The Nova Scotia Liberal Party will be introducing two bills when the House resumes this evening. Community Services shadow minister Ben Jessome will be tabling an amendment to the Employment Support and Income Assistance Act, requiring the province’s income assistance rate to be indexed annually to inflation. Income assistance payments are a vital funding stream for our province’s most vulnerable but have become redundant as prices on almost everything have jumped significantly in the last year. This bill would match income assistance payments to the economic climate we’re in, so the payments can go a longer way for those receiving them.

Northside-Westmount MLA Fred Tilley will introduce an amendment to the Veterans’ Number Plates Regulations that would waive vehicle registration fees for military veterans. In Nova Scotia those fees can cost over $300 for passenger vehicles; this bill would be a cost-saving measure as a token of gratitude for those who have served our country.