By Kendall Worth
My regular readers know that in this BLOG, I report regularly on poverty-related issues in Halifax, rooted in the concerns – and first voices – of those who live in poverty. This is Year 6 of my blog, - and prior to that I was a journalist for the Nova Scotia Advocate, an online paper that closed in 2021 upon the passing of its publisher and editor, the remarkable Robert Devet.
These
are very difficult economic times for the community I advocate for, and many
are struggling to make ends meet. These struggles will only get more
challenging given that our Provincial Government seems committed to passing an
austerity budget which will cut funding to many programs and organizations that
provide important supports and services.
I have addressed these issues in two recent blogs: here, where I first discuss the nature of the cuts being put on the table, and here, where I call upon the Federal Government to help make up the shortfall in the Provincial budget.
The Government’s determination to CUT current spending means that the proposed solutions I presented at the start of 2026 on the need to improve and expand programs for marginalised and vulnerable groups now seem even less likely than ever to be adopted. I have made an effort to frame my proposals as a logical continuation of the ESIA (Employment Support and Income Assistance) Transformation process which had been launched in 2013 as a process to reform the provinces approach to “welfare” programs. But this ambition was scrapped in 2021, when the new Houston Government came into office.
The
three specific proposals I made for 2026 were:
·
introduction
of a Basic Guaranteed Income program,
·
launching of a Social
Prescribing Organization, and
·
overhaul of the provincial Career Seek program.
All three of these proposals now seem “dead on arrival”, given the current commitment to austerity and cutbacks that we have heard from the Premier and his Ministers.
Pushing Back against Austerity
It has been good to see that many of the different communities that have been impacted most directly by the proposed cuts have been actively organizing against and protesting these cuts. These have included the African Nova Scotian, Acadian and First Nation communities, groups from the arts, culture and heritage sectors as well as labour, conservation and environmental groups.
While members of my community are often the individuals MOST directly impacted by cutbacks in services and programs, we are not often seen at protests or rallies. This is due to three main reasons: many First Voices are scrambling each day just to meet their basic needs. They may well be standing in line at Food Banks or Soup Kitchens instead of joining protests. Furthermore, many in our community are living with mental health issues and so struggle to join large groups of people where this is constant noise and movement. Thirdly, our community lacks the sort of grassroots organization that could mobilize and support people to attend such events.
This is another reason that I use this BLOG to bring the voices of my community to the public, even if we are not often seen at these high visibility events of public protest and pushback.
The sad reality is that the numbers of people living in poverty will only increase in Nova Scotia, in response to these cutbacks. This will be particularly true once all the newly laid-off government workers use up their Employment Insurance benefits. Those of us already living in poverty will also see our standard of living and our quality of life both diminish as a wide range of support services are cut. Sooner than later, those line ups outside Food Banks and Soup Kitchens will grow steadily longer.
For our neighbours now destined to slip slowly from the security of a government pay check to life on our social safety net, there will be a serious economic reckoning ahead, as well as a sharp lifestyle change. Through this transition from waged job to EI to Income Assistance, the potential risks to personal mental health and well-being are considerable.
The contradiction is obvious to anyone who cares to look: just as the Provincial Government is cutting back support programs and services to those living in poverty, the demand for these same programs and services will increase dramatically.
Cutbacks are NEVER a path out of poverty!
Kendall
Worth is an award-winning anti-poverty activist who lives with disabilities and
tries to make ends meet on income assistance.
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