Houston rolls with punches in first round

I’d say that Premier Tim Houston is still in the honeymoon phase.

The COVID fourth wave numbers seem to be under control. The proof-ofvaccination policy is up and running. He seems to have support for axing the Nova Scotia Health Authority board and executive team.

This week, he demonstrated a willingness to do a couple of about-turns. The two-percent rent cap will be extended until December 2023. It was due to end in February of 2022.

During the election, Houston emphasized that the Covid-driven rent cap was not the answer to homelessness. Instead, he promoted the idea of increasing the supply of affordable housing.

He must have seen the writing on the wall. There would be little hope of creating enough affordable housing by February. He describes this measure as a bridge.

He has also committed $35 million to create 1,100 affordable residential units and he will protect renters from socalled renovictions.

Ten million dollars will be allocated to immediate rent supports and to providing “wrap-around” supports through organizations that are working on homelessness and poverty. This includes temporary hotel accommodations.

It’s a start. There is still a big tent city in central Halifax. This is the very public face of homelessness in Nova Scotia, but there are others in this province who are homeless or on the verge. These people are not as high-profile, but their crises are just as real.

With winter on its way, these are wise decisions for Houston to make. Removing the rent cap in the midst of a housing crisis in the middle of a Nova Scotia winter would have exacerbated the problem. Houston could see the bad optics of that.

Also welcome are Houston’s comments that homelessness is the responsibility of governments at all levels.

Furthermore, Houston made a quick turnaround on a decision to limit public participation at the law amendments committee. At first, he said it would be in-person only. Then, facing criticism from accessibility advocates, he changed his mind. Video presentations will now be allowed.

The limitation to in-person-only presentations came off as a slap in the face to people who are not mobile and to those who cannot afford transportation costs from other parts of the province.

Speaking of slaps in the face, Houston has not made any about-face on his decision to appoint a white man as minister of African-nova Scotia Affairs. Even the appointment of a black deputy minister has not taken away the sting for Black Nova Scotians. (Houston appointed education administrator Dwayne Provo to that role on Oct. 7.)

The new premier shocked African Nova Scotians when he appointed Pictou MLA Pat Dunn as minister. He said it was because there were no Black MLAS elected to the Tory caucus. True, but it might have been possible to find someone outside the Progressive Conservative ranks to serve in this role.

The optics of this are terrible for Houston, who has pledged to work with the Black community to address equality and systemic racism in the province. The community accused Houston of tone-deafness and pointed out that this appointment was yet another example of racism.

This badly damaged Houston’s reputation with that community. It will take some substantial action to earn that back again.

His decision to set a fixed election date is a good one, but his choice is curious. Is it the best idea to have elections on July 15 every four years? The most recent mid-summer vote certainly worked well for Houston who won a majority in August, but summer elections are not the best way to engage voters who are distracted with vacations and other summer activities.

So no, the honeymoon isn’t over yet, but the health-care file is looming large. The promised reform will have to translate into family doctors for almost 80,000 orphaned patients and shorter waits in emergency if he wants that honeymoon to continue.