Province House Resumes on Tuesday July 26^th, 2022!

By: Kendall Worth!

Within the past few days, it was announced that the House of Assembly will be resuming on July 26^th, 2022. See: https://nslegislature.ca/about/news-and-notices

Premier Tim Houston is saying “Right now is not the time to increase MLA’s salaries” and the community-of-people-I-advocate-for is hoping that this is a sign that Tim Houston believes it is time to address inflation, and will see the need for raising the income assistance rates. 

 

From a day of protest org'd by a coalition of Halifax anti-poverty groups 2022

 

When the Tim Houston government first got elected, I wrote an article where I talked about how PC governments are Always Very Scary when they are in power. Lately, Some people I had been talking to are saying “We believe that Tim Houston called the house back in, saying that the reason for it is to debate a report from an independent panel. Independent panels are outside of government, and so their reports are not generally “debated”, or voted on. I suggest he is calling the House back in, just hoping to gain political popularity.”

I should also mention that this is also the way MLA Gary Burrill said he feels, in a conversation I had with him, one day last week, about Tim Houston calling the house to return on July 26^th. 

 

  In this article, I pointed out the following:

• Experiencing barriers to employment because of invisible and visible disabilities

• Living with mental health and addiction issues

• Income assistance in Nova Scotia not providing enough money for clients who have no choice in life but to depend on that system

Additionally, I made other points about how increasing the Income Assistance rates can help improve people’s mental health related anxiety, that they live with day to day. 

 

Image from: https://frac.org/hunger-poverty-america

No one knows what we can expect following the July 26^th sitting of the house. One major factor we have to consider is summer sittings of the house happen very rarely. However, in the view of people living in poverty, since Tim Houston said himself “right now is not the time to raise MLA salaries” now should be the time for Tim Houston, and his minister's, to look at poverty as a whole. After all it is clear that an income assistance recipient receives a lot less then what an MLA earns!! Income Assistance recipients want to see what Tim is saying as a sign that he will raise the Income Assistance rates during this upcoming sitting. Whatever happens is just going to be a wait and see thing.

I hope that during this upcoming sitting of the House, Tim Houston will look at poverty as a whole, and will include reviewing the increasing homeless population in Nova Scotia, which is as we know, becoming more and more of an issue.