Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston announced Tuesday he is pulling back from some budget cuts announced two weeks ago.
At a news conference Tuesday morning, he said supports and programming for people with disabilities, seniors and African Nova Scotian and Indigenous students will remain intact.
Those changes will restore $53.6 million from the $130 million in cuts announced during the budget, which prompted protests outside the legislature.
Houston told reporters that since the budget is still being reviewed in the legislature, the government has the opportunity to make adjustments.
“Nova Scotians have spoken clearly. Many people told us that they were worried about certain parts of the budget,” he said.
“On some of the decisions, we got it wrong. And for that I am sorry,” Houston said.
The budget, which came down on Feb. 23, tackles a $1.2-billion deficit and includes cuts to the civil service and the broader public sector.
On Tuesday, Houston said although the $53.6 million in restored programs will increase the deficit, “it’s a risk that we are taking in order to protect some of our most vulnerable.”
Budget process got too ‘clinical,’ says N.S. premier
He said he recognizes that other groups and communities — such as the arts community, which held a large protest outside Province House last week — will be disappointed that their funding will not be reinstated.
Houston said the arts are valued, and the budget contains $66 million in funding for that sector.
“I do wish we could do more today, and I sincerely mean that,” he told reporters.
Houston said in trying to respond to financial challenges, the budgeting process “probably got more clinical when it should have been more human.”
The premier said he lost a lot of sleep during the budget process, and as he had “heartfelt discussions” and heard concrete examples of how the cuts would affect people, it became obvious that a course correction was needed.
“When I put my hand on my heart and I said, what will the impact be on people living with disabilities, I couldn’t live with that,” Houston said.
Houston told reporters the government must also turn to the “revenue side of the equation,” working to improve the economy through opportunities in natural gas and oil, natural resources and defence.
Vicky Levack, an advocate for people with disabilities, said Tuesday she is glad the cuts to programs supporting people with disabilities have been reversed.
“This is proof that when we use our voices, democracy is alive and well,” Levack said.
She said the cuts to programs and services would have been devastating.
“My community would have been decimated. We would have been again pushed into the shadows.”
Franziska Glen, an independent theatre artist, said the programs that support people with disabilities, seniors and African Nova Scotian and Indigenous students are important, but so are the arts.
“I can’t pay rent if I don’t have these jobs. I can’t live. I can’t pay for groceries. And it’s going to be affecting thousands of people across this province who worked in tourism and arts and heritage,” Glen said.
She said the decision to restore some funding but not preserve other programs “feels like a tactic to divide us.”
“This sort of fallacy of, like, we have to choose one is just simply wrong because all of these things create a richer province.”
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