Ayah Fahmy recalls parking in a mostly empty lot at the Cobequid Community Health Centre in Lower Sackville and not understanding why she had to pay a fee.

"It was an emergency situation, so I needed to be at the hospital," she said.

On Thursday, Fahmy took the bus to the Victoria General Hospital in Halifax to avoid the headache of trying to find parking. But she still thinks "it's ridiculous" that people have to pay for parking at hospitals in Nova Scotia.

During the recent provincial election, …