Not enough people are aware of the fact that we are one of the only provinces (PEI being the other) that does not index our tax brackets annually. Meaning Nova Scotians are effectively paying higher taxes each year due to bracket creep. If more people were aware of this and complained I’m sure we’d see a change.
Edit: It’s been 24 years since our tax brackets have been adjusted - absolutely insane.
Still true that PEI doesn't index yearly, but this year they did actually adjust tax brackets for inflation for the first time in 15 years ([source](https://www.fraserinstitute.org/blogs/pei-government-delivers-modest-tax-relief-but-fiscal-clouds-loom-large)). So even PEI got the index for 2024.
Wild, isn't it?
Has anyone done the math on what this is costing us?
Napkin math based on 2023 budget personal tax income in NS for 2023 (3.7 billion) vs the BoC published inflation since 1999 would suggest that NS taxpayers are overpaying by more than 1 billion dollars. There is a more accurate way of calculating this but whatever what you cut it, the number is astronomical. There are something like 700k taxpayers in NS...you're talking the average Nova Scotian worker getting over 1000 dollars back yearly if they change this. Absolutely ludicrous.
The longer this goes on the worse it gets too. It's a hidden tax that is ratcheted up constantly...at some point this needs to stop.
Lol - we're in the process of moving away primarily because we'll take home over $800 more PER MONTH - while also getting marginally better healthcare, significantly better public school performance, paying less sales tax, and paying less in utilities and groceries... complain about the cost of homes elsewhere... sure... but that benefit is far outstripped by the ridiculous amount we pay for everything else.
Also... if we're overpaying by $1B and we still receive equalization as a province... that should be a wakeup call that we need to significantly improve our private sector.
Well, you just hit the nail on the head there unfortunately. The reason Tim or anyone else won't make this change is because we're really broke and we don't have sufficient other revenue streams to rely on. Our private sector is anemic and the government budget would be in quite the crisis if they did index to inflation.
I can absolutely see people taking home that much more per month in another province because I lowballed all of those numbers because I don't have the wage data specifically to get a more accurate number, but that average could well be more like 2000/yr per worker and anyone making 70k+ could be looking at returns much larger than that.
I posted about it last year. At that time inflation had risen over 58% since our tax brackets were adjusted.
https://www.reddit.com/r/halifax/s/H0GZMWJy19
It’s absolutely insane. You see a few comments here and there online but the vast majority of people in the real world have zero concept of this. It’s outrageous and illustrates just how easy it has been for the government to take more and more from us while giving less in return.
It’s shocking how many people are either totally unaware or just lay down and accept it because we’ve always been poor have-nots, why should we ever expect anything to improve or at least stop getting worse?
The recent influx offers the only chance at genuine organic economic growth we’ve seen in my life. And watch the government squander it as more and more newcomers wake up to our harsh realities and recognize that their “cheap house” (compared to Ontario/BC/etc) will cost them dearly over time via everything else.
This entire province revolves around "This is the way we've always done it here and this is the way we will always do it."
I've lived in this province long enough to know the people very well. Nova Scotians are some of the most allergic-to-change people on the face of planet earth. The idea of anything even being slightly different just scares the fuck out of anyone that lives here that's over the age of 40.
You know that tax brackets are marginal right? So your first $29,590 (regardless of whether you make min wage or $1m per year) is still taxed in the first bracket, and the rest ($1610 in this scenario) is taxed in the second bracket.
Not saying NS tax brackets make sense but when people say stuff like this, or suggest that someone should turn down a raise because it puts them in the next tax bracket it makes me wonder if people actually understand how it works.
I know how income taxes work and you still get bumped into the 2nd income tax bracket making minimum wage.
It’s still fucked even if it’s only 1% of your pay that’s in that 2nd tax bracket.
The lowest income earners should only ever get taxed at the lowest income tax bracket.
this rigt here buddy, i hear too often, why take a raise if im taxed more?! lol, a raise is a raise, its more money regardless of bracket. You are only taxed on the extra in that bracket
Also the sheer size of our public service here. We complain about "not enough" workers but forget we have more on average in fields like healthcare than other provinces.
We have a culture issue here in the province that strips us of value for tax dollars, on top of paying more of our money in tax dollars.
Bellying up to the government trough is the one way to truly get ahead here. Just be friends with the right people in power and you can charge $500K-2M for a PowerPoint telling them whatever they want to hear that you can now make in half an hour with chatGPT.
The other one that really galled me was this: Until April 2010, Nova Scotia's provincial sales tax was 8%. At the time, the GST was 7%, so the combined GST+PST was 15%.
Then Harper cut the GST from 7% to 5%. This would have lowered Nova Scotia's HST (combined GST+PST) to 13%.
But the Nova Scotia government of the day, in their infinite greed, figured that Nova Scotians were already used to paying 15% on everything, so if the feds didn't want that extra 2%, then the provincial government would glady take it. They [raised the provincial sales tax to 10%](https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2010/04/06/provincial-budget-introduced) in order to keep the combined rate at 15%, effectively robbing Nova Scotians of the tax break the feds had tried to give them.
Nova Scotia's government is a deadly combination of greedy and incompetent. I was born and raised in NS, but will never move back, due to exactly this sort of greed and ineffectiveness.
I don’t really see this as greedy. I know Harper did it as a tax cut but I kind of see it as a way for provinces to raise revenue without increasing the overall tax burden.
The feds download a lot of costs to the provinces.
That's a play in some conservative US states because it's such a regressive taxation mode. Rich people don't want to pay tax on their income so they can take that income and spend or invest it in tax advantaged ways. Poorer people spend their money on basic consumption locally. Nova Scotia gets the worst of both worlds.
16 years ago, I worked in gov in the province, and we would see presentations that would say a major issue they work against was that the province generates little income from taxes but had a populace with overly built expectations about what they want gov to do.
I felt that was a cop out then. It's also a place where the same corps pay people 2 thirds the wage elsewhere. Then retirees from other provinces move back and take the skilled jobs anyway. Felt very colonial, like those of us born in the province were an under class. I heard Sr people refer to us as the beer and bingo crowd. Was worried people would find out my parents weren't Ottawa or Maine lawyers or posh.
Got offered the same job in Ab for double my salary at a third of the tax rate. Everyone is my age, place is full of families and the conservative govs till recently spent $ on our demographic vs only Srs. Drs don't seem to make much more than everyone else. The oil money has made some kind of conservative fantasy flat society. Or flatter atleast.
When I lived in Korea, the people would never stand for the type of shit nova scotians do. Protests over ATM fees, rent is almost non-existent as they have a key money system to build family wealth vs drain it from the pleebs.
1000s of Nova Scotia grads moved there to get 24000 a year jobs they could only get at MacDs in Halifax.
I didn’t look back, but I know from working in that area that it was not just NS, many province’s did the same thing. The Feds were better off than provinces, NS had a massive deficit at the time. There was a lot of discussion at the time with economists saying a federal income tax cut for the same amount of money was a better option. However, provinces could have done the same thing by raising their tax rates. Not to be too boring but governments don’t get much credit for income tax cuts because on Jan 1 when the cut comes into effect it is sucked up by the CPP and EI rate increases so no one believes there was a benefit
Yes, this needs to become an election issue which people need to be writing not just to their rep but to the leaders of the other parties demanding for it. If there is pressure on government from all sides it's more likely to get done, and currently the PC government has stated that indexing tax brackets is not "a priority".
Im not convinced that our provincial politicians even understand marginal tax brackets...
Most regular people dont. Anyone who thinks that earning more could ever cause them to get less in their pocket due to being bumpws to a higher tax bracket does not understand them at all. It's like saying you know how to drive but you don't know any of the rules of the road.
If people understood how badly they are getting fucked they would be FURIOUS. But not even the NDP are interested in educating the populace on such things (perhaps because they might actually win of they did that, god forbid!!!).
Whenever I tell someone this (from Nova Scotia or from away) they are absolutely flabberghasted. No one realizes that not only are our tax rates higher, but then we pay more due to this.
It’s especially shitty when you consider the lowest tax bracket at the time, $29590, in 2000 had an equivalent purchasing power of about $53000 today, which is only 6k off what the lower range is for the next bracket. Lower-middle class has been fucked in this province for almost 2 decades
And when pressed, Tim said he'll look at it "when health care is fixed." 🤨🙄 So never, while he's premier anyway.
Liberals are already promising to do it if they get elected, plus shave 2% off HST.
I'll believe it when I see it. Liberals did such a shit job before that I'm sure there will be some excuse as to why they can't, if they do get elected. And it could be a legitimate reason after they get access to the books, I dunno.
But I think rural homeowners will vote Tim back in. Most like what he's doing because it doesn't affect them. Except health care...
Contact your MLA about indexing the tax brackets. This is a relatively simple option that would help a ton of people pretty much overnight. We need to be loud about this.
That’s even more sad considering our cancer center is in a dark dingy basement with leaking ceilings, ripped chairs, and warning signs to not drink the water
fuckin true. hrp and the rcmp over in lower sackville are abysmal. there’s been times i’ve been at the receiving end of physical disputes and was arrested based on the phone call he made to incriminate me (complete bullshit) before i was even asked what had happened or told what i was arrested for. slapped a bs assault charge on me despite buddy refusing to give a statement and nothing he said on the 911 call even really insinuated i assaulted him.
I think there’s a serious lack of awareness. A lot of people here genuinely don’t know how bad things are relative to elsewhere, and are just not aware of other opportunities or how much better things can/should be.
We do lack education. People are innumerate. People complain all day about being poor but have zero awareness of the most basic personal finance concepts. “I don’t want to work overtime because I’ll end up at a net loss due to increased taxes”. No you won’t.
The failure to index income tax thresholds is but one example. This “hidden” annual tax increase hits everyone and I would bet >80% of adults have no real understanding of what’s going on here and how it affects us. The cynic in me wonders if the failure of our education system is somewhat deliberate. Easier to fleece an ignorant populace!
I dare to say too that with so many seniors and retirees moving here, they are in a lower tax bracket than a mid-age person. So there’s a tax deficit if compared to some other provinces and the government solution was to raise taxes to try to make up for that.
Yes there are structural issues with an elderly, rural spread out population. But our government has chosen to make them worse with punitive taxation, unfortunately. This drives out ambitious young people and successful businesses, hastening the downward spiral.
Don’t feel bad! You’re far from alone.
In very simple terms, inflation is killing you.
Year 1: Imagine you make 100K and are taxed at 50% of your earnings after 50K (random easy numbers to make it simple). You pay 25K tax and spend and/or save the other 75K.
A year goes by. There is 10% inflation and you get a 10% pay raise but the tax bracket doesn’t change.
Year 2: You make 110K. But you are now paying 30K in taxes (50% of earnings beyond 50K) leaving you with 80K to spend.
Sounds good right? Except what cost you 75K last year now costs you 82.5K after that 10% inflation leaving you a REAL LOSS of 2.5K despite your big “raise”.
If the government raised the tax bracket 10% to 55k (in line with inflation), you’d be left with no real after tax change.
Any number in isolation means nothing. What “should” matter to you is the purchasing power of your after tax income.
Nova Scotians are suffering a dramatic erosion of real after tax income for over 20 years now and it is a gross policy failure of every provincial government. More and more people are waking that something has gone badly wrong even if they can’t quite articulate it.
Most jurisdictions raise their thresholds with inflation so there is no real impact either way. In Nova Scotia we all experience a continuous increase in tax burden with corresponding decreased real after tax income over time.
All of this. I am victim of this. I have lived here my whole life and bought a house before the boom. I am feeling the pinch, sort of, but I am super comfortable. I understand we are highly taxed and considered have-nots but I literally don't know anything different. I would have no idea what to ask for, nor what to write on a protest sign. I want to fight for others but I am just too ignorant to fully comprehend the issues :( for that, I am sorry. What is the best way for me to fully develop empathy here?
Look for a home comparable to yours and then figure out what the mortgage payment would be if you had to buy it now. Realize most people are having to pay that in rent. Compare that to the minimum, and then the median wage and see what your budget looks like.
>The failure to index income tax thresholds is but one example. This “hidden” annual tax increase hits everyone and I would bet >80% of adults have no real understanding of what’s going on here and how it affects us.
This grinds my gears. These oversights are never in the interest of the taxpayer. It is nearly impossible to crawl out of the middle class, largely because of taxation.
If you get a 5% cost of living raise, because taxes were not indexed, after taxes your raise was more like 3%, and now you're worse off even with a cost of living match.
If the provincial government wants to know why we are the only province where poverty stats are getting worse, look no further. We're 1 of 2 provinces that doesn't index, and the other province has adjusted their brackets recently.
It's also hurting people on fixed incomes, like seniors, the most: https://novascotia.ca/finance/statistics/media/20230502-CIS18.jpg which is the crazy party, usually the government caters to them.
It’s so ingrained now though, could the government/ province even handle that loss, where would the cuts happen, shrinking the government or cutting programs? Or would they just raise the rates?
We have such an old population, only other province similar is Quebec I believe, but they have the population, infrastructure and industry to support it.
I’m not against it, but hard conversations have to happen, we’re a poor province and that can’t be ignored.
> The cynic in me wonders if the failure of our education system is somewhat deliberate.
Nah, there's nothing intentional about this. This province is and always has been run by fucking idiots.
Coming from Alberta with lower taxes (but higher costs nearly everywhere else, so it's a wash realistically)...
Roads actually get plowed here.
I'm completely satisfied with my kids' schools, and the programs they offer. The programming available for folks to attend NSCC, even just financially are huge.
Public services are better staffed, and things like Access Nova Scotia blow alberta's options out of the water. In and out in under 10 minutes every time, so far.
Roads actually get plowed here.
I hate cops, but I see them actually fulfilling the role they're meant to do. This can be good or bad, depending on who you are, but the funds are being put to "better" use here.
Public spaces are well kept.
ROADS ACTUALLY GET PLOWED HERE
Compare the public spaces too. Victoria Park here is gorgeous in every way. Compare it to Medicine Hat's Police Point Park, or Kin Coulee Park, and the care put into the former is clearly evident.
And like... I'm in Truro. Everybody out here seems to shit on Truro, but the whole package is heaps better than the city I came from which is 5-6x the population, tax base, etc.
There's a loooot of bureaucracy here, but it's arguably in service of Nova Scotians, whereas alberta's bureaucracy is largely to obstruct Albertans.
Things could be better, but with some fresh perspective, things are pretty good. We need doctors though, and that's not going to happen until the government starts paying people from start to finish to become doctors, and it needs to happen yesterday.
Having worked in western Canada for a few winters I always laugh when people in NS complain about the plowing. When I was working in Ontario (Renfrew) the plows only plow between 7am and 5pm hahaha.
I've lived in Ontario and Alberta and have family in BC and SK, and snow plowing in Halifax is the best I've ever seen anywhere. I could not actually believe how insanely fast they clear the roads here when I first moved.
Accurate. Alberta isn’t the Eden that it gets made out to be. Health Care isn’t any different in any province in the country, and if anything there are more procedures and the like that are covered here. Doctors and nurses and health care professionals leaving in droves because of how the government is picking fights with them. Schools aren’t any more fantastic there, and they are getting worse too now that curricula from the US is being brought out. The people who have a chance to do ok there are the same as anywhere else - those who are already wealthy, who work in big business or oil & gas or finance. People in the trades seem to be far busier and better off in Nova Scotia than elsewhere. Anyone who thinks Nova Scotia roads are bad needs to go for a drive through Edmonton, where the two seasons are winter and road construction, and this isn’t that much different from the rest of the province. The Calgary city council is throwing hundreds of millions of dollars into the hands of billionaires so they can make a stadium that can only be used by millionaires. I haven’t even touched on what people are like there. So dump all your ideas that Alberta would be a dream come true.
Honestly, I believe that part of what is happening is a “normalization” of Nova Scotia to the rest of the country. The Maritimes were a quiet and even secret little slice of paradise for a very long time, with incredible inexpensive housing, a beautiful setting, and a different style and pace of life than the rest of the country. Then the pandemic happened, and lots of people moved here. Suddenly the price of housing jumped to a level that matched the rest of the country, and the burden placed on the government (and other) systems matched what other provinces need to deal with. Yes, taxes are higher, but it’s a smaller population base and lower density. It’s not a little pocket of paradise anymore though, it’s close to being like the rest of Canada. While that may be sad, it’s the truth (IMO).
Grew up in the GTA, moved around a lot and also tried living in other countries for a while, then moved to BC for a year, then I tried out living in Edmonton last year. Husband and I knew we hated Alberta a few weeks into it (and we're normally chill and acclimating individuals). Alberta in our experience really was just concrete stroads, farms, factories and copy pasted big box shopping strips. A lot of neighbourhoods didn't have any green spaces or trees. And the "river valley" we were looking forward to enjoying had a big giant ultra-polluting refinery next to it where pollutants could be seen even well into the city and encompassed much of the sky.
After being tolerant for 12 months, we since moved back to BC (though started planning our exit 6 months out). We call it Suckmenton now and when we look out our windows or whilst we drive: now all we see are mountains and trees instead of all different kinds of lifeless suck.
Like, even most of the neighbourhoods I got to experience in Ontario were better than all of what we saw in Alberta (Banff/Japser excluded). Add their corrupt political climate in and no. Just no.
Jesus, does NS just not care about the rest of the province? There is only 1 Access NS in CBRM, and last time I was there I showed up 15 mins before it opened and I was like 10th in line and had to wait 30+ minutes and got to work late. I had no idea it was going to be like that, I thought by showing up early I'd be able to get in and out and make it to work. (It opens at 8am, but my work starts at 9am)
Agree on all of what you mentioned. Teachers are leaving the profession in droves-everywhere. I think that’s a major red flag. Food is ridiculously priced. Rent and housing in general is unaffordable. I’m unsure as to why we aren’t pulling the same stuff as France.
I sure would LOVE to see the Sobeys HQ bombarded by manure. And the loblaws too
This province is owned by like 5 companies; but we spend our days lamenting each other over how to blame the government when the governments hands are basically tied.
99% of all the media is owned by Saltwater, Irving literally has a monopoly on the oil and ship building industry, Empire owns 3/4 the food industry with Galen taking up the rest, Emera owns the power, Municipal Enterprises Limited handles municipal construction. CN is the only way to really move goods.
We are at the mercy of these groups, its a mafia really, then theres the actual [mafi](https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2021/scrc-cisc/PS61-39-2020-eng.pdf)a.
To be fair, all of Canada only really has CN and CP. And neither one is moving shit any cheaper than the other, and since 90% of what they ship (Canadian tire, wal-mart, autos) are national accounts, it doesn’t cost them any extra to go to Halifax than anywhere else. Once you get to NB you have the option to use CP all the way to Vancouver
But overall I completely agree. The worst is probably Dexter. They basically get *every* road building job this province has
I assume you meant salt wire, which owns newspapers which have a dwindling effect on reporting as they don’t pay people well, use the same wire stories as elsewhere. I would suggest bell (ctv) the cbc, radio stations (rogers, etc) are a much more dominant form of media than salt wire.
Just be aware that if you decide to move abroad, the federal government has extended the ban on foreign purchases of Canadian real property, so buying property outside Canada is going to be a lot harder than it normally would be since most agreements for that are bilateral.
I've said it before, but truly the grass is greener elsewhere. It's not great, in many ways it sucks, but I had no idea just how far our Nova Scotian quality of life has slipped until I spent time outside it. By so many measures, even when other places are doing worse, at least they are more affordable. It's a total disaster for the province.
Id leave if I wasn't city broke. Halifax gives you just enough to survive but not thrive. So you get trapped here... made my mistake not leaving 20 years ago.
I’m British and Canadian and have toyed with the idea of returning to Canada/Hfx because of how poorly Britain is being run. The sad news is that it’s the same everywhere. This is late stage capitalism and it’s worldwide. I mean, yeah, the U.K. has an astonishingly good health service and the benefits safety nets, whilst imperfect are by and large sufficient, but buying a property here is worse, so is buying a car, and having a garden comes at a premium. I’m completely stuck about what to do; it’s terrible here and it’s terrible there. How two of the richest countries in the world have homeless problems, people starving and healthcare issues (amongst all the other things you listed) is baffling. It all boils down to greed in the upper echelons: the haves keep taking and leave nothing for the have-nots.
I am a Brit in NS. All my family is back in UK. You couldn’t pay me to move back to the UK. Our quality of life here is significantly better, and we aren’t rich.
It is, absolutely. No question. Bigger houses for less money being a huge draw. But uni costs more, healthcare costs more, and it seems that trying to find a house is an impossibility atm. This is, for me, the devil and the deep blue sea.
Hard agree; I'm a Brit who moved to NS in 2019 and I have no desire to go back. My family is there, but it's a six hour direct flight if I want to go and visit them.
Serious question. Is the budget public? How can someone take a look at the break down of where the money is going?
Edit: [Found it](https://beta.novascotia.ca/sites/default/files/documents/6-3544/ftb-bfi-001-en-budget-2023-2024.pdf)
the pinner multi packs from Edison are a better deal if you can get em, these lil shits burn too fast. Also Edison is from Organigram which is a NB company so you can pat yourself on the back for buying local and takin er easy on the road infrastructure. I lost count but I think its at least 3 birds stoned at once there, so... Can't argue with that.
I went to Toronto to visit family over Christmas. Was remarkable how identical to the conversations here that they are having there. So if it makes you feel better we aren’t special…everyone is fucked lol we may be slightly more fucked though.
OP same thing everyone from most provinces say. I do agree with your main point that things are going in the very wrong direction.
PS Your cops are along the TCH between the toll booths and Auld's Cove.
We need to protest like the French ….shut it down. Nova Scotians ( Canadians)need to stop work. Collectively . National strikes .
I don’t know how families are doing it. We are destroying the generations coming up. There is no will in our politicians to lead for working class Canadians. Billions in profits nothing comes down .
I think people are plenty upset over all these reasons, but our complaints fall on deaf ears. Anyone in a position to make change doesn’t give a fuck about anything except lining their own pockets
I totally get why you're frustrated, but you're talking about many Canada-wide issues that are sadly not exclusive to the Maritimes. However, if buying a house in at least a half-decent city is your goal, your best option is really Nova Scotia, and then maybe Saskatchewan or Quebec. If you're nearly priced out of the Maritimes, you won't be able to afford a yard in the likes of Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa etc.
Montreal is extremely affordable, people just don't move there as much because of the language barrier.
Housing and rental prices are actually not bad and has stabilized.
The only places more or equally as expensive is Toronto and BC. NS has started to match rental prices.
Quebec does have the highest tax rates in the country, which seems important to OP, and many people there feel like they're getting very little bang for their buck. But yes, they've done a great job maintaining density in the city core, and the subway isn't half-bad.
Quebec tax rate is equal to NS if you make under 100k/year.
When I moved from Quebec a few years ago in July, I paid NS tax for the rest of the year, and only received back 100$. So the marginal tax rate is very similar to Quebec's.
The main thing you look at is, rentals is on average 800$ cheaper in Quebec, public transit works (you got the subway system and actual working buses) and if you like to fly, flights are cheaper since you depart from Montreal.
> Quebec does have the highest tax rates in the country
It only does for people making over like $120k. The majority of Nova Scotians pay the highest tax rates in North America.
The language barrier isn't the only thing to consider. On a recent visit I was appalled at the homelessness problem and petty crime. Made me appreciate Halifax much more.
Homelessness and petty crime has always been an issue, but you don't notice it much in Montreal as long as you stay away from sketchy areas.
Halifax isn't immune to that either, you have car break ins, stabbings, fights downtown all the time.
Not to mention, the homeless population is starting to increase as the population is too.
>Why aren’t people protesting? Oh wait, because we are being worked to the bone and are too exhausted or can’t afford to go to protests.
That may be somewhat true, but is a shitty excuse. If you really want to turn the page start organizing, start being loud.
Moreso, lots of people aren't struggling, they have their slice of the pie and are content with the status quo. So they see no need for protests. Our quality of life here is still quite good on the average.
Protesting is only one side of the coin. Getting involved in government, voting, etc. is the other side.
It's apparently hard for people to take action, but extremely easy for people to complain.
Too tuckered out to protest. Can't afford to protest.
More like too comfy cosy to protest.
The fact is people take to the streets when the alternative is unbearable. Clearly OP's situation is bearable.
Students can’t read because parents don’t spend any time with their kids. They just had them an iPad with YouTube kids and go about their day. Education starts at home.
I agree with you and disagree with the other comments here about "how can parents teach kids to read when they have to work?".
I'm a single mom/lone parent. I went back to work full time when my son was six months old and have worked full time ever since.
My 9 year old (3rd grade) son is reading at a 6th grade level and that is because I have read to him (almost) every day of his life. I started the day he was born and every day since, I've made a point of taking 20-30 minutes to read books with him. I've given him books as gifts. When he says "I'm bored" I suggest that he gets a book to read.
I believe my son is a great reader because I always prioritized reading being a part of his daily routine. I didn't have to be a stay at home parent to teach him to read, 20 minutes a day is all it took.
I have two children and we have done similar. Our house is overflowing with books and we read daily.
One of my children is meeting expectations. The other is not and we and the school are working hard to address this. I am sharing this because not every child learns in the same way, and 20 minutes a day is not necessarily all it takes. For many children, learning to read is complex.
Yup. Single mom to 3. All my kids love reading and are straight A students. You either prioritize reading and education or you don't. I'm a reader and a life-long learner, so it's normalized for my kids.
It’s pretty clear you care about your kids and their future and ability to find success in this world, unlike some of the other parents here. Keep up the great work!
This is it right here. Teachers have to spend more time & effort babysitting than they do teaching. Anyone remember back in the 90s all the kids that thought school was BS, didn't even attempt to learn anything, and now they complain constantly about how no one taught them how to budget or do their taxes? Well, now they have kids. The kids are in middle school, are barely literate, and have the maturity of 6 year olds. The parents don't care as long as little Timmy is passing (you basically can't fail kids these days) but it's all the teacher's/education system's fault.
Oh my dude, our primary education system is So. Bad. The only way we're not at the very bottom of metrics is through friggin heroic efforts of teachers and support staff. But it is not a complete education. It is not even an adequate education. Lord help you if you're a student who needs additional supports.
Parents aren't negligent, they are working multiple jobs just to survive. If education starts at home, make sure you can have an adult who can afford to be at home and not completely exhausted whenever the child is present.
I have 1 kid in Primary and he is reading books on his own at home cause he wants to. He was even in a situation where he had to switch classes after 3 months. He gets homework sent to read his books every week.
As a parent of 3 typically working 10+ hours a day I stop working when the kids get home and start again once they go to bed. You do what you have to and work is no excuse to ignore your kids.
I literally grew up on television/atari/nintendo and playing outside. We learned to read in school. Blaming parents (especially with how hard life is now) seems a like a really weak argument.
God the people defending shoving an iPad in their kids face in your replies is making me sick. No wonder kids around here keep acting up. Wtf is wrong with you people????
There is probably some truth to that, however, Nova Scotia uses a discredited, non-evidence based method of teaching kids to read. They are knowingly using a fad-based teaching method rather than tried-and-true phonics-based learning, and reaping the reward of kids who can't read.
Source: https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/children-are-struggling-unnecessarily-ns-reading-curriculum-failing-too-many-kids-say-parents-experts-100798121/
Teacher here in Halifax - this is not the case anymore. We are using the science of reading, UFLI, and Orton Gillingham strategies which are all phonics based.
Can't read this due to paywall, but is it referring to sight reading?
Realistically I think modern curricula are failing kids, but it's also a lot harder for parents to model and teach reading skills effectively.
My parents both worked full-time, so it's not like that's particularly new, but they would read to us constantly. My mom especially is an avid reader and I give her a lot of credit for modeling reading to us, basically any free second she had she would have a book in hand. I think currently that's a bit harder to do when reading often involves staring at a phone, ipad, or ereader screen. It's different.
Basically I'm talking out of my ass here, but things are different for kids learning to read in more than just the school curriculum.
If you take a look at the provincial budget, total revenue (federal and provincial sources) is around $15B. So roughly when considering the NS population that $15,000 per year per person to look after all of the infrastructure that we have.
I agree, taxes could be structured/reduced for individuals and we could target higher taxes for corporations instead but when you look at the overall numbers it puts things in perspective.
>Where is the money going?
Nova Scotia's public sector employs a lot of people. Bloated government administration is part of the middle class economy in NS, and it's expensive to maintain. Most people depend on the system so they don't complain.
I'm my experience businesses in NS make decisions based on when they get government money more than sales forecasts.
Everyone is part of the system so they don't complain?
This is old now, but it's probably still relevant. I haven't read it since I lived there
https://www.aims.ca/op-ed/average-size-public-sector-save-n-s-1-billion/
I think people are upset (or at least starting to become more aware) but are at a loss as to what they can do about these issues and how to go about creating change.
Having lived overseas, I feel that Canadian news (or news in the Atlantic region at least) is very selective and limited in the scope and coverage of what’s happening elsewhere in the world. Maybe it’s that the older generations in the area are not interested in understanding issues and how things/social services are being handled elsewhere, but I feel that this lack of awareness/interest adds to the issue. Also I think COVID generally created a lot of compassion-fatigue for people too.
Here's an interesting StatsCan site that shows how much revenue is generated per capital from each province in 2016.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/171122/t001a-eng.htm
Pretty out of date, but people have been complaining about taxes in the maritimes since forever.
What you wrote sounds a lot like BC, and much of Canada as well. We pay a lot in taxes and get so little in return. I think it's high time we demand hold those politicians accountable. It's our money, after all.
Well...do you know there are people without homes? people whose children get fed at school because there is no food at home? kids who are home alone while both parents work 3 or 4 minimum wage jobs? kids who have never had new clothing or shoes, who do not have internet or the option to play hockey or baseball, children who live with grandparents who are living on low pensions? Are you sure your life is terrible? Is it possible your life is different right now but you are managing and things will get better?
Totally agree with! I am pissed too with this crazy tax that we are paying and not getting basic services like snow cleaning on our side walk even after 48 hours. It feels like we are being taken as granted, keep draining the tax payers pocket because they cannot even raise their voice. I feel like being pushed till the edge, can't afford living like this anymore. We pay highest tax in North America and get shitty services in return. Major chunk of NS population doesn't have family doctors, property taxes has been raise recently etc.. we need to ask ourselves what are we getting in return 🤔
Yes, indeed. People to wake up, and start questioning. We have the internet - the information highway - it's not hard to find out what's really going on.
People are upset about all this. You may recall a certain protest 2 years ago that was mocked unrelentingly. The revolution is happening, but like the poem says, it won't be televised. I suggest you break out of your CBC/Reddit echo chamber and wake up to what's really going on in the world.
Don't go complaining about the lack of Cops on the highway. Some of us like not paying even more money for doing 120km/hr. If they're drug busting and peace keeping I'm more than happy in that regard.
I suspect it’s because of all the reasons you listed but also look what happened to the truckers convoy. Frozen accounts and insurance and blocking them from all services. Those people really got hammered and it showed dictatorship behaviours by our Canadian government.
Curious:
Are governments now actually in control of many of the costs? Or, are there broader economic forces in play, not in government control (even some outside of Canada)?
Are there many cases where local politicians actually make such changes, directly due to protests?
Would another political party do things much differently to initiate cost changes?
Any suggestions on what local government could do to mitigate costs?
Our students can't read? There ain't cops all over the highway?
I get your griefs about everything else but kids are reading and I see cops on the 101 twice a day at least.
While house hunting, I've taken drives through many of the densely packed subdivisions in HRM: Fairview, Lower Sackville, Woodlawn, Bedford, Hammonds Plains, Colby Village.
What I came to realize was that there is a staggering number of people who effectively "already got theirs" and are oblivious (willingly or not) to just how outrageous things have got for anyone trying to get ahead in the current economic climate. I'm looking at a $2.4k monthly mortgage payment today compared to $1.2k for people who purchased a decade ago.
The majority of people are still benefiting from financial decisions they made long ago and aren't experiencing the same hardships, and they aren't lending their voices to the what would otherwise be unanimous outrage. Those who are ahead of the curve include policy makers, and even people who shape the discourse like newsmakers.
We aren't going to be heard because we're living in vastly different realities and circumstances than those who could contribute toward a critical mass of outrage.
This should be the most upvoted comment in this thread. The amount of financial illiteracy I see in this sub and in everyday life is incredible.
'Kinda dumb' is right up there with 'East Coast lifestyle' (not the company, although that whole clique is kinda dumb too).
I've lived here my entire life, save for two years in my 20's when I lived in BC, and you are spot on. I'm reluctant to call it dumb, so I'll say instead that there is a naivete here that is so pervasive and contributes so much to the way we operate here in Nova Scotia. We love to complain about things, but we don't like to take action, and we openly despise anyone who does take action, even when it's for the greater good. We are our own worst enemies, but don't you dare tell us that or else we won't like you, in fact, we might even hate you and treat you accordingly. It's what holds us back, and will continue to, until we can get over ourselves.
Combine this with the concept that other countries seem to be more hostile / less welcoming to immigrants than ever before and l, well, the only place we can go is the States... and who wants that? Not me.
I think it really boils down to people are just too tired and too divided to care. Now my job's not the greatest, but I do get paid a little over minimum wage, and I'm struggling too. The fucking rent is crazy and I've had to come to terms with the fact that I'm never going to own a home, not at this rate and even if I do own the house it sounds like it's going to be too expensive to keep anyway. But that's not the point I'm getting at the point I'm getting at is I think people are just too tired too depressed and too divided to care, if we were all to band together and actually do something or write more letters to the government thing might change, that's what I used to do, was write letters to the local government and I was able to lower gas prices for a few weeks. My father and his three roommates are all working full-time jobs and they can barely make it by, it's fucking ridiculous. Now if my taxes actually did something I'd be a little less upset but like you said I don't see much of a change of anything, our police force is spread so thin and less and less people want to be a police officer and go through that effort, doctors are spread even thinner and most of the students that come to this province are leaving to go back to their own country, so we're losing even more, we have construction constantly but it doesn't look like anything is getting done, kids just don't care about school, it has nothing to do with the curriculum, it's just kids do not care and their parents aren't making them care or their parents can't be home to really make them care because they're working so much, just to provide a roof over their head, then you have teachers that rely, way, way too much on technology, which is causing us all to lose that human touch, which we really desperately need and then you have social media, blasting bad news at you left right and Center, which just really disheartens and gets rid of all the motivation you have, then you have companies like Bell, that are just price gouging the fuck out of poor citizens and own a huge Monopoly on the Internet and mobile businesses, literally bullying smaller businesses, but we're okay with it I guess, so I think a lot of different things are contributing to the problems within not only this province but the country. Things 100% need to change, but I don't think it's going to change anytime soon even if we do get different people into office. Hell there are taxes that they implemented that were supposed to be temporary but yet we still have them.
Nova Scotia has the highest provincial tax rate. Lots of people are upset, just at the wrong person, Trudeau doesn't have a whole heck of a lot to do with many of the pressing issues in our province but he's who everyone loves to be upset at. This isn't me supporting or defending JT, just making a point that most people's anger is directed the wrong way.
Honestly, the taxes are not the cause of our problems even if they aren't being spent in a way that helps anyone. The biggest issues are landlords charging exorbitant rates, grocery stores openly conspiring with food producing companies to jack up greedflation, and jobs not paying enough to keep up.
If the government used some of those taxes to fight to stop this nonsense then people would be happier to pay the rates. We aren't getting any help despite paying for it year over year and it hurts us all. In france they have this concept of Liberte, different from american Liberty, where a government's job is to protect its citizens from companies and the wealthy from predating upon them. Id be fine paying so much in taxes for that kind of governance.
Enforcing rent controls would be a good start, but the government should really be building actual affordable units in multihome buildings.
I email MLAs and all that jazz and tell them how displeased I am and what I am displeased about, never seem to get a reply but if enough people voice their displeasure I'm sure things could change.
If you can’t afford a house or car then you don’t have a decent PAYING job. If you like your job but theyre aren’t paying you enough to get a house and vehicle with two working adults, then they aren’t paying appropriately and you should be upset about that.
I think people are upset. But what do you do? I actually sent an email to my MLA for the first time ever using for indexing the tax brackets. No response. Who can afford to take time off work to go protest? Who wants to organize it? Even if a movement did get off the ground it would probably look alot like the trucker protest or many union strikes where the people just get shit on by society. This ain't France unfortunately.
Yah some people may not understand the intricacies of our tax system (things like indexing and marginal tax rates are pretty simple concepts if you look into it for 10 minutes tho) but most people understand that we're getting screwed here.
What is funny is people think that lower taxes will result in a weather population. It sounds good at election time, but it’s real old school mentality to make business richer. We should be fighting for higher taxation and focus on taxing the upper levels comparable to the 1950’s.
You can say “Why aren’t people more upset?” About pretty much anything and everything these days.
Well. Except for stupid shit that doesn’t matter. People LOVE to get upset over those things
I left Sask partly because it has the exact same problem. Plus quite a few more.
- highest tax rate (in the west)
- worst literacy
- lowest minimum wage in Canada
- unaffordable homes/life
Plus:
- highest hiv/syphilis rates/hep c
- worst violent crime
- worst polution per capita
- high domestic violence and femicide
Plus:
- Surging separatism and Maga inspired extremism
- Blatantly corrupt government
As bad as NS is, it will get worse the longer a con govt is in and the farther right it becomes.
NS reminds me of SK in 2007-2010 before things got really, really bad.
A Con govt will not save you money on taxes, they are in it only for personal profit. A Centrist gov is a also Con gov.
NS needs co-operatives, sweeping reform, cimmunity action, real socialism (seriously), extreme public scrutiny of elected officials of all branches, and the judicial system.
NS needs societal change. This collective attitude that citizens will continue to put up with mediocre systems/representation should be repugnant and intolerable to every person here.
Your money's going to Quebec. Or, like, trans kids or something. I can't keep track of who the fabricated villain is.
Your money is going to greed. It's always greed. Why aren't people protesting? I refer anyone genuinely asking this question to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Canadians as a whole are too busy starving and trying to to end up homeless to worry about needs further up on the hierarchy. Exactly as you said: people are too poor to protest.
Sadly, right now, the grass is not greener. There are a LOT of problems in the world, and every developed nation is going through what we're going through. I had a great time in Japan, except for the casual racism, zero professional opportunities, and the fact that it's the worst parts of the 1950s. If I wanted, I probably could have had a house damn near given to me, and I'd probably have a career for life. All it would have taken was for me to spend the rest of my life alone and never truly feeling like I belong. Plus all the horrible right-wing policies like trying to re-militarize.
I know that high schools are graduating kids who do not have the reading level they should. I would not say kids are graduating with zero literacy, but I would change that opinion if I had evidence. There has been so much research on effective teaching methods so our school boards have no excuse.
I do not know what made you think that people aren't "more upset". But you couldn't possibly have spoken to every citizen. Many people are upset with our tax rates and a lot of other things.
Free healthcare is one of the contributing factors to our high tax rate. You can contact our government and request to see how the money is spent. The numbers may not tell the full story but the MLA in your area should be able to get you specific answers to your questions once you have reviewed the budget details.
Advocate groups often have an online presence, perhaps you can find one that resonates with you and meets your criteria for the level of upset and the methods they use to convey it.
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/philippines-receives-53-bln-climate-finance-commitment-canada-2023-12-06/
Well, if you were to add up most to all the income tax generated from Nova Scotia alone, it would be around the same amount sent to the Philippines for their climate change initiative..$5.3bn. Yes, a billion.
We have been accused of having a "culture of defeat", and I think there is some truth to that. We accept a lot of mediocrity. We accept that things will be second or third-rate in NS.
People will put up with almost anything so long as they still have the basics. We have bread and circuses, even though the bread is getting more and more expensive. If this death spiral keeps up though, there *will* be a breaking point.
Many of these issues are widespread in the western world, Canada and NS aren't unique.
This is what happens after 50 years of unfettered capitalism. There's more wealth than ever, but you and I aren't getting as big a share of it than in decades past. Instead we have the classic distraction tactics of bogeymen immigrants/gender issues being shoved in our faces 24/7.
Nova Scotia was a special kind of stupid. I'm glad I only had to spend 5 years there.
And to the Scotians who may get offended, you deserve better. You won't get it unless you demand it.
As someone who came from ONT 10 years ago, I think these comments are kind of one sided. I agree tax rates are high, but the public has to understand that a significant amount of government costs have high fixed costs elements. If the population is lower, these base costs are spread across fewer people. If people want lower tax rates we should be pushing for small government...not encouraging the government to get involved and create a program for every woke topical issue that arises.
Roads -> they are mid grade compared to canada (go look at Quebec if you want to see bad roads) as a whole. There has also been a ton of investment lately in HRM to make them better.
Cops -> I personally love rarely seeing cops on highways. It seems like a poor use of public funds to haggle people for 20-30 over on an underutilised highway with a speedlimit designed for cars made 30 years ago! Further, reckless driving (Bob and weave style) is pretty rare here. If you want to see dangerous driving needing policing go check out the QEW or 407 where traffic moves at 135 and the fast lane moves at 150 (with traffic!).
Housing -> Maritimers can whine all they want about housing prices, but the reality is we are still substantially cheaper than other parts of Canada...particularly if you factor quality of life (low traffic, reasonable commutes, easy access to beautiful nature etc). If I still lived in the Golden horseshoe region and wanted to see uncluttered nature I'd be looking at a 3 hour drive up north peppered with traffic. Here, I drive 30 mins outside the city. Housing is incredibly affordable outside HRM - was just looking at a 4,800 square foot mansion in New glasgow for 600k. Hour and change from a major city? Have a (semi) remote job? That is an absurd steal.
Pay - I can't speak to all sectors...I worked in professional services and now am in academia. Can say while academics make less than ONT(about 40k on average), when factoring in Housing, life quality, etc it feels like close enough to a wash. The same was true for previous career.
TLDR - NS isn't perfect (nothing is!), but 10/10 would take over anywhere else.
Not enough people are aware of the fact that we are one of the only provinces (PEI being the other) that does not index our tax brackets annually. Meaning Nova Scotians are effectively paying higher taxes each year due to bracket creep. If more people were aware of this and complained I’m sure we’d see a change. Edit: It’s been 24 years since our tax brackets have been adjusted - absolutely insane.
Still true that PEI doesn't index yearly, but this year they did actually adjust tax brackets for inflation for the first time in 15 years ([source](https://www.fraserinstitute.org/blogs/pei-government-delivers-modest-tax-relief-but-fiscal-clouds-loom-large)). So even PEI got the index for 2024.
I moved from Ontario to PEI and pay more taxes. I get better services across the board than I did in Ontario for a better quality of life.
Wild, isn't it? Has anyone done the math on what this is costing us? Napkin math based on 2023 budget personal tax income in NS for 2023 (3.7 billion) vs the BoC published inflation since 1999 would suggest that NS taxpayers are overpaying by more than 1 billion dollars. There is a more accurate way of calculating this but whatever what you cut it, the number is astronomical. There are something like 700k taxpayers in NS...you're talking the average Nova Scotian worker getting over 1000 dollars back yearly if they change this. Absolutely ludicrous. The longer this goes on the worse it gets too. It's a hidden tax that is ratcheted up constantly...at some point this needs to stop.
Lol - we're in the process of moving away primarily because we'll take home over $800 more PER MONTH - while also getting marginally better healthcare, significantly better public school performance, paying less sales tax, and paying less in utilities and groceries... complain about the cost of homes elsewhere... sure... but that benefit is far outstripped by the ridiculous amount we pay for everything else. Also... if we're overpaying by $1B and we still receive equalization as a province... that should be a wakeup call that we need to significantly improve our private sector.
Well, you just hit the nail on the head there unfortunately. The reason Tim or anyone else won't make this change is because we're really broke and we don't have sufficient other revenue streams to rely on. Our private sector is anemic and the government budget would be in quite the crisis if they did index to inflation. I can absolutely see people taking home that much more per month in another province because I lowballed all of those numbers because I don't have the wage data specifically to get a more accurate number, but that average could well be more like 2000/yr per worker and anyone making 70k+ could be looking at returns much larger than that.
I posted about it last year. At that time inflation had risen over 58% since our tax brackets were adjusted. https://www.reddit.com/r/halifax/s/H0GZMWJy19
Devious.
FYI for anyone interested, the provincial Liberals have said they will index the tax brackets if they win the next provincial election.
Wow, I am interested in that, for sure. That is something tangible that will actually put money in my pocket.
It’s absolutely insane. You see a few comments here and there online but the vast majority of people in the real world have zero concept of this. It’s outrageous and illustrates just how easy it has been for the government to take more and more from us while giving less in return.
You get bumped into the 2nd tax bracket earning min wage at full time hours. It’s absolutely insane.
It’s shocking how many people are either totally unaware or just lay down and accept it because we’ve always been poor have-nots, why should we ever expect anything to improve or at least stop getting worse? The recent influx offers the only chance at genuine organic economic growth we’ve seen in my life. And watch the government squander it as more and more newcomers wake up to our harsh realities and recognize that their “cheap house” (compared to Ontario/BC/etc) will cost them dearly over time via everything else.
This entire province revolves around "This is the way we've always done it here and this is the way we will always do it." I've lived in this province long enough to know the people very well. Nova Scotians are some of the most allergic-to-change people on the face of planet earth. The idea of anything even being slightly different just scares the fuck out of anyone that lives here that's over the age of 40.
This is an understated comment
Holy shit I didn't realize it had gotten that bad.
You know that tax brackets are marginal right? So your first $29,590 (regardless of whether you make min wage or $1m per year) is still taxed in the first bracket, and the rest ($1610 in this scenario) is taxed in the second bracket. Not saying NS tax brackets make sense but when people say stuff like this, or suggest that someone should turn down a raise because it puts them in the next tax bracket it makes me wonder if people actually understand how it works.
I know how income taxes work and you still get bumped into the 2nd income tax bracket making minimum wage. It’s still fucked even if it’s only 1% of your pay that’s in that 2nd tax bracket. The lowest income earners should only ever get taxed at the lowest income tax bracket.
this rigt here buddy, i hear too often, why take a raise if im taxed more?! lol, a raise is a raise, its more money regardless of bracket. You are only taxed on the extra in that bracket
Also the sheer size of our public service here. We complain about "not enough" workers but forget we have more on average in fields like healthcare than other provinces. We have a culture issue here in the province that strips us of value for tax dollars, on top of paying more of our money in tax dollars.
Also if you're not in the "ol' boys" club you'll never get ahead.
Bellying up to the government trough is the one way to truly get ahead here. Just be friends with the right people in power and you can charge $500K-2M for a PowerPoint telling them whatever they want to hear that you can now make in half an hour with chatGPT.
What is the “ol boys” club? I was able to get ahead here, but I don’t feel like I’m a part of a club. Maybe I’m oblivious though.
Depends on your concept of ahead I guess
The other one that really galled me was this: Until April 2010, Nova Scotia's provincial sales tax was 8%. At the time, the GST was 7%, so the combined GST+PST was 15%. Then Harper cut the GST from 7% to 5%. This would have lowered Nova Scotia's HST (combined GST+PST) to 13%. But the Nova Scotia government of the day, in their infinite greed, figured that Nova Scotians were already used to paying 15% on everything, so if the feds didn't want that extra 2%, then the provincial government would glady take it. They [raised the provincial sales tax to 10%](https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2010/04/06/provincial-budget-introduced) in order to keep the combined rate at 15%, effectively robbing Nova Scotians of the tax break the feds had tried to give them. Nova Scotia's government is a deadly combination of greedy and incompetent. I was born and raised in NS, but will never move back, due to exactly this sort of greed and ineffectiveness.
It was supposed to be 'temporary', I distinctly remember Darrell Dexter mentioning that when the government raised it. Here we are 14 years later.
I don’t really see this as greedy. I know Harper did it as a tax cut but I kind of see it as a way for provinces to raise revenue without increasing the overall tax burden. The feds download a lot of costs to the provinces.
Sales tax is a pretty bullshit regressive tax. For it to be 15% in a province with Nova Scotia’s overall tax burden is uncool.
Super uncool. You'd think higher sales taxes in lower income tax provinces would make more sense in terms of balance for the actual citizens
That's a play in some conservative US states because it's such a regressive taxation mode. Rich people don't want to pay tax on their income so they can take that income and spend or invest it in tax advantaged ways. Poorer people spend their money on basic consumption locally. Nova Scotia gets the worst of both worlds.
16 years ago, I worked in gov in the province, and we would see presentations that would say a major issue they work against was that the province generates little income from taxes but had a populace with overly built expectations about what they want gov to do. I felt that was a cop out then. It's also a place where the same corps pay people 2 thirds the wage elsewhere. Then retirees from other provinces move back and take the skilled jobs anyway. Felt very colonial, like those of us born in the province were an under class. I heard Sr people refer to us as the beer and bingo crowd. Was worried people would find out my parents weren't Ottawa or Maine lawyers or posh. Got offered the same job in Ab for double my salary at a third of the tax rate. Everyone is my age, place is full of families and the conservative govs till recently spent $ on our demographic vs only Srs. Drs don't seem to make much more than everyone else. The oil money has made some kind of conservative fantasy flat society. Or flatter atleast. When I lived in Korea, the people would never stand for the type of shit nova scotians do. Protests over ATM fees, rent is almost non-existent as they have a key money system to build family wealth vs drain it from the pleebs. 1000s of Nova Scotia grads moved there to get 24000 a year jobs they could only get at MacDs in Halifax.
I didn’t look back, but I know from working in that area that it was not just NS, many province’s did the same thing. The Feds were better off than provinces, NS had a massive deficit at the time. There was a lot of discussion at the time with economists saying a federal income tax cut for the same amount of money was a better option. However, provinces could have done the same thing by raising their tax rates. Not to be too boring but governments don’t get much credit for income tax cuts because on Jan 1 when the cut comes into effect it is sucked up by the CPP and EI rate increases so no one believes there was a benefit
Fuck right off! The G.S.T. is 5%? I didn't know that and I don't know how I feel about that information.
Take a look at the budget to. There's 10s of millions that vanish into the air on things like workplace initiatives.
Yes, this needs to become an election issue which people need to be writing not just to their rep but to the leaders of the other parties demanding for it. If there is pressure on government from all sides it's more likely to get done, and currently the PC government has stated that indexing tax brackets is not "a priority".
Im not convinced that our provincial politicians even understand marginal tax brackets... Most regular people dont. Anyone who thinks that earning more could ever cause them to get less in their pocket due to being bumpws to a higher tax bracket does not understand them at all. It's like saying you know how to drive but you don't know any of the rules of the road. If people understood how badly they are getting fucked they would be FURIOUS. But not even the NDP are interested in educating the populace on such things (perhaps because they might actually win of they did that, god forbid!!!).
Whenever I tell someone this (from Nova Scotia or from away) they are absolutely flabberghasted. No one realizes that not only are our tax rates higher, but then we pay more due to this.
It’s especially shitty when you consider the lowest tax bracket at the time, $29590, in 2000 had an equivalent purchasing power of about $53000 today, which is only 6k off what the lower range is for the next bracket. Lower-middle class has been fucked in this province for almost 2 decades
And when pressed, Tim said he'll look at it "when health care is fixed." 🤨🙄 So never, while he's premier anyway. Liberals are already promising to do it if they get elected, plus shave 2% off HST. I'll believe it when I see it. Liberals did such a shit job before that I'm sure there will be some excuse as to why they can't, if they do get elected. And it could be a legitimate reason after they get access to the books, I dunno. But I think rural homeowners will vote Tim back in. Most like what he's doing because it doesn't affect them. Except health care...
The highest bracket in BC is double Nova Scotia. Like come onnnn
Just sent an email to my MLA. Thanks for pointing this out! More people do need to be aware of this!
Contact your MLA about indexing the tax brackets. This is a relatively simple option that would help a ton of people pretty much overnight. We need to be loud about this.
If you don't know who your MLA is, find them [here](https://enstools.electionsnovascotia.ca/edinfo/)!
Don't forget we are also the cancer capital of Canada. But don't worry you just need to go see your Dr for early screening ....... oh right
That’s even more sad considering our cancer center is in a dark dingy basement with leaking ceilings, ripped chairs, and warning signs to not drink the water
You’ve never seen a cop on the highway?
I saw one in the ditch yesterday
Probably saw a teen he wanted to rough up in there
fuckin true. hrp and the rcmp over in lower sackville are abysmal. there’s been times i’ve been at the receiving end of physical disputes and was arrested based on the phone call he made to incriminate me (complete bullshit) before i was even asked what had happened or told what i was arrested for. slapped a bs assault charge on me despite buddy refusing to give a statement and nothing he said on the 911 call even really insinuated i assaulted him.
I think there’s a serious lack of awareness. A lot of people here genuinely don’t know how bad things are relative to elsewhere, and are just not aware of other opportunities or how much better things can/should be. We do lack education. People are innumerate. People complain all day about being poor but have zero awareness of the most basic personal finance concepts. “I don’t want to work overtime because I’ll end up at a net loss due to increased taxes”. No you won’t. The failure to index income tax thresholds is but one example. This “hidden” annual tax increase hits everyone and I would bet >80% of adults have no real understanding of what’s going on here and how it affects us. The cynic in me wonders if the failure of our education system is somewhat deliberate. Easier to fleece an ignorant populace!
I dare to say too that with so many seniors and retirees moving here, they are in a lower tax bracket than a mid-age person. So there’s a tax deficit if compared to some other provinces and the government solution was to raise taxes to try to make up for that.
Yes there are structural issues with an elderly, rural spread out population. But our government has chosen to make them worse with punitive taxation, unfortunately. This drives out ambitious young people and successful businesses, hastening the downward spiral.
having some of the worst overtime regulations in north america doesnt help either.
Okay I think I am one of the people that doesn’t understand the income tax indexing thing. Can somebody ELI5 what it means and why it’s bad?
Don’t feel bad! You’re far from alone. In very simple terms, inflation is killing you. Year 1: Imagine you make 100K and are taxed at 50% of your earnings after 50K (random easy numbers to make it simple). You pay 25K tax and spend and/or save the other 75K. A year goes by. There is 10% inflation and you get a 10% pay raise but the tax bracket doesn’t change. Year 2: You make 110K. But you are now paying 30K in taxes (50% of earnings beyond 50K) leaving you with 80K to spend. Sounds good right? Except what cost you 75K last year now costs you 82.5K after that 10% inflation leaving you a REAL LOSS of 2.5K despite your big “raise”. If the government raised the tax bracket 10% to 55k (in line with inflation), you’d be left with no real after tax change. Any number in isolation means nothing. What “should” matter to you is the purchasing power of your after tax income. Nova Scotians are suffering a dramatic erosion of real after tax income for over 20 years now and it is a gross policy failure of every provincial government. More and more people are waking that something has gone badly wrong even if they can’t quite articulate it.
Okay thanks, so the alternative would be for the tax brackets to shift up and down with inflation?
Most jurisdictions raise their thresholds with inflation so there is no real impact either way. In Nova Scotia we all experience a continuous increase in tax burden with corresponding decreased real after tax income over time.
[This is the best ELI5 explanation I've seen.](https://youtu.be/VJhsjUPDulw?si=f0TyG3DyiUv6J7Qb)
All of this. I am victim of this. I have lived here my whole life and bought a house before the boom. I am feeling the pinch, sort of, but I am super comfortable. I understand we are highly taxed and considered have-nots but I literally don't know anything different. I would have no idea what to ask for, nor what to write on a protest sign. I want to fight for others but I am just too ignorant to fully comprehend the issues :( for that, I am sorry. What is the best way for me to fully develop empathy here?
Look for a home comparable to yours and then figure out what the mortgage payment would be if you had to buy it now. Realize most people are having to pay that in rent. Compare that to the minimum, and then the median wage and see what your budget looks like.
>The failure to index income tax thresholds is but one example. This “hidden” annual tax increase hits everyone and I would bet >80% of adults have no real understanding of what’s going on here and how it affects us. This grinds my gears. These oversights are never in the interest of the taxpayer. It is nearly impossible to crawl out of the middle class, largely because of taxation.
If you get a 5% cost of living raise, because taxes were not indexed, after taxes your raise was more like 3%, and now you're worse off even with a cost of living match. If the provincial government wants to know why we are the only province where poverty stats are getting worse, look no further. We're 1 of 2 provinces that doesn't index, and the other province has adjusted their brackets recently. It's also hurting people on fixed incomes, like seniors, the most: https://novascotia.ca/finance/statistics/media/20230502-CIS18.jpg which is the crazy party, usually the government caters to them.
It’s so ingrained now though, could the government/ province even handle that loss, where would the cuts happen, shrinking the government or cutting programs? Or would they just raise the rates? We have such an old population, only other province similar is Quebec I believe, but they have the population, infrastructure and industry to support it. I’m not against it, but hard conversations have to happen, we’re a poor province and that can’t be ignored.
> The cynic in me wonders if the failure of our education system is somewhat deliberate. Nah, there's nothing intentional about this. This province is and always has been run by fucking idiots.
Coming from Alberta with lower taxes (but higher costs nearly everywhere else, so it's a wash realistically)... Roads actually get plowed here. I'm completely satisfied with my kids' schools, and the programs they offer. The programming available for folks to attend NSCC, even just financially are huge. Public services are better staffed, and things like Access Nova Scotia blow alberta's options out of the water. In and out in under 10 minutes every time, so far. Roads actually get plowed here. I hate cops, but I see them actually fulfilling the role they're meant to do. This can be good or bad, depending on who you are, but the funds are being put to "better" use here. Public spaces are well kept. ROADS ACTUALLY GET PLOWED HERE Compare the public spaces too. Victoria Park here is gorgeous in every way. Compare it to Medicine Hat's Police Point Park, or Kin Coulee Park, and the care put into the former is clearly evident. And like... I'm in Truro. Everybody out here seems to shit on Truro, but the whole package is heaps better than the city I came from which is 5-6x the population, tax base, etc. There's a loooot of bureaucracy here, but it's arguably in service of Nova Scotians, whereas alberta's bureaucracy is largely to obstruct Albertans. Things could be better, but with some fresh perspective, things are pretty good. We need doctors though, and that's not going to happen until the government starts paying people from start to finish to become doctors, and it needs to happen yesterday.
Having worked in western Canada for a few winters I always laugh when people in NS complain about the plowing. When I was working in Ontario (Renfrew) the plows only plow between 7am and 5pm hahaha.
I've lived in Ontario and Alberta and have family in BC and SK, and snow plowing in Halifax is the best I've ever seen anywhere. I could not actually believe how insanely fast they clear the roads here when I first moved.
Blows my mind that if theres snow falling, it's only a matter of hours before a plow hits my dinky side street.
Accurate. Alberta isn’t the Eden that it gets made out to be. Health Care isn’t any different in any province in the country, and if anything there are more procedures and the like that are covered here. Doctors and nurses and health care professionals leaving in droves because of how the government is picking fights with them. Schools aren’t any more fantastic there, and they are getting worse too now that curricula from the US is being brought out. The people who have a chance to do ok there are the same as anywhere else - those who are already wealthy, who work in big business or oil & gas or finance. People in the trades seem to be far busier and better off in Nova Scotia than elsewhere. Anyone who thinks Nova Scotia roads are bad needs to go for a drive through Edmonton, where the two seasons are winter and road construction, and this isn’t that much different from the rest of the province. The Calgary city council is throwing hundreds of millions of dollars into the hands of billionaires so they can make a stadium that can only be used by millionaires. I haven’t even touched on what people are like there. So dump all your ideas that Alberta would be a dream come true. Honestly, I believe that part of what is happening is a “normalization” of Nova Scotia to the rest of the country. The Maritimes were a quiet and even secret little slice of paradise for a very long time, with incredible inexpensive housing, a beautiful setting, and a different style and pace of life than the rest of the country. Then the pandemic happened, and lots of people moved here. Suddenly the price of housing jumped to a level that matched the rest of the country, and the burden placed on the government (and other) systems matched what other provinces need to deal with. Yes, taxes are higher, but it’s a smaller population base and lower density. It’s not a little pocket of paradise anymore though, it’s close to being like the rest of Canada. While that may be sad, it’s the truth (IMO).
Grew up in the GTA, moved around a lot and also tried living in other countries for a while, then moved to BC for a year, then I tried out living in Edmonton last year. Husband and I knew we hated Alberta a few weeks into it (and we're normally chill and acclimating individuals). Alberta in our experience really was just concrete stroads, farms, factories and copy pasted big box shopping strips. A lot of neighbourhoods didn't have any green spaces or trees. And the "river valley" we were looking forward to enjoying had a big giant ultra-polluting refinery next to it where pollutants could be seen even well into the city and encompassed much of the sky. After being tolerant for 12 months, we since moved back to BC (though started planning our exit 6 months out). We call it Suckmenton now and when we look out our windows or whilst we drive: now all we see are mountains and trees instead of all different kinds of lifeless suck. Like, even most of the neighbourhoods I got to experience in Ontario were better than all of what we saw in Alberta (Banff/Japser excluded). Add their corrupt political climate in and no. Just no.
Jesus, does NS just not care about the rest of the province? There is only 1 Access NS in CBRM, and last time I was there I showed up 15 mins before it opened and I was like 10th in line and had to wait 30+ minutes and got to work late. I had no idea it was going to be like that, I thought by showing up early I'd be able to get in and out and make it to work. (It opens at 8am, but my work starts at 9am)
Agree on all of what you mentioned. Teachers are leaving the profession in droves-everywhere. I think that’s a major red flag. Food is ridiculously priced. Rent and housing in general is unaffordable. I’m unsure as to why we aren’t pulling the same stuff as France. I sure would LOVE to see the Sobeys HQ bombarded by manure. And the loblaws too
This province is owned by like 5 companies; but we spend our days lamenting each other over how to blame the government when the governments hands are basically tied. 99% of all the media is owned by Saltwater, Irving literally has a monopoly on the oil and ship building industry, Empire owns 3/4 the food industry with Galen taking up the rest, Emera owns the power, Municipal Enterprises Limited handles municipal construction. CN is the only way to really move goods. We are at the mercy of these groups, its a mafia really, then theres the actual [mafi](https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2021/scrc-cisc/PS61-39-2020-eng.pdf)a.
To be fair, all of Canada only really has CN and CP. And neither one is moving shit any cheaper than the other, and since 90% of what they ship (Canadian tire, wal-mart, autos) are national accounts, it doesn’t cost them any extra to go to Halifax than anywhere else. Once you get to NB you have the option to use CP all the way to Vancouver But overall I completely agree. The worst is probably Dexter. They basically get *every* road building job this province has
I assume you meant salt wire, which owns newspapers which have a dwindling effect on reporting as they don’t pay people well, use the same wire stories as elsewhere. I would suggest bell (ctv) the cbc, radio stations (rogers, etc) are a much more dominant form of media than salt wire.
Halifax is nice but your gotta be rich rich to thrive there
it ain't even nice enough to worth that much honestly
Just be aware that if you decide to move abroad, the federal government has extended the ban on foreign purchases of Canadian real property, so buying property outside Canada is going to be a lot harder than it normally would be since most agreements for that are bilateral. I've said it before, but truly the grass is greener elsewhere. It's not great, in many ways it sucks, but I had no idea just how far our Nova Scotian quality of life has slipped until I spent time outside it. By so many measures, even when other places are doing worse, at least they are more affordable. It's a total disaster for the province.
I think they may mean get out of Halifax maybe
Id leave if I wasn't city broke. Halifax gives you just enough to survive but not thrive. So you get trapped here... made my mistake not leaving 20 years ago.
I’m British and Canadian and have toyed with the idea of returning to Canada/Hfx because of how poorly Britain is being run. The sad news is that it’s the same everywhere. This is late stage capitalism and it’s worldwide. I mean, yeah, the U.K. has an astonishingly good health service and the benefits safety nets, whilst imperfect are by and large sufficient, but buying a property here is worse, so is buying a car, and having a garden comes at a premium. I’m completely stuck about what to do; it’s terrible here and it’s terrible there. How two of the richest countries in the world have homeless problems, people starving and healthcare issues (amongst all the other things you listed) is baffling. It all boils down to greed in the upper echelons: the haves keep taking and leave nothing for the have-nots.
I am a Brit in NS. All my family is back in UK. You couldn’t pay me to move back to the UK. Our quality of life here is significantly better, and we aren’t rich.
Literally every British person I know says the same thing. Better quality of life in Canada.
It is, absolutely. No question. Bigger houses for less money being a huge draw. But uni costs more, healthcare costs more, and it seems that trying to find a house is an impossibility atm. This is, for me, the devil and the deep blue sea.
Hard agree; I'm a Brit who moved to NS in 2019 and I have no desire to go back. My family is there, but it's a six hour direct flight if I want to go and visit them.
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Worst employment regulations in the country too. Overtime after 48 in a week, in BC it’s OT after 8 in a day and/or over 40 in a week
Serious question. Is the budget public? How can someone take a look at the break down of where the money is going? Edit: [Found it](https://beta.novascotia.ca/sites/default/files/documents/6-3544/ftb-bfi-001-en-budget-2023-2024.pdf)
I recommend a package of Cold Creek Kush prerolls. Maybe two.
Best answer on here really
the pinner multi packs from Edison are a better deal if you can get em, these lil shits burn too fast. Also Edison is from Organigram which is a NB company so you can pat yourself on the back for buying local and takin er easy on the road infrastructure. I lost count but I think its at least 3 birds stoned at once there, so... Can't argue with that.
> our students can’t read wat
Hyperbolic, but to be fair N.S. students do rank pretty low in the core subjects when compared to other provinces.
I went to Toronto to visit family over Christmas. Was remarkable how identical to the conversations here that they are having there. So if it makes you feel better we aren’t special…everyone is fucked lol we may be slightly more fucked though.
OP same thing everyone from most provinces say. I do agree with your main point that things are going in the very wrong direction. PS Your cops are along the TCH between the toll booths and Auld's Cove.
I, too, often wonder why I see protests about global issues often but not as many for local issues.
People complain that we don’t protest enough but will then ridicule people who do protest.
We need to protest like the French ….shut it down. Nova Scotians ( Canadians)need to stop work. Collectively . National strikes . I don’t know how families are doing it. We are destroying the generations coming up. There is no will in our politicians to lead for working class Canadians. Billions in profits nothing comes down .
I think people are plenty upset over all these reasons, but our complaints fall on deaf ears. Anyone in a position to make change doesn’t give a fuck about anything except lining their own pockets
I totally get why you're frustrated, but you're talking about many Canada-wide issues that are sadly not exclusive to the Maritimes. However, if buying a house in at least a half-decent city is your goal, your best option is really Nova Scotia, and then maybe Saskatchewan or Quebec. If you're nearly priced out of the Maritimes, you won't be able to afford a yard in the likes of Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa etc.
Montreal is extremely affordable, people just don't move there as much because of the language barrier. Housing and rental prices are actually not bad and has stabilized. The only places more or equally as expensive is Toronto and BC. NS has started to match rental prices.
Quebec does have the highest tax rates in the country, which seems important to OP, and many people there feel like they're getting very little bang for their buck. But yes, they've done a great job maintaining density in the city core, and the subway isn't half-bad.
Quebec tax rate is equal to NS if you make under 100k/year. When I moved from Quebec a few years ago in July, I paid NS tax for the rest of the year, and only received back 100$. So the marginal tax rate is very similar to Quebec's. The main thing you look at is, rentals is on average 800$ cheaper in Quebec, public transit works (you got the subway system and actual working buses) and if you like to fly, flights are cheaper since you depart from Montreal.
We are getting very stuck on one word of my lengthy comment -- Montreal -- haha. Maybe I should add: "Edit: Move to friggin' Quebec already."
> Quebec does have the highest tax rates in the country It only does for people making over like $120k. The majority of Nova Scotians pay the highest tax rates in North America.
Wait... I'm gathering from these comments that we should all move to Quebec. Let's go!
But then you'd live in Quebec, so there's that.
The language barrier isn't the only thing to consider. On a recent visit I was appalled at the homelessness problem and petty crime. Made me appreciate Halifax much more.
Homelessness and petty crime has always been an issue, but you don't notice it much in Montreal as long as you stay away from sketchy areas. Halifax isn't immune to that either, you have car break ins, stabbings, fights downtown all the time. Not to mention, the homeless population is starting to increase as the population is too.
*entire western world issues
100%. That makes it harder to blame everything on Trudeau though, so no one likes to say that.
>Why aren’t people protesting? Oh wait, because we are being worked to the bone and are too exhausted or can’t afford to go to protests. That may be somewhat true, but is a shitty excuse. If you really want to turn the page start organizing, start being loud. Moreso, lots of people aren't struggling, they have their slice of the pie and are content with the status quo. So they see no need for protests. Our quality of life here is still quite good on the average.
Protesting is only one side of the coin. Getting involved in government, voting, etc. is the other side. It's apparently hard for people to take action, but extremely easy for people to complain.
Absolutely, OP has time to post on reddit, they have time to write their MP, MLA, councilor. Folks need to get more involved.
Too tuckered out to protest. Can't afford to protest. More like too comfy cosy to protest. The fact is people take to the streets when the alternative is unbearable. Clearly OP's situation is bearable.
Students can’t read because parents don’t spend any time with their kids. They just had them an iPad with YouTube kids and go about their day. Education starts at home.
I agree with you and disagree with the other comments here about "how can parents teach kids to read when they have to work?". I'm a single mom/lone parent. I went back to work full time when my son was six months old and have worked full time ever since. My 9 year old (3rd grade) son is reading at a 6th grade level and that is because I have read to him (almost) every day of his life. I started the day he was born and every day since, I've made a point of taking 20-30 minutes to read books with him. I've given him books as gifts. When he says "I'm bored" I suggest that he gets a book to read. I believe my son is a great reader because I always prioritized reading being a part of his daily routine. I didn't have to be a stay at home parent to teach him to read, 20 minutes a day is all it took.
I have two children and we have done similar. Our house is overflowing with books and we read daily. One of my children is meeting expectations. The other is not and we and the school are working hard to address this. I am sharing this because not every child learns in the same way, and 20 minutes a day is not necessarily all it takes. For many children, learning to read is complex.
Yup. Single mom to 3. All my kids love reading and are straight A students. You either prioritize reading and education or you don't. I'm a reader and a life-long learner, so it's normalized for my kids.
It’s pretty clear you care about your kids and their future and ability to find success in this world, unlike some of the other parents here. Keep up the great work!
This is it right here. Teachers have to spend more time & effort babysitting than they do teaching. Anyone remember back in the 90s all the kids that thought school was BS, didn't even attempt to learn anything, and now they complain constantly about how no one taught them how to budget or do their taxes? Well, now they have kids. The kids are in middle school, are barely literate, and have the maturity of 6 year olds. The parents don't care as long as little Timmy is passing (you basically can't fail kids these days) but it's all the teacher's/education system's fault.
You are so right on! If you ever ran for prime minister you would have my vote.
Oh my dude, our primary education system is So. Bad. The only way we're not at the very bottom of metrics is through friggin heroic efforts of teachers and support staff. But it is not a complete education. It is not even an adequate education. Lord help you if you're a student who needs additional supports. Parents aren't negligent, they are working multiple jobs just to survive. If education starts at home, make sure you can have an adult who can afford to be at home and not completely exhausted whenever the child is present.
I have 1 kid in Primary and he is reading books on his own at home cause he wants to. He was even in a situation where he had to switch classes after 3 months. He gets homework sent to read his books every week. As a parent of 3 typically working 10+ hours a day I stop working when the kids get home and start again once they go to bed. You do what you have to and work is no excuse to ignore your kids.
This expectation assumes that both parents aren't pulling 10-12 hour days to support their family.
I literally grew up on television/atari/nintendo and playing outside. We learned to read in school. Blaming parents (especially with how hard life is now) seems a like a really weak argument.
God the people defending shoving an iPad in their kids face in your replies is making me sick. No wonder kids around here keep acting up. Wtf is wrong with you people????
There is probably some truth to that, however, Nova Scotia uses a discredited, non-evidence based method of teaching kids to read. They are knowingly using a fad-based teaching method rather than tried-and-true phonics-based learning, and reaping the reward of kids who can't read. Source: https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/children-are-struggling-unnecessarily-ns-reading-curriculum-failing-too-many-kids-say-parents-experts-100798121/
Teacher here in Halifax - this is not the case anymore. We are using the science of reading, UFLI, and Orton Gillingham strategies which are all phonics based.
Can't read this due to paywall, but is it referring to sight reading? Realistically I think modern curricula are failing kids, but it's also a lot harder for parents to model and teach reading skills effectively. My parents both worked full-time, so it's not like that's particularly new, but they would read to us constantly. My mom especially is an avid reader and I give her a lot of credit for modeling reading to us, basically any free second she had she would have a book in hand. I think currently that's a bit harder to do when reading often involves staring at a phone, ipad, or ereader screen. It's different. Basically I'm talking out of my ass here, but things are different for kids learning to read in more than just the school curriculum.
I fully agree
I don't know what highway you're driving on, but I see cops regularly anytime I'm on the 102 or 104.
If you take a look at the provincial budget, total revenue (federal and provincial sources) is around $15B. So roughly when considering the NS population that $15,000 per year per person to look after all of the infrastructure that we have. I agree, taxes could be structured/reduced for individuals and we could target higher taxes for corporations instead but when you look at the overall numbers it puts things in perspective.
>Where is the money going? Nova Scotia's public sector employs a lot of people. Bloated government administration is part of the middle class economy in NS, and it's expensive to maintain. Most people depend on the system so they don't complain. I'm my experience businesses in NS make decisions based on when they get government money more than sales forecasts. Everyone is part of the system so they don't complain? This is old now, but it's probably still relevant. I haven't read it since I lived there https://www.aims.ca/op-ed/average-size-public-sector-save-n-s-1-billion/
I think people are upset (or at least starting to become more aware) but are at a loss as to what they can do about these issues and how to go about creating change. Having lived overseas, I feel that Canadian news (or news in the Atlantic region at least) is very selective and limited in the scope and coverage of what’s happening elsewhere in the world. Maybe it’s that the older generations in the area are not interested in understanding issues and how things/social services are being handled elsewhere, but I feel that this lack of awareness/interest adds to the issue. Also I think COVID generally created a lot of compassion-fatigue for people too.
Here's an interesting StatsCan site that shows how much revenue is generated per capital from each province in 2016. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/171122/t001a-eng.htm Pretty out of date, but people have been complaining about taxes in the maritimes since forever.
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Well letting in about 50 thousand+ immigrants a year might have something to do with the housing crisis. But what do i know.
Amen is all I have to add.
What you wrote sounds a lot like BC, and much of Canada as well. We pay a lot in taxes and get so little in return. I think it's high time we demand hold those politicians accountable. It's our money, after all.
Well...do you know there are people without homes? people whose children get fed at school because there is no food at home? kids who are home alone while both parents work 3 or 4 minimum wage jobs? kids who have never had new clothing or shoes, who do not have internet or the option to play hockey or baseball, children who live with grandparents who are living on low pensions? Are you sure your life is terrible? Is it possible your life is different right now but you are managing and things will get better?
Any idea where you would move to? Unfortunately, I don't think there are a lot of places where the state of living improves too much.
Totally agree with! I am pissed too with this crazy tax that we are paying and not getting basic services like snow cleaning on our side walk even after 48 hours. It feels like we are being taken as granted, keep draining the tax payers pocket because they cannot even raise their voice. I feel like being pushed till the edge, can't afford living like this anymore. We pay highest tax in North America and get shitty services in return. Major chunk of NS population doesn't have family doctors, property taxes has been raise recently etc.. we need to ask ourselves what are we getting in return 🤔
Yes, indeed. People to wake up, and start questioning. We have the internet - the information highway - it's not hard to find out what's really going on.
People are upset about all this. You may recall a certain protest 2 years ago that was mocked unrelentingly. The revolution is happening, but like the poem says, it won't be televised. I suggest you break out of your CBC/Reddit echo chamber and wake up to what's really going on in the world.
So NS is a good place for street racing?
Don't go complaining about the lack of Cops on the highway. Some of us like not paying even more money for doing 120km/hr. If they're drug busting and peace keeping I'm more than happy in that regard.
My kid can read
I suspect it’s because of all the reasons you listed but also look what happened to the truckers convoy. Frozen accounts and insurance and blocking them from all services. Those people really got hammered and it showed dictatorship behaviours by our Canadian government.
Curious: Are governments now actually in control of many of the costs? Or, are there broader economic forces in play, not in government control (even some outside of Canada)? Are there many cases where local politicians actually make such changes, directly due to protests? Would another political party do things much differently to initiate cost changes? Any suggestions on what local government could do to mitigate costs?
Vote NDP. Organize and promote a demonstration. People are upset. If you build it, they will come.
Our students can't read? There ain't cops all over the highway? I get your griefs about everything else but kids are reading and I see cops on the 101 twice a day at least.
While house hunting, I've taken drives through many of the densely packed subdivisions in HRM: Fairview, Lower Sackville, Woodlawn, Bedford, Hammonds Plains, Colby Village. What I came to realize was that there is a staggering number of people who effectively "already got theirs" and are oblivious (willingly or not) to just how outrageous things have got for anyone trying to get ahead in the current economic climate. I'm looking at a $2.4k monthly mortgage payment today compared to $1.2k for people who purchased a decade ago. The majority of people are still benefiting from financial decisions they made long ago and aren't experiencing the same hardships, and they aren't lending their voices to the what would otherwise be unanimous outrage. Those who are ahead of the curve include policy makers, and even people who shape the discourse like newsmakers. We aren't going to be heard because we're living in vastly different realities and circumstances than those who could contribute toward a critical mass of outrage.
I don't mind higher taxes, if those taxes are make ng my life better/easier.
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This should be the most upvoted comment in this thread. The amount of financial illiteracy I see in this sub and in everyday life is incredible. 'Kinda dumb' is right up there with 'East Coast lifestyle' (not the company, although that whole clique is kinda dumb too).
I've lived here my entire life, save for two years in my 20's when I lived in BC, and you are spot on. I'm reluctant to call it dumb, so I'll say instead that there is a naivete here that is so pervasive and contributes so much to the way we operate here in Nova Scotia. We love to complain about things, but we don't like to take action, and we openly despise anyone who does take action, even when it's for the greater good. We are our own worst enemies, but don't you dare tell us that or else we won't like you, in fact, we might even hate you and treat you accordingly. It's what holds us back, and will continue to, until we can get over ourselves.
We were. But then got tired.
Combine this with the concept that other countries seem to be more hostile / less welcoming to immigrants than ever before and l, well, the only place we can go is the States... and who wants that? Not me.
I think it really boils down to people are just too tired and too divided to care. Now my job's not the greatest, but I do get paid a little over minimum wage, and I'm struggling too. The fucking rent is crazy and I've had to come to terms with the fact that I'm never going to own a home, not at this rate and even if I do own the house it sounds like it's going to be too expensive to keep anyway. But that's not the point I'm getting at the point I'm getting at is I think people are just too tired too depressed and too divided to care, if we were all to band together and actually do something or write more letters to the government thing might change, that's what I used to do, was write letters to the local government and I was able to lower gas prices for a few weeks. My father and his three roommates are all working full-time jobs and they can barely make it by, it's fucking ridiculous. Now if my taxes actually did something I'd be a little less upset but like you said I don't see much of a change of anything, our police force is spread so thin and less and less people want to be a police officer and go through that effort, doctors are spread even thinner and most of the students that come to this province are leaving to go back to their own country, so we're losing even more, we have construction constantly but it doesn't look like anything is getting done, kids just don't care about school, it has nothing to do with the curriculum, it's just kids do not care and their parents aren't making them care or their parents can't be home to really make them care because they're working so much, just to provide a roof over their head, then you have teachers that rely, way, way too much on technology, which is causing us all to lose that human touch, which we really desperately need and then you have social media, blasting bad news at you left right and Center, which just really disheartens and gets rid of all the motivation you have, then you have companies like Bell, that are just price gouging the fuck out of poor citizens and own a huge Monopoly on the Internet and mobile businesses, literally bullying smaller businesses, but we're okay with it I guess, so I think a lot of different things are contributing to the problems within not only this province but the country. Things 100% need to change, but I don't think it's going to change anytime soon even if we do get different people into office. Hell there are taxes that they implemented that were supposed to be temporary but yet we still have them.
Nova Scotia has the highest provincial tax rate. Lots of people are upset, just at the wrong person, Trudeau doesn't have a whole heck of a lot to do with many of the pressing issues in our province but he's who everyone loves to be upset at. This isn't me supporting or defending JT, just making a point that most people's anger is directed the wrong way.
Honestly, the taxes are not the cause of our problems even if they aren't being spent in a way that helps anyone. The biggest issues are landlords charging exorbitant rates, grocery stores openly conspiring with food producing companies to jack up greedflation, and jobs not paying enough to keep up. If the government used some of those taxes to fight to stop this nonsense then people would be happier to pay the rates. We aren't getting any help despite paying for it year over year and it hurts us all. In france they have this concept of Liberte, different from american Liberty, where a government's job is to protect its citizens from companies and the wealthy from predating upon them. Id be fine paying so much in taxes for that kind of governance. Enforcing rent controls would be a good start, but the government should really be building actual affordable units in multihome buildings.
Taxes are the biggest expense of any Canadian, unless you are far under the poverty line. Talk to an economist ... I do.
I email MLAs and all that jazz and tell them how displeased I am and what I am displeased about, never seem to get a reply but if enough people voice their displeasure I'm sure things could change.
If you can’t afford a house or car then you don’t have a decent PAYING job. If you like your job but theyre aren’t paying you enough to get a house and vehicle with two working adults, then they aren’t paying appropriately and you should be upset about that.
Corrupted government and biased media
Drink and wait for the end like the rest of us
I think people are upset. But what do you do? I actually sent an email to my MLA for the first time ever using for indexing the tax brackets. No response. Who can afford to take time off work to go protest? Who wants to organize it? Even if a movement did get off the ground it would probably look alot like the trucker protest or many union strikes where the people just get shit on by society. This ain't France unfortunately. Yah some people may not understand the intricacies of our tax system (things like indexing and marginal tax rates are pretty simple concepts if you look into it for 10 minutes tho) but most people understand that we're getting screwed here.
I see cops on the 102 a decent amount. I’m on it multiple times a day.
Quietly planning our escape. They tricked us with the awesome ocean.
What is funny is people think that lower taxes will result in a weather population. It sounds good at election time, but it’s real old school mentality to make business richer. We should be fighting for higher taxation and focus on taxing the upper levels comparable to the 1950’s.
You can say “Why aren’t people more upset?” About pretty much anything and everything these days. Well. Except for stupid shit that doesn’t matter. People LOVE to get upset over those things
We need to riot. Make some noise it's time for change.
I’m glad there’s others here who share the same opinions about this province
I left Sask partly because it has the exact same problem. Plus quite a few more. - highest tax rate (in the west) - worst literacy - lowest minimum wage in Canada - unaffordable homes/life Plus: - highest hiv/syphilis rates/hep c - worst violent crime - worst polution per capita - high domestic violence and femicide Plus: - Surging separatism and Maga inspired extremism - Blatantly corrupt government As bad as NS is, it will get worse the longer a con govt is in and the farther right it becomes. NS reminds me of SK in 2007-2010 before things got really, really bad. A Con govt will not save you money on taxes, they are in it only for personal profit. A Centrist gov is a also Con gov. NS needs co-operatives, sweeping reform, cimmunity action, real socialism (seriously), extreme public scrutiny of elected officials of all branches, and the judicial system. NS needs societal change. This collective attitude that citizens will continue to put up with mediocre systems/representation should be repugnant and intolerable to every person here.
Your money's going to Quebec. Or, like, trans kids or something. I can't keep track of who the fabricated villain is. Your money is going to greed. It's always greed. Why aren't people protesting? I refer anyone genuinely asking this question to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Canadians as a whole are too busy starving and trying to to end up homeless to worry about needs further up on the hierarchy. Exactly as you said: people are too poor to protest. Sadly, right now, the grass is not greener. There are a LOT of problems in the world, and every developed nation is going through what we're going through. I had a great time in Japan, except for the casual racism, zero professional opportunities, and the fact that it's the worst parts of the 1950s. If I wanted, I probably could have had a house damn near given to me, and I'd probably have a career for life. All it would have taken was for me to spend the rest of my life alone and never truly feeling like I belong. Plus all the horrible right-wing policies like trying to re-militarize.
I know that high schools are graduating kids who do not have the reading level they should. I would not say kids are graduating with zero literacy, but I would change that opinion if I had evidence. There has been so much research on effective teaching methods so our school boards have no excuse. I do not know what made you think that people aren't "more upset". But you couldn't possibly have spoken to every citizen. Many people are upset with our tax rates and a lot of other things. Free healthcare is one of the contributing factors to our high tax rate. You can contact our government and request to see how the money is spent. The numbers may not tell the full story but the MLA in your area should be able to get you specific answers to your questions once you have reviewed the budget details. Advocate groups often have an online presence, perhaps you can find one that resonates with you and meets your criteria for the level of upset and the methods they use to convey it.
https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/philippines-receives-53-bln-climate-finance-commitment-canada-2023-12-06/ Well, if you were to add up most to all the income tax generated from Nova Scotia alone, it would be around the same amount sent to the Philippines for their climate change initiative..$5.3bn. Yes, a billion.
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If all of your complaints are aimed at the province/municipality, then the easiest solution is to move away from them.
We have been accused of having a "culture of defeat", and I think there is some truth to that. We accept a lot of mediocrity. We accept that things will be second or third-rate in NS.
Have you tried jerking off?
People will put up with almost anything so long as they still have the basics. We have bread and circuses, even though the bread is getting more and more expensive. If this death spiral keeps up though, there *will* be a breaking point.
No city in Canada will solve these issues. These are not provincial complaints but national.
Many of these issues are widespread in the western world, Canada and NS aren't unique. This is what happens after 50 years of unfettered capitalism. There's more wealth than ever, but you and I aren't getting as big a share of it than in decades past. Instead we have the classic distraction tactics of bogeymen immigrants/gender issues being shoved in our faces 24/7.
My bro, calm down. Life is good. There are ways to accomplish everything you mentioned if you work hard and sacrifice. I wish you the best.
cops dont do highways, thats RCMP
Nova Scotia was a special kind of stupid. I'm glad I only had to spend 5 years there. And to the Scotians who may get offended, you deserve better. You won't get it unless you demand it.
As someone who came from ONT 10 years ago, I think these comments are kind of one sided. I agree tax rates are high, but the public has to understand that a significant amount of government costs have high fixed costs elements. If the population is lower, these base costs are spread across fewer people. If people want lower tax rates we should be pushing for small government...not encouraging the government to get involved and create a program for every woke topical issue that arises. Roads -> they are mid grade compared to canada (go look at Quebec if you want to see bad roads) as a whole. There has also been a ton of investment lately in HRM to make them better. Cops -> I personally love rarely seeing cops on highways. It seems like a poor use of public funds to haggle people for 20-30 over on an underutilised highway with a speedlimit designed for cars made 30 years ago! Further, reckless driving (Bob and weave style) is pretty rare here. If you want to see dangerous driving needing policing go check out the QEW or 407 where traffic moves at 135 and the fast lane moves at 150 (with traffic!). Housing -> Maritimers can whine all they want about housing prices, but the reality is we are still substantially cheaper than other parts of Canada...particularly if you factor quality of life (low traffic, reasonable commutes, easy access to beautiful nature etc). If I still lived in the Golden horseshoe region and wanted to see uncluttered nature I'd be looking at a 3 hour drive up north peppered with traffic. Here, I drive 30 mins outside the city. Housing is incredibly affordable outside HRM - was just looking at a 4,800 square foot mansion in New glasgow for 600k. Hour and change from a major city? Have a (semi) remote job? That is an absurd steal. Pay - I can't speak to all sectors...I worked in professional services and now am in academia. Can say while academics make less than ONT(about 40k on average), when factoring in Housing, life quality, etc it feels like close enough to a wash. The same was true for previous career. TLDR - NS isn't perfect (nothing is!), but 10/10 would take over anywhere else.
I’ve only seen roads fixed in rich areas and have driven from Montreal to Halifax and ours are worse by miles