KJIPUKTUK (Halifax) – As we all know, on August 17th Nova Scotians elected a Progressive Conservative government this time around.
People in my community are concerned about this new government. “What is this new government going to do for people living in poverty and for people receiving social assistance,” they ask.
They are concerned because anytime we have ever had a PC government, they never expressed much interest in doing things like increasing income assistance rates or improving how the department of Community Services works.
As a matter of fact people tell me back in the days of the John Hamm government (which was also a PC government) things were pretty bad.
And we shall not forget this story I once wrote for the Nova Scotia Advocate: Kendall Worth on a bad idea: Hey Ho, MLA Larry Harrison has got to go! He believes Nova Scotia should hire people on income assistance to pick up garbage and cut brush along the highways.
Larry Harrison, who ran in the riding of Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, was re-elected.
We have to really keep our eyes peeled on who our next minister of Community Services is going to be. Hopefully not Larry Harrison!
Another mystery is whether Tim Houston will allow the ESIA transformation to continue?
Here is the most recent story I did on this transformation: Community Services transformation is getting back up. We wonder if that transformation will include the work-readiness assessments that were announced at one time. All we can hope for is for these assessments to be accurate instead of just something made up by some bureaucrats.
As well, Tim Houston has already said publicly that he is not in favour of rent control. This is also very concerning.
Wait and see, I guess. These are scary times!
Kendall Worth is an award-winning anti-poverty activist who lives with disabilities and tries to make ends meet on income assistance.
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The treatment of people in poverty was very bad under Premier John Buchanan and Minister of Social Services (as it was called then) Edmund Morris in the 1980s. My husband’s grandfather always said “Tory times are Hungry time.” I am also very nervous about what Tim Houston and his right wing government will do to those who of us who do not fit their ideals of what a human being should be. Great job Kendall!