The Green Party of Nova Scotia recognizes the intricate connections of a healthy environment, conservative use of our natural resources, thriving communities, and a sustainable economy.
If anyone is interested in offering to drive or joining in a carpool, please use the comments below to connect with each other. As a reminder, the Special General Meeting will be held in Pictou, 9 am – 5 pm, on October 27, with registration opening at 8:30. The night before, Friday night, there will be a casual social gathering that you are welcome to attend starting at 7 pm at the Stone Soup Cafe.
by Charlene Boyce, Green Party of Nova Scotia Co-President
The recent New Brunswick election results engendered a lot of interest in the more obscure aspects of parliamentary procedure. What happens when the winner is really not evident?
This election has gone a long way toward showing the serious drawbacks of first-past-the-post in a splintered electorate. We may not be accustomed to minority governments, but once we have three or more active parties, they become not just a possibility, but an expectation.
The “Big Two” (for now!!), the Liberals and Conservatives found themselves in a practically-tied face-off due to the precedent of favour that the incumbent government enjoys. This left newcomers The People’s Alliance and David Coon’s Green Party with the enviable position of being courted for support. Interestingly, the way the numbers broke out, even with a deal and an ‘alliance government’, a clear majority is not so clear.
Many news anchors were talking to David Coon, asking whether the Greens would ‘prop up’ the Liberals.
Now, those of us familiar with Green politics know that we don’t whip votes. That is a thing we are known for. Our MLAs, MPs and other elected representatives are expected to vote with their conscience. Since we rely heavily on facilitated discussion and consensus building, we often find ourselves agreeing with our esteemed leaders, but not always.
So how does a party leader guarantee support to another government if she or he cannot whip votes? This is a question I asked of my party executive, some of whom have a lot more experience than I do.
The answer is, the same way all decisions are made. The elected New Brunswick Greens would meet and discuss and decide as a collective whether they would enter into any kind of agreement, and what kind of agreement, if any, that would be.
The New Brunswick Liberals therefore needed to negotiate not just with David Coon, a more known entity to them, as he has been an MLA for several years; but also with Megan Mitton and Kevin Arseneau, brand new MLAs.
It is situations like this that make politics my favourite spectator sport.
We are happy to respond to inquiries from Nova Scotians. Send your question to gpns@greenpartyns.ca.
The Green Party recently received this inquiry:
What is your stance on marijuana dispenseries? I feel they should be allowed to operate in Nova Scotia. So many people rely on these locations.
This is our reply:
Green Party volunteer Leanne Chisholm organized the rally that took place last weekend. We are so grateful for all her hard work! She shares this report. If you would like to organize an event, please contact gpns@greenpartyns.ca!
By Leanne Chisholm
On Saturday, September 8 th , 2018 approximately 75 people came out to the Halifax Seaport Market to demand a fossil free future. The rally was in conjunction with over 900 other rallies on all 7 continents organized by a group called 350.org based in the United States. The rallies were timed to coincide with the Global Climate Action Summit being held in San Francisco, California. Over 250,000 people participated and yet the event was largely ignored by major media outlets.
Thomas Trappenburg and Jo-Ann Roberts spoke passionately to our group of protestors and we marched along the waterfront as far as Bishop’s Landing drawing attention to our cause and the Green Party.
I hope we can participate in this event again next year and promote the event on university campuses during orientation week to attract more young people to the event and inspire them to become members of the Green Party.
Statement to the NS Electoral Boundaries Commission
From Charlene Boyce, co-President of the Nova Scotia Green Party
Good evening,
My name is Charlene Boyce. I am resident of Clayton Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia and I am the co-president of the Green Party of Nova Scotia.
The most effective way to ensure the democratically expressed wishes of a diverse electorate are reflected in government is to reform the electoral system to a system of proportional representation. Respectfully, although I acknowledge this is beyond the terms of reference of this group, I strongly believe this message should go into the formal record of proceedings. Many Nova Scotians, like our neighbors in Prince Edward Island, believe that proportional representation would better ensure government includes and recognizes diverse voices, like those of Acadian Nova Scotians, Black Nova Scotians, immigrants and those First Nations people who choose to participate in our system of government.
The Springtide Collective, among other groups, have done a wonderful job of developing education tools to help citizens understand these systems. They are easier to understand than a typical provincial budget!
Rather than focusing exclusively on geographic boundaries, I would like the government to consider electoral reform to ensure that everyone’s vote counts. Please consider proportional representation.
Thank you.
Charlene Boyce
