REALITY CHECK: Nova Scotians losing trust in Tim Houston’s government

HALIFAX – Nova Scotians are pushing back against Tim Houston’s budget that puts their jobs, services, and communities at risk. Despite the premier being forced to walk back some of his government’s cruel cuts, it is clear Nova Scotians are losing confidence in the PC government.

A new poll released today from Angus Reid shows Houston’s approval rating has dropped by 11 points – the lowest of his time in office, and the biggest decline among all premiers in Canada.

“Nova Scotians are still angry about the cruel, thoughtless cuts in this budget. This government mismanaged our finances into a historic deficit, then released a budget that their own ministers didn’t understand, and made reckless cuts without doing the work to determine who would be hurt or how it could cost our economy,” said NSNDP Leader Claudia Chender. “The polling released today shows that the premier reversing these cuts was never about ‘listening’ and doing right by Nova Scotians – it was about protecting his government’s own political interests. These cuts have caused real harm, and even though the premier was forced to flip-flop on some of the most outrageous cuts, it’s clear Nova Scotians aren’t letting this go.”

Last week, following questions from the NDP and media, the Houston government made clear that they did not conduct any economic analysis to understand the impact of cuts to Nova Scotia’s post-secondary, arts, culture, or tourism sectors that generate billions in revenue and create tens of thousands of jobs.

“Houston’s government couldn’t explain the cuts from the beginning, and despite reversing some of them– they still can’t explain them now. If you’re going to threaten people’s livelihoods, you had better have some answers for the people you’re hurting,” said Chender. “Nova Scotians understand that the problems facing our province are complicated. They gave Tim Houston the benefit of the doubt and believed he would take these problems seriously. This budget shows he’s not willing to do that. Nova Scotians deserve a government that makes thoughtful decisions and works to understand the impact of what it’s doing before rushing to gut our most important economic drivers.”

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