The Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives won a second consecutive majority government in the provincial election on Nov. 26.
The election saw Premier Tim Houston expand his majority government in a landslide win. The PCs won 43 seats in the 55-seat legislature, the NDP won nine, the Liberals two, and there was one Independent.
“Tonight, [Nova Scotians] have sent us a message, and I received that message loud and clear, and that message is very simple: keep going,” Houston said in his victory speech.
Houston said he'll serve those who supported his party and those who supported the opposition equally, and that he will stand up to the federal government for the benefit of the province.
“I will never let Ottawa take advantage of us without hearing from us,” he said.
This was the only provincial election in Canada this year where the incumbent expanded its majority. Other elections saw the governing party either lose power or reduce its number of seats.
Last month in neighbouring New Brunswick, the governing Progressive Conservatives lost to the Liberals, the B.C. NDP held on to a narrow majority in a very close contest against the Conservatives, and the Saskatchewan Party lost seats to the Opposition NDP, while maintaining a majority government.
In the Nova Scotia election, the NDP emerged as the party with the second-highest number of seats, replacing the Liberals as the official Opposition.
“I am very proud to be the first woman elected as leader of the Official Opposition,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said in her post-election speech. “Our incredibly effective Opposition has grown.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill, who narrowly lost his own seat to the PCs, said this wasn’t the result the party was looking for, but “I tell ya, we left it all on the ice out there.” He said he'll be taking some time to discuss his future with his family and the party, and “inform folks on what the decision is later on.”
At dissolution after the election was called on Oct. 27, the PCs had 34 seats, the Liberals had 14 seats, the NDP had six seats, and there was one Independent MLA, Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin, who maintained her seat in the election.
Snap Election
The election call came well before the fixed election date of July 15, 2025. Houston, whose party has been steadily ahead in the polls, had said he needed a new mandate to stand up for the province when it comes to dealing with Ottawa, including on the carbon tax.The PCs last won against the governing Liberals in the 2021 election, forming a majority government.
Party Platforms
Houston had promised to cut the HST by one percentage point, to 14 percent, by April 1 and increase minimum wage in 2025 to $16.50 per hour.He also pledged to remove the provincial portion of the HST on all food that isn’t already tax-free, impose a cap on electricity rate increases, reduce the small business tax rate to 1.5 percent, and make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals.
The Liberals’ Churchill said his party would cut the harmonized sales tax by two points to 13 percent, remove the provincial portion of the HST on all food that isn’t already tax-free, and provide $10 million in subsidies for independent grocers and food retailers.
He also said the Liberals would lower provincial income taxes by raising the basic personal exemption amount to $15,705, replace the federal carbon price with an Atlantic region cap-and-trade model for large industrial greenhouse gas emitters, and make public transit free across the province.
Chender promised the NDP would establish rent control, provide a tax credit for renters from low and middle-income households, and offer an affordable homes rebate that would help households with incomes of less than $70,000 save an average of $900 annually on rent or mortgage payments.
Some of the strongest criticism from the Liberals and the NDP was directed at the health-care sector, saying the registry for those seeking a family doctor had more than doubled to 140,000 during the PC’s tenure.
Houston said the province’s economy was growing, and that his government had achieved “incredible progress,” adding more doctors and nurses, and that more time was needed.
