Banook Paddles Up Campaign

I gave the following members statement on March 5:

Banook Canoe Club is a beloved institution in Dartmouth and has been for generations of athletes, families, and community members. If you’ve been along the shores of Lake Banook lately, you’ll notice that the canoe club is currently hoisted in the air and undergoing major renovations. The iconic red buildings have been showing signs of aging, are at risk of sliding into its namesake lake, and are not physically accessible to many with disabilities. To fund these ambitious and much-needed alterations, the canoe club launched the Paddles Up Capital Campaign, a $5 million capital campaign to breathe new life into BCC while respecting the building’s heritage. At this very moment, the Paddles Up campaign is running a raffle, which closes on March 8th for a $10,000 Micmac Mall shopping spree. I encourage everyone to support Banook Canoe Club’s revitalization efforts through the Paddles Up Capital Campaign and hope these efforts help ensure Banook Canoe Club is a vibrant part of our community for another 100 years and more.

Ceasefire now - jenn grant

I made the following members, statement in the Nova Scotia Legislature March 4, 2024:

On February 27th, local songbird Jenn Grant released an anthem that she wrote with her partner, Daniel Ledwell, called “Hello Everyone (Ceasefire Now).” The song, which calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, features over 35 musicians from across Canada, Ireland, and Australia, along with the voice of Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza The lyrics are haunting but also beautiful, reflecting on some of the horrific images we’ve seen coming out of Gaza and dreaming of a time in which Palestinian children will be free to dance. It ends with two familiar chants: “No one is free until everyone is free,” and “By the tens of millions, we are all Palestinians.” All proceeds of the streaming and purchasing of the song go directly to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, adding to the funds that Jenn previously raised from her paintings of several well-known Palestinian journalists. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jenn Grant and her collaborators for using music to call for what we all should be calling for: a ceasefire now.

IWK's Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic

SUSAN LEBLANC: I want to introduce a few people from the Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic at the IWK Health Centre who have joined us today. They’re over in the gallery opposite, and as I say their names, I’ll ask them to rise. Dr. Allanna Munro is an anaesthesiologist who specializes in chronic pelvic pain. Leah Pink is a nurse practitioner who works in the clinic. Linda MacEachern is a social worker who provides pain education and counselling at the clinic. Kathryn Hawkins is a pelvic floor physiotherapist who provides pain education and treatment in the clinic. Also working in the clinic but not present today are two gynecologists who specialize in endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain: Dr. Elizabeth Randle and Dr. Brigid Nee. Also, we would like to welcome today Maggie Archibald and Faith Lamoureux, who have shared their stories of accessing care for endometriosis in Nova Scotia. Of course, all of this is in light of the fact that today, March 1st, marks the beginning of the very first Endometriosis Awareness Month in Nova Scotia. I would like everyone to welcome our guests.

THE SPEAKER: Welcome, and thank you for being here and for all that you do. The honourable member for Dartmouth North. IWK CHRONIC PAIN CLINIC: IMPORTANT WORK -THANKS

SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, I rise today to recognize the work of the IWK Health Centre’s Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic. In 2021 the clinic opened, the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada, thanks to the hard work and advocacy of clinicians and the public. When it opened, nurse Leah Pink said: “Drawing on the expertise of multiple health care professionals and by using innovative strategies to provide care we will better meet the needs of this underserviced patient population.” This interdisciplinary care model is the gold standard. Endometriosis costs our medical system in ER visits and many often-unnecessary tests, due to a lack of understanding and the long delays people face in getting diagnosis and treatment. It also costs those who suffer from endometriosis in wages lost while unable to work, and time away from family and friends, and pain and money for physiotherapy, and other out-ofpocket expenses to manage chronic pain. Thanks to this clinic, more Nova Scotians have access to the treatment and support they need as well as qualified support. I ask the House to join me in thanking Dr. Allana Munro, Leah Pink, Linda MacEachern, Kathryn Hawkins, and their colleagues for their work in expanding badly needed endometriosis care in our province.

Government Must Fund More Midwives in Nova Scotia

SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, midwifery-led births account for only 5 per cent of total births in Nova Scotia, far below the national average of 14 per cent, and I can table that. This is a disservice for expectant mothers in Nova Scotia, given many positive health outcomes associated. Midwifery support leads to more natural births, a decrease in C-sections and surgical interventions, easier breastfeeding initiation, and it decreases the chance of having a pre-term birth. Not only does it take the stress off new moms, but it also takes stress off our hospitals. Does the Minister of Health and Wellness recognize the importance of midwifery care in our health care system?

HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON: I spoke about this yesterday in the Chamber. Certainly, midwives have a role to play in prenatal, obstetrical, and gynecological care. In fact, there are things that they can do around supporting women’s wellness. We have a couple of areas outside of the city. IWK has some midwives, and we do have some areas. It certainly is not easy to maintain the staffing complement in those areas. We’re also making sure that midwives are part of a team. We need to ensure that they have nurses who are around them. We need to make sure they have primary care physicians who do obstetrics. We need to make sure they have specialty services to support them. Yes, many deliveries are usual and regular, but we need to make sure that they have the infrastructure around them. We do continue to look at women’s health issues, and we’ll continue to assess the situation as we move forward.

SUSAN LEBLANC: As the minister’s response shows, it’s hard to ignore the benefits of midwives that they add to our health care system. Investment in midwives is simply a smart policy, yet there are only 16 funded positions and 3 practices in the province. Many communities across Nova Scotia, as the minister said, lack essential midwifery care. The budget yesterday was a missed opportunity for this government to address the critical shortage. Why is this government not investing in midwives? MICHELLE THOMPSON: Nova Scotians are not missing out on good, quality, excellent obstetrical and gynecological care in this province, and midwives are a part of that team, but they are not the only members on that team. We know that midwives play a role. We have 16 positions. To date, they have been very difficult to date to fill. We continue to work with Nova Scotia Health and IWK to better understand how to support them.

THE SPEAKER: Order. The time allotted for Oral Questions Put by Members to Ministers has expired.

Minister Must Give Auditor General Funding She Needs

SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board. The Auditor General’s budget request for increased funding for health audits was unanimously approved at a recent committee meeting. The idea of additional health auditors actually comes from this government’s election platform and the Health and Wellness Minister’s own mandate letter, but despite this committee’s approval, it is inexplicably missing from the budget. Can the minister explain why this election promise and mandate is going unfulfilled?

HON. ALLAN MACMASTER: Speaker, it’s not missing from the budget, and it’s not missing as a platform commitment unfulfilled either. The commitment has been fulfilled. We created this extra resource capacity for the Auditor General because we believe in the importance of auditing what’s happening in health care, because we want to see continuous improvement. We see the Auditor General’s Office as playing a role in that. We actually stuck to what we committed to in our election platform, and that office is now staffed as we had committed to in our election campaign.

SUSAN LEBLANC: The Auditor General was approved by the special committee for $1.1 million and received $200,000 extra this year. Last year, she asked for extra money and she got not nearly what she asked for. This is unreal, in the face of this government yesterday tabling a budget that again allocated its bulk of spending toward health care at a whopping $7.3 billion. (Applause) Yes, yes. Great, great. With this level of investment, and in the midst of the scandal that is the Hogan Court health hotel, it’s more important than ever to have the independent eyes of the Auditor General to ensure that the government is accountable and transparent in their health care spending. My question to the minister: If the minister believes his government’s spending is all above-board, why won’t he provide the funds to the Auditor General that she asks for?

ALLAN MACMASTER: No other government before has provided these resources to the Auditor General’s Office. That’s a fact. Nobody did it before. We’re open to doing it. We did it. We did what we said we would do in the election campaign. There are a lot of asks -believe me. We had well over another billion dollars of spending asks that we could have said yes to, but we said yes to a lot of things in the budget yesterday. One of them was further increases in the health budget, because that is our focus as a government, and there was something new: There was tax relief for Nova Scotians.

Cutting Off Power to Encampments

I gave the following member statement in the Nova Scotia Legislature on Friday, March 1, 2024:

Madame Speaker, everyone has a right to a warm, safe, and affordable place to live. In Nova Scotia, current market rents are not affordable for very many people. Tents are not warm, especially on days like today and when the power is cut off to them, and shelters are not homes. Since news that the tenting encampments were closing in HRM -or some of them -many people who have been living in tents in Halifax have migrated to Dartmouth North. On this morning, I’m thinking of the 25-plus dwellings on Green Road and the folks who are living in them. I want to take this moment to urge the new Minister of Community Services to take immediate action to make sure that everyone in our province has appropriate and adequate housing immediately.

Jason Skinner baseball mural

I gave the following member statements in the legislature on February 29, 2024:

Speaker, if you walk or roll near the Schultz Memorial Ball Diamond on Howe Street in North Dartmouth -as I often have done with my dog, Gregory Jack -you will see a beautiful new mural, Home Team2023, painted last Summer by Jason Skinner.

The mural is bright and brilliant, and portrays a strong sense of community through the depiction of a children’s local baseball team. It’s really beautiful, and is a wonderful addition to our community.

Jason Skinner lives in Dartmouth North and is a multi-disciplinary artist who creates murals, illustrations, oil paintings, and chalk art. He’s been creating public art for over 20 years. You may have seen his installation called 42 Seagulls at the new entrance to the Alderney Gate Public Library in downtown Dartmouth. Another one of Jason’s raised murals adorns a building on Blowers Street, and features various Haligonians walking, chatting, playing guitar, and more.

Public art like Jason’s simply makes our communities better. Dartmouth North is home to many talented artists, and I’m really glad that Jason is one of them.

Children and Foodbanks

I gave the following members statement on February 28, 2024:

At the beginning of 2024, the North Dartmouth Outreach Resource Centre Society, one of Dartmouth North’s local food banks, posted a sobering figure to its Facebook page. In 2023, the average number of children served by the food bank went up to 70 in 2023 from 31 in 2022. Even more sobering is that the average number of children served by the food bank in both 2021 and 2020 was 15. 

That means that today, the North Dartmouth Outreach Resource Centre alone is serving 55 more children than they were three years ago. They’re just one of the many food banks in Dartmouth North, and of course the province, that is serving the people bearing the brunt of the affordability crisis. Nova Scotia has the highest child poverty rate in Atlantic Canada, and approximately one in four kids in Nova Scotia don’t get enough to eat every day. There are so many things we can and must do to reduce and eliminate child poverty, some of which we have proposed in this Legislature. 

I hope that every member in this House can commit themselves this session to working toward a world where no family has to rely on a food bank to feed their children.

Dartmouth North Small Businesses of the Year

I made the following members statement in the Nova Scotia Legislature on February 28, 2024:

I am proud to say that this year, two of the five nominees for the Halifax Business Awards Small Business of the Year, Flenjor Foodsand Indigevisor, are located in Dartmouth North. Better still, I am excited to share that Flenjor Foods, the African food vendor with a location at Albro Lake and Wyse Roads, won the award in January.

When Business Voice magazine asked Flenjor what they were most proud of, they replied, their contribution to immigrant retention in this province. Being able to find food from your home country that you’re used to cooking, that your family has been cooking for generations, is a major factor in many people’s decisions to stay in Nova Scotia.

Indigevisor is a women-led business on Wyse Road that assists clients in creating a reconciliation action plan. When asked what they were most proud of, Indigevisortold Business Voice: “sparking systemic cultural change.”

I ask the House to join me in congratulating Indigevisor in their nomination for Small Business of the Year, and Flenjor Foods for bringing the award home.

Question to Minister: Why did gov pay developer’s tax bill on Hogan Court?

SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health and Wellness. In the Auditor General’s report on the Hogan Court hotel deal, it was revealed that the highly unusual and concerning transaction was negotiated with a developer who didn’t even own the property and then included $500,000 to cover the developer’s deed transfer tax after they bought and flipped the hotel to the Province. My question is -and I think we would all like to know this -why is the government paying this developer’s tax bill?

HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON: We continually talk about Hogan Court, and I’m so pleased to be able to stand up and talk about that first-in-the-province transition-to-care facility. This is a monumental change. I can appreciate that they’ve . . . (interruption).

THE SPEAKER: Order. We’re all a little bit too loud in here today. We’re going to start again. The honourable Minister of Health and Wellness.

HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON: Thank you. I’d like to thank the members opposite for just helping me prompt my response there. I might have missed that opportunity if they hadn’t said something. We are really pleased with this development. There was a right of first refusal that informed how we proceeded with the project. We bought this facility so that we can get more care faster to Nova Scotians, particularly our seniors who are waiting in hospital. There are things we can absolutely learn from the Auditor General’s report. We have accepted them. Certainly the last Auditor General’s report had said that I was going too fast and doing too much, and I will take that any day over other . . .

SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, many may find it hard to believe, but despite spending a massive amount on this shell of a hotel, the government missed a pretty important part: the driveway. Shockingly, the government’s new overpriced hotel doesn’t even have road access. Instead, this government had to negotiate service and access agreements with the developer to make up for the omission. Why did the purchase of this hotel fail to include a driveway, and how much are we paying the developer for road access to our own building?

MICHELLE THOMPSON: If the only thing the member opposite can find wrong with Hogan Court is that it doesn’t have (interruption). The only thing we’re talking about today is a little driveway. I feel confident in our ability to put in an adequate driveway that will help families pick up their loved one and take them home after they receive excellent care in a transition-to-care facility.

Dartmouth North Mobile Food Market

I gave the following members statement in the Nova Scotia Legislature on February 27:

Speaker, people in Dartmouth North now have another option for buying low-cost produce. The Mobile Food Market has set up a permanent location in Saint Anthony Church at 26 Courtney Road.

The Mobile Food Market has transformed this space into a warm and welcoming spot. Tables are arranged in rows and on market days the produce is laid out in bins on the tables. Shoppers move up and down the rows, pick what they need, and pay at the cash register. The market is open each Tuesday from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and takes cash, credit and debit. There’s also an area to sit, have a cup of coffee or tea and a chat, and a kids’ corner with lots of fun activities for the little ones.

Since opening on January 23rd, there has been a consistent turnout of about 80 people each week.

As we see the cost of everything go up, especially groceries, the timing of this new market couldn’t be better. I ask the House to join me in extending congratulations and thanks to the Mobile Food Market for this much-needed service in Dartmouth North.

Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes Memorial Game

On February 27, I gave the following members statement in the Nova Scotia Legislature:

On February 17th I was in the stands at the RBC Centre in Burnside for the annual Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes Memorial Game. The game featured two all-Black teams representing the historic Amherst Royals and the Hammonds Plains Mossbacks.

This year, the teams were coached by two hockey giants: Bill Riley, the first Black Nova Scotian to play in the NHL, and former Team Canada player and Hockey Hall of Famer - the first woman to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame - Angela James. James lent her considerable talents to a youth hockey clinic before the game. The annual game was organized by the Black Ice Society, a Nova Scotia-based non-profit that recognizes and showcases Black achievement in sport.

Founded in 1895 and playing off and on until 1930, the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes consisted of 400 players of African descent on teams throughout the region. The league's maiden team was in fact the Dartmouth Jubilees.

In these last few days of African Heritage Month, I ask the House to join me in thanking the Black Ice Society for their efforts to ensure that the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes is not lost to history and congratulate all involved.

Susan Leblanc Asks Government About Careless Spending on Hogan Court

SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, the government’s approach of “going like hell” -and I’ll table that -has proven to be high-risk but not high-reward. In fact, care seems to be missing entirely from the government’s approach to health care spending. Carelessly handing out untendered contracts has resulted in out-of-control costs, and a decrease in the promised number of additional health care beds. My question for the Minister of Health and Wellness is: When will the government take responsibility for its poor decision on the Hogan Court project?

HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON: There have been historic investments to date with a new budget coming. We have made incredible decisions. We have made incredible investments -60,000 more primary care appointments per month. We’ve invested in 60 new and strengthened primary care clinics across this province. We are finally using pharmacists to the fullness of their scope, resulting in 95,000. We are working with seniors in long-term care with the Nova Scotia Health Authority to transition seniors in this province in a respectful way to appropriate places for them to recondition and finally get home. We have a new Cape Breton Medical Campus. We have a surgical wait-list that has reduced by 27 per cent since April 1, 2022. I have about six more pages . . .

SUSAN LEBLANC: Money is tight these days. Nova Scotians go to the grocery store and compare costs before deciding what items to buy because they understand the importance of getting value for what they are spending. On the other hand, this government -as we have heard from the Auditor General bought a $35 million hotel without even a proper appraisal. While many Nova Scotians are scrounging to save a few cents, the government is recklessly throwing around millions of dollars. Will the government apologize to Nova Scotians for taking such a careless approach to health care spending?

MICHELLE THOMPSON: What I really want Nova Scotians to know is that this is a government that fully invests in their health, in their wellness, and in their ability to transition, based on the stage of their life, to an appropriate place where they can live. We did not buy a hotel; we bought a transition-to-community facility. When you have people who are world-class clinicians -like Dr. Christine Short and Dr. Rockwood excited about the prospect of the ability to care for our elders in this type of environment, it is more than value for money. Nova Scotians should be very proud that this government has their shoulders to the wheel, and that we show every day how we value them, because nobody on that side did for the last 12 years.

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.