atlantic.

Susan Leblanc Asks Housing Minister About Changes to Rent Supplement

This is my entire exchange with the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs regarding one of the many changes that his government has made to the rent supplement that is making the program less and less accessible to Nova Scotians.

SUSAN LEBLANC: My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Recently, when attempting to help a Nova Scotian get a rent supplement, my office learned that the program will no longer accept statutory declarations in place of a lease. In my community, and in many others across the province, there are countless reasons why someone might not have a lease, and it can be a lifeline to be able to get a statutory declaration in place of one. This change will mean that people could lose their homes. My question to the minister is: Why is the government so insistent on making it harder to find and keep a place to live?

HON. JOHN LOHR: I can say that we are in the process of tightening up some of our procedures, making them more in line with federal government procedures when dealing with programs that we put out. The reality is that we had people apply for rent supplements without a lease and then never end up renting. We had to tighten that whole process up. We recognize that it does make it a little bit harder, but certainly they are pre-approved for the rent supplement. They simply need to rent the apartment before we provide the money.

SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. It is impossible formany people to have a lease. Some people have rented for years and years and years and their lease is long gone. A statutory declaration was what they used -a legal document -to replace the lease. Now those are not being accepted. Our office was told: Due to policy changes, we are no longer accepting confirmation of occupancy forms or statutory declarations in lieu of leases. A caseworker will reach out to the client and let them know that they will need a full lease going forward. I will table that email. This comes on the heels of the supplement program’s eligibility being slashed from 30 per cent of a person’s income being spent on rent to 50 per cent before they qualify. This is very, very bad for many people. Even fewer people will qualify for rent supplements because of these changes. Will the minister reverse this very bad decision?

JOHN LOHR: The reality is we have one of the most robust and strongest rent supp programs in the country. I’ve said it before in the House: When I go to federal-provincial-territorial meetings, the other provinces are saying, We are not spending our Canada rent supp money, can we spend it on something else? We’re in the opposite position. We’re far exceeding the federal contribution, and we will continue to do that. We now have almost 8,000 people on rent supps, and we continue to invest further in rent supps, and recognize their importance in our province.

Susan LeBlanc asks why government is hiding data about emergency care crisis

SUSAN LEBLANC: My question is for the Minister of Health and Wellness. Every day in this province, ambulances and patients are tied up, waiting dangerously long times, to be off-loaded at the hospital. On a recent Tuesday evening, I was told that 17 paramedics were at the QEII waiting to off-load patients. In her report on this issue, the Auditor General said, “We recommend the Department of Health and Wellness publicly report weekly ground ambulance response times by community and offload times by hospital.” I can table that. Presumably the minister has this information. Will she commit to reporting it weekly?

HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON: Certainly we are very committed to be a transparent government that reports on a variety of metrics, and I would point the member opposite to Action for Health. On a regular basis, not always weekly, but on a monthly or quarterly basis -sometimes annually, depending on the metric -we do post information there so that Nova Scotians can see how the system is performing. Not alwaysare those the best outcomes that we’d like, and those are the places where we focus the most, so I would say that we are very transparent. We are very committed to being transparent with Nova Scotians. We continue to work with the provider as well as the Nova Scotia Health Authority around off-load times as well as other metrics. I would point the member to the Action for Health website.

SUSAN LEBLANC: The current standard says that an ambulance that arrives at an emergency room should be able off-load the patient in 30 minutes or less. The government’s most recent public data show that for the week of October 1st, in the Western Zone, the average off-load time was 88 minutes. In the Northern Zone, it was 92 minutes. In the Central Zone, it was 139 minutes, and in the Eastern Zone, it was a 150-minute average -an average wait for thepatient to be off-loaded into the emergency department and the paramedic to get back on the road which is five times longer than the standard. But when it comes to what is happening at each individual hospital, people are left in the dark. So why is the government hiding this data?

MICHELLE THOMPSON: Certainly, there is no attempt to hide any information at all whatsoever. We’re not trying to hide it at all. In fact, we’re the first government that has an Action for Health website that actually shows the data for what’s happening in the health care system. What happened is we’re working very hard across this province. We have a number of places where the off-load times are meeting standards. We look at places like the Aberdeen Hospital, we look at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital, and we look at all ofthese hospitals and we take what’s happening there, and we scale it as best we can. There is nobody taking their foot off the gas in terms of response time. We are under-bedded in this province, in long-term care and in the hospitals, and have been for decades. We also need to increase staffing. So there’s a ton of work that’s happening around off-load times.

Susan Leblanc on ER closures leaving Nova Scotians without care they need

SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, my question is also for the Minister of Health and Wellness. This week alone, there have been announcements for emergency room closures at Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital, North Cumberland Memorial Hospital, All Saints Springhill Hospital, Queen’s General Hospital, Eastern Memorial Hospital, Digby General Hospital, Glace Bay Hospital, and Strait Richmond Hospital. Does the minister find it acceptable that Nova Scotians in these communities are regularly left without an open emergency room in their area?

HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON: I will say, as I said a few minutes earlier, the biggest challenges that we’re facing are our capacity in terms of beds, but also in terms of our health care workforce. We know particularly that there is a nursing shortage across this province. We have been working very, very hard. We have increased the number of seats. We’re working with the Collegeof Registered Nurses to bring in internationally educated nurses. We’re doing a very intentional program in order to train and bring nurses into our health care system so that they’re able to care for communities. We’re looking and working with people in the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration to ensure that internationally educated nurses are settled and transitioned to communities in a very meaningful way. It is going to take time, but certainly we have seen an incredible amount of action and investment in health care since we’ve formed government.

SUSAN LEBLANC: ER closures cause crowding and long waits at regional hospitals as people travel further for care and cause massive stress and delays on paramedics. A FOIPOP filed by our caucus shows that the number of people leaving ERs without being seen continues to go up and up. It has increased again by 24 per cent this year. I can table that. This government promised to fix health care, but to the Nova Scotians facing emergency room closures and lengthy wait times, this just isn’t the case. Yes, it takes time, but Nova Scotians can’t wait any longer. When will the conditions in emergency rooms improve?

MICHELLE THOMPSON: Things are improving. I would draw attention to the Patient Access to Care Act, and the work that’s done with the college: 18,000 nurses have applied to come and live in Nova Scotia -a bill, I might add, that the NDP voted against when they were on the floor of this House. Here we are -we have just settled a new contract with nurses, and we have just settled a new contract with physicians. We are becoming a destination for health care workers around the world, as evidenced by the number of people who are coming here. They don’t want to look at the things that are going well. Ican assure you that we are investing. We are working our tails off to make sure that Nova Scotians have the health care they need and deserve, which was never a priority under the two previous governments.

Susan Leblanc asks why a government shelter has empty rooms in a housing crisis

SUSAN LEBLANC: My question is for the Minister of Health and Wellness. Last week, it was reported that three-quarters of the rooms on the health care floor of The Bridge shelter are sitting vacant. Meanwhile there are hundreds of people experiencing chronic homelessness in Halifax, many of them with serious health issues. We know there are staffing issues at The Bridge and across the whole health care system, but how is it possible that this government is allowing shelter beds to sit empty in the middle of a housing crisis?

HON MICHELLE THOMPSON: We are in a partnership with the Department of Community Services with The Bridge to support individuals experiencing homelessness and who may need health care. Our portion of The Bridge is to look at those folks who need a space to get community-based health care. We look at the ability to prescribe periods of time where people can be sheltered to get that care and make sure it’s safe for both the individual receiving care, as well as the person who is delivering care. We continue towork with our partners in HRM to make sure that those spots for people requiring health care at The Bridge are used appropriately.

SUSAN LEBLANC: That sounds excellent. That sounds great. That’s exactly what we thought that that part of The Bridge shelter was for, and yet three-quarters of it is sitting empty. Meanwhile, there are people on the streets with severe health problems -people who are being released from emergency departments out into homelessness again, instead of to that area. A spokesperson from the Nova Scotia Health Authority stated that on any given day, there are multiple homeless community members who are identified as people who would benefit from intake on this floor. I can table that. Despite this fact, there are already more names on the floor’s wait-list than there are rooms. People awaiting surgery, people using wheelchairs are living rough in this province. How does the minister plan for all these people to be safely and appropriately housed before Winter?

MICHELLE THOMPSON:As I said, we work across departments to find solutions for individuals based on their circumstances. The Bridge is used for people who require short-term care in community, who are experiencing homelessness. Unfortunately, it is not a long-term housing situation for them, but we do work with our allied health care professionals, such as social workers and other individuals in the health care system, to support transition to community for those who need additional support.

Susan Leblanc Asks Housing Minister about Keeping Ocean Breeze Affordable

On the first day of the Nova Scotia Legislature I asked Housing Minister John Lohr how it is possible that his government didn’t reach out to the new developers of Ocean Breeze - traditionally affordable housing to over 1, 000 people - to ensure that it stayed affordable and people did not become homeless?

Full exchange:

SUSAN LEBLANC: Madame Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Earlier this Summer, the first eviction notices were distributed to tenants of Ocean Breeze, a traditionally affordable housing complex in Dartmouth North that is home to over 1,000 residents. You would think that the sale of such a significant piece of real estate would be of interest to a government that wants to protect affordable housing, but FOIPOP shows no records of correspondence between the department and the new owner. I can table that. In the midst of an affordable housing crisis, how is it possible that the minister didn’t even reach out to the new developer to make sure that Ocean Breeze residents don’t become homeless during this redevelopment?

HON. JOHN LOHR: Madame Speaker, I will say to the member that we have a public-facing part of our department, and our senior staff interact with many different entities -not only developers, but not-for-profits, community housing groups, many different groups, but the way this works is they approach us. If we didn’t interact with them, they didn’t approach us. That’s the reality. We don’t go out and approach groups. They come in and they approach us. That’s how we do it, and we react to that. They come to us looking for information on programs or whatever. This is how this takes place. If we have no record of having communication with them, they didn’t ask for communication. All of our information is readily available online, how to connect with us.

SUSAN LEBLANC: With all due respect, Speaker, a government that is all about action on housing seems to have a strange way of approaching that action when they’re waiting for people to come to us -sitting back and waiting. The developer has been clear that it is open to working with this government to try to maintain affordable housing at Ocean Breeze. After the government didn’t act on an opportunity to purchase the site, we were hopeful that the government would step in to make sure that the housing remains affordable, but FOIPOP documents also show that no funding agreements between the government and the new owners of Ocean Breeze exist. Will the minister make a clear commitment that there will be no net loss of affordable housing due to the redevelopment of Ocean Breeze?

JOHN LOHR: Again, I will say that this is a private development. We will interact if we are asked to interact. I can tell you that we are spending an unprecedented amount of money to preserve affordable housing. One of the examples I will give you is CHAP, which has gotten national recognition, where we have a Community Housing Acquisition Program to enable not-for-profits to purchase. That has preserved and saved hundreds and hundreds of units. We continue to work in this space. We’ve put almost $300 million into housing this year. We will continue to do that. We will continue to build up community housing and not-for-profit housing, which is something that the Affordable Housing Commission report identified as very weak in Nova Scotia. As I’ve said, we’re continuing to do an unprecedented step -a historic step of building public housing units in Nova Scotia. As I’ve said, we’re continuing to do an unprecedented step, a historic step, of building public housing units in Nova Scotia.

Anti 2SLGBTQIA+ Hate and Laws

On March 23 I rose in the Nova Scotia Legislature to give the following statement on the rise of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hate and laws:

I rise to draw attention to the spate of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ laws that are being put forth and passed in countries around the world.

In the U.S., there are a frightening variety of laws targeting trans people and drag performers. Uganda has just passed legislation criminalizing identifying as LGBTQ+. Russia has banned sharing information on LGBTQ+ identities. These are just a few examples. It’s important, though, that we in Atlantic Canada not think we are beyond this kind of discrimination - there is hate here too. Most recently, organizers of the Little Rainbow event in support of rainbow refugees were the target of online hate, and a Moncton drag story time garnered protests.

I call on this House today to recommit to passing and strengthening laws that will protect, serve, support, and empower 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and communities in this province. 2SLGBTQIA+ rights are human rights.

Susan Leblanc Questions Houston Government on Heating Help

The income threshold and the refunds given out under the Heating Assistance Rebate Program have not changed in almost 15 years. Recently I asked the Houston government If they would raise the income threshold and the refunds under the program to allow more people to qualify in the @nslegislature. Below is our exchange:

SUSAN LEBLANC: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. The Heating Assistance Rebate Program is designed to help people with the cost of heating their homes, but the income thresholds and the refunds given out under the program - between $100 and $200 - haven’t changed in almost 15 years. The price of furnace oil hit $1.98.4 cents per litre in Halifax last week and it has gone up about 30 cents since October. Dan McTeague, the President of Canadians for Affordable Energy, says; “I’m not so sure we’re not going to see incidents of people literally freezing this winter.” Will the Premier raise the income thresholds and the refunds under the Heating Assistance Rebate Program to allow more people to qualify for the program?

HON. COLTON LEBLANC: I certainly understand the hardships that Nova Scotians are feeling at the price at the pumps and when it comes to heating their homes with home heating oil. The member is correct: that program did open up earlier this week, with up to $200 for eligible Nova Scotians. We continuously look at ways to improve this program, Mr. Speaker. Again, on this side of the House, we’re very concerned about the impacts of what’s going to happen with the Liberal carbon tax and call on members opposite to join in opposing the federal carbon tax.

SUSAN LEBLANC: I thank the minister for that answer. I will say simply that if you are concerned, then you can do what I’m suggesting in this question and that is raise the threshold for this program because that is in your control. Mr. Speaker, people cannot afford their bills. A Wolfville woman contacted us to say, simply put, a 10 per cent increase in energy costs would likely leave me homeless. I could not afford another apartment. There is no amount of cutting back or efficiency that could close the gap. I’ve already made use of Efficiency Nova Scotia programs. I already use the food bank and I already keep the heat too low. I will ask again: Will the Premier or government expand the Heating Assistance Rebate Program?

COLTON LEBLANC: Mr. Speaker, we’re interested in targeted solutions and that’s why earlier this year we topped up the Heating Assistance Rebate program. All options are on the table. We’re considering what we have to do to support Nova Scotians. Improvements to the program ensure that Nova Scotians were getting the money quicker into their pockets through direct deposit. I’d like to remind the member we did create the Seniors Care Grant and there are actually provisions under that grant now - up to $250 for home heating oil - and I encourage her to remind her constituents about that.