- Liberal Zach Churchill Opens Campaign With Elections NS Complaint, Fiery Words on Snap Writ Drop
By Avery Mullen
Nova Scotia Liberal Party leader Zach Churchill lambasted Progressive Conservative leader Tim Houston Sunday for calling an election while government-funded booklets promoting recent changes to the public health system are being mailed to members of the public, while also taking aim at the availability of the healthcare itself.
Speaking at his Downtown Halifax George Street campaign headquarters, Churchill said his party has filed a complaint with Elections Nova Scotia about the glossy, 21-page flyer that includes a letter from Houston and a reproduction of his signature. He also pledge to introduce a $250,000 fine for any government that calls a snap election, as the PCs have done.
Asked how he knows the mailers will continue arriving in Nova Scotian mailboxes this week in the wake of the writ drop, Churchill said the general precedent is for such materials to take a couple weeks to completely work their way through the mail system. The Notebook received the healthcare booklet, prominently featuring photos of Houston on Friday. The snap Nov 26th 2024 election was called on Sunday.
This 21-page booklet on the Houston government’s actions to address the healthcare crisis was mailed to Nova Scotians on Friday on the eve of an election call.
“We saw in particularly the North Preston by-election, that publicly-funded advertisements continue to progress into the election period, which isn’t allowed,” said Churchill. “And that went on until Elections Nova Scotia received a complaint from us, so we are trying to prevent that from happening again.”
The North Preston by-election was held last year when Liberal MLA Angela Simmonds stepped down, with Twila Grosse of the PCs going on to win the seat.
Premier Tim Houston’s photos appear in this healthcare 21-page booklet the Houston government mailed out to Nova Scotians on Friday – the timing is suspect because it was mailed on the eve of a NS election call.
“The Elections Act prohibits the transmission of election advertising using government means,” wrote Churchill in his letter to Chief Electoral Officer Dorothy Rice. “The 21-page brochure sent out by the Conservatives days before the snap election call clearly violates this section. … There is no guarantee that this will not be delivered during the writ, and in act, it is likely that it will be. Therefore, we are requesting that the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia disclose an accounting of how much money was spent and where.
“We ask that Elections Nova Scotia investigate this flagrant breach and require the Conservatives to pay for and report this advertising as an election expense.”
NS Liberal Leader Zach Churchill at his Grit campaign headquartered, surrounded by some of his candidates. An election has been called for Nov 26th 2024. (The Notebook).
Churchill also criticized Houston for the costs likely to be associated with the snap election, which taxpayers will have to bear a year sooner than they otherwise would have. Elections Nova Scotia has budgeted about $13 million this time around, he added.
“Today, he’s broken his very first promise to the people of Nova Scotia, his first law, and he’s spending taxpayer’s money unnecessarily,” said Churchill, referring to Bill 1, which amended the Elections Act to call for votes to be held on a fixed day in July every four years. “He said it himself, fixed election dates are important, and are better for the people. But he has called this election because he thinks it’s better for him.
“We support a fixed election date law, but it’s clear that in order for the law to be effective, it needs to have teeth.”
Zach Churchill, NS Liberal leader, officially kicked off his campaign on Sunday. He is flanked by some of his candidates. (The Notebook).
Discussing housing and the healthcare system, Churchill criticized Houston for sticking with his goal of doubling the provincial population to 2 million people by 2060, even as Ottawa has scaled back its immigration targets.
“The amount of doctors per capita in this province … is in freefall,” he said in response to a question from The Macdonald Notebook about the role of immigration in addressing healthcare and construction industry labour shortages.
“And so is housing per capita. So despite whatever the premier wants to say about bringing more doctors and building more housing, neither of those numbers are keeping up with his efforts to double the population. … If you look at the Department of Immigration and Labour, the province has nominated twice as many people as that department itself says it can accommodate.”
NS Liberal leader Zach Churchill. (The Notebook).
In 2023, the most recent period for which data is available, Nova Scotia nominated a total of 4,307 new immigrants to receive visas under the Provincial Nominee Program, including 34 physicians and just 14 “critical construction workers.” The largest category was “skilled workers,” which essentially refers to the knowledge economy and included 2,448 people last year.
