Birth control screwup and a weird pizza analogy: Takeaways from the second leaders debate

Premier Tim Houston had one message for Nova Scotian voters during CTV Atlantic’s provincial leaders roundtable Thursday night: the plan is working.

Criticisms from his fellow party leaders would suggest otherwise.

The roundtable itself was messy. While Houston and Liberal leader Zach Churchill fired shots at each other throughout the evening, it was hard not to feel for NSNDP leader Claudia Chender, who seemed to be more focused on the issues. Although she certainly unholstered her metaphorical gun more than a few times, it was all propelled by policy, and she hit the target when she slammed Houston for not accepting the feds’ plan to make birth control free.

Bill C-64, the pharmacare act, was pushed by the federal Liberals and NDP into becoming law in October, and allows free diabetes medication and contraceptives for provinces that negotiate deals with the federal government. This bill will save individuals and families hundreds or thousands of dollars annually on their medication. Chender asked Houston why he had yet to accept the federal government’s offer.

Houston’s response? He wanted to negotiate further with the feds while saying it was no good to accept a federal law that had only just passed, leaving Ottawa’s money on the table and leaving Nova Scotians to continue paying for medication that has become free in other provinces

Premier Tim Houston says he didn’t initially accept the federal government’s offer to cover medication under the pharmacare act so he could negotiate for a better deal. Credit: CTV Atlantic

The premier also made remarks on how rent control would prevent housing from being built, saying any further measures—reducing the annual rent cap, tying up the fixed-term lease loophole—would make builders not want to construct more homes. He says this while both the Liberals and NDP plan to address skyrocketing rent and rent cap avoidance. At one point, Houston said, “We can’t solve every problem Nova Scotians are facing.”

When host Todd Battis asked about the eviction of hundreds of tenants from Ocean Breeze Village in Dartmouth, and whether the provincial government could have purchased the buildings to prevent so many people from being put out, Houston clammed up. He said he spoke to tenants, but also said “more government isn’t the answer”—while also admitting that the province has trouble keeping up with provincially-owned housing.

One of his worst offenses came when he responded to pointed critiques from Churchill about his tendency to back away from issues when the pressure’s on. He replied, “We’re doing just fine in this province, thank you,” seemingly ignorant of all the people he had previously spoken of who were kicked out of homes or couldn’t receive the healthcare they needed.

Houston isn’t the only one who flubbed during the debate. Perhaps the most cringeworthy line of the entire night came from Churchill, who made an awful analogy regarding ambulance wait times in the province.

“Mr. Houston said last time you could get a pizza before you can get an ambulance,” said Churchill, referring to a line Houston dropped during his 2021 campaign. “Now you can get a pizza, a garlic fingers and a donair,” said Churchill.

Liberal leader Zach Churchill made a strange callback to Tim Houston’s 2021 comment about ordering pizza faster than getting an ambulance. Credit: CTV Atlantic

The relevance of Churchill’s retort is one thing, but it also downplays how serious the problem is. Wait times for ambulances have increased year over year, and although they are projected to be better in 2024, Churchill’s comment comes off less as a critique and more as a pre-rehearsed line he needed to get out there before his 90 minutes were up.

Otherwise, Churchill’s performance was solid, even if it did contain an egregious amount of tepid bickering with Houston. He repeated some of the same talking points he had throughout the campaign, including his plan to save families $3,000 annually with a 2% HST cut, and he did hit Houston hard with criticism on overspending—including the hundreds of thousands Houston gave away to Sobeys for Scene Points.

Chender often felt like the only adult in the room—besides Battis, of course. While some of her plans didn’t feel as polished as they should, including those for transit and bringing more doctors into Nova Scotia, her critiques of the PC Party and Liberal platforms were accurate and hard-hitting. She fired at Houston for not taking the government’s deal on birth control, but she also got a second shot in for his failure to address the fixed-term lease loophole. She even pointed out the Liberal hypocrisy on the same issue, calling out Churchill’s party for creating the loophole to begin with.

NSNDP leader Claudia Chender took shots at both Tim Houston and Zach Churchill regarding the fixed-term lease loophole. Credit: CTV Atlantic

If polling has anything to say, the run for the premiership has already been decided. As CBC reports, Narrative Research results show that 44% of Nova Scotians would be voting in Houston’s favour. With the election being called so suddenly by Houston, and the 30-day campaign being the shortest legally allowed, some districts don’t even have Liberal or NDP signs up on the street, making the competition itself fairly one-sided. While that may seem disheartening to the other 56%, this election is still important as it will decide who the official opposition will be: the Liberals or the NDP, making their skill at delivering accurate and pointed criticism all the more important.

Nova Scotia’s provincial election is set to take place on Tuesday, Nov 26.