This is not an NDP bitch, or a Conservative bitch, or even a Liberal bitch; it’s a bitch at all three! For their general incompetence and lack of leadership over the last thirty years, which have seen this province dwindle in every economic and cultural aspect. Why are people not more outraged at the proposed/alleged budget cuts to education? Why is the urban demographic controlling provincial and federal funding decisions? Why are people complacent with low voter turnout? There are talented people in this province who are prohibited from expressing and using their talent; their government is not giving them the opportunity to live in a place where these talents are supported and fostered, unless your greatest talent is retail. If this convention centre goes through, everyone—and I mean everyone—will regret it. Stop turning farmland into stripmalls. Nova Scotia has the ability to be a wonderfully vibrant and economically prosperous place, with educated and healthy people who care about one another. Big business and foreign hairbrain ideas of capital generation and investment is not a natural talent here; our government should be keeping our local communities and industries active because life is better that way. This province is way too beautiful, and the people in it way too cool, to have such shitty leadership. —EAST COAST FOR LIFE
This article appears in Jan 20-26, 2011.
http://stillcounting.athabascau.ca/whatsne…
http://women.gov.ns.ca/assets/files/Public…
‘Nough said.
This province seems like it will always be stuck in a rut because of all the people who want it to stay the same. I’ve never known a place to be so reluctant with EVERYTHING anyone does to try and change it. People are angry about a friggin’ skating oval FFS! I’ve given up on hope that the city can thrive. Maybe whenever I leave the province and come back years later, I’ll see lots of nice tall buildings and lots of people! Okay, I guess I still have an ounce of hope.
I agree we have had decades of mismangement. As for education cuts however, I am of the opinion it should be 22% across all departments. If the department or agency is funded by provincial dollars it should be slashed. If there is public funding for a special interest it should be eliminated. We should be aiming for a 22% reduction in the entire overall provincial expenditure – and give it back to the people through tax cuts.
I think it’s because no matter who we elect, we get screwed.
As for cuts, that’s doing things half assed backwards. In the case of education what needs to happen is a complete revamp. The first questions to be answered is how many students and where are they? Once answered the next question is how many schools are needed and what can be amalgamated and what new ones are needed. Some areas will require less, some more. Then an across board curriclium (sp) of what is required learning – English, science, history, gym, etc. Then figure out how many teachers are required. Since it appears the student population is down, less teachers are required. You can reduce postitoms through attrition and early retirement. If all teachers can’t be employed, well that’s unfortunate. This can be applied to all departments.
Cutting for the sake of cutting is ridiculous without a complete overhaul.
The urban core (HRM) has been subsidizing the rural areas for decades it is time they do stuff for themselves, downtown is falling apart and urban sprawl are the bigger problems. NS is the slowest province moving to urbanization (we have the largest population in the country that does not live in a major urban area) Some provinces have 50% or more of its population in urban whereas NS is more like 35-40%, this makes it more expensive and a per capita basis to deliver services as people are spread out everywhere and people get pissed when something has to shut down. This trend will continue for the foreseeable future so get used to it. Taxes should be spent in areas that pay the most, it just makes sense.
I thought we were all in this together (Nova Scotians).
I would suggest more focus going on the rural areas in order to stimulate a more even source of revenue, so that the rural people could be given a chance to contribute more, but, as it stands, even the urban centers are falling apart.
We need a practical, insightful, no-nonsense, kick butt leader. We need to clean house and lay down the law. We need…Mom = )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-018qBMlBs…
30 years o.p., you must only be about 31 them. you had better go back about 200 years for lousy governments. at least the dippers are trying to haul our poor sorry asses out of the quagmire that the rest have continually been putting us in. it takes time, a lot of it to even begin to figure out the mistakes, and corruption that has run rampant in this province and country for too many years.
remember the bottle for votes deals of bygone days, i do. they hand you a pint of rum, then you vote for them. today, little has changed, instead of rum, it sugarplume dancing in your heads.
but are they all the same, no, only the only that crossed over to the n.d.p., from other groups, they have had the pork, and they like the taste of it. they will never change, look back at last year, most were origionally from other parties that got nailed. the few from the dippers, had crossed the floor before that.
Nova Scotia MLA’s have the choicest pension plan IN ALL OF CANADA !
That should tell you all you need to know.
People get into politics in this area FOR ONE REASON.
TO FILL THEIR POCKETS WITH MONEY !
They don’t care about you, they don’t care about me, they don’t give a flying fuck for this province…all they care about is WHAT THEY CAN GET.
And if any Government elected MLA wants to come on here & say anything to refute that…let me say, not one of you are on public record for DOING ANYTHING.
Although a bunch of you have played lip service to making changes…but talk is cheap & all ANY OF YOU HAVE EVER DONE…is flap your lying lips !
this one’s for you mr. more and the trough feeders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXdKlpBOvs0
hmmmm, informant sounds sorta like cmi in the horrid columns rtoday and yesterday. might be one of thse people that the parties like dropping in from time to time.
i say to you all reaing this. if you want local meat and produce, where are you going to get it, if all the farms and such are gone from n.s., answer me that. sure we can get it from outside our areas, but at what cost, and then some say it costs more to ship, in province. wait til all the cows are gone from here, your 2 liter milk will be about 20 bucks then, and a lot poorer grade.
same goes for eggs, bread, meat, anything we produce here, the costs will be skyhigh then, and you think it’s bad now.
look at the price of fuel, we ship it in, why? isn’t there this big motherfucking refinery in dartmouth, just belching out flame and smoke? what the fuck is that for, show?
in the last hundred years, living in n.s. has become such a waste of time and energy. people are leaving and not coming back, taxes are high, wages are low, the rich outsiders get richer from us, and what do we have to show for it, fucking arenas ans stupid fucking centers, that i for one, will never be able to use.
look around at past government waste, and look around now. a very little bit of hope is there for us, but it has to be opened up a hell of a lot more. too many polititions always spoil the pot, and dip too far into our pockets, daily.
More, you expressed my feelings towards N.S. politicians perfectly. As someone who used to work ‘close to the action’, I’ve watched over 20 years of their greedy, self-serving bullshit that often made me want to take a nail gun to my temple. Doesn’t matter what party is in power – they are all a bunch of snorting troughers who will only lift their snouts when they get tossed out of office. The true irony is that the current party, who called for openness and accountability when in opposition, are more secretive than their predecessors. They are all detestable.
Just an example of Government waste – why the fuck do we need a Protocol department that thinks their shit doesn’t smell? And what about that outdated Lieutenant Governor position and that pile of stone on Barrington St.? There’s good coin to be had there.
I concur with More and TTFN. Although, once in a blue moon an altruistic politician will surface. Can’t think of the name of the guy in Ontario, I think, who paid for his own expenses out of his salary instead of standing there with his hand out for the public purse to pay for him to go to work. Newfoundland’s Danny Williams gave his salary to charity. Then there’s African Burkina Faso’s former president Thomas Sankara (1983-1987) who introduced sweeping reforms to government policy:
-He sold off the government fleet of Mercedes cars and made the Renault 5 (the cheapest car sold in Burkina Faso at that time) the official service car of the ministers.
-He reduced the salaries of all public servants, including his own, and forbade the use of government chauffeurs and 1st class airline tickets.
-He redistributed land from the feudal landlords and gave it directly to the peasants.
-Wheat production rose in just three years from 1700 kg per hectare to 3800 kg per hectare, making the country food self-sufficient.
-He opposed foreign aid, saying that “he who feeds you, controls you.”
-He spoke eloquently in forums like the Organization of African Unity against continued neo-colonialist penetration of Africa through Western trade and finance.
-He called for a united front of African nations to repudiate their foreign debt. He argued that the poor and exploited did not have an obligation to repay money to the rich and exploiting.
-“Thomas knew how to show his people that they could become dignified and proud through will power, courage, honesty and work. What remains above all of my husband is his integrity.” — Mariam Sankara, Thomas’ widow.
-In Ouagadougou, Sankara converted the army’s provisioning store into a state-owned supermarket open to everyone (the first supermarket in the country).
-He forced civil servants to pay one month’s salary to public projects.
-He refused to use the air conditioning in his office on the grounds that such luxury was not available to anyone but a handful of Burkinabes.
-As President, he lowered his salary to only $450 a month and limited his possessions to a car, four bikes, three guitars, a fridge and a broken freezer.
And my personal favourite:
-A motorcyclist himself, he formed an all-women motorcycle personal guard.
Of course, he only lasted four years before he was assassinated, African politics being far more lethal than our variety, but he had some pretty impressive political reforms that our ‘leaders’ could learn from.
@ Oceanchick”lasted 4 years until he was assasinated”
Why we don’t (or at least haven’t yet) assasinated our politicals. Anyone who does try to step up for their constituents ,like Bill Casey.
They get Thrown from the Party.
If this was a true democracy, the vote on bills etc in Parliment would be by secret ballot only. No one would have any idea how any MP voted & that IMO is how it should be. The leaders & their cabinet would have to put ideas forward that they were sure they could get through the house. Now you do as the Party says, or your done…exactly what is democratic about that ?
wow…you are a good researcher screee
Amen sister. Unfortunately, Nova Scotians have NEVER had good leadership. We are a colonial state that operates no differently than other colonial states: a minority at the top holds 95 percent of power and controls 100 percent of resources and decision-making. We need a good old fashioned coup
(where’s our military????) But I fear that will NEVER happen because most Nova Scotians are complacent in being controlled and content to have humble lives in a beautiful place. The church backs this up. So does the education system – keep em stupid and they can’t think or fight. Maybe in another 100 years all the pieces will come together. OR maybe the feds will enforce some laws and charge these people with corruption, laundering, theft, exploitation….you know, all these crimes we are busy charging other governments with…