Queens-Shelburn MLA Kim Masland says the provincial budget released this week has a lot of content but not much substance.
The PC MLA says upon reading the budget it reminded her of a saying her grandfather used, “The budget is a mile long but an inch deep.”
Masland also feels the budget is typical of a government that sees an election on the horizon.
The budget released on Thursday estimates a deficit of $584.9 million with revenue of $11.8 billion and expenses of $12.4 billion.
It includes $1 billion that has been earmarked for long-term care and home care. The largest investment in that sector the province has ever made.
While that might seem positive Masland says upon further investigation it may not be all it appears. “A five per cent increase without a plan isn’t going to fix a mental health care system that is in a crisis.”
Looking at the Capital Plan which was released earlier in the week Masland was disappointed that little was done to address the needs of a palliative care unit in Southwest Nova Scotia.
“We know that Lunenburg and Queens countys do not have a hospice and none of our three hospitals have designated acute care beds and the demands for those services increase every year.”
Masland encourages Nova Scotians to read the budget closely and question their local representatives on how it will actually solve some of their most pressing issues.
