Government Majority for NDP the people party
Monday, July 6th, 2009
NDP Leader Darrell Dexter unveiled $78.9-million worth of promises Tuesday for jobs, emergency rooms and wait times, students, seniors and roads.
www.peoplestandup.ca
His party’s commitment for jobs includes the creation of 2,200 positions through a manufacturers’ tax credit and a one-year program to rebate half the provincial sales tax on new home construction.
» SEE MORE election coverage
» Read our live blog on the NDP platform launch
The rebate program, which would be retroactive to May 1, 2009, would allow up to 1,500 participants and provide a rebate up to $7,000.
The party is pledging to increase renewable energy to 25 per cent by 2015, a move the NDP asserts will generate $3 million a year in corporate tax revenue.
On emergency rooms, the NDP are vowing to open 17 more beds at the Halifax Infirmary, create a $3 million fund to recruit more doctors for hard-to-fill shifts at emergency rooms, reduce paper work for family doctors and spend $1.5 million to bring in one additional nurse practitioner for each district health authority.
As well, the party promises to reduce surgery wait times by spending $1.3 million on pre-hab teams that would help make sure people are fit for surgery through physiotherapy, nutrition, weight loss and other measures.
Mr. Dexter said his party plans to keep more young people in Nova Scotia by providing up to $15,000 to university and college grads who stay in Nova Scotia. After graduation, students who settle in this province can apply for a tax rebate every year for six years.
The NDP said it would create 250 new spots at the Nova Scotia community college for in-demand jobs. The NDP pledge to add 250 child care spaces and start a program called Every Kid Counts to help parents.
A platform plank from the last provincial election — to take the eight per cent provincial portion of the HST off basic home electricty — reappeared in Tuesday’s platform. The tax removal, which would cost $28 million a year, would take effect on Oct. 1, 2009.
The MacDonald government had removed the eight per cent tax off all electricity, but last spring scaled back the rebate to only electricity used for heat.
The party said it would provide $1 million for 1,000 insulation grants for low-income home owners. It also calls for an independent review of auto insurance, but the platform does not include a call for public auto insurance, a previous NDP plank.
The NDP said it would increase by 50 per cent the budget for resurfacing rural roads and launch a five-year paving plan.
For seniors, Mr. Dexter said they would bring in $500 self-managed care allowances for up to 250 people and $1.5 million home adaptations funds. Nursing homes would get nurse practitioners and residents would not have to pay security deposits.
The NDP would shrink the provincial cabinet to 12 ministers from 18, and eliminate seven executive assistants, an estimated savings of about $850,000. It would spend $100,000 for a private sector accounting firm to conduct an independent review of “the true state” of the province’s finances.
Duration : 0:5:0
