‘It doesn’t look pretty’: N.S. woman plans to return to work at 77 amid high living costs

A Nova Scotia senior is planning to return to work at the age of 77 amid the strains of high living costs.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but it doesn’t look pretty,” Janet Brush says.

She lives on a fixed income and estimates she spends nearly half her money on rent alone.

Brush says she was forced out of her home last year due to a fixed-term lease and is now spending about $250 more a month on her new place.

“I’ll tell you, if you’re faced with potential homelessness at 76, it’s horrible. I was terrified,” she says.

Now, at age 77, she’s looking for part-time work.

“I can’t go stocking shelves at Sobeys or flinging hamburgers — I can’t do that anymore,” Brush says. “I’ll have to rely on my intellectual skills, I guess.”

Brush attended a press conference held by the Nova Scotia NDP on Wednesday.

Ahead of the spring sitting of the legislature, provincial NDP Leader Claudia Chender says Nova Scotians deserve a financial break.

The party is advocating for a low-income power rate to be introduced and a $400 top-up to the heating assistance rebate to match last year’s $1,000 amount.

“The rounding error that would ensue from creating a low-income energy rate for the basket of individuals who would need that we believe would not have a significant impact when it’s smoothed through the rest rate base,” Chender says.

In a statement provided by spokesperson Rachel Boomer, the province says last year’s $1,000 heating assistance rebate was identified as a one-time increase.

“We knew Nova Scotians were still struggling when HARP launched this year, and that’s why the rebate went to $600 rather than the $200 level it has been for most of its existence since it was created in 2008,” the statement says. “At this time, there