The NDP spent a lot of 2025 fighting for affordability and health care, according to party leader Claudia Chender.
One of of the biggest issues for Nova Scotians this year was the cyber attack on Nova Scotia Power, and more than 280,000 customers may have had their information stolen, which in many cases included social insurance numbers.
On top of that, the utility is requesting a rate hike for 2026 and 2027.
And Chender says the power company is estimating bills in the wake of the cyber attack, but they are charging people way too much in many cases.
“Our Minister of Energy refuses to provide a rebate or to pass legislation that would actually rein in Nova Scotia Power. Instead, he writes letters and says he’s disappointed,” Chender says.
Premier Tim Houston also took on the role of Energy Minister after a cabinet shuffle a few months ago.
The NDP proposed free credit freezes during the legislative session in the fall as a solution to stolen information, but the government shot it down. However, Jill Balser, Minister of Service Nova Scotia, recently said the government was looking into credit freezes, according to an article from the Chronicle Herald.
Lifting mining bans
The Premier also made it a priority to lift mining bans to boost the economy during the spring session of the legislature, but Chender says his approach is divisive.
“And since then, we’ve seen him make a succession of enemies, whether it’s Nova Scotia Power or Mi’kmaq leadership or MLAs in his own party, and we haven’t seen any real output from that,” said Chender.
Health care
Although the doctor waitlist has gone down, with more than 68,000 on the registry as of Dec. 1, she says she has heard from some people who are waiting months to get appointments with their doctors.
“Let’s find emergency rooms that are open. Let’s make sure that every community has primary care,” she said.
Mabou Beach and Dartmouth Cove
The province was considering a proposal for a golf course on the Mabou Beach protected land, which would have overturned the designation.
However, on Nov. 13, the premier told reporters the proposal from Cabot was unreasonable.
Chender said it was a case of the government making a decision without consulting people in the community.
In terms of Dartmouth Cove, the Halifax city council passed a by-law that would protect the land from infilling, similar to the Northwest Arm, but Houston was critical of the by-law, saying he and his staff were learning new things about it daily.
But by the end of November, the Premier said there was no difference between the by-law protecting the Northwest Arm and Dartmouth Cove.
“I think this government recognized at the 11th Hour that they couldn’t politically afford to go ahead with these, but the fact that we have a government and a premier who will try everything they can to do the wrong thing before they’re forced to do the right thing shouldn’t give us much comfort in this case,” Chender said.
Overall, Chender says there is a lot of work still to do.
“I think we’re facing the same challenges that we faced a year ago when we went to the polls.”
