Nova Scotia election: Liberals promise new hospital in Annapolis Valley

HALIFAX — As the Nova Scotia election campaign headed into its final weekend, the Liberals promised to build a new hospital in the Annapolis Valley, and the NDP discussed their plan to give money back to homeowners and renters.

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said Friday that the new hospital, previously announced in his party’s platform, would be the first major health-care development in the Annapolis Valley in more than 20 years.

Without offering specifics, he said if the Liberals are elected to govern on Tuesday they would work with doctors, engineers and other health professionals to determine how to best meet the needs of the Annapolis region. The new hospital would cost the province $3 million up front, with the rest of the expenses to be determined after consultations, a party spokesperson said.

The Liberals have also committed to building or expanding 40 collaborative clinics across the province, beginning in areas that have the highest rates of people without access to primary care. The new and refurbished clinics would cost a total of $15.3 million each year for four years, the Liberals say.

The new hospital, coupled with the new clinics, “will connect Nova Scotians with the care they need and deserve, and will halt the skyrocketing doctor wait-list,” Churchill said at Liberal Party headquarters in Halifax.

Churchill also said his party would investigate the reasons for delays in the major redevelopment of the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.

Meanwhile in Cape Breton, the New Democrats announced their affordable homes rebate, which would give renters and homeowners with annual household incomes less than $70,000 an average of $900 per year. The program would cost $194.5 million per year over two years.

“Nova Scotians are feeling squeezed by the high cost of housing. Your home is the largest bill you have to cover every month. We know that times are tough right now, and that’s why we’re fighting for you,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said in a news release.

In the first year of an NDP government, they would double the Cape Breton Regional Municipality’s finance grant to $30 million, Chender said.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston had no public announcements scheduled on Friday and spent the day campaigning around the Halifax Regional Municipality and the Annapolis Valley.

At dissolution, the Progressive Conservatives held 34 seats in the 55-seat legislature and the Liberals held 14 seats, while the NDP had six and there was one Independent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2024.

— With files from Keith Doucette.

Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press