The Halifax Examiner’s court reporter isn’t dead or moving to Toronto or anything. She’s only going as far as Wolfville. Still, her insights into Nova Scotia’s justice system has been a welcome addition to our site’s news coverage.
She joins us to talk about the inner workings of the court process, and discusses some of the key trials being played out in Halifax courts.
Plus, it’s election time, which means it’s time to parade candidates’ ugly social media histories for all to see.
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Tommy Douglas record :
” When Mr. Douglas took office in 1944, Saskatchewan had a debt of $218-million – 38 per cent of provincial GDP. By 1949, he had reduced the debt to $70-million. By 1953, he had eliminated it. By 1961, when he left office, he had produced 17 successive budget surpluses. By reducing the debt, and thereby reducing interest costs, he was able to spend more on public services – without raising taxes. ”
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/tommy-douglas-the-pragmatic-socialist/article4348719/
In 1961 unfunded liabilities of provincial governments were not a feature of financial statements. Obviously he reduced the amount of funded debt bur for several decades after the Saskatchewan accounts did not include any reference to unfunded liabilities such as the provincial auto insurance programme and pension plan liabilities for public sector employees and the Saskatchewan Pension Plan which was open to all residents.
Mr Douglas was a beneficiary of crude oil discovery in 1947 and production in nthe next decade. He could afford to be prudent.
Honesty in public accounts did not enter the picture until the 1990s and after the debt binge which followed the rise in crude oil prices and the subsequent wage and price inflation.