As municipal elections approach in October 2024, Building Inclusive Communities: A Policy Agenda for Nova Scotia Municipalities that Leaves No One Behind lays out ways to turn the values of social and economic justice into concrete policy realities to improve people’s lives in communities across this province.
The report contains policy recommendations for incoming municipal councils to consider in six key areas, on issues including publicly-managed services, transit, housing, climate change, taxation, wages, and more. For example, the report recommends that municipalities move toward providing free public transit, support building 30,000+ new affordable homes, and save money by putting an end to ineffective contracting-out and privatization. The report also highlights the urgent action required at the municipal level to address and mitigate climate change’s impacts, and steps municipalities can take to be more prepared for climate change.
Building Inclusive Communities includes sets of questions that residents can ask candidates running in municipal elections about their values and priorities, and how they would shape the future of their communities should they be elected to office.
About the authors
Kyle Buott
Christine Saulnier
Christine Saulnier (she/her) is Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia. She has a doctorate in Political Science from York University. She leads the living wage calculations for communities across Atlantic Canada and serves as a co-author of the annual child and family poverty report cards for Nova Scotia. She has written extensively, and given commentary on a range of other public policy issues including fiscal policy, labour markets, and child care policy. She serves on the Steering Committee of Child Care Now Nova Scotia, and Campaign 2000 (national coalition to end child and family poverty). She served on the Board of the NS Health Coalition and Adsum for 10 years.
Kenya Thompson
Kenya Thompson (she/her) is a research associate with CCPA Nova Scotia, and PhD student at York University’s Department of Politics. She is also a research assistant on the Reimagining Care/Work Policies project, which aims to advance equitable and inclusive care/work policies in Canada. Find her on Twitter at @khftho
