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Nova Scotia consistently ranks at or near the bottom in terms of economic performance. We are a have-not province dependent on hand outs from the Federal government, either as equalization payments or development funding. People are leaving in droves. Parts of Cape Breton are depopulating. We are projected to lose more than 100,000 people in the next 20 years. More than half of immigrants to NS leave after five years due to lack of opportunities, presumably in and around Halifax. Halifax doing well? Have you walked along Barrington or Gottingen street lately?

Nova Scotia's lack of prosperity makes immigration policy irrelevant.

This morning the Atlantica Party released its first ever Alternative Budget. Among the highlights of the Alternative Budget: • $1 Billion in non-essential departmental cuts • A 2% cut in the HST reversing the NDP tax hike • Application of the Atlantica Party’s Spending Restraint Rule to fix the province’s structural deficit For a complete copy of the Alternative Budget please visit www.atlanticaparty.ca

msj, you and I are pretty close politically. Being pro-business isn't authoritarian, it is pro-freedom and pro-liberty. Thank you for being active, more people need to be like you.

Works pretty well? Tell us it's democratic virtues. I believe you when you tell me your test scores. So you need to re-think your commitment to the current scheme of things and get some vision and then decide to act. Others have. All we can do at the moment is raise consciousness even if just a little, that is a very modest goal for this blank ballot campaign.

I don't really know anything about M. Dancer and you (and I don't even know if agree with each other) so I don't want to seem to forward, but if you support legislative sovereignty instead of popular sovereignty then I would humbly suggest that you are lean towards authoritarianism and away from democracy.

True, but I think more and more people are figuring it out that they have no say politically and are less willing to be convinced by the establishment that they do.

I guess it is a good thing that people in Egypt and Libya don't think this way.

Either way Canada's democracy could be greatly improved, the people could have a real say, more people would turn out to vote. But so what? Right? Let's discuss credit card rates and debate seating and vote to keep things the way they are.

The GG could ask for a coalition to form a government even if another party has the most seats (unless a majority is achieved then the GG will probably ask the majority). So Canadians do not exclusively select their government. Same with a leader, the parties pick the leaders, not you or me. A party can also turf a PM without permission but the people can't. This is called Legislative Sovereignty, the legislature picks leaders and governments as opposed to Popular Sovereignty where the People decide. So in Canada the legislature trumps the people. In fact the only thing Canadians exclusively do select is their representative and even that is flawed since FPTP with two+ candidates ensures that the candidate selected will (usually) not have a majority of the vote so the rep only has the active support of a minority of voters, conversely the majority does not support the rep. And of course with declining voter turnout (I wonder why) this is even worse.

Try again. Canadians do not select their government. Not relevant? How can a system be called democratic if people do not select their leader?

The PM.

Really? M.Dancer should Canadians select their leader?

Do we have an obligation to help maintain the status-quo of a undemocratic system from the 19th century by voting for a status-quo party?

If enough reject their ballots it will send a message, even if a small one. Supporting the status quo sends no message. Ummm, because it is the right and good thing to do, to give the people greater freedom, to make Canada a stronger democracy. We have provincially. Would you like to get off yours and help us? Yes. Imagine.

So that I understand, you don't want to be able to directly elect your leader?

Electoral reform Recall Citizen's Initiative Direct election of PM Fixed election dates A written Constitutionally limited government Formal separation of government from the executive Abolish the Senate Political finance reform etc etc etc Blank ballot is a movement to encourage these reforms. These are all things worth fighting for, far more important that credit card caps and other minor bribes.

I guess it depends on what you think the most important issue facing Canada is?

Get out and Vote on May 2nd Talk to all of your candidates and ask about political reform. If their parties have nothing substantive to say about reform consider voting your ballot blank on May 2 to send a clear positive message. To those considering not voting at all, voting a blank ballot is a more positive action than not voting at all. For more information www.rejecttheelection.ca

Canadians go to the polls, again. Are you a disaffected and angry voter? Planning to pass on election day? Unwilling to play ‘party games’ again? Shouldn’t an election be about hope and renewal? There is one alternative. Reject your ballot on election day! Make the election a referendum on our political system!! It is hard for people to express dissatisfaction with our politics other than not voting. But not voting does nothing to fix our political system. In the 2008 federal election 94,733 ballots were reported as rejected. A Rejected Ballot is one that cannot be counted because it is improperly marked. The easiest way is to make no mark or select two or more choices. Elections Canada reports the number of Rejected Ballots. This is different from a Spoiled Ballot; one that is altered, defaced or destroyed. Spoiling a ballot is contrary to the Canada Elections Act and conviction could bring a $500 fine or three months in jail. So please do not spoil you ballot, not only is it against the law but spoiled ballots are not reported by EC. Let’s make this election into something positive by sending the message that we, The People, want to see real political reform, that it is no longer sufficient to just shuffle parties around. A jump in the number of rejected ballots will be a far more productive outcome than any vote for the status-quo parties. Remember this is the ONLY time you have any kind of say in our political system, don’t mess it up by staying home. Send a clear positive message this election! Don’t mark your ballot! Join the campaign. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_198289110205880

Update: The Nova Scotia Legislature adjourned on November 5 with only 10 recorded votes out of 67 bill votes. Prior to this over the 59th and 60th General Assemblies out of 853 bill votes, 12 were recorded! Left to themselves MLAs will continue 'secret' voting. Support democracy in Nova Scotia. Support Know How They Vote.

Did you know that almost all voting in the Nova Scotia Legislature is NOT recorded? You have no way of finding out how your representative is voting or even if your representative is present in the House. The Parliament in Ottawa records all votes, so too should Nova Scotia's Legislature. We need recorded votes to make House activity transparent and to give the voters of Nova Scotia the power to assess and hold accountable those who vote in their names. So join the campaign to have all votes recorded in the Nova Scotia Legislature! What you can do 1. Sign our petition. http://www.gopetition.com/online/31901.html 2. Email your MLA. Visit our campaign page for a draft letter and instructions. http://www.atlanticaparty.ca/Know%20How%20They%20Vote.html 3. Visit the knowhowtheyvote web site. http://knowhowtheyvotens.com/ 4. Forward this to your friends and family. 5. Indicate that you would be prepared to come to a Know How They Vote event. 6. Volunteer. You can contact us at [email protected]

It already does/can. Perhaps the Atlantic party should take a 2 year canadian political science course along with a canadian political history course. Does not 'confidence' dictate that if a government bill is defeated the government falls?

Didn't say it had to do with the electoral system. Rather it comes from the ability to have issues raised from a variety of quarters and dealt with using debate to produce high quality solutions.

'scrapping and entire system of democracy' is not accurate here. An oppositional politics will always exist. An opposition PM versus a majority party will force the two players to hammer out a series of consensus positions on a number of issues in order to transact business.