Paris: NDP is the party that cares about people
Leading up to the Nova Scotia election taking place on May 30, The News will present profiles of each candidate seeking to become MLA. Today we take a look at the riding of Pictou Centre.
Henderson Paris is no stranger to a challenge.
The former municipal councillor – who recently took a stab at a mayor’s race in New Glasgow – is also an accomplished marathon runner who challenged people to embrace kindness rather than hate when he founded the Run Against Racism 27 years ago.
Paris thought about it long and hard – consulting his family and learning more about the party – before putting his name on the ballot under the orange banner of the NDP.
“I am up for the challenge,” he said. “Some people said, ‘good on you to jump right back in there and go at it.”
Paris said the switch to provincial politics has allowed him revisit people he saw during the municipal election and spread the message the NDP message.
“We are the only party that really cares about people. I hear that so much.”
Paris said his 12 years as a New Glasgow town councillor helped prepare him for the move to provincial politics because it gave him a good understanding of the challenges people face every day here in the county and around the country.
By attending municipal conferences, he said he was able to listen to and network with people from other areas who have similar issues and offer new solutions.
“It helped me answer questions and gave me a better understanding of politics and policies.”
He said job creation is a common topic on the doorsteps of Pictou Centre – in particular people want to know what is happening with the former railcar plant in Trenton.
“I can understand and I can feel their hurt and sadness over losing all of that and seeing their town diminish,” he said. “They want hope. I would love to help give them that. “
The NDP have pledged to increase the minimum wage to $15 over the next three years if it is elected into power.
“We see it as necessity for Nova Scotians,” Paris said. “The current status is not sufficient to give people the necessary functions of life. We want to increase it and give people a bit more money to have in their pockets.”
Paris said if people are making more money, they will spend more in their communities, which will in turn bolster the economy.
This falls in line with the NDP’s platform to operate with a deficit, rather than a balanced budget within the first few years, to ensure that Nova Scotians are having their needs met.
Health care and education are also two other common themes and the NDP has plans to address both issues, he said. It is going to invest $120 million in health care to attract and retain doctors and nurse practitioners.
“We would work with the doctors and try to establish a primary health care system for Nova Scotians because we see it as a huge crisis.”
It would also be repealing Bill 75 that legislated teachers back to work in the province this winter and reopen negotiations with the Nova Scotia Teachers Union.
The NDP have also pledged to eliminate tuition for the Nova Scotia Community College and reduce university tuitions by 10 per cent over three years.