j44 Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) I would like to hear some opinions on the performance of the current Dexter government. I'm from NS and I find the media's political coverage lacking to say the least so I would like to open it up to any and all opinions. I find it very odd that our NDP finance minister has turned out to be somewhat of a fiscal conservative. Some say the most conservative in decades. Edited February 17, 2012 by j44 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evening Star Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) I'd love to hear more. Do you mean "fiscal conservative" as in "fiscally responsible and concerned with balanced budgets" or "economically right-leaning"? Because my sense was that this government had increased low-income assistance, capped student debt, cut small business taxes, cut drug costs, but were also concerned with the budget, which is not unusual for NDP governments. Or have they implemented right-wing economic policies I'm unaware of? Edited February 17, 2012 by Evening Star Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punked Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 They seem as far as numbers in the region go very well. NB and PEI have deficits out of this world but the Dexter government actually has a chance to balance a budget. Not only that but NS was the only province to grow in 2009 and continues to do so, they secured a Billion dollar oil investment and won the Ship Building contract. Compared to NB which by the end of the year will pass NS for the first in like 30 years in their debt per capita the NDP is a dream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 Don't get me started on the Alward Government next door. That guy apparently didn't receive the memo about federalism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j44 Posted February 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) They have done some good things IMO (as mentioned increasing some low income assistance and making improvements to health care etc) and while they may have capped student debt they unfroze tuition rates and cut university funding (doing these last two things at once will surely spike tuition). They did cut small business tax (by 1% if I’m not mistaken) but they raised every other tax. I don’t know the intricacies of the finance dept. and I’m not Rhodes Scholar (like the minister) but I have mixed feelings about putting the brake on spending and increasing taxes in this manner at this time. The NS economy isn’t exactly booming and with federal spending cuts coming down the pipe I would think our economy will start to shrink. I think we’ve only added a few 100 jobs in the last year. Like I said I have mixed feelings about the policies so I’m glad other people have some opinions. I don’t however give this government any real credit for getting the ship building contract. Even the federal opposition parties praised the fact that the process was open, transparent and not political (ie it wasn’t political influence but the ability of the ship yards that influenced the result) and from what I understand there were three contenders for the contract: one in BC, one in NS and one in Quebec and the Quebec shipyard is practically bankrupt, or is, and is way behind on other contracts. So, it would seem obvious that BC and NS would get the contacts. And not that I’m surprised but they have also rammed through a few unfriendly to businesses union bills that seem more for political purposes and in the end will probably hinder our not so stable economy. I think NB is up there with Ont. in terms of economic basket cases so saying NS is better than NB doesn’t make me sleep better at night. Edited February 17, 2012 by j44 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNewTeddy Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 Provincial NDP governments (outside of BC and Ontario) have been the most fiscally prudent in the history of Canada. In Ontario, they've be ineffectual, and in BC they've been harmful; so harmful they make the BC SoCreLiberal party look good when in reality, they are harmful themselves. Provincial Liberal governments on the other hand generally manage to dig themselves into deficits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfoundlander Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 They seem as far as numbers in the region go very well. NB and PEI have deficits out of this world but the Dexter government actually has a chance to balance a budget. Not only that but NS was the only province to grow in 2009 and continues to do so, they secured a Billion dollar oil investment and won the Ship Building contract. Compared to NB which by the end of the year will pass NS for the first in like 30 years in their debt per capita the NDP is a dream. Nova Scotia had the worst population growth between 2006 to 2011 of any province and their economic growth is well below the Canadian average. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNewTeddy Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 Nova Scotia also has the highest per-capita debt load of any province, and that's been that way for quite a while. Newfoundland raced towards them in the mid 2000's, but were unable to catch them (IIRC). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punked Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 Nova Scotia had the worst population growth between 2006 to 2011 of any province and their economic growth is well below the Canadian average. While below the Canadian average their losses during the 2008-2010 recession were the lowest in Canada as well. That speaks to a diverse economy however they are going through a transition from an almost entirely rural economic base to an entirely urban one. Again their unemployment rate is constantly below the average from their region and the capital Halifax where almost 40% of the population lives has almost the lowest unemployment rate for the Canadian average. The NDP are dealing with the same trends the Liberals and Conservative of the province have had to deal with in the last 15 years however they seem to have stopped the bleeding and run away spending which has crippled their government for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNewTeddy Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 Nova Scotia and Manitoba actually have a lot in common economically and fiscally. Both have super-high debts, both have slow stagnant economies, and both have a serious capital-city-focus due to demographics. Both are also trying really hard to gain immigrants, and, both are governed by the NDP using a policybook that would be mistaken for a Liberal policybook in other provinces. I know this seems like random info dump, but I what punked said could apply to Manitoba just as easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallc Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 Both have super-high debts, At least of Manitoba, that isn't true. A large portion of that debt is also Manitoba Hydro's debt, just as in Quebec, Hydro Quebec skews the numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punked Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 At least of Manitoba, that isn't true. A large portion of that debt is also Manitoba Hydro's debt, just as in Quebec, Hydro Quebec skews the numbers. This is true the NS government sold its power company and ate all of the debt for a short term political gain. Conserve government BTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfoundlander Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 It's not hard for your economy to not see major downturn during a recession when it's continuously performing poorly. As well Nova Scotia's economy did shrink slightly in 2009. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punked Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 (edited) It's not hard for your economy to not see major downturn during a recession when it's continuously performing poorly. As well Nova Scotia's economy did shrink slightly in 2009. I'm in Manitoba personally but do have family in NS. I never said it didn't shrink relative just that GDP was still in positive territory, thus it was the only province to grow year over year that year. Well not the only province Manitoba grew as well. It is easy to have huge GDP growth when one year your economy shrinks 3-4% one year however then you are building and crawling out of a hole. That hole never came in NS they just kept growing. It is all math and all relative but it is non the less impressive. Edited February 18, 2012 by punked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evening Star Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 both are governed by the NDP using a policybook that would be mistaken for a Liberal policybook in other provinces. If you just mean that the NDP has governed moderately and not radically, then I agree. However, I don't really think their policies have been the same as the McGuinty Liberals' (who might come closest to them), let alone the Charest Liberals' or the Campbell/Christy Liberals'. As you mentioned earlier, they do seem to have been much more fiscally prudent than the OLP, which makes a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNewTeddy Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 In Ontario, Quebec, and BC, (and Alberta for that matter) the Liberals use a PC playbook. In the last Saskatchewan election, the Liberals seemed to have used a Ron Paul playbook... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNewTeddy Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 ...and to head off future comments, the Ontario PC Party, at times, uses a Reform Alliance playbook. Harper uses one too and it won a majority government. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evening Star Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 OK, so are you just defining "Liberal policy book", "Conservative/PC policy book", and "NDP policy book" in terms of what those parties stood for 30-40 years ago? Afaict, the Liberals are a fringe party in SK, with less than a quarter of the support that the Green Party has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNewTeddy Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 Moreso compared to Federal policies. Provincial Liberals in many provinces are much more right-wing than Federal Liberals. Provincial PC members on the other hand are often quite to the left of the CPC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j44 Posted February 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 Since I don't follow other provinces politics that much I would be interested to hear some thoughts on whether or not most provincial parties not only govern from the middle but campaign from the middle. I would argue that despite their campaign rhetoric, most federal parties do or would (NDP) govern from the middle or at least close to the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNewTeddy Posted February 20, 2012 Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 The moderate NDP parties campaign from the middle, and the right-wing PC parties campaign from the right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j44 Posted February 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2012 The moderate NDP parties campaign from the middle, and the right-wing PC parties campaign from the right. In your opinion which NDP paties aren't moderate/centrist? Same question for PC parties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfoundlander Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 In Newfoundland and Labrador the Liberals and PC Party campaign in the centre. In this past campaign the Liberals campaigned more on the left while the PCs were slightly more to the right in terms of some of their policies. Last year the NDP released a platform that was on the left but was closer to the centre then what they've probably released in the past. The NDPs platform had less spending then the Liberals, yet there were still some major holes. In Ontario's election last year the three parties seemed to be hugging the centre. I believe the Liberal's platform had less spending in it then the PCs and NDP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punked Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 In Newfoundland and Labrador the Liberals and PC Party campaign in the centre. In this past campaign the Liberals campaigned more on the left while the PCs were slightly more to the right in terms of some of their policies. Last year the NDP released a platform that was on the left but was closer to the centre then what they've probably released in the past. The NDPs platform had less spending then the Liberals, yet there were still some major holes. In Ontario's election last year the three parties seemed to be hugging the centre. I believe the Liberal's platform had less spending in it then the PCs and NDP. Last election the Liberals in NS prosed a spending plan that was twice as high as the NDPs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evening Star Posted February 21, 2012 Report Share Posted February 21, 2012 Moreso compared to Federal policies. Provincial Liberals in many provinces are much more right-wing than Federal Liberals. Provincial PC members on the other hand are often quite to the left of the CPC. OK, at least I know where you're coming from now. I guess I have a hard time making that comparison, considering how different federal and provincial issues are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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