HALIFAX—Stephen McNeil is talking up Nova Scotia’s economy, but if you are making minimum wage in this province, don’t expect a jump in pay to $15 an hour any time soon.

In the column McNeil wrote as this week’s guest editor for The Star Halifax, McNeil discussed the province’s economic position and how it’s being noticed globally.

But when asked about Nova Scotia workers who are struggling to make ends meet and why the province hasn’t followed others like Alberta and B.C. to a path toward a $15-an-hour minimum wage, McNeil didn’t directly answer the question, choosing instead to praise his government’s work toward making life easier for people.

“We continue to strike the balance of ensuring that we’re providing affordability,” he said.

Nova Scotia has one of the lowest minimum wages in the country at $11.55 per hour, according to the Retail Council of Canada. Nova Scotia’s minimum wage is scheduled to increase by about 55 cents in both April 2020 and April 2021.

McNeil brought up the stabilization of power rates in recent years as one example of how life has become more affordable for Nova Scotians. He also noted that a growing economy like Nova Scotia’s should eventually lead to better pay for workers.

“When we have an increase in the price of lobster, we see not only the buyer’s price go up, but the deck hands get more, the lobster owner gets more, more money is spent around those particular communities,” McNeil said.

The premier also talked about his chilly relationship with public sector unions in Nova Scotia. McNeil conceded he’s probably not well-liked by many union leaders, but appears confident workers on the ground are noticing the positives behind some recent decisions.

Why did you choose the topic you did for your guest editor column?

It’s important to recognize the tremendous work Nova Scotians have been doing over the last six years, first to make sure we get our own fiscal house in order, but also recognizing we needed to diversify our economy and have confidence that we actually can be out competing in a global community. We’ve seen that through export opportunities, where we’ve seen substantial growth. We’ve seen a population increase, we’ve seen young people repatriating back, looking for the investments in a newer economy.

The decisions you made to balance the budget have been scrutinized and some people are struggling. Have those decisions been worth it?

We have to be in a position, like every Nova Scotia family, to pay the bills of today and not put them off to tomorrow. The reality of it is we have been moving toward providing reasonable wage increases in the public sector, we have invested $50 million in a pre-primary program that every four-year-old, regardless of their socio-economic circumstances they are in, will have access to.

We gave an $85 million tax cut to low income Nova Scotians … and then we targeted how do we grow the economy and new opportunities with the private sector? That’s why we’ve worked with COVE (The Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship) and the property we purchased, but it’s the private sector that’s growing the opportunity.

You look at (Halifax’s tech incubator) Volta. We work in terms of the rent aspect there, but it’s the private sector, the entrepreneurs, that’s driving that opportunity. And the work that we did with exports, it’s growing tremendous opportunities in rural parts of the province. For example, the price of lobster, sea cucumber, all of that, is at an all-time high, and we’re seeing that positive repatriating back into our communities.

We’re seeing new Canadians come to Nova Scotia and want to join us. And if you look at all the economic stats for Statistics Canada, we’ve seen the largest average weekly earning growth from January of 2018 to July of 2018 — you compare that to this year — we led the country in growth — 3.6 per cent. That is across all sectors. That means while there was work that we were doing, and there were challenges associated with it and people were feeling that in different ways, we’re now starting to see that all Nova Scotians are seeing the benefit of that hard work.

How would you describe your relationship with union members in Nova Scotia who have been critical of your tough stances on negotiating contracts?

I’d say that union leaders are not happy. There’s no question about that. My job is to defend all taxpayers, all Nova Scotians. We believe we put on fair agreements. I have a number of union members who would be supportive of some of the decisions we made. I can tell you the reinvestments we’ve made in classrooms across this province are being seen by teachers as a positive thing. Those are all important things.

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We have health care workers that recognize that the fractured system that was broken needed to be aligned into one. But there’s no question that union leaders are not happy with the fact that I have to make sure that not only can I afford to pay reasonable pay increases for the public sector, but that I can ensure I grow the economy for all Nova Scotians.

You talk a lot about small business and the importance of that. But there is also the worker, and today’s worker is struggling to make ends meet as the cost of living goes up. So why hasn’t this government set a path toward a $15 minimum wage to help those workers, like other provinces are doing?

Well, we’ve continued to increase the minimum wage in the province. At the same time, we’ve put in a basic personal exemption on a sliding scale. Eighty-five million dollars is on the paycheques and pockets of those Nova Scotians whose income would be below a certain level, which means we’re leaving more of that money in their pockets, at the same time increasing the minimum wage in Nova Scotia. We continue to strike the balance of ensuring that we’re providing affordability.

I’m very proud that we’ve stablized power rates in this province ... that’s a positive thing. That’s a real cost for Nova Scotians. At the same time, (we’re) trying to grow the economy and economic opportunities for them. That’s why the exports are so important. It’s providing jobs opporunities here in our province.

You regularly take issue with the characterization that our health care system is in a crisis, but many people disagree with you. Do you understand where those people are coming from and why do you think they call it a crisis?

I understand why people who may not have access to a primary care giver would recognize that. If they are in a community with aging infrastructure, I would understand that. We came in at 2013, the stories were well documented about the (Victoria General hospital) site. We made the largest single investment in capital infrastructure the province has issued when it comes to health care. Not only at that site, but in Cape Breton. They were all positive changes that had to be (done). But those transitions are difficult. People feel those…

We are (also) working hard to try to attract more primary care givers … But we also have to recognize that health care teams want to practice differently than they did 20 years ago. Nurse practitioners are required, family practice nurses. Doctors deserve to have time off to be with their own families, which means we need to build a more collaborative approach. Quite frankly, this province was lagging behind the rest of the country when it came to that transformation.

You ended your column with ‘You may not agree with me on everything but I think there is one thing we all know for sure — Nova Scotia is simply the best province in Canada.’ What would you say to people who say things aren’t great here in Nova Scotia?

Listen, no matter where I go, while they may not agree with the policies, or the policies that we’ve dealt with, they actually talk about this province in such a glowing way. It’s why more people are choosing to come here. The population is at an all-time high. It’s not just new Canadians, but Canadians are repatriating back home.

We’re younger. For the first time since 1964, our average age has gone down. Think about that. That’s my lifetime. That’s the first time in my lifetime that the average age in this province has gone down. When you look at the beauty of this province, when I hear people who have been away to other places and they come back longing for the lifestyle that we have, the ocean. It’s an impressive part of the conversation when you’re dealing with people.

Whether they agree with the government or not, I think Nova Scotians can agree this is a great province, and a province that leads the federation.

Some answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.

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