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Home > Spotlight > Nova Scotia
Provincial Election 2003 |
Party Election Platforms
There are a wide range of issues being contested in this election, including traditional
issues such as health care, education and government finances, as well as new issues
such as auto insurance and Sunday shopping.
John Hamm Official Website
Nova Scotia NDP Party Website
Nova Scotia Liberal Party Website
The following is a breakdown of each party’s platform by issue.
Health Care
Progressive Conservative Party
- Increase staffing levels, including 350 more nurses, 100 doctors, and 88 medical
laboratory technologists
- Cover the full medical costs of nursing home care
- Introduce a low-income drug assistance plan for diabetics without drug coverage
New Democratic Party
- Cover the full medical costs of nursing home care
- Introduce centralized wait lists to reduce waiting time for surgery and diagnostic
tests
Education
Progressive Conservative Party
- Increase funding by an additional $1,000 per student
- Pilot a free preschool program
- Place a cap on elementary school classroom sizes (the cap would vary according
to grade)
- Increase investment in books, math tools, learn-ware packages and teaching resources
New Democratic Party
- Increase funding and services in elementary and secondary schools, including early
assessment of learning needs, proper access to professional staff and resource teachers,
appropriate classroom sizes, and more resource materials for teachers
- Increase transfers to universities, freeze tuition costs, and introduce a debt
relief plan for post-secondary students.
Liberal Party
- Place a cap on classes sizes (25 students in all classes from primary to Grade
9)
- Increase staffing levels, including 500 new teachers, and 100 resource teachers
and educational assistants over three years
- Implement a program for preschool children to provide additional support to “at-risk”
families
Government Finances and Taxation
Progressive Conservative Party
- Deliver consecutive balanced budgets and introduce a multi-year debt payment plan
- 10 percent income tax cut
- Increase the annual business limit under which the small business tax rate applies
- Establish a new Nova Scotia book publishers tax credit
New Democratic Party
- Balance the budget and reduce the provincial debt by half by 2020
- Remove the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on essential goods and services, such as
home heating and children's medicine.
- Restore monitoring and enforcement to decrease HST fraud
Liberal Party
- Balance the budget
- Freeze user fees and taxes and end tax bracket creep
Auto Insurance
Progressive Conservative Party
- Reduce auto insurance by 20 percent by capping payouts for minor injuries
New Democratic Party
- Reduce auto insurance by creating a government-owned, non-profit insurance plan
Liberal Party
- Reduce auto insurance rates by 15 percent through legislation and capping payouts
for minor injuries
Other
Progressive Conservative Party
- The creation of a new farmer assistant program based on individual farm needs
- Allow for a trial period for Sunday shopping six weeks prior to Christmas, followed
by a province-wide plebiscite
- Infrastructure spending, including increase funding for provincial highways and
rural road improvements, and steel truss bridge replacement program
Liberal Party
- Provincial gas tax revenues towards spending on roads, rail, air and port facilities
- 10 percent of lottery ticket revenues to sport and recreation programs and facilities
- Allow Sunday shopping year-round, with protections for workers
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