Community Services minister says there's more to do for most vulnerable Nova Scotians

Brendan Maguire was a proponent of indexing income assistance to the rate of inflation when he was a Liberal MLA.

But he's less emphatic about it now that he's community services minister for the Progressive Conservative government.

Maguire told reporters on Friday that it would be great to index the rates and "it's something that we're definitely going to be looking into."

Thursday's provincial budget introduced new tax-saving measures that include indexing income tax brackets and several other measures to the rate of inflation, but not income assistance rates.

The rates remain frozen for the third year in a row under the Tory government, although 60 per cent of income assistance clients will begin getting $300 more each month in the spring because of a new disability supplement for people who cannot work.

The other 40 per cent of clients get a one-time payment of $150. Beginning in the fall, income assistance clients who can work will begin to be able to keep an additional $100 earned before being subject to a clawback of their benefits.

'I want to rely on the experts'

Maguire told reporters that he thought the $150 was the most prudent thing to do after he was sworn in as minister last month.

"Going forward, we will be looking at other things. Again, there are many things we can do and I want to rely on the experts on the ground."

The minister said he's planning to schedule regular meetings with service providers, non-profits and people working in the field to "have a real conversation about" what can be done for income assistance clients.

"Once we have those conversations, we'll have a better understanding of what's actually really needed to move people forward."

Vince Calderhead, a Halifax-based human rights lawyer, said the government's efforts don't come close to doing what's required to help lift people out of poverty.

Calderhead compiles annual calculations looking at how provincial budget measures affect the most vulnerable people in Nova Scotia.

His work based on the 2024-25 budget shows that a single adult without a disability who is receiving income assistance and rents or owns their residence would receive about $9,700 a year. That's one-third of what they would require to be at what is considered the poverty line for Halifax, about $28,000.

The new monthly supplement means a single person with a disability would fare better, but at about $16,500 they would still only have about 59 per cent of what's required to reach the poverty line.

"The results of this year's analysis make clear just how far Nova Scotia must go to ensure that social assistance recipients have an income which is sufficient to realize their fundamental human right to an adequate standard of living," Calderhead writes in a submission he shared with CBC News.

"Nova Scotia has a legal obligation to ensure that these rights are protected. With the exception of persons with disabilities, in all other individual and family scenarios analysed, this year's provincial budget failed to improve the standard of living for recipients."

Maguire said more needs to be done for the most vulnerable people in the province, including helping to connect those people who can work with jobs.

"We're going to get as much money and as much resources as we can into individuals' pockets," he said.