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Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press

HALIFAX -- When the Nova Scotia election campaign started 30 days ago, Liberal Premier Stephen McNeil set the tone of the race by warning supporters that his tight-fisted approach may have turned off some voters.

"We had to make tough choices, choices that weren't always popular," the Liberal premier said on April 30, acknowledging a frugal style of governing that has allowed him to deliver balanced budgets in the past two years despite weak economic growth.

As voters head to the polls today, many will likely be recalling how McNeil's majority government was defined by its decision to rein in spending by limiting wage increases within the public sector. That led to ugly standoffs with the province's nurses and public school teachers, culminating in protests at the legislature, brief strikes and back-to-work legislation that the unions said was draconian.

There was also a series of cuts to seniors' long-term care and public service organizations, including cutbacks to non-profit groups serving those with hearing loss, eating disorders and epilepsy. And in 2015, thousands of people working the province's film industry took to the streets to protest the government's decision to eliminate a film tax credit.

Despite McNeil's hard-nosed approach, the Liberals maintained a strong lead in decided voter support throughout their mandate, with the Progressive Conservatives under Jamie Baillie well behind in second place, and

Gary Burrill's New Democrats a distant third.

Still, a closer look at the polls showed there was a cost to McNeil's approach. Though his party has remained in first place among decided voters, his own popularity lagged behind that of his party.

In the two months before the election campaign, the Liberals attempted to soften their image by spending tens of millions of dollars in a flurry of daily announcements. The party then tabled a budget last month that included a modest tax cut for about 500,000 Nova Scotians.

Three days later, McNeil pulled the trigger on an election, an announcement that reminded Canadians that Nova Scotia is the only province that does not have fixed election dates.

At dissolution, the Liberals held 34 seats in the 51-seat legislature, the Progressive Conservatives had 10 and the NDP 5. There was one Independent and one seat was vacant.

By the end of the campaign, some polls suggested the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives found themselves in a tightened race, with Baillie repeatedly hammering McNeil for what Baillie describes as a health-care crisis.

On Monday, Baillie again returned to a theme that he said was resonating with voters.

"Everywhere I go in Nova Scotia, people tell me that they are frustrated and afraid because of the state of our health-care system," Baillie told a rally in Dartmouth. "Everyone acknowledges there is a crisis in health care -- everyone except Stephen McNeil."

In particular, Baillie has made a point of telling voters McNeil had failed to deliver on a 2013 promise to make sure every Nova Scotian had access to a family doctor. About 100,000 Nova Scotians are still looking for a doctor.

The health issue is crucial to the Tories' success because there is little else to distinguish their platform from that of the Liberals, especially when it comes to fiscal policy.

Baillie, who is contesting his second election as leader, is promising four years of balanced budgets if elected. McNeil is promising the same. And both men are promising to keep public sector wages in line.

By contrast, NDP Leader Gary Burrill campaigned on a platform that calls for adding close to $1 billion to the province's accumulated debt over the next four years if he becomes premier.

Burrill, elected leader just over a year ago, has said his party was inspired by Justin Trudeau, whose Liberal party won the 2015 election by, among other things, pledging to spur the economy by using deficit financing.

The Liberals have described the NDP's leader as "anti-capitalist," while a Tory spokesman called his platform a "reckless spending orgy."

The NDP's commitment to deficit financing stands in contrast to the approach taken by the province's first NDP government, which won the general election in 2009 by promising to table three consecutive balanced budgets -- a promise they eventually broke.

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Nova Scotia election day: Penny-pinching Liberals seeking second term - BNN