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Nova Scotia Votes 2003


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  Main > Indepth Features > Election promises
Voting Day August 05, 2003  
Indepth Features

 

Election promises
Terra Tailleur | CBC News Online | Updated July 15

Cheaper insurance, new schools, more doctors: during election campaigns, politicians make a lot of promises. We're keeping track of them throughout the 2003 Nova Scotia election campaign.

 

 
 

    The Progressive Conservatives promise to . . .

  • Guarantee the 10 per cent income tax cut takes effect Jan. 1, 2004

  • Increase the annual business limit under which the small business tax rate applies from $225,000 (2003-04) to $300,000 (2006-07), saving qualifying small business $11,000 a year

  • Increase funding for provincial highways (resurfacing and reconstruction) by 10 per cent over four years

  • Double the funding for rural road improvements from $10 million to $20 million by Year 4

  • Implement a five-year, $50-million, steel truss bridge replacement program

  • Establish a new Nova Scotia book publishers tax credit

  • Create a new program to assist farmers who develop three- to five-year business plans with technical and financial assistance. The program will allow for assessment and funding for a specified range of supports based on individual farm needs

  • Add at least 350 nurses and 100 doctors to the current roster. Train an additional 88 medical laboratory technologists over the next four years

  • Invest an extra $36.2 million over the next three years to cover the full medical costs of nursing home care and end all asset calculations for nursing home placement

  • Introduce a new low income drug assistance plan for diabetics without drug coverage. As resources allow, extend the program to low income Nova Scotians with other chronic diseases

  • Double the funding for the Office of Health Promotion

  • Provide a tax benefit starting at $150 per child to help offset the cost of registering children in sport or recreational activities that offer health dividends

  • Increase funding by an additional $1,000 per student by Year 4

  • Pilot a free preschool program for four-year-olds to prepare them for school. The first pilots will be targeted in areas where day-care access is limited and where school space is now available

  • Beginning in 2005, combined Primary-Grade 1 classes would have a maximum of 20 students or an additional non-teaching adult in the classroom. In 2006, all Grade 3 classes will have a maximum of 25 students. In 2007, all Grade 4 classes will have a maximum of 25 students

  • Provide at least one million more books, math tools, learn-ware packages and teaching resources by Year 4

  • Appoint Nova Scotia's first minister responsible for African-Nova Scotia Affairs

  • Reduce auto insurance by an average of at least 20 per cent by capping payouts for minor injuries at $2,500

  • Allow for a trial period for Sunday shopping six weeks prior to Christmas, followed by a province-wide plebiscite in the fall of 2004 to determine if Nova Scotians want Sunday shopping year-round

  • Deliver consecutive balanced budgets

  • Institute a multi-year plan to pay down the debt

 

 
 


    The New Democrats promise to . . .

  • Ensure the lowest and fairest car insurance rates by creating a government-owned, non-profit insurance plan

  • Immediately cover health-care costs in nursing homes. Introduce new income-based fees for room and board before the next provincial budget. Also end the financial assessment of seniors' assets at once

  • Introduce centralized wait lists to reduce waiting time for surgery and diagnostic tests

  • Remove the Harmonized Sales Tax on essentials such as home heating and children's medicine. Restore monitoring and enforcement to tackle HST fraud

  • Implement recommendations such as early assessment of learning needs, proper access to professional staff and resource teachers, the right class size for students' needs and a wide range of resource materials for teachers

  • Cover the increased operating costs of universities so they can freeze tuition fees. Introduce a debt relief plan that includes a loan remission program and upfront, needs-based grants for students

  • Balance the budget and reduce the economic burden of provincial government debt starting in Year 1. Cut the debt burden in half by 2020

 

 


    The Liberals promise to . . .
  • Stop adding to the debt starting in Year 1

  • Freeze user fees and taxes. End tax bracket creep (when you're pushed into a higher tax bracket even though your income rises with inflation) in Year 1

  • Put a cap of 25 students in all classes from Primary to Grade 9, to be phased in over three years

  • Add 500 new teachers and 100 resource teachers and educational assistants over three years to provide extra help in stressed classrooms

  • Implement a program for toddlers and preschool children to provide additional support to "at-risk" families who need help preparing their children for school

  • Reduce auto insurance rates by 15 per cent by introducing legislation to guarantee the cut. Also cap payouts for minor injuries

  • Put all provincial gas tax revenues toward roads, rail, air and port facilities by the end of Year 4

  • Devote 10 per cent of lottery ticket revenues ($5 million) to support sport and recreation programs and facilities

  • Allow Sunday shopping year-round starting right away. Ensure current employees will not be forced to work on Sundays and workers have adequate time off in a seven-day period

  • Cover the health care costs of seniors in nursing homes

  • Double the funding for the home heating fuel rebate to $2 million

  • Add $2 million to the program that helps seniors repair or renovate their homes

  • Set up a task force to review how the province assesses seniors' homes and property taxes

 

 

 

 

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