PCs, Liberals try to set themselves apart on tax policy during campaign's first week

Two of Nova Scotia's major political parties are betting big that tax cuts will attract voters, with announcements from the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives during the first week of the campaign.

Although there are similarities in what the two parties are pitching, there are also some key differences.

PC Leader Tim Houston launched his party's approach for tax relief a few days before triggering the early election, when he announced plans to reduce the HST by one percentage point beginning next April.

The percentage point would cost the government about $260 million and Houston said earlier this week that it would save people about $250 a year.

"That's real money that people can spend on things that matter the most to them," he told reporters.

The PCs also announced that, if re-elected, they would increase the basic personal exemption on provincial income taxes from $8,744 to $11,744, although people making less than $25,000 already benefit from almost that level of exemption due to a change made by a previous Liberal government.

The change would cost $110 million.

Houston's party would raise the minimum wage to $16.50 in one year if they get back into government. The minimum wage is currently $15.20. The PC leader said raising the minimum wage won't solve all the challenges people face, but it is an "investment in dignity for people."

"This is how we help workers catch up. In big ways and small, we're putting dollars in people's pockets by helping them earn more at work and keep more of what they earn."

The Tories say their tax measures would save on average $850 per household. They also point to steps they took during their first mandate, including indexing income tax brackets and income assistance payments to the rate of inflation and the introduction of a school lunch program as additional steps that save people money.

The other major tax-related announcement from the PCs so far this campaign is the promise to remove the tolls from the Halifax harbour bridges. Houston said that would cost about $40 million a year, while saving commuters money and time.

Some experts, however, argue that removing tolls might lead to more congestion on the bridges instead of less.

At the time Houston announced his plan to reduce the HST, he said the province could afford his cut, but not the two-percentage-point cut Liberal Leader Zach Churchill promised back in February.

Churchill disagreed then and he disagreed again on Thursday when he reaffirmed his commitment to that HST cut and announced further tax cut measures of his own. He said what Houston is promising amounts to "half measures."