The Mental Health Coalition of Nova Scotia is committed to ensuring all candidates in this election have an understanding of the issues as they relate to mental health services in Nova Scotia. To see the letter that was sent to the parties and to read their responses, please visit this link. For more things to consider before placing a vote for a party or candidate, take a look at these important facts.
Discussion Points for the Provincial Election
Spring 2009
The Poverty working group is a multidiscipline group, with representation from all teams in Public Health. In 2008 one of our new strategic mandates launched was to address health inequities. In addition our organization works to promote the population health approach especially by addressing the #1 determinant of health – Income and Social Status (also known as Poverty). Although we work on poverty in the population we have a particular concern for poverty affecting children and youth.
The following points are meant as a guide you can use in talking to candidates in the current provincial election campaign. Please use these in-person conversations, phone calls, e-mails or if you attend candidate debates.
Collaboration: The impact and solution to poverty goes beyond the mandate of one department. Just as the health promotion and protection department must be involved so too must transportation, community services, justice, and education, to name but a few departments.
Will you and your party commit to creating a Poverty Reduction Act with tenants of the Act to include collaboration having all government departments work together on the comprehensive and legislated NS Poverty Reduction Strategy similar to those in Quebec and Ontario?
Affordable Housing: Housing is one of our basic and most costly necessities. There are many issues around affordable housing (dwellings costing less than 30% of before-tax household income) for low income Canadians, including those on social assistance. There is a great need for a Provincial Housing Strategy within the NS Poverty Reduction Strategy, but we need a provincial government that is committed to effective implementation and delivery of existing funding for housing.
What would your party do to effectively implement a housing strategy in Nova Scotia?
Will you and your party commit to the return of the Department of Housing to commit to a Provincial Housing Strategy?
Transportation: Transportation increases a person’s access to health, education, employment, and social opportunities.
If elected what priority would your government place on affordable, accessible transportation that will serve the needs of low-income Nova Scotians?
Support for Children and Families: Children living in poverty face limited opportunities and sometimes go hungry, yet children are poor because their parents are poor. We need to lift the incomes of parents living in poverty and provide better supports for children.
What position does your platform take on the following concerns that will have an impact on child and family poverty?
- Raising the minimum wage to a living wage
- Raising the NS Child Tax Benefit
- Eliminating the wage claw back for people on welfare to allow them to reach a living wage
- Universally accessible childcare and early learning system through daycares and Family Resource Centres
By The Canadian PressBold emphasis is mine.Nova Scotia's NDP has developed a plan it hopes would help reduce the rates of disease in the province, including cancer and diabetes.
Party leader Darrell Dexter says Nova Scotians have some of the worst chronic disease rates in the country, but he believes that trend can be stopped.
If elected on June 9th, Dexter says an NDP government would create a task force that would identify ways to help lower the rates of acute and chronic illnesses in the province.
The NDP is also promising to establish a council made up of representatives from health advocacy groups and the government that would award so-called healthy living grants.
Dexter says doctors in the province would also be encouraged to use a preventative care checklist developed by the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
Dexter says the NDP would work closely with doctors in the province and health organizations in implementing its plan, which would also tackle heart and lung disease as well as mental illness.
Ever wanted to put your question to the party leaders in an election debate?For further information, please click here.
Well, this is your chance to have one of your questions asked at the CBC-Chronicle Herald leaders debate on June 2.
Call, write, email, YouTube, Twitter or leave it on our Facebook page and possibly win a ticket to the event in Baddeck.
To call in your question, dial 902-426-2811, ext. 2009. Or email it to debates@herald.ca, or send it via Twitter and make sure to hashtag it #nsdebate #nselection. You can even record your question on video at EastLink locations May 26 to 28 between noon and 2 p.m.
Agencies agree with party’s proposals on mental health issues, tobacco taxesTo read the entire article, please click here.
By John McPhee, Health Reporter
Health organizations applauded some of the proposals in the Liberal party’s election platform released Thursday.
The Liberals say they’ll create a commission that will report directly to the health minister on mental health issues. The commission would include academics, professionals, clients and family members.That would be a good thing, said Carol Tooton [pictured], executive director of the Nova Scotia division of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
While there is a provincial mental health steering committee, it hasn’t met for a year, she said Thursday.
Ms. Tooton also agrees with the Liberals that the province falls short on mental health services.
"Absolutely," she said.
"The funding of mental health is less than four per cent of the total budget. And we have 20 per cent of our population who may be requiring those services."
