VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

HIGHWAY TWINNING PLAN TERRIBLE

I read with concern that one of the main pillars of Liberal leadership candidate Labi Kousoulis' election platform is to twin highways from Yarmouth to Cape Breton.

Mr. Kousoulis is a politician with a record of genuinely caring about his constituents. I do, however, have serious concerns about this proposed project.

Roadwork is exorbitantly expensive. This does not resonate with me personally as a taxpayer. We are talking about wants vs. needs. There is simply not enough pixie dust to go around. Our province is deeply indebted and will be even more so coming out of the pandemic.

We will be lucky to escape the situation which Newfoundland has recently found itself in — where they were unable to sell bonds on the bond market and had to be bailed out by the federal government. This is one step away from insolvency.

Our limited funds need to be spent judiciously. Nova Scotians, and the Nova Scotian economy, cannot withstand more taxation. Where is the money supposed to come from for this type of capital spending?

Nova Scotians are deeply concerned about our health-care system. The acute care system is constipated, with long-term care patients who have no appropriate placement. This has dire knock-on effects on anyone trying to access the health-care system for any kind of ailment, including, but not limited to, elective surgeries of all types, cancer diagnosis and treatment, mental health care, and treatment of chronic co-morbid conditions.

It is a disgrace that this was the case prior to the pandemic. It is now a fullon tragedy. The costs of the deferred health care on the population will be felt not only in dollars but in late presentation and associated poor patient outcomes.

Knowing this, I am finding it difficult to understand how building highways, when perfectly serviceable roads already exist, has been made a campaign plank. It simply does not resonate.

We all want all kinds of things. This does not mean that we can afford to have them all. I find it hard to believe that the majority of Nova Scotians at large are terribly concerned about a highway from Yarmouth to Cape Breton. They are, however, very distressed about the state of our healthcare system. Funds need to be spent on what is truly most important, not based on political imperatives.

History tells us that this has not ended well — think Yarmouth ferry. Politicians of all stripes need to get a grip on spending and make fiscal responsibility a priority.

Joanne Corbett, Chester

In February, Nova Scotians will have the chance to vote directly for their premier. It is a rare, chance opportunity.

In fact, the last time that happened was 15 years ago, in 2006, when members of the Progressive Conservative Association chose Rodney Macdonald as their new leader.

The ability to vote directly for the incumbent premier arises only when the leader of the governing party resigns. This is what has happened in Premier Stephen Mcneil's case. Last year, on Aug. 6, he announced he'd be stepping down. Shortly after, the Nova Scotia Liberal Party announced it would fill the leader position on Feb. 6, 2021 and that it would use a delegate voting process to do so. Delegates must be members of the party, and they will have a single vote in a one-vote preferential ballot system.

This means taking out a Nova Scotia Liberal Party membership and registering as a delegate to vote in the leadership/premiership race. While membership is free, the delegate fee is set at $20 — and $15 of the $20 you can get back through tax credits. Membership registration is open until Jan. 7 and any members may become delegates until Jan. 12.

Outside of the leader and candidate selection processes unique to political parties, Nova Scotians have the right to vote for their preferred Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) during every provincial election. But we do not get a direct say in who the premier will be.

This is unlike the American system where voters cast ballots directly for their presidential candidate. It is an anomaly that political parties choose their leader while also governing, and it is this unique situation which offers Nova Scotians the chance to vote for the next premier.

Nova Scotia is the only province without fixed-election-date legislation. The House of Assembly Act requires that our legislative assembly not govern for more than five consecutive years. Given this law, and the fact that the last election was held on May 30, 2017, the next provincial election can be held no later than June 2022.

This means whoever succeeds McNeil could be in office for a year and a half. Though it's unlikely his successor will go that entire stint without calling an election — newly minted premier Macdonald called an election after four months — the possibility is there. That is a hearty amount of governing time for us to ignore the opportunity to participate in this premier's selection process.

One would also have to think that all three candidates vying to be premier — Iain Rankin, Labi Kousoulis or Randy Delorey — are accessible to the Nova Scotian public right now in their campaign for the top job. Now is therefore the time to be reaching out to these candidates to find out where they stand on issues important to you or what their recovery plan for postpandemic Nova Scotia looks like.

The Nova Scotia Liberal Party has hosted two candidate forums, with a third forum set for Jan. 6. If you are interested in participating but remain undecided on which candidate to support, sign up to vote and then tune into the debate or watch the previous two debates available online.

The next premier will have an incredibly important job leading us out of this pandemic, and we should all consider weighing in on who that next premier is.

Savannah Dewolfe, Halifax