An Open Letter to Premier Tim Houston and All Nova Scotia MLA's Weather you are Newley Elected on November 26th 2024, or Re-Elected

 By Kendall Worth

 

Dear Premier Tim Houston, and all  Nova Scotia MLA's'

 

 Hello, my name is Kendall Worth and I am writing today's letter for two purposes.  


 

First - I want to educate all the brand new elected MLAs  in Nova Scotia who won their seat in the November 26th, 2024 Provincial  Election. 

A few quick factors on what my BLOG is about include:

  •   Improvements in the Nova Scotia mental health system.
  •  Change in the Department of Community Services Employment Support and Income Assistance, and DSP  Programs.
  • For a Social prescription/Social Prescribing Organization to get up and running in Nova Scotia.
  • Solutions for the ongoing Housing Crises
  • Promote other Social issues that affect the day-to-day lives of those living in poverty.

What I specifically want to educate you about is, from the first voice perspective, what you need to know about the Employment Support and Income Assistance (ESIA) program in our province. I want to let all brand new elected MLAs know, that as your work as a Nova Scotia elected official, progresses, you will catch onto the fact that the ESIA program is offered through our Nova Scotia Department of Community Services. I want you to specifically draw your attention to the fact that,  under our previous Liberal Government,  from 2013 to 2021, an Employment Support and Income Assistance Transformation was started. Then,  when Tim Houston took over in 2021, the community I advocate for sw this change disappear.  I will talk more about this Transformation, presently. 

I want to let all brand new MLAs know,  that once you are sworn in and your constituency offices are open, I will be forwarding you my updated BLOG Posts VIA email.  In the meantime,  I invite you to educate yourself on what my BLOG is about. I want to let you all know that I was a regular Reporter and comment writer, for the Nova Scotia Advocate,  from 2013 till 2021 when it's editor passed away. The post I just linked will have all details of my past journalism and reporting. This post  expands on why my specialized writing had to continue following the folding of the Nova Scotia Advocate.     

Second, I want to ask Premier Tim Houston why he called the election at this time of year.   Premier Tim Houston called the snap election in November --  the month when people were making preparations for the upcoming holiday month of December. I believe the province should do something to compensate Nova Scotians.  As suggested in this open letter here, compensation especially for those on income assistance and living in poverty,  for the extra stress and anxiety added to their personal lives during November 2024. At present we are into the month of December and the fact that you called a snap election in November is increasing the normal anxiety, of those I advocate for, through the month of December that they already experience in normal years. I will explain why as this letter goes on.  

Tim Houston in in this post,  also linked above, I reminded you that in 2022 your government gave an extra $250.00 to income assistance in the month of December, but this did not repeat in 2023. There is a good case that this needs to be yearly allowance for income assistance recipients in the month of December. Making this a yearly allowance in December will have a positive impact on the community I advocate for through my BLOG. Also,  Tim Houston,  this election the voter turnout was down from 53.4% in 2021 to this year in 2024 only 45.0%. I would not be surprised if the reason for this low voter turn out was because people was busy getting ready to prepare to get into the Holiday Season.  

Anyway now to get into the needy/gritty of what this open letter is about. I think it is important to give a reminder of the positive changes that did occur throughout this whole time of ESIA transformation. 

 I ask all MLAs to take note that all of the above happened under the previous Liberal Government.  However,we have to remember thatwithin the first 3 years of the Tim Houston government, the PC's behaved like the ESIA Transformation was off the table. At the same time,  two positive changes did happen,  regarding ESIA,  under Tim Houston.   

However, whether we are talking about the changes that were made from 2013 till 2021 under the previous Liberal government, or talking about the more recent changes under the PC's, the Nova Scotia government needs to build on the work of changing the system,  which has already been started.

In Addition to increasing the Income Assistance Rates to a decent amount of money to live on after rent and bills are paid, there is other work that needs to happen to move the system forward. Despite all the positive changes which happened first,  under the former Steven Mac Neil Government from 2013 till 2021, then under the short lived Iain Rankin Government February 23rd till August 17th 2021, before Tim Houston became Premier in August 17th, 2021 - then despite the two and only positive changes that did happen under Tim Houston, there is a lot more work that need to be done to improve the system of Income Assistance. In Nova Scotia, we continue to have a system which negatively impacts the mental health, of people who no choice in life but to have to depend on the system to live. I mean things may sound like we have a system where money to live on is better, then it was in 2013 when the transformation first got called. 

However, it is all about other aspects of living on income assistance that affects the lives of us who live on Income assistance. I want to ask all new MLA's who are elected for the first time to please look at this link which contains a number of articles  posted in the now folded Nova Scotia Advocate.  These illustrate what changes to  Employment Support and Income Assistance was suppose to happen from 2013 till 2021 and which did not happen. In fact,  the former Liberal Government allowed the work of this ESIA transformation to move slow enough that it left a Mountain of Unfinished Business when Tim Houston first got elected.

There are 2 specific articles,  out of many in the now folded Nova Scotia Advocate I want to draw to your attention. First, in this article, the issue I bring up in this is that advocates who from 2013 till 2020 had a group called Benefits Reform Action Group which, as pointed out In this BLOG post, ceased it's existence in 2020 right when things reopened following COVID restrictions.  Sadly,  the group no longer exists,  but if you have a look at the various posts in this link,  the need for the BRAG group to exist has not gone away. One reason is tht mounbtin of unfinished business.   

 Throughout this ESIA Transformation there was a lot of demand for annual reviews to stop, especially for people with permanent disabilities. That did not happened, nor was it addressed, throughout transformation. In fact, Kelly Regan,  the Minister of Community Services at the time, said that there will be No End to Annual Reviews while the Liberals are in power. The Specific Issue is one of many that affects income assistance recipeints that Tim Houston did not even pay attention to,  during his first term in government.  

This Image will educate you  on what the Benefits Reform Action once was. Even though the group no longer exists, keeping this memory alive is important because it provides summary of the verious changes in ESIA the Group was fighting for.


 

For 2 examples of Unfinished Business, see here and here, relating to Special Diet allowance approvals.  

Under the current polices of Income Assistance, (and I include speaking for the 60% that did qualify for the $300.00 starting in April for the month of May 2024) not having enough money to live on and take take care of your mental health is only one thing the BRAG group was fighting for. Something-else that the BRAG group was fighting for was changes,  so that the Income Assistance system stopped encouraging Income Assistance recipients to stay lonely and isolated. 

 The group was also fighting to get rid of Section 6.1.8 of the Employment Support and Income Policy Manual.  I have written about the ins and outs of this section,  and why its a problem -- See here for Part#1 and See here for Part#2.  Both post point out the negative impacts which Income assistance program, has on Income Assistance clients. I also wrote about this in the Nova Scotia Advocate providing some general insight on why this is serious. Requiring caseworkers to apply this part of the manual,  when making decisions for income assistance recipients, who decide to live together,  needs to stop. Here is an article that points out how income assistance recipients could have been better supported during COVID lock-downs,  if the polices were different, before Covid. Those COVID Lock-Downs and with  Public Health Restrictions,  was a socially isolating time for those who are single. 

In this Article,  I reported on how 5 Couples, on income assistance, took their decision to live together in a romantic relationship and what happened as a result of reporting this. They tried the  Nova Scotia Human Right Commission but they did not accept it as a Human Rights Complaint.   

In closing, I just want to ask all of you whether you are a new MLA or a returning MLA in Nova Scotia,  to please keep reform of the Employment Support and Income Assistance Program on your Political Agendas. Also I look forward to meeting some of you in the future. 

Yours Truly,

 

Kendall Worth     
   


      

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