So that didn’t take long. It will be three weeks tomorrow since Nova Scotians voted in a provincial general election. You may remember that election: the one in which Stephen McNeil’s Liberals came within a few hundred votes here or there of losing their majority status, the one in which more than six out of...
Four more years… What might have been
Just as Stephen McNeil walked on to the stage to acknowledge his new minority government reality, CBC news announcer Sandy Smith cut in. There’d been yet another change in the party standings, he said, and Stephen McNeil’s Liberals were now in “majority territory.”
For me, the sweetest, saddest moment of last Tuesday’s election night lasted not much more than a moment. And it didn’t happen until the tail end of the first hour of Wednesday morning. Sometime after midnight, I gave up on the TV broadcast. At that point, the CBC decision desk still couldn’t say for certain...
Might, In Fact, Get Fooled Again: Examineradio, episode #114
Nova Scotia had an election, eh? The end result is the Liberals have a few fewer seats, the PCs and NDP have a few more, and Gary Burrill no longer has to holler questions from the press gallery. One striking upset was the defeat of cabinet minister Joanne Bernard at the hands of NDP newcomer […]
Since none of the above is not on the ballot…
During last week’s CTV leaders’ roundtable, Jamie Baillie issued a direct appeal to voters: “For those people who are undecided or leaning to the NDP, I am asking them to take a look at us because we share the same goal.” The same goal, yes… The same values?
Who would you like to see win tomorrow’s provincial general election? Who should win tomorrow’s provincial general election? If you answered none of the above to either — or both — of the above, welcome to the club. And perhaps welcome too to that more select group — the none-of-the-above-but-definitely-not-Stephen-McNeil club — which Progressive Conservative...
30-Day Festival Of Concentrated Bullshit: Examineradio, episode #113
Three candidates, three debates. Why are we having an election, again? Former NDP Minister of Finance and CBC commentator Graham Steele joins us for the hour to unpack the parties, the policies, the leaders, and why, quite frankly, it probably doesn’t matter if you vote in this election or not. I mean, did you know that […]
Are election campaigns places to discuss serious issues?
In theory, this election could have been an ideal opportunity to debate the kind of society we want for the future. That’s because, for perhaps the first time in 20 years, one political party appears to be offering an alternative to more of the same.
Election campaigns are no place to discuss serious issues. That’s what Kim Campbell — Canada’s now-you-see-her-now-you-don’t, first-and-only-female prime minister — infamously declared in 1993 in the middle of her one and only federal election campaign as a party leader. Though I was among those who mocked her at the time, I now believe she was […]
Kool-Aid, hot dogs, and Cheesies
While seniors have food budgets of $4.65 a day, new offices in Bayers Lake for execs with the Nova Scotia Health Authority cost $500,000 to furnish.
An NDP government would invest $60 million over four years to establish approximately 500 new nursing home beds and increase the food budget for seniors in long term care facilities. NDP leader Gary Burrill made that announcement in the parking lot outside the St. Vincent’s Guest House in Halifax, noting the number of people over...
The missing election issue: What are we going to do about legal weed?
Legal, recreational toking is a little more than a year away, but all three party leaders say it’s ”too early” to offer a glimpse (let alone a “vision”) of where cannabis might be sold in Nova Scotia, who will sell it (public, private, or both kinds of vendors), how much it might cost (taxes included), or how new rules will be enforced to keep it out of the hands of under-aged users (and we don’t even know the legal provincial age yet).
Don’t Mention The Weed…. Every day, politicians of all provincial parties add to the growing pile of promises: to improve health care, build more highways, stimulate the economy, and spend more on education. But one issue politicians are keeping stashed away in this lacklustre campaign is what their party will do, if elected, to regulate the...
McNeil promises independent review of clearcutting; critics say it’s not necessary
"We've already had a massive, exhaustive independent public review of forestry practices," says Raymond Plourde of the Ecology Action Centre. "In fact, we've had two or three in recent years."
Yesterday, Stephen McNeil made four campaign promises that he said are aimed at “preserving and enhancing the environment.” Critics say they are aimed at preserving the status quo. A re-elected Liberal government would continue the ban on onshore fracking. It would introduce a Coastal Protection Act after public consultation on issues concerning the fishery and offshore drilling....
Burrill argues for deficit spending to address healthcare
On the first day of the election campaign, the NDP focuses on more doctors, the Liberals double down on roads, and the PCs promise a new hospital.
NDP leader Gary Burrill made his first campaign promise in the busy waiting room of Dr. Ajantha Jayabarathan, a family doctor known to CTV viewers as “Dr.A.J.” for her regular appearances on the regional network. Burrill said difficulty in finding a family doctor is the top issue he hears from voters — Statistics Canada estimates 100,000 Nova...
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