N.S. political parties all try to make affordability their issue

In the three years since Nova Scotia's last election, rent and mortgage payments have risen, sticker shock has become a common experience at the grocery store and homelessness has skyrocketed.

Tammy Brunet is one of the many Nova Scotians who is struggling in the face of those realities, and her experiences with housing and the surging cost of living are now shaping her interest — or rather, apathy — in provincial politics.

Earlier this year, Brunet's landlord told her she had to leave her Halifax-area apartment at the end of a fixed-term lease, and the next best place she could find is smaller and the rent is hundreds of dollars more. The experience has taken a toll.

"I don't know that I will ever feel completely safe renting anymore, knowing how easy it is for a landlord to just decide, 'You can go now because I want more money.'"

In the summer of 2021, when Nova Scotians last went to the polls, affordability was already a worry for many, and it was a topic of political conversation and debate, but not nearly to the extent it is now in 2024.

In this snap election campaign, each major party is weaving affordability into their narrative and trying to prove they alone have the solutions. Brunet said so far, no one has convinced her, and unless they do, she won't cast a ballot for anyone on election day next month.

Bills first, food later

Brunet said she prioritizes paying her rent, power bill and phone bill, and keeps all other spending to a minimum, even food. She works full time as an office manager and rent takes about 50 per cent of her income. She said she eats nothing but hard-boiled eggs when her budget is especially tight.

Brunet said her 23-year-old daughter, who lives with her, put her university studies on hold this fall so she can work full time and contribute more to their expenses.

The mother-daughter pair were formerly paying $1,417 a month for a three-bedroom apartment. Brunet said the landlord told her he was looking for $1,950 from the next tenant — an increase of close to 40 per cent. They're now paying $1,850 for a two-bedroom apartment.

Sam McPhee knows what it feels like to be stressed, financially and emotionally, over housing. McPhee said she and her two daughters, ages six and eight, spent several years bouncing between temporary accommodations, including stints with family and in a hotel, until McPhee got a phone call that changed her life.

After five years on the waitlist for public housing, she was offered a three-bedroom townhouse in Uniacke Square in Halifax.

"It was such a relief. It just felt like the weight of the world was off my shoulders," she said.

McPhee's rent is now calculated annually based on her earnings to make sure she's paying no more than 30 per cent of her income. McPhee works part time at McDonald's, babysits and receives income assistance. She pays $259 in rent.

Grocery prices 'out of this world'

But even with secure and affordable housing, McPhee still has cause to worry about money.

"Power is a huge expense, of course, and then groceries, which are absolutely out of this world right now," she said.

McPhee said she's changed the way she grocery shops to account for rising costs. Items she used to consider cheap, such as canned ravioli, are now luxuries that she buys only if they're on sale. She supplements her grocery purchases with trips to the food bank and a monthly food basket she gets from a family resource centre in her neighbourhood. 

McPhee said it can be a struggle to make ends meet, but she manages — something she credits to having affordable rent. For that reason, she thinks the province should be building more public housing.

"I would really love to see things change for other people. We're really fortunate with where we've ended up."

The PC government has announced plans to build 273 new public housing units. There are more than 7,000 people on the waiting list. 

For Brunet, the solution is a clampdown on fixed-term leases. She said the government needs to "wake up" and see the effect they're having on renters and affordability.

"Nobody has security where they live. It would be so easy, I say it would be so easy to correct it."

With a fixed-term lease, a landlord does not need to give notice or justification if they don't want to renew, and they can raise the rent without restriction for the next tenant. Many tenants and housing advocates condemn fixed-term leases for the vulnerable position they put renters in, while landlords defend them as the only option for recouping costs because of the province's five per cent cap on rent increases.

Where the parties stand

The PCs campaigned in 2021 almost exclusively on a pledge to "fix" health care, but as housing and the cost of living became glaring issues during their first term in government, they redirected some of their attention.

On the housing front, Tim Houston's Tories have favoured incentives for private developers, new emergency housing for people who have already been squeezed out, and partnerships with non-profit groups to help them expand the non-market housing supply.

More recently, they've made changes to provincial taxation, which they say will counter the pressure of inflation and high interest rates by keeping more money in Nova Scotians' pockets. 

They've indexed income tax and income assistance rates to inflation, and they recently announced a plan to cut sales tax by one percentage point. On the campaign trail, Houston said his party would raise the basic personal exemption for income taxes from $8,744 to $11,744, and raise the minimum wage to $16.50 within a year.

Under Zach Churchill's leadership, the Liberals have also pitched tax breaks as a solution to the affordability crisis — they want to cut sales tax by two percentage points and take HST off all grocery items.

They've also said they would make public transit free across the province.

While affordability is relatively new fodder for the Tories and Liberals, it has been the bread and butter for the NDP for many years. Dating back to the era of Stephen McNeil's Liberal government, New Democrats have called for permanent rent control and hikes to the minimum wage, and more recently they've called for fixed-term leases to be abolished.

Under leader Claudia Chender, the party released a housing plan this year that reiterates the party's position on rent control and fixed-term leases. The plan is likely to make up a central plank of the party's campaign platform.

None of the parties have yet released complete platforms for this election campaign.

Nova Scotians' votes will be tallied on Nov. 26.