Tim Houston’s Economic Strategy: A Blueprint for Inequality

Nova Scotia is at a breaking point. Under Premier Tim Houston, the province faces a $1.2 billion deficit, the highest poverty rate in Canada at 12.4%, and a growing divide between the wealthy elite and everyone else. His economic strategy is clear: funnel wealth from working and middle-class Nova Scotians to the rich. The result? Rising poverty, homelessness, stagnant wages, and families struggling to survive.

A Legislature That Fails to Lead: Faced with these crises, Houston’s response is a mere nine-day legislative session—an insult to the challenges at hand. Instead of bold action, we get political posturing and vague promises of a better future decades away. Speculative projects like fracking and uranium mining dominate his agenda, despite widespread opposition from Nova Scotians and First Nations communities. While initiatives like Wind West may hold potential, they won’t deliver results for at least 20 years, leaving today’s urgent struggles unaddressed.

The Cost-of-Living Crisis: Halifax, once affordable, now rivals Toronto in cost of living, with a living wage of $29 an hour. Houston’s $500 million tax cut is a textbook example of wealth transfer: high-income earners reap the benefits, while low-income Nova Scotians get less than $300 a year—barely enough to cover skyrocketing housing, transportation, and childcare costs. Meanwhile, the wealthiest enjoy another tax break that barely impacts their already comfortable lives.
This tax cut, which added $500 million to the deficit, has come at the expense of programs that genuinely help struggling families. For example, the Home Heating Assistance Rebate has been scaled back. Families that once received $600 to help heat their homes now receive just $400, and only if their income is under $30,000. These cuts leave vulnerable Nova Scotians even more exposed to rising costs.

Housing: A Crisis Fueled by Policy: Nova Scotia’s housing crisis is spiraling out of control. Rents are soaring, and affordable housing is in short supply. Instead of addressing root causes like the financialization of housing, Houston’s government pours money into rent subsidies that enrich landlords and real estate investors. Spending on subsidies has ballooned from $11 million to $70 million since 2021, yet affordable housing remains out of reach for many.
Here’s the catch: there’s no effective vacancy control. Landlords exploit loopholes like fixed-term leases and “renovictions” to hike rents, knowing the government will cover the difference through subsidies. This creates a massive transfer of public money to private landlords and real estate investment trusts (REITs), who then pass profits to shareholders. Adding more supply without addressing financialization only fuels the crisis. Meanwhile, tenants are still struggling, and the housing crisis continues to worsen.
Instead of investing in robust non-market solutions like co-op or public housing, the government is enriching landlords and calling it progress. Tim Houston’s housing strategy is simple: take your money, give it to the rich, and call it an investment.

Healthcare Privatization: Profits Over People: In healthcare, the pattern is no different. Instead of making meaningful investments into the public system, which has been underfunded for years, Houston’s government prioritizes private profits. The $2.9 billion QEII hospital project includes a 30-year private maintenance contract under a public-private partnership (P3). These arrangements prioritize corporate profits over quality care, meaning Nova Scotians are paying more for less.

Rather than building and managing infrastructure within the public system, taxpayer dollars are funneled into private ventures, leaving families and workers behind. Mental health services are another area of concern. Instead of strengthening the public system, the government relies on private practitioners and one-off sessions through companies like Telus Health. This piecemeal approach fails to address systemic issues, leaving many Nova Scotians without the comprehensive support they need.

A Rigged Tax System: Nova Scotia’s tax system is one of the most burdensome in Canada, but the weight falls disproportionately on low- and middle-income earners. While the wealthy enjoy tax breaks and loopholes, working families shoulder the load through sales taxes and user fees. Over the last two decades, the poorest Canadians have seen their tax burden grow, while the richest have seen theirs shrink. This isn’t just unfair, it’s unsustainable.
A fair tax system is essential for funding public services like healthcare, education, and infrastructure, which build productivity and ensure a safety net when the economy stumbles. Our economy was th strongest in Canada when we had high rates if unionization a robust social safety net.  Yet, under Tim Houston, the tax system remains rigged against working Nova Scotians. The result? A province where the rich get richer, and everyone else struggles to keep up.

The Bottom Line: Tim Houston’s policies are systematically transferring wealth from hardworking Nova Scotians to the wealthy elite, leaving middle- and low-income families to bear the brunt of rising costs and shrinking support. It’s no coincidence that Nova Scotia now has the highest poverty rate in the country. This is not governance, it’s a blueprint for inequality.

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This blog was produced by Alec Stratford, Chair of the Nova Scotia Action Coalition for Community Well-Being.The Nova Scotia Action Coalition for Community Well-Being is a collective of organizations and advocates dedicated to addressing systemic inequality and improving the quality of life for all Nova Scotians. The coalition works to promote policies that prioritize equity, social justice, and sustainable development, ensuring that no one is left behind in the pursuit of a fairer and more inclusive province.