One Last Note on My Participation in Policy Development

By Kendall Worth

 

Today’s BLOG will wrap up the series of blogs in which I reflect on my participation in the recent policy convention of the Nova Scotia NDP.

My first BLOG on this topic made the case for increased political participation by members of our community – to ensure that the voices of the poor and disabled are heard in ALL political parties.  In the second BLOG , I wrote about one particular issue that was debated at the NS NDP Convention. This was a resolution concerning University funding which I had spoken to from the floor. Time for debate was limited so in my BLOG I explained why I had intervened on this issue, and what were the points I wanted to make.

In summary, I was making the case that universities and colleges are important economic drivers in many of our communities. And in many cases, university professors and their research can provide important data for policy-making with regards to the social policy issues that are being considered by Government and will affect our daily lives. I also noted that students can make important contributions to many community organizations that serve the poor and disabled in their capacities as interns or researchers. For example, I was recently told about Nutrition students from Mount Saint Vincent University serving work terms at Souls Harbour, which is great!

In this current BLOG, I will comment on some of the other resolutions that were presented by different constituency associations and Party working committees. There were over 90 resolutions presented for discussion, and while we only got through some on the Convention floor, all the others will be debated and considered for adoption at upcoming meetings of the Provincial Council. This is the mechanism that the NS NDP uses to build its policy platform for future election campaigns.

Reading through the package of this year’s resolutions, it was interesting to see the number and variety of issues that members think important to address. The resolutions were clustered into categories, like Health, Economy, Arts and Culture, Environment, etc.  Some were quite broad in scope, addressing big issues and committing the Party to enact policies and legislation when the NDP comes to power.

Other resolutions were much narrower and focused on one specific issue and made very specific recommendations. For example, there was a resolution (#74) on accessibility that focused entirely on air quality issues in meeting spaces. I was a little disappointed to see how narrowly “accessibility” was defined in that resolution, though it likely makes sense from the perspective of people who are immunocompromised or living with respiratory issues. As my regular readers will know, I consider the term “accessibility” to have a much wider meaning than just air quality, but all those other aspects would need to be addressed in other resolutions.

Highlights on other resolutions presented to Convention:  

Resolutions 25 and 29: On Reduction and Elimination of Poverty: These two resolutions provided a good overview of the issues that are most important to me. They noted that poverty rates in Nova Scotia are totally unacceptable, particularly given that we now have the highest child poverty rates in the country. The resolutions called for a comprehensive review of Income Assistance (IA) rates, which I have been advocating for over many years in my BLOG. 

I was pleased to see that the Resolutions addressed the need to protect Nova Scotians living in poverty from claw-backs with respect to different benefits. While one spoke specifically of NS Child Benefits, the other spoke more generally of the clawing back of all federal benefits. This is particularly of interest to me with regards to protection for Nova Scotians living with disabilities who are vulnerable to claw backs when they work seasonally and then receive short-term Employment Insurance through the summer months. I have discussed this issue in my BLOG here.

I was disappointed to see that the resolution did not address issues of IA processes and procedures which are often a HUGE nuisance and very problematic for clients of the system. The IA system needs a broad reform, not only raising the rates. For starters, we need a system that does away with the Annual Review process (as I have explained here)  and simplifies applications for special allowances like the Special Needs Allowances (as explained here).

The resolutions also do not directly address issues of mental health and social isolation that I see as central to the struggles of people in my community. Nor do they address the deeply unfair ESIA policy that punishes IA recipients for co-habitation. Perhaps it will be possible to add amendments to these resolutions when they come to the floor of the Provincial Council.

Overall, I do not think a piecemeal approach to reforming ESIA will be effective. I would encourage an NS NDP Government to re-start the ESIA Transformation process that was launched with much fanfare by the previous Liberal Government. Unfortunately, that Government dragged its feet on actually implementing any of the recommended changes. Then the whole Transformation process was killed by the new, incoming PC Government under Tim Houston. As my regular readers will know, I have written extensively on this issue, over many years.

Resolution 23 on Basic Guaranteed Income: I have addressed many times in my BLOG the need for Nova Scotia to introduce a comprehensive Basic Income program, to enable people living in poverty to live a life with some dignity, which is not currently possible on Income Assistance benefits, as I have argued here for many years.

Resolution 28: On Mixed Income Housing. This resolution focused on the financial benefits of mixed income housing, whereby one mixes both better-off and more vulnerable households in public housing projects, so that there is an effective financial subsidy that ensures the long-term financial sustainability of the project. That would indeed be helpful. But in my opinion, this resolution would have benefited from some recognition of the social dimensions of this approach to public housing, with regards to using public and shared spaces to build community and address issues of social isolation.

Some Points on Rural Nova Scotia:

In an effort to build support in rural Nova Scotia, the NS NDP has a Rural Issues Committee which looks at policy issues from a rural perspective. To date, they have addressed many sectors: health services, education, housing, etc. Some of these have been addressed in formal resolutions brought to Convention.

I would like to propose that the Committee also invest some time looking at the issue of living with a disability in a rural area. As someone originally from a rural community who has long since moved to HRM, I have to wonder how a person with a disability survives nowadays in small town – never mind truly rural – Nova Scotia.  (We should not forget that there are plenty of rural districts within HRM itself such as Musquodoboit Harbour.)

Obviously, not everyone wants to live in an urban area like Halifax, due to different factors like traffic, costs, etc. Many of us who have moved into HRM do not have happy memories of our time in rural Nova Scotia, which we may associate with estrangement, stigma and lack of services and support. I have written about this unhappy reality here and here.

But we are also aware of those we have left behind – persons with disabilities who continue to live and struggle in small rural communities across the province. We all know how difficult this can be, particularly with regard to access to programs specifically designed for persons with disabilities and mental health issues. Some basic issues like wheelchair accessibility and public transit which we take for granted in HRM just don’t exist in rural communities.  And there are additional issues like affordable, accessible housing that are particularly complicated in rural areas where the population is more dispersed.

It is for these reasons that I encourage the Rural Issues Committee to examine and address policy issues faced by persons with disabilities in rural Nova Scotia.

Conclusion: This concludes my series of BLOGs on my participation at the 2026 Policy Convention of the NS NDP.  Through this series, I have discussed various policy issues being addressed by the party through my lens as an advocate for an inclusive Nova Scotia that includes vulnerable Nova Scotians who may be living in poverty and struggling with disabilities and mental health issues. I encourage all members in my community to be engaged politically and to make sure that our voices and our concerns are heard by politicians from all parties.

 

Kendall Worth is an award-winning anti-poverty activist who lives with disabilities and tries to make ends meet on income assistance.