Fresh off a majority government win, Nova Scotia’s Liberals tabled a budget that closely mirrors its pre-election spending plan.
The budget was first introduced in April, but died on the order paper when Premier Stephen McNeil pulled the plug on his government a few days later.
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A $19.1 million increase in departmental spending coupled with a cut in revenues and other adjustments lowered the projected surplus from $25.9 million in April to $21.3 million on Tuesday.
The biggest boost in spending came in health where the Liberals increased spending by 0.15 per cent – or $6.2 million. The extra money goes toward orthopedic surgeries, mental health care, take-home cancer medications and opioid addictions treatment.
Finance Minister Karen Casey said the budget “builds” on the earlier document, and fulfills Liberal promises to deliver back-to-back surpluses and lower taxes.
“We made some difficult, but necessary, decisions to live within our means. At the same time, government made key investments in communities across the province,” Casey said.
The September budget includes no additional money for family doctors and access to primary care, compared to the Liberals’ April spending plan.
Access to family doctors was a key campaign issue in the 2017 election. In 2013, the Liberals promised a doctor for every Nova Scotian, but the latest numbers from Statistics Canada suggest that 11 per cent of Nova Scotians over the age of 12 don’t have a regular health care provider.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority says more than 33,000 people are on the waitlist for a family doctor.
Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie pulled no punches, saying he was “pissed off” by a budget that in his view failed to live up to Liberal claims that the government had heard concerns on the campaign trail about a lack of doctors and long wait times.
“It’s very clear all of that was just lip service,” Baillie said.
NDP Leader Gary Burrill was equally dismissive of the government’s plan for health care.
Over the past two years, stagnant funding and delayed spending on health facilities has accompanied stories of bursting hospital pipes, shortages of family doctors and – over the past winter – a dying patient left to languish for over six hours in the hallway of an overcrowded emergency department.
“It’s a bit like they’ve brought a garden hose to a house fire,” Burrill said
In keeping with the April budget, the extra money to expand access to primary care sits at $6 million. The money will go toward hiring additional staff such as family practice nurses and nurse practitioners for collaborative care centres.
There are no estimates for how many new people will be hired, but the department says so far 12 positions have been posted.
Breaking down the budget numbers
Total department spending for this year sits at $9.5 billion and net debt is at $15 billion.
The projected net debt to GDP ratio for 2017-18 is 35.5 per cent, and the government says it’s on track to meet the One Nova Scotia goal of a ratio of 30 per cent or less by 2024.
Other increases in department spending from the April budget include $800,000 more for pre-primary programming and $200,000 for mental health support for the Cape Breton Victoria Regional School Board.
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An extra $1 million is going to Cape Breton University’s government grant and $3.5 million to Acadia University.
An extra $4.7 million is also going to the site preparations for the Queen’s Marque development on the Halifax waterfront. Government officials said the extra costs are for unexpected levels of contamination found on the former brownfield site.
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The total possible budget for the site preparations is now $9.45 million, but officials said that’s the upper limit for the construction.
Tax changes that will hit your pocket book
The budget includes the reintroduction of a long-promised tax break for low and middle income Nova Scotians.
The basic personal amount that’s deducted from personal income taxes will be increased on a sliding scale to a maximum of $3,000.
People earning less than $25,000 a year will now get to deduct a basic personal amount of $11,481. The basic personal deduction will decrease to $8,481 for those earning $75,000 or more a year.
The government estimates the change will mean 63,000 more Nova Scotians won’t have to pay personal income tax. The new rules will come into effect starting January 1, 2018.
Another tax change that was announced early in 2017 will also become law. The Liberals are increasing the small business tax threshold to $500,000 from $350,000.
The change will cost the province $13.9 million in revenue. It comes into effect retroactive to January 1, 2017.
-With files from The Canadian Press.