In December 2020, Mike Lancaster was invited to attend an online meeting of the Western Region Stakeholder Interaction Committee, which he describes as a venue for those holding forestry licences on Crown land and “other key stakeholders to engage with the Department of Lands and Forestry on forestry and planning issues for the western region […]
Imagine… a provincial Openness in Government Act
If any of the Three Bland Men currently vying for votes among the Liberal faithful needs advice on a shiny new policy promise — one that could not only attract the partisans who will determine the next party leader but also appeal to the rest of us who will ultimately decide whether that new Liberal leader gets to stick around to serve an actual term as the elected premier of the people — allow me to offer a modest suggestion.
If any of the Three Bland Men currently vying for votes among the Liberal faithful needs advice on a shiny new policy promise — one that could not only attract the partisans who will determine the next party leader but also appeal to the rest of us who will ultimately decide whether that new Liberal...
Accountability ain’t what it used to be
Perhaps it never was. But in these days of cascading crises, it's hard not to notice just who's missing in action, or acting without accountability, or playing games with their obligation to accountability.
ac·count·abil·i·ty | \ ə-ˌkau̇n-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē \ Definition of accountability: the quality or state of being accountable, especially : an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions // public officials lacking accountability Merriam-Webster online dictionary Accountability. At 10:19pm Atlantic time last Friday night — after much of the business of the political media world had wrapped for the day,...
Is your school safe to reopen? Don’t ask your lapdog Liberal MLA
Why do we bother to elect members of the legislature to represent us if they won’t, or can’t, or, most certainly, don’t?
The Halifax Examiner is providing all COVID-19 coverage for free. So, my question today is this: Why do we bother? Why do we bother to elect members of the legislature to represent us if they won’t, or can’t, or, most certainly, don’t? Let’s start with the latest iteration of the Fangless Five Space Wasters, which […]
The Fang-less Five, the McNeil government, and (un)accountability
In his own Trumpian, alternate-fact world, MLA Gordon Wilson wants us to believe the Public Accounts Committee can’t venture beyond the narrow confines of published auditor general’s reports when examining public spending because… well, that would be against the law. Time for Wilson to re-read the "law."
Stephen McNeil’s Fang-less Five, also known as the Craven Cabal of Liberal Nobodies, are up to their usual tricks. Still. Again. Let’s recap. Last April, a 19-year-old student, innocently looking for government information releases relating to an ongoing dispute between the provincial government and its teachers (you may remember that), was accidentally able to download...
Assault on democracy: Stephen McNeil is ruling as an autocrat, answerable to no one and beyond question
Morning File, Thursday, September 27, 2018
News 1. Stephen McNeil’s assault on democracy Reports Jean Laroche for the CBC: The committee at Nova Scotia’s Province House that’s been most effective at holding governments to account and squeezing information out of high-ranking officials will no longer be as freewheeling or topical as it has traditionally been. The Liberal members on the powerful public accounts […]