Rankin predicts majority as party leaders make final push to election day

Liberal Leader Iain Rankin did not shy away from making a prediction on the final full day of the Nova Scotia provincial election campaign.

"We're going to win a majority tomorrow," he told a crowd of cheering supporters while backed by some of his Halifax-area candidates.

"These people are going to be elected tomorrow and we're going to have a strong mandate."

Winning the party a third consecutive majority appears a taller task now than it might have been at the start of the 31-day campaign, but Rankin stuck to a message of positivity and looking to the future on Monday.

He recapped measures in the spring budget to increase income assistance rates and pre-election announcements such as an affordable child-care agreement with the federal government.

Rankin touted the government's management of the pandemic while also addressing the chief criticisms he's faced from the Tories and NDP related to health care and housing, something he's struggled to do for much of the campaign.

Rankin said he's confident his party can transform health-care delivery through a combination of new training and recruitment efforts, expanded programs and infrastructure improvements happening at hospitals and long-term care homes around the province.

He contrasted his plan with more expensive offerings from his opponents and accused them of trying to buy votes.

"We need to continue to make more investments strategic, targeted investments that are sustainable in the long run," he said. "We're not promising to run billion-dollar deficits and put these services at risk for the future."

But at a rally of his own, Tory Leader Tim Houston said Rankin and the Liberals have had their chance to fix health care and they've failed.

"Under Iain Rankin, our health-care system has never been worse," Houston said at a rally with a dozen metro area candidates.

"Crisis, broken, on the verge of disaster This election is about finding solutions for Nova Scotians and correcting eight years of mistakes in health care."

Sound Off: Election Edition - The final days of the campaign

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More than a 100,000 Nova Scotians have already voted in some form. How tight will the race be between the Nova Scotia Liberals, PC Party and NDP?

Houston said what all parties have acknowledged privately that things seem too close to call heading into election day.

"Thirty days ago the polls said we wouldn't have a chance," he said. "Turns out they were wrong. And with one day to go, I want you to help us send a clear message to the voters of Nova Scotia their vote will make a difference."

NDP Leader Gary Burrill was also trying to send a message on Monday: that he and his party are best suited to address the needs of "real" Nova Scotians.

Flanked by people whose issues and concerns he's highlighted during the campaign, Burrill said he's seen interest in the election increase throughout the 30 days.

"People are engaged and are disappointed and are ready for something better," he said. "They don't see their problems and they don't see their lives at the centre of either the Conservative or the Liberal pictures."

Burrill accused the other parties of not holding the same level of commitment as the NDP to issues such as affordable housing, health care, equality and the environment.

"The people who are here with me today, and those whose lives we all stand for, need for these things to happen. And they can happen," he said."Your vote has the power to get us to something better."