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Policy Demands

Photo by Sara Farias at the Housing Justice rally in 2023

Food insecurity is a political choice. Each level of government has levers they can choose to pull in order to address the root causes of poverty and reduce food insecurity. Click on the buttons below to read about Feed Nova Scotia’s policy demands to both our provincial and federal governments.

Provincial Policy Demands

  1. Reform the Employment Services Income Assistance (IA) program by:
    • indexing IA to meet Market Basket Measure (MBM) and;
    • allowing recipients to earn and save more before IA is clawed back.
  2. Improve access and impact of the Nova Scotia Child Benefit, the Affordable Living Tax Credit, and the Poverty Reduction Credit programs by:
    • expanding eligibility for these programs to household earnings below the Market Basket Measure (MBM) and;
    • indexing these programs to inflation.
  3. Work with the Government of Canada to implement a basic income guarantee for lower income households.

  1. Provide long-term investment in inclusive and accessible community food spaces through a coherent and coordinated strategy.
  2. Transition Collaborative Food Networks (CFNs) to stable, multi-year funding agreements.

  1. Restart the Food and Beverage Strategy to develop a comprehensive and coherent plan for the local food system in Nova Scotia.
  2. Consult and work with Indigenous Nations and African Nova Scotian communities to support their self-determination, sovereignty, and control over their food systems.
  3. Provide targeted support for immigrant pathways to producing culturally relevant food.

Federal Policy Demands

  1. Modernize the Employment Insurance (EI) system by expanding eligibility and support for precarious, gig, and self-employed workers.
  2. Enhance the Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) and the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB).
  3. Work with provincial governments to implement a national basic income guarantee program for lower income households.

  1. In the short-term, transform the GST/HST Credit into a Groceries and Essentials Benefit to immediately offset the escalating cost of food and other essentials.
  2. In the long-term, regulate groceries like a utility, requiring retailers to have set prices for a standardized basket of nutritious food. 

  1. Work in partnership with Indigenous Nations to support Indigenous self-determination, sovereignty, and control over their food systems. 

Contact

If you have any questions about advocacy at Feed Nova Scotia or are looking for more information, please contact advocacy@feednovascotia.ca.

Feed Nova Scotia and the network of members are located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq Peoples, and we acknowledge them as past, present, and future caretakers of this land. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Mi’kmaq, Wəlastəkwiyik (Maliseet), and Passamaquoddy Peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1725. We are all Treaty people.

We acknowledge that African Nova Scotians have existed and persisted on the traditional land of the Mi’kmaq for more than 400 hundred years and their significant presence has contributed to the existence of Nova Scotia.

We are grateful to live and work in Mi’kma’ki.