Nova Scotians heading to the polls Nov. 26 after early election call
PC Leader Tim Houston turns his back on fixed election date he passed into law in 2021
Tim Houston has called a snap election to be held Nov. 26.
The Progressive Conservative leader is trying to win a second term, despite legislation he personally introduced three years ago that gave Nova Scotia a fixed election date of July 15, 2025.
Houston visited the lieutenant-governor Sunday to dissolve the current House.
Breaking from tradition, he did not take questions from reporters as he left the lieutenant-governor's residence. Houston then entered a blue bus with the message "Vote PC" on it.
Why Houston called an early election
At a rally Sunday afternoon in Bedford, Houston spoke about why an election needs to be held in advance of the fixed election date.
He said there are two reasons, one being the high cost of living. Houston said his party is ready to make significant investments to improve affordability and the housing crisis.
"But before we enact that plan, I feel it only right that Nova Scotians should have their say," said Houston.
He said the second reason to hold an election now is to ensure it won't conflict with a federal election.
NDP, Liberal, Green reaction
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Houston has broken promise after promise.
"What people need is for health care to actually improve, what people need is to be able to afford their homes, what people need is to be able to afford their lives and the premier has delivered on none of that, despite his big election promises," Chender said at a rally in Dartmouth.
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill criticized Houston's decision to call an early election, as well as a 21-page brochure the government sent out to Nova Scotians highlighting the party's work on health care.
Earlier this week, a Health Department spokesperson said the booklets were ordered in July as a way to better inform the public about the government's Action for Health plan. The cost to make them and mail them to 480,000 households was $158,000.
"Tim Houston cannot be allowed to continue to spend Nova Scotians' hard-earned money on his partisan playbook," Churchill said at a Liberal event.
"It certainly shows a lack of respect for voters, for taxpayers, and I do think it shows that he will do unethical things as long as he thinks he can get away with it."
Earlier Sunday, the party filed a complaint with the province's chief electoral officer over the brochure.
Green Party Leader Anthony Edmonds said he was disappointed Houston broke his promise of a fixed election date.
"Elections Nova Scotia has reported that an early election call will increase their costs," he wrote in an email to CBC News. "I fear that a snap election will see many voters stay home, which is disheartening in this era of record low turnouts at the polls."
The party was not holding events Sunday.
Early election call could be issue, says political scientist
Cape Breton University political scientist Tom Urbaniak expects the early election call to dominate the debate during the first few days of the campaign but suggested it may lose ground to other issues.
But Urbaniak warned it could linger as an issue, if the opposition parties are able to make the case Nova Scotians cannot rely on Houston to keep his word.
"There is a chance that this question can seep into other discussions," he said. "If voters are having a tough time trusting the incumbent government, that becomes part of the narrative.
"It feeds into a credibility issue. If that starts to dominate the discussion then … the broken promise around Bill 1 [setting July 15, 2025, as the fixed election date] will become part of the larger conversation."
When Houston spoke on Oct. 14, 2021, during the House debate about a fixed election date, he said it would ensure fairness by not allowing the governing party to call elections at times that would be beneficial for them.
"Nova Scotians want to have confidence in their electoral system," he said. "Parties in opposition want a level playing field, and Elections Nova Scotia, Mr. Speaker, they want to be able to prepare as effectively and efficiently as they possibly can for general elections."
The PCs go into this campaign having held 34 seats, three more than the party won in the 2021 general election. That's because of byelection wins and two defections from the Liberal ranks.
The Liberals held 14 seats at dissolution, the NDP had six and there was one Independent.
Changes already
Five PCs are not reoffering, including Allan MacMaster, who was finance minister and deputy premier.
There are also five Liberals and a New Democrat not reoffering. Two former Liberal MLAs — Brendan Maguire and Fred Tilley — are now running as PC candidates.
In anticipation of an election call, Elections Nova Scotia shipped campaign supplies to all 55 electoral districts. Nova Scotians who want to cast their ballots early will, for the first time, be able to vote electronically at early voting sites.
Unlike the most recent municipal election where voters in many municipalities were able to cast their ballots on a secure internet site, e-voting will happen on tablets at returning offices across the province. That will allow for those results to be counted and reported on just after the polls close on voting day.
In the 2021 election, those 176,793 early votes were on paper ballots that had to be counted by hand. In some constituencies, that made the manual count a two-day process.
In all, 421,001 Nova Scotians voted in the last election, 42 per cent of them before the Aug. 17 election day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
