Chester-St. Margarets NDP Candidate Amy Reitsma. Photo: NDP Party of Nova Scotia
The NDP candidate running in Chester- St. Margarets is looking to transition from her career as an actor to a politician.
Amy Reitsma is an actor by trade and after spending two years in London, England working when she returned home she found many people struggling to provide for their basic needs.
“Healthcare and housing are in scary situations right now and when out canvassing I see people with good careers still struggling to keep up,” Reitsma said.
Reitsma believes her background in acting will make her a successful politician. She says working as an actor you need to be great at collaboration and listening to others. Public speaking is another skill Retisma believes was honed by her career which she thinks will help her communicate with her constituents.
When out knocking on doors Reitsma says healthcare is the number one issue she hears about especially as her riding is reliant on health services in other regions of the province. “Most of our residents either have to go to Bridgewater or Halifax is they want medical care that’s why I’m excited about what the NDP have planned.”
Reitsma says the NDP will be looking to create more partnerships for local health services so that smaller clinics designed for specific issues are more easily accessible.
As part of the NDP platform, they have also promised to establish ten walk-in mental health clinics around the province, though where those would be built is still yet to be announced.
Overall Reitsma says the NDP are looking to take the strain off of ERs. The idea is that by investing in smaller clinics people will be able to use them instead of relying on ERs for primary care. The NDP are also planning to expand digital health services which will also reduce the burden on ERs.
On the housing front, Reitsma says her community is worried about rising housing costs and the increase of short-term rentals which is only worsening the market for locals looking to buy.
The NDP plan to deal with rising home prices by investing in over 1,000 public low-income housing. They also intend to create a permanent rent increase cap that would limit how much and how often landlords could increase rent.
They also promise to create more rigid policies surrounding short-term rentals and at a recent campaign event in Bridgewater NDP Leader Gary Burrill said municipalities need more power to protect themselves from housing markets being taken over by short-term rentals.
