Avalon

An oligarchy is a non-democratic political structure in which power rests with a few people. We are ruled by an oligarchy. Nothing summarizes this better than what Robert Mulcair, the newest leader of the NDP, said this week.

“Bruce [Hyer] simply feels that he’s allowed to come up with his own decisions,” Mulcair told reporters when asked his thoughts on Hyer’s departure after Hyer was censured for voting his constituents’ wishes. This says it all. Elected representatives are to act as proxies for the power elite (the oligarchs), not vote their electors’ interests but vote the party’s interests. If you believe in democracy this is appalling.

There are two further observations. The fact that this comes from the lips of a new leader whose party is supposed to be somehow ‘different’ and ‘new’ highlights how total the hostility towards policies of democracy is amongst our leadership. Second like all oligarchs the existing parties both federal and provincial continue to claim that everything is fine and ‘that’s the way the system works’. They will never reform the status-quo since it is not in their interest to do so.

The good news is that throughout history oligarchies eventually fail. Democratic reform is coming. It won’t come from the existing dinosaur parties, but from new movements and parties such as the Atlantica Party in Nova Scotia that are committed to ideals of democracy.

If you believe in democracy then hasn’t the time has come for you to withdraw your consent from the existing system and fight for democracy?

The latest NDP budget has Nova Scotia’s government (again) spending $230 million more money that it takes as government spending increases (again). Earlier that week the Premier announced with Jim Irving CEO of Irving Shipbuilding, which won Canada’s largest-ever taxpayer funded defence contract, that Irving is getting the province’s single largest handout (sorry ‘assistance’) in history for a private business — up to $304 million in loans, most of it ‘forgiveable’. It comes with the embarrassing admission that the timing of the ‘assistance’ was meant to cheat the bid rating system by making it appear no additional assistance was needed. So it appears that without the NDP’s ‘assistance’ the province’s books would have balanced with a small surplus. Another way to view it is the deficit is driven by ‘assistance’ to Irving, a profitable 8 billion dollar private company.

It is appropriate for government to make investments in skill upgrade and infrastructure such as dock facilities. But not by handing the money over to a private company. Government needs to be sure that if the company leaves or goes bankrupt skill upgrades and infrastructure remains. The NDP appears to have chosen the worst course to get some simple PR by, as the Premier said, ‘getting behind’ a project they did not have to.

As each Nova Scotian becomes directly responsible for more public debt it appears the NDP’s party image is more important. Problem is the image is not so good.

Again Nova Scotia has the lowest growth rate in the country and population projections show a decrease of 5% over the next 15 years. This is no surprise and everyone knows the reason. People do not stay or come here because there is no opportunity; opportunity for a good paying job, opportunity to start a successful business, and opportunity to grow an existing business. Why is there no opportunity? Simple, failed political leadership. The time has come to offer a new vision and discuss bold moves. It is not enough to simply stabilize the population. Rather our goal should be to reverse the drain that has been going on for decades. The goal is clear; we need to transform not just Nova Scotia but Atlantic Canada into a growth zone that provides superior opportunity.

How? By creating the conditions so the private sector can create opportunity, create jobs and profits; boosting competitiveness, scaling back the public sector, lowering costs, simpler and less regulation, privatization, debt reduction, living with a few less services, understanding that government cannot create jobs, eliminate trade barriers, look to unify the Maritimes to benefit from economies of scale and creation of a common market.

Only the Atlantica Party has the will to accomplish this, the other dinosaur parties do not.

Believe it or not these two issues are connected. One a puzzle of fraudulent phone calls made nine months ago during the federal election designed to mislead voters. The other questions over why Nova Scotia spent $620,000 on a publicity campaign that was not needed. The public deserves to know what happened in each case. Perhaps everything is ok, or simple errors were made or perhaps something more sinister is at work. But since our political system has been subverted we probably will never know.

The legislature is our government oversight committee. One of its jobs is to investigate the operations of government to make sure government is working correctly and within the law. Without a strong legislature we don’t know what government is doing. But in Canada things don’t work that way. Why? Because government controls the legislature.

The NS Legislature’s public accounts committee rejected a motion to ask questions of a certain individual because the Premier did not wish it. Canada’s Parliament also will probably never get to the bottom of the Robo-calling since the chance of any parliamentary committee looking into it is remote, so long as the Conservatives hold a majority. Both cases demonstrate the need for a formal separation of government and legislature both Federally and Provincially. Until that occurs governments will continue to serve their interests and not the public’s.

It was shocking to hear Finance Minister Graham Steele state that Nova Scotia’s debt cannot be paid off, all we can do is to manage it. It is a frank admission of defeat by the old dinosaur parties (the PCs and the Liberals recently joined by the NDP) that the economic policy of big government and big taxes of the last forty years has failed. Our Auditor General rightly calls it unethical. Steele outlines only two ways of tackling debt either through big tax hikes or some lucky resource strike. Somehow trimming government never seems to get mentioned.

Why is debt a problem? Over the long term it keeps growing as governments overspend. Currently it consumes almost 10% of government revenues even in this historically low interest rate environment. Debt can bring down whole countries.

How did we get into this mess? It is all due to our arcane political system. The dinosaur parties have re-election as their number one priority. But since they have nothing substantive to offer the only way to appeal to voters is to spend money on various projects, groups and regions in return for votes. This spending is usually dressed up as phony ‘job creation’ even if it means borrowing the money to pay for it. Aiding this is a political system which keeps the voter powerless and docile.

Time to put the good of Nova Scotians first and target excessive government spending and debt.

The Atlantica Party pledges to ‘End Gold Plated Politics in Nova Scotia’ through a series of measures including MLA Pension reform and eliminating all taxpayer funding to parties including indirect subsidies. Political parties in Nova Scotia should be self-funded rather than have that burden fall on the taxpayers. In this vein, the Atlantica Party has officially requested to be freed of registration under Elections Nova Scotia.

http://www.atlanticaparty.ca/Latest.html

After 6 months of analysis panel suggests that MLAs only get 70% of salary versus 75%. What a waste of time and money. And the report isn’t even binding. The Atlantica Party would replace the current MLA pension system with a matched private RRSP system similar to the one that many Nova Scotians have. You can’t lead unless you lead by example.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/29144-panel-tweak-mla-pensions

Once again the news media is missing the point regarding the new voluntary long census. A July 17th Chronicle Herald editorial Voluntary census comes up short calls the decision ‘boneheaded’ and ‘disastrous’ since many people have chosen not to fully fill in the questionnaire.

The Atlantica Party supports the census and invites people to participate. But this issue has nothing to do with the census, it is how far we are to allow ‘our’ government to compel obedience. Using threats to force participation in information gathering exercises is wrong. People should be free to opt out of questions from a government department. The fact that ‘many’ people decided the census is not that important is the end of the story, regardless of what some people in the media and government think. Census time actually provides a good opportunity for the government to educate citizens in processes such as electoral re-districting and budget allocation. This may help to further engage more citizens in the political process, or at the very least cause them to pay more attention to where their tax money is going. Threatening the public to comply will only turn more people off from politics and the workings of the government. It is up to government to convince us like adults that answering the various census forms is important, not threaten us like children to comply.

As part of his Taxpayers Agenda for CB North, Jonathan Dean pledged to hold municipalities to account by introducing legislation to force municipal councils to hold referenda on tax rate increases.
“Given the technological advances of the 21st century, there is no good reason why municipalities shouldn’t be able to hold referenda in order to seek public approval for future increases in the property tax rate. It is certainly true that Nova Scotians are taxed enough and holding municipalities to account would protect taxpayers from unwanted tax gouges,” says Dean, who is the Leader of the Atlantica Party of Nova Scotia.
The pledge is an important peg of the Atlantica Party’s Taxpayers’ Agenda, a direct response to the concerns of rural property taxpayers in CBRM who fear that the Province, with the support of municipalities, will remove the Capped Assessment Program on property tax assessments, resulting in four-fold increases in the amount of property tax paid year-over-year.
The Taxpayers’ Agenda would include the following:
1. “Keep the CAP”: Maintain the Capped Assessment Program to ensure that property owners are not gouged with ever-increasing tax bills.
2. Hold municipalities to account: Require that municipalities hold referenda in order to increase property tax rates.
3. Fight for a tax system that respects Nova Scotia taxpayers: Work with municipalities and citizens to develop an alternative municipal tax structure that is fair, more effective and uniform, with the aim of abolishing the property tax by 2015.
Jonathan Dean will be campaigning on the Taxpayers’ Agenda as well as the Atlantica Party’s flagship Five Point Democracy Plan. Dean has received positive reviews of his plan from concerned property owners in CB North, who are happy to see a new party on the provincial scene supporting real alternatives to the failed status quo.

Jonathan Dean announced a key peg of his by-election platform today, pledging to fight on behalf of property taxpayers in the Legislature to maintain the Capped Assessment Program (CAP) on property tax assessments. He called on his rival candidates to follow suit.

“Nova Scotia is the highest-taxed Province in Canada, and property taxpayers bear an unsustainable tax burden that is making life incredibly hard for residents of CB North and across the Province,” said Dean. “As the MLA for Cape Breton North I will be a voice for property taxpayers to ensure that the CAP be maintained until the system can be replaced with a fairer and more effective tax structure for municipalities.”

The CAP program was put in place in 2005 to limit the taxable assessments on property. The CAP acts to limit the amount of taxed paid to correspond with the CPI (about 2.9% in 2011). Without the CAP, property taxpayers could face annual increases in their tax bill by more than 20%, which would force many to have to sell their homes.

Dean and the Atlantica Party are pledging their support to the property taxpayers of Cape Breton North to fight demands from the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities (UNSM) that the CAP program should be removed. If elected, Jonathan Dean promises to speak on behalf of concerned property taxpayers and to work with other parties and MLAs to ensure that the Capped Assessment Program remain until the system is reformed.

The Keep the CAP promise is part of the Atlantica Party’s “Taxpayers’ Agenda,” a set of policies to protect property taxpayers across Nova Scotia. The Taxpayers’ Agenda was drafted in response to growing fear from property taxpayers that the Nova Scotia government, at the request of the UNSM, will remove the Capped Assessment Program on property assessments causing dramatic increases in the amount of taxes paid by home owners. It includes the following key provisions:

1. “Keep the CAP”: Maintain the Capped Assessment Program to ensure that property owners are not gouged with ever-increasing tax bills.

2. Hold municipalities to account: Mandate that municipalities be required to hold referenda in order to raise property tax rates.

3. Fight for a tax system that respects Nova Scotia taxpayers: Work with municipalities and citizens to develop an alternative municipal tax structure that is fair, more effective and uniform, with the aim of abolishing the property tax by 2015.

About Jonathan
Jonathan Dean is the leader of the Atlantica Party of Nova Scotia. He graduated first in his class from Dartmouth Academy, earned an undergraduate degree in Physics at Dalhousie, graduated first in his year from DalTech with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He completed his Masters in Computer Science at the University of Rochester in New York and earned his MBA at Dalhousie’s School of Business Administration. All of his
Atlantica Party of Nova Scotia degrees were completed on full scholarships.

Like many Atlantic Canadians, Jonathan had to leave the region to pursue his chosen career in investment research. He lived in Toronto for ten years working for various investment companies including Canada’s largest pension plan and a prominent hedge fund.

He moved back home a few years ago to be closer to his family and because he missed Atlantic Canada. Jonathan has been the leader of The Atlantica Party since November 17, 2006. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia with his wife Lynn and their dogs Titania and Finley.

The Atlantica Party (AP) is Nova Scotia’s newest registered political party, having been officially recognized by Elections Nova Scotia on March 8, 2010. The Atlantica Party is Nova Scotia’s only principled alternative and Nova Scotia’s only fiscally conservative party. AP is a grass-roots pro-democracy movement in the form of a political party intent on giving Nova Scotians a real option for reform; reform of our electoral system, reform of our political system and a set of economic reforms aimed at making Nova Scotia prosperous.