N.S. won't buy air conditioners for low-income people with health issues
Social Sharing
A Nova Scotia woman on income assistance who succeeded in forcing the province to pay for her air conditioner says she's sad other low-income people won't get the same relief.
Last October, Julie Leggett from New Glasgow, N.S., won an appeal to receive provincial funding for an air conditioner because of a chronic health condition.
But the decision by the income assistance appeal board didn't force the province to cover the cost of air conditioners for other low-income people with health issues.
Leggett raised her concerns during the November provincial election campaign, arguing government policy should be changed to help people cope during heat waves.
Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston, whose party won the election, had said on the campaign trail that he would look into adding air conditioners to a list of special needs covered by the social assistance program.
But a spokesperson for the Department of Social Development said on Tuesday that the government was not planning on changing the policy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
41 minutes ago
- CTV News
Canada's five per cent GDP on defence will cost around $151 billion per year until 2029
Watch CTV News' Renee Rodgers breaks down some of the costs included in the newly-announced NATO defence budget.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
New Brunswick's 2023 clean-energy timeline already outdated
New Deadlines changing as a result of more 'flexibility' in weakened federal emissions rules The New Brunswick government is pushing back several targets from its 2023 clean-energy plan, thanks to the relaxing of federal rules. MLAs on the legislature's climate change committee were told that Ottawa's decision to soften its requirement for net-zero-emissions electricity generation by 2035 allows the province to move more slowly on several initiatives. Those projects, and a timeline for adopting them, were laid out in a plan released by the previous Higgs Progressive Conservative government in December 2023. A year and a half later, the plan is being updated and adjusted. "I think the challenge as we can all appreciate in this space is that as soon as you produce a document, things change," Jeff Hoyt, the deputy minister of energy, told MLAs. A decision on whether to refurbish the Mactaquac Dam at a potential cost of $9 billion was supposed to be made this year but will now be made in 2026. The goal of "significant growth" in the network of electric vehicle charging stations, initially pegged to 2029, now has 2030 as a target date. "Those are things that are being re-evaluated because we've been given more time and more flexibility," Hoyt said of the adjustments. The final version of federal clean-energy regulations published in December 2024 created a range of exceptions to the goal of non-emitting electricity generation Canada-wide by 2035. The changes cut in half the expected reductions in carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to warming temperatures. But they give provinces "a lot more flexibility" to work toward the ultimate goal of net-zero emissions in 2050, Hoyt said. The federal rules create exceptions for emissions from natural gas plants. Last fall, N.B. Power announced it was looking for a proponent to build a 400-megawatt natural gas generating plant near Moncton to meet the growing demand for electricity in the southeast part of the province. On Wednesday, Progressive Conservative MLA Ryan Cullins pointed out that the plant is nowhere to be found in the 18-month-old plan. Federal government announces more than $1B for clean energy projects in N.B. "It's good a example of how things change very fast," Hoyt said. Not all of the timeline changes are due to weakened federal emissions rules. Hoyt said small modular nuclear reactor technology has "developed slower than I think people were expecting. … The ability to draw in capital investment has been a significant challenge in that space over a number of years." That may actually lead to cost savings, however. The new federal flexibility on emissions from electricity generation means SMRs don't have to be ready as quickly, giving the province the opportunity to avoid first-of-their-kind units that are normally more expensive. Two developers based in Saint John have received tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding to develop SMRs, but both companies have run into delays. Hoyt said the department was closely watching the development of a General Electric SMR already approved for the Darlington nuclear plan in Ontario. Green Party MLA Megan Mitton questioned whether the December 2023 report — or a previous report by the legislative committee — matters, given how much the timelines have changed. "It seems like it loses its value quite a bit, if half the things in there are off-base now," she said.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Rustad faces ‘messy' summer over B.C. Conservative leadership: political expert
B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad speaks to reporters at the legislature in Victoria, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito VICTORIA — British Columbia's Conservative caucus members are meeting in Surrey today in what a political scientist says could be the start of a 'messy' summer for party Leader John Rustad. It comes as Rustad's leadership is under review and questions arise about his handling of allegations he made in a letter accusing some former Conservative members of the legislature of blackmail. University of B.C. political science lecturer Stewart Prest says there is no formal mechanism for Conservative legislators to push Rustad out at today's meeting, but it doesn't mean they couldn't do things in a 'messier way' by withdrawing confidence in his leadership. He says if they say they no longer have faith in Rustad, the leader's options 'are limited about what he can do,' regardless of what the party constitution says. The constitution approved at the party's most recent annual general meeting in Nanaimo says a leader can only be removed from office after voluntary resignation, death, incapacity or in a leadership review by the membership. The leadership review is already underway and is expected to last through December, with party members voting on whether they support Rustad in the job, and Prest says he expects MLAs to let that process play out for now. But Prest says the riding-by-riding vote also creates the 'possibility of an additional drip, drip effect' where Rustad has to continually defend his record. He says if he were Rustad, he would not be looking forward to the summer. This report by Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press, was first published June 25, 2025.
