N.S. political parties all try to make affordability their issue

In the three years since Nova Scotia's last election, rent and mortgage payments have risen, sticker shock has become a common experience at the grocery store and homelessness has skyrocketed.

Tammy Brunet is one of the many Nova Scotians who is struggling in the face of those realities, and her experiences with housing and the surging cost of living are now shaping her interest — or rather, apathy — in provincial politics.

Earlier this year, Brunet's landlord told her she had to leave her Halifax-area apartment at the end of a fixed-term lease, and the next best place she could find is smaller and the rent is hundreds of dollars more. The experience has taken a toll.

"I don't know that I will ever feel completely safe renting anymore, knowing how easy it is for a landlord to just decide, 'You can go now because I want more money.'"

In the summer of 2021, when Nova Scotians last went to the polls, affordability was already a worry for many, and it was a topic of political conversation and debate, but not nearly to the extent it is now in 2024.

In this snap election campaign, each major party is weaving affordability into their narrative and trying to prove they alone have the solutions.