If you feel you can't be trusted with any more input than one mark once every 5 years, Nova Scotia is the place for you!

Voting in this province is the illusion of freedom and democracy. If anything is disrespectful to the men and women who fought and died for us its how the status quo holds on for another election cycle.

We can't vote for Leader separately from our local representative, we can't launch citizen led ballot initiatives. We have no recall legislation, and virtually every provincial department or position is filled via appointment. We don't even have a fixed election date. No proportional representation. We cant verify if MLAs are even in their seats day by day let alone have any record of their votes.

We can't vote for police chiefs or the judiciary, we can't vote for comptrollers or those involved in the fiduciary duties of government (the AG), Is that democracy? For simpletons, perhaps, but no matter what anyone says Nova Scotians are not simpletons who need the taskmasters at Province house "wisely" holding our hand throughout every single decision except for who our local representative is.

We deserve better than that!

No wonder there is voter apathy. You take real feedback and power away from the people and treat them in the most paternalistic way possible and what do you get? Our sham democracy.

We have one check mark every five years. If you took that one check mark away, or if the system you vote within (as ours is) is designed from the ground up not to be truly representative, you have a defacto dictatorship.

If you are voting for the status quo you are saying that you don't want the responsibility of having a more direct voice, and more choice, in how your province is run. I feel sorry for us all, because political laziness and insular group think, is the real danger of our limited Democratic options. The effects of this are clear in this province, just look at the banana republic - minus any real natural resources other than people, we have become. —Mike