By Canadian Press

N.S. Liberal leader faces barrage of attacks on health care early on during debate

Jul 28, 2021 | 4:17 PM

HALIFAX — Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Iain Rankin was forced to defend his party’s record on health care Wednesday evening during the first leaders debate of the provincial election. 

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston and NDP Leader Gary Burrill criticized Rankin for the fact 70,000 Nova Scotians are waiting for access to a family doctor and the province’s nurses are overworked and burning out — problems they said have been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People will remember the Liberals promised a doctor for all Nova Scotians,” Houston told Rankin. “They failed on that. They didn’t really try.”

The Tories have pledged $553 million in new spending during a first year in office to fulfil their campaign promises, mostly for the health-care sector. 

Houston said Wednesday that addressing the challenges in the health network “won’t happen overnight and will cost money.”

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Rankin shot back, telling Houston the Tories’ health-care spending promises “will put future core services at risk.” The Liberal leader suggested Houston wanted to “overbuild” in the long-term care sector by promising thousands of new beds.

The Liberals released their party’s health-care platform Tuesday, promising an added $131 million to bolster the system. Rankin has said targeted investments in such areas as physician and nursing recruitment, virtual care and mental health will build on the nearly $400 million earmarked for health care in the Liberals’ 2021-22 budget tabled in March.

Burrill picked up on Rankin’s comment about long-term care beds and retorted with an incredulous tone: “Did you just use the word, ‘overbuild?’ Do you not acknowledge that in eight years the grand total was 57 beds you built?” referring to the Liberal party under Rankin’s predecessor, premier Stephen McNeil.

“We know coming out of the pandemic we will need to have one room for every resident in long-term care and they have to have their own washroom and we need major construction,” Burrill said.

Rankin responded that his party’s investments in health-care and long-term care were sensible. “What we don’t need is a competition on who can throw the most money at an issue,” the Liberal leader said. 

All three party leaders acknowledged that the pandemic caused doctor recruitment to slow, lengthened waiting lists for family physicians and aggravated stress and burnout issues among staff. 

The province has reported a total of 5,885 COVID-19 infections and 93 deaths linked to the virus. More than 50 of those deaths occurred at a single long-term care home, Northwood Halifax.

“What happened at Northwood is a stain on our generation,” Houston said.

Nova Scotians go to the polls on Aug. 17.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 28, 2021.

The Canadian Press