The Professional Women’s Hockey League premiered on January 1, 2024 with a game between Toronto and New York. On that historic New Years day, there were many players from Nova Scotia on the ice, as there has been since. Nova Scotians making her-story in the PWHL include: Toronto players Captain Blayre Turnbull of Stellarton, defender Allie Munroe of Yarmouth, and goaltender Carly Jackson (CJ) of Amherst. Jill Saulnier of Halifax plays forward with New York. As I speak, the PWHL Toronto is actually on an eight game - yes eight game! - winning streak, the longest current winning streak for men’s or women’s professional hockey. Yarmouth’s Allie Munroe also got her first goal of the league on Wednesday night, contributing to the 3-1 win over Boston. Tonight, on International Women’s Day no less - Toronto goes up against the league's current #1 team Montreal, and Montreal’s “Captain Clutch”, Marie-Philip Poulin. I wish all of the Nova Scotian players just the best inaugural season and thank them for being possibility models for all of the young women and gender conforming youth - like my daughter - who play hockey in this province and around the world.
Misogyny is everywhere, and it's in the budget
Below is part of my speech about misogyny in politics, the legislature, and in the budget:
I want to be clear about what we’re talking about when we talk about misogyny. [3:30 p.m.] Misogyny, in and of itself, the word, Speaker, is not unparliamentary. It is a word. It is a thing. It’s defined as this: It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practised for thousands of years. It is reflected in art, literature, human societal structure, historical events, mythology, philosophy, and religion worldwide. I didn’t just make it up. I didn’t just pretend that I knew way more than everyone else in this Chamber and decide to slap a word onto what I experienced yesterday in the Chamber. It’s a real thing. Misogyny and sexism are sometimes hard to see because they’re insidious. They’re omnipresent. It’s everywhere. We’re so used to it that we don’t even notice when it’s happening. That’s because of misogyny. It’s because of patriarchy, and because of all the reasons. It’s colonization. It’s the things that have created our society and the way it is, and this budget suffers from it. There is not a woman on this planet who hasn’t in some way experienced it -even women who have great partners. Even women who have had great lives, who are powerful women, and who have never experienced overt sexism have experienced misogyny or internalized misogyny. It’s hard to see sometimes, but there’s no denying the effects. It’s why women earn less than men. It’s why women are judged on their clothing. It’s why women are judged for their career choices or for even choosing to have a career, and not stay home and take care of the kids, or to stay home and take care of the kids and not have a career. Basically, women can’t get any of that right, ever, according to someone. It’s why women are disproportionately the victims of assault and harassment. It’s why I could not leave the hospital when I had my baby -because I had to call my ex-husband and get him to tell me the date of our divorce so I could prove that I was divorced from him before I left the hospital with my baby. Come on. It’s why we constantly second guess our instincts and ask, “Was that okay?” after I speak or say something that I really believe in. “Do I look okay?” “Was that okay?” “I feel a little fat today.” It’s why we’re told to smile more. It’s why when we question the merits of a powerful man’s policy decision, that powerful man will call us negative and question our reputations rather than engage in the merits of the arguments. We see this all over in politics. Women and particularly women leaders -leaders of parties, leaders of countries, leaders of provinces -are characterized as negative, and that characterization is misogyny. When I attend these Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians meetings -I would love to be able to go to Australia next year, although I don’t know that my leader is going to let me go on that trip, but that’s another story -I would love to be able to say that Nova Scotia is all set for women to join this Legislature, all set for women to open businesses, all set for women to do everything they can to live their best lives. But I can’t do that. I would love to be able to say that whether you’re in the government or in the Opposition, or whether you hold important, powerful positions in non-partisan offices like the Auditor General, being at the helm of Elections Nova Scotia, or being the Information and Privacy Commissioner -no matter what part of politics you want to engage in -I would love to be able to say that your voice will be valued and that you can count on the fact that Nova Scotia makes policies and laws that are created using a gender-sensitive lens. Unfortunately, when I go to those meetings -when I represent our Province and our country on the international stage -I will not be able to say that. I would love for this government -whether it be the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board or someone else in the government -to table the documents and the lens throughwhich this budget has been examined according to gender. Show us the metrics. Show us the documents. If ministers are asked in Estimates, “Has your budget gone through a gender-sensitive lens?” and they say “Yes,” then show us where. Show us how. Show us the questions. Show us how we examined every line of this budget to make sure that it honours, protects, and uplifts women. There should be nothing less in this Chamber, and we should stop being misogynists.
Question to Minister: Why won’t the government support teachers and stop burnout
SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, Nova Scotia’s population is growing, and enrolment in our schools is increasing in step. This is putting immense pressure on our teachers. A recent survey from the Nova Scotia Teachers Union found that 84 per cent of Nova Scotia teachers have considered leaving the profession in the last five years due to burnout, a lack of resources, and several other factors, and I will table that. My question for the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development is: What is this government doing to protect our teachers from burning out?
HON. BECKY DRUHAN: It is incredibly important that our staff team of 20,000 across the province -10,000 of whom are teachers -and others feel supported to be able to provide the support and education that our students need. Our government knows and understands this. That is why we have spent so much time connecting with, listening to, and acting on the advice, recommendations, ideas, and suggestions of teachers and educators across the province. Speaker, I’m excited to tell you about all the things that we’ve heard. I have met with over 60 staff teams in meetings. I’ve been to dozens of schools, and they’ve given us ideas, like how we add more food to schools. We’re introducing a lunch program based on that advice.
SUSAN LEBLANC: I’m going to table an op-ed by the Nova Scotia Teachers Union president, Ryan Lutes, which talks about the need for another way to support teachers, which is making sure that we support our substitutes. One way to take the pressure off our schools is by addressing the chronic shortage of substitute teachers. The wages of Nova Scotia’s substitute teachers have not kept pace with the steep increase in the cost of living. In fact, they have not even keptpace with the wages of substitute teachers in other provinces. Our substitute teachers are some of the lowest-paid across Canada. I will table that op-ed. My question to the minister is: Will this government give Nova Scotia’s substitute teachers the pay raise they need?
BECKY DRUHAN: Speaker, I’ve said on many other occasions that I value and respect the bargaining process, and so I’m certainly not going to engage in that on the floor. The question of substitute teacher pay is one of the types of issues that can be at the table as teachers bargain, so I am not going to address that. This is something that I’ve spoken to with those thousands of teachers I’ve talked to. While we await that bargaining process to unfold, we’ve taken action. Based on the request of teachers across the province, we’ve increased the term subs, so that we now have term substitute teachers across the province who are available to be deployed into classes when they’re needed, as they’re needed. They build relationships in schools, and that’s something we’ve done on action directly on advice from teachers.
Couch of HOPE
I gave the following members statement in the Nova Scotia legislature on March 6, 2024:
Speaker, in the absence of a truly universal mental health care program in Nova Scotia, accessing timely and affordable or free mental health care is a significant challenge for Nova Scotians -a challenge that is being alleviated in part by a not-for-profit in Dartmouth, the Couch of HOPE. In 2020, when founding counsellor Michelle Labine and her colleagues noticed that their sliding-scale counselling spots were all full, it became clear that more radical action was required. At the same time, Michelle’s group practice was hearing from Master’s of Counselling students who needed clinical practicum hours, and that’s when Couch of HOPE was born. Clients dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, trauma, relationship issues, grief, life transitions, and more meet with a counselling therapist intern who is supported by a practicum supervisor and professor. In 2023, Michelle was named the United Way Invisible Champion for her work with Couch of HOPE. Recently, Couch of HOPE partnered with the North Grove to offer appointments to people there on site.
I ask the House to join me in expressing my deep gratitude to Michelle and the whole Couch of HOPE team for doing their part in making mental health care truly accessible in Nova Scotia.
Alan Collins Film Retrospective
I gave the following members statement in the Nova Scotia legislature on March 5, 2024:
Speaker, Alan Collins is an established filmmaker living in Dartmouth North whose work explores themes of identify, culture, and art. Alan’s films have recently been the subject of a retrospective held at Christ Church in downtown Dartmouth on the last Friday of every month, followed by a question-and-answer with the director himself. Featured so far in this roundup of Collins’s work is 1989’s One Warm Line: The Legacy of Stan Rogers; The Beauty of My People; and Drowning in Colour: The Art of Wayne Boucher, about Nova Scotia abstract artist Wayne Boucher. Coming up in the series is My Life So Far, about Alan and his wife Violet’s daughter, Cassandre, whom they adopted in Haiti, followed by a very Dartmouth film, Terminal, which documents a day in the life of the Dartmouth bridge bus terminal in 2014. The retrospective will wrap up with the documentary Searching for God in India, andthen Relative Happiness, based on the novel by best-sellingCape Breton novelist Lesley Crewe. I ask the House to join me in congratulating Alan Collins on this rich retrospective and thanking him for his contribution to Nova Scotia through film.
Dense breast screening
On March 6, 2024 I spoke in the Nova Scotia Legislature about the need for follow up screening for people with dense breasts. Here’s what I said:
Mme Speaker, I rise today to call on the government to change the policy regarding follow up breast screening for people with dense breasts. Currently in Nova Scotia, people with breast density category C or D (that is, the densest breasts), are made aware of their breast density rating. That means, that when they get a regular mammogram, any signs of cancer or other issues could be obscured by the dense breast tissue. The problem is that in NS, if someone has dense breasts, they don’t have access to screening that could detect cancers accurately and prevent spread of the disease. I represent a women, and probably many women, in this situation. Women whose cancer was undetected because they couldn’t get access to follow up breast screening, and was in stage 4 before they were diagnosed. Cancer, if detected early, has a much better chance of being defeated. A person’s quality of life is generally going to be better with less treatment. Cancer is cheaper to treat if detected early. It only makes sense that we offer followup screening to all people with breast density C and D. I urge the government to change this policy as soon as possible.
Question to Minister: Fixed term lease loophole forcing Dartmouth renters to move
SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for the Residential Tenancies Act. Last week the final tenant was evicted from a nine-unit Dartmouth North building after the landlord refused to renew a series of fixed-term leases. As a result of having to move, Keely Corrigan saw her rent more than double. It went from $754 to $1,525, and I will table that. Without the abuse of fixed-term leases, Keely could have stayed in her rent-capped unit instead of moving into a unit she will struggle to pay for. My question for the minister is: Does the minister believe that this is the intended and appropriate use of fixed-term leases?
HON. COLTON LEBLANC: Of course, I recognize that when a tenant does face the end of their lease, it does put them in a very difficult situation. It does cause a lot of stress. Again, I have spoken at length about the intended use of fixed-term leases on the floor of the Legislature. It is the time and place for them, and as a member of this government, I continue to support that intended use. We know that the low vacancy rate in the province is causing a lot of stress in the housing market. And that is why, as a government, we are focused on the true solution that is adding more housing stock to the housing market -a $1 billion investment over five years to add an additional 40,000 units. And that’s why I am proud of the leadership of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, this is not an isolated incident. This story has played out time and time again in my office and surely in many others around the province. Residents are being displaced from affordable units, often into unaffordable or precarious housing or, in fact, into homelessness. This government seems to think that handing over funding to developers and landlords will result in trickle-down affordability. We’ve had nearly three years of this philosophy, and all we have to show for it in Dartmouth North is a series of renovated buildings that have doubled in price. My question to the minister is: Why is this government failing to preserve the precious few affordable housing units we have left?
COLTON LEBLANC: I certainly do not want to speak for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing but, again, I go to the true solution. We are focusing on more housing, more places that Nova Scotians can call home. Contrary to what the member opposite is saying, we are making a number of investments in the housing market, whether it be modular or public housing, whether it be new public housing, whether it is supporting student housing projects across the province, whether it is new or affordable housing projects, whether it’s removing the provincial HST portion on new construction for purpose-built multi-unit apartments. We know we need more housing. That is the solution to the housing crisis.
Banook Paddles Up Campaign
I gave the following members statement on March 5:
Banook Canoe Club is a beloved institution in Dartmouth and has been for generations of athletes, families, and community members. If you’ve been along the shores of Lake Banook lately, you’ll notice that the canoe club is currently hoisted in the air and undergoing major renovations. The iconic red buildings have been showing signs of aging, are at risk of sliding into its namesake lake, and are not physically accessible to many with disabilities. To fund these ambitious and much-needed alterations, the canoe club launched the Paddles Up Capital Campaign, a $5 million capital campaign to breathe new life into BCC while respecting the building’s heritage. At this very moment, the Paddles Up campaign is running a raffle, which closes on March 8th for a $10,000 Micmac Mall shopping spree. I encourage everyone to support Banook Canoe Club’s revitalization efforts through the Paddles Up Capital Campaign and hope these efforts help ensure Banook Canoe Club is a vibrant part of our community for another 100 years and more.
Ceasefire now - jenn grant
I made the following members, statement in the Nova Scotia Legislature March 4, 2024:
On February 27th, local songbird Jenn Grant released an anthem that she wrote with her partner, Daniel Ledwell, called “Hello Everyone (Ceasefire Now).” The song, which calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, features over 35 musicians from across Canada, Ireland, and Australia, along with the voice of Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza The lyrics are haunting but also beautiful, reflecting on some of the horrific images we’ve seen coming out of Gaza and dreaming of a time in which Palestinian children will be free to dance. It ends with two familiar chants: “No one is free until everyone is free,” and “By the tens of millions, we are all Palestinians.” All proceeds of the streaming and purchasing of the song go directly to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, adding to the funds that Jenn previously raised from her paintings of several well-known Palestinian journalists. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jenn Grant and her collaborators for using music to call for what we all should be calling for: a ceasefire now.
IWK's Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic
SUSAN LEBLANC: I want to introduce a few people from the Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic at the IWK Health Centre who have joined us today. They’re over in the gallery opposite, and as I say their names, I’ll ask them to rise. Dr. Allanna Munro is an anaesthesiologist who specializes in chronic pelvic pain. Leah Pink is a nurse practitioner who works in the clinic. Linda MacEachern is a social worker who provides pain education and counselling at the clinic. Kathryn Hawkins is a pelvic floor physiotherapist who provides pain education and treatment in the clinic. Also working in the clinic but not present today are two gynecologists who specialize in endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain: Dr. Elizabeth Randle and Dr. Brigid Nee. Also, we would like to welcome today Maggie Archibald and Faith Lamoureux, who have shared their stories of accessing care for endometriosis in Nova Scotia. Of course, all of this is in light of the fact that today, March 1st, marks the beginning of the very first Endometriosis Awareness Month in Nova Scotia. I would like everyone to welcome our guests.
THE SPEAKER: Welcome, and thank you for being here and for all that you do. The honourable member for Dartmouth North. IWK CHRONIC PAIN CLINIC: IMPORTANT WORK -THANKS
SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, I rise today to recognize the work of the IWK Health Centre’s Endometriosis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Clinic. In 2021 the clinic opened, the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada, thanks to the hard work and advocacy of clinicians and the public. When it opened, nurse Leah Pink said: “Drawing on the expertise of multiple health care professionals and by using innovative strategies to provide care we will better meet the needs of this underserviced patient population.” This interdisciplinary care model is the gold standard. Endometriosis costs our medical system in ER visits and many often-unnecessary tests, due to a lack of understanding and the long delays people face in getting diagnosis and treatment. It also costs those who suffer from endometriosis in wages lost while unable to work, and time away from family and friends, and pain and money for physiotherapy, and other out-ofpocket expenses to manage chronic pain. Thanks to this clinic, more Nova Scotians have access to the treatment and support they need as well as qualified support. I ask the House to join me in thanking Dr. Allana Munro, Leah Pink, Linda MacEachern, Kathryn Hawkins, and their colleagues for their work in expanding badly needed endometriosis care in our province.
Government Must Fund More Midwives in Nova Scotia
SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, midwifery-led births account for only 5 per cent of total births in Nova Scotia, far below the national average of 14 per cent, and I can table that. This is a disservice for expectant mothers in Nova Scotia, given many positive health outcomes associated. Midwifery support leads to more natural births, a decrease in C-sections and surgical interventions, easier breastfeeding initiation, and it decreases the chance of having a pre-term birth. Not only does it take the stress off new moms, but it also takes stress off our hospitals. Does the Minister of Health and Wellness recognize the importance of midwifery care in our health care system?
HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON: I spoke about this yesterday in the Chamber. Certainly, midwives have a role to play in prenatal, obstetrical, and gynecological care. In fact, there are things that they can do around supporting women’s wellness. We have a couple of areas outside of the city. IWK has some midwives, and we do have some areas. It certainly is not easy to maintain the staffing complement in those areas. We’re also making sure that midwives are part of a team. We need to ensure that they have nurses who are around them. We need to make sure they have primary care physicians who do obstetrics. We need to make sure they have specialty services to support them. Yes, many deliveries are usual and regular, but we need to make sure that they have the infrastructure around them. We do continue to look at women’s health issues, and we’ll continue to assess the situation as we move forward.
SUSAN LEBLANC: As the minister’s response shows, it’s hard to ignore the benefits of midwives that they add to our health care system. Investment in midwives is simply a smart policy, yet there are only 16 funded positions and 3 practices in the province. Many communities across Nova Scotia, as the minister said, lack essential midwifery care. The budget yesterday was a missed opportunity for this government to address the critical shortage. Why is this government not investing in midwives? MICHELLE THOMPSON: Nova Scotians are not missing out on good, quality, excellent obstetrical and gynecological care in this province, and midwives are a part of that team, but they are not the only members on that team. We know that midwives play a role. We have 16 positions. To date, they have been very difficult to date to fill. We continue to work with Nova Scotia Health and IWK to better understand how to support them.
THE SPEAKER: Order. The time allotted for Oral Questions Put by Members to Ministers has expired.
Minister Must Give Auditor General Funding She Needs
SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board. The Auditor General’s budget request for increased funding for health audits was unanimously approved at a recent committee meeting. The idea of additional health auditors actually comes from this government’s election platform and the Health and Wellness Minister’s own mandate letter, but despite this committee’s approval, it is inexplicably missing from the budget. Can the minister explain why this election promise and mandate is going unfulfilled?
HON. ALLAN MACMASTER: Speaker, it’s not missing from the budget, and it’s not missing as a platform commitment unfulfilled either. The commitment has been fulfilled. We created this extra resource capacity for the Auditor General because we believe in the importance of auditing what’s happening in health care, because we want to see continuous improvement. We see the Auditor General’s Office as playing a role in that. We actually stuck to what we committed to in our election platform, and that office is now staffed as we had committed to in our election campaign.
SUSAN LEBLANC: The Auditor General was approved by the special committee for $1.1 million and received $200,000 extra this year. Last year, she asked for extra money and she got not nearly what she asked for. This is unreal, in the face of this government yesterday tabling a budget that again allocated its bulk of spending toward health care at a whopping $7.3 billion. (Applause) Yes, yes. Great, great. With this level of investment, and in the midst of the scandal that is the Hogan Court health hotel, it’s more important than ever to have the independent eyes of the Auditor General to ensure that the government is accountable and transparent in their health care spending. My question to the minister: If the minister believes his government’s spending is all above-board, why won’t he provide the funds to the Auditor General that she asks for?
ALLAN MACMASTER: No other government before has provided these resources to the Auditor General’s Office. That’s a fact. Nobody did it before. We’re open to doing it. We did it. We did what we said we would do in the election campaign. There are a lot of asks -believe me. We had well over another billion dollars of spending asks that we could have said yes to, but we said yes to a lot of things in the budget yesterday. One of them was further increases in the health budget, because that is our focus as a government, and there was something new: There was tax relief for Nova Scotians.
Cutting Off Power to Encampments
I gave the following member statement in the Nova Scotia Legislature on Friday, March 1, 2024:
Madame Speaker, everyone has a right to a warm, safe, and affordable place to live. In Nova Scotia, current market rents are not affordable for very many people. Tents are not warm, especially on days like today and when the power is cut off to them, and shelters are not homes. Since news that the tenting encampments were closing in HRM -or some of them -many people who have been living in tents in Halifax have migrated to Dartmouth North. On this morning, I’m thinking of the 25-plus dwellings on Green Road and the folks who are living in them. I want to take this moment to urge the new Minister of Community Services to take immediate action to make sure that everyone in our province has appropriate and adequate housing immediately.
Jason Skinner baseball mural
I gave the following member statements in the legislature on February 29, 2024:
Speaker, if you walk or roll near the Schultz Memorial Ball Diamond on Howe Street in North Dartmouth -as I often have done with my dog, Gregory Jack -you will see a beautiful new mural, Home Team2023, painted last Summer by Jason Skinner.
The mural is bright and brilliant, and portrays a strong sense of community through the depiction of a children’s local baseball team. It’s really beautiful, and is a wonderful addition to our community.
Jason Skinner lives in Dartmouth North and is a multi-disciplinary artist who creates murals, illustrations, oil paintings, and chalk art. He’s been creating public art for over 20 years. You may have seen his installation called 42 Seagulls at the new entrance to the Alderney Gate Public Library in downtown Dartmouth. Another one of Jason’s raised murals adorns a building on Blowers Street, and features various Haligonians walking, chatting, playing guitar, and more.
Public art like Jason’s simply makes our communities better. Dartmouth North is home to many talented artists, and I’m really glad that Jason is one of them.
Children and Foodbanks
I gave the following members statement on February 28, 2024:
At the beginning of 2024, the North Dartmouth Outreach Resource Centre Society, one of Dartmouth North’s local food banks, posted a sobering figure to its Facebook page. In 2023, the average number of children served by the food bank went up to 70 in 2023 from 31 in 2022. Even more sobering is that the average number of children served by the food bank in both 2021 and 2020 was 15.
That means that today, the North Dartmouth Outreach Resource Centre alone is serving 55 more children than they were three years ago. They’re just one of the many food banks in Dartmouth North, and of course the province, that is serving the people bearing the brunt of the affordability crisis. Nova Scotia has the highest child poverty rate in Atlantic Canada, and approximately one in four kids in Nova Scotia don’t get enough to eat every day. There are so many things we can and must do to reduce and eliminate child poverty, some of which we have proposed in this Legislature.
I hope that every member in this House can commit themselves this session to working toward a world where no family has to rely on a food bank to feed their children.
Dartmouth North Small Businesses of the Year
I made the following members statement in the Nova Scotia Legislature on February 28, 2024:
I am proud to say that this year, two of the five nominees for the Halifax Business Awards Small Business of the Year, Flenjor Foodsand Indigevisor, are located in Dartmouth North. Better still, I am excited to share that Flenjor Foods, the African food vendor with a location at Albro Lake and Wyse Roads, won the award in January.
When Business Voice magazine asked Flenjor what they were most proud of, they replied, their contribution to immigrant retention in this province. Being able to find food from your home country that you’re used to cooking, that your family has been cooking for generations, is a major factor in many people’s decisions to stay in Nova Scotia.
Indigevisor is a women-led business on Wyse Road that assists clients in creating a reconciliation action plan. When asked what they were most proud of, Indigevisortold Business Voice: “sparking systemic cultural change.”
I ask the House to join me in congratulating Indigevisor in their nomination for Small Business of the Year, and Flenjor Foods for bringing the award home.
Question to Minister: Why did gov pay developer’s tax bill on Hogan Court?
SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health and Wellness. In the Auditor General’s report on the Hogan Court hotel deal, it was revealed that the highly unusual and concerning transaction was negotiated with a developer who didn’t even own the property and then included $500,000 to cover the developer’s deed transfer tax after they bought and flipped the hotel to the Province. My question is -and I think we would all like to know this -why is the government paying this developer’s tax bill?
HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON: We continually talk about Hogan Court, and I’m so pleased to be able to stand up and talk about that first-in-the-province transition-to-care facility. This is a monumental change. I can appreciate that they’ve . . . (interruption).
THE SPEAKER: Order. We’re all a little bit too loud in here today. We’re going to start again. The honourable Minister of Health and Wellness.
HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON: Thank you. I’d like to thank the members opposite for just helping me prompt my response there. I might have missed that opportunity if they hadn’t said something. We are really pleased with this development. There was a right of first refusal that informed how we proceeded with the project. We bought this facility so that we can get more care faster to Nova Scotians, particularly our seniors who are waiting in hospital. There are things we can absolutely learn from the Auditor General’s report. We have accepted them. Certainly the last Auditor General’s report had said that I was going too fast and doing too much, and I will take that any day over other . . .
SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, many may find it hard to believe, but despite spending a massive amount on this shell of a hotel, the government missed a pretty important part: the driveway. Shockingly, the government’s new overpriced hotel doesn’t even have road access. Instead, this government had to negotiate service and access agreements with the developer to make up for the omission. Why did the purchase of this hotel fail to include a driveway, and how much are we paying the developer for road access to our own building?
MICHELLE THOMPSON: If the only thing the member opposite can find wrong with Hogan Court is that it doesn’t have (interruption). The only thing we’re talking about today is a little driveway. I feel confident in our ability to put in an adequate driveway that will help families pick up their loved one and take them home after they receive excellent care in a transition-to-care facility.
Dartmouth North Mobile Food Market
I gave the following members statement in the Nova Scotia Legislature on February 27:
Speaker, people in Dartmouth North now have another option for buying low-cost produce. The Mobile Food Market has set up a permanent location in Saint Anthony Church at 26 Courtney Road.
The Mobile Food Market has transformed this space into a warm and welcoming spot. Tables are arranged in rows and on market days the produce is laid out in bins on the tables. Shoppers move up and down the rows, pick what they need, and pay at the cash register. The market is open each Tuesday from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and takes cash, credit and debit. There’s also an area to sit, have a cup of coffee or tea and a chat, and a kids’ corner with lots of fun activities for the little ones.
Since opening on January 23rd, there has been a consistent turnout of about 80 people each week.
As we see the cost of everything go up, especially groceries, the timing of this new market couldn’t be better. I ask the House to join me in extending congratulations and thanks to the Mobile Food Market for this much-needed service in Dartmouth North.
Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes Memorial Game
On February 27, I gave the following members statement in the Nova Scotia Legislature:
On February 17th I was in the stands at the RBC Centre in Burnside for the annual Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes Memorial Game. The game featured two all-Black teams representing the historic Amherst Royals and the Hammonds Plains Mossbacks.
This year, the teams were coached by two hockey giants: Bill Riley, the first Black Nova Scotian to play in the NHL, and former Team Canada player and Hockey Hall of Famer - the first woman to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame - Angela James. James lent her considerable talents to a youth hockey clinic before the game. The annual game was organized by the Black Ice Society, a Nova Scotia-based non-profit that recognizes and showcases Black achievement in sport.
Founded in 1895 and playing off and on until 1930, the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes consisted of 400 players of African descent on teams throughout the region. The league's maiden team was in fact the Dartmouth Jubilees.
In these last few days of African Heritage Month, I ask the House to join me in thanking the Black Ice Society for their efforts to ensure that the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes is not lost to history and congratulate all involved.
Susan Leblanc Asks Government About Careless Spending on Hogan Court
SUSAN LEBLANC: Speaker, the government’s approach of “going like hell” -and I’ll table that -has proven to be high-risk but not high-reward. In fact, care seems to be missing entirely from the government’s approach to health care spending. Carelessly handing out untendered contracts has resulted in out-of-control costs, and a decrease in the promised number of additional health care beds. My question for the Minister of Health and Wellness is: When will the government take responsibility for its poor decision on the Hogan Court project?
HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON: There have been historic investments to date with a new budget coming. We have made incredible decisions. We have made incredible investments -60,000 more primary care appointments per month. We’ve invested in 60 new and strengthened primary care clinics across this province. We are finally using pharmacists to the fullness of their scope, resulting in 95,000. We are working with seniors in long-term care with the Nova Scotia Health Authority to transition seniors in this province in a respectful way to appropriate places for them to recondition and finally get home. We have a new Cape Breton Medical Campus. We have a surgical wait-list that has reduced by 27 per cent since April 1, 2022. I have about six more pages . . .
SUSAN LEBLANC: Money is tight these days. Nova Scotians go to the grocery store and compare costs before deciding what items to buy because they understand the importance of getting value for what they are spending. On the other hand, this government -as we have heard from the Auditor General bought a $35 million hotel without even a proper appraisal. While many Nova Scotians are scrounging to save a few cents, the government is recklessly throwing around millions of dollars. Will the government apologize to Nova Scotians for taking such a careless approach to health care spending?
MICHELLE THOMPSON: What I really want Nova Scotians to know is that this is a government that fully invests in their health, in their wellness, and in their ability to transition, based on the stage of their life, to an appropriate place where they can live. We did not buy a hotel; we bought a transition-to-community facility. When you have people who are world-class clinicians -like Dr. Christine Short and Dr. Rockwood excited about the prospect of the ability to care for our elders in this type of environment, it is more than value for money. Nova Scotians should be very proud that this government has their shoulders to the wheel, and that we show every day how we value them, because nobody on that side did for the last 12 years.