The great malaise of our political system is the regular citizen's apathy. I’ve seen this for years. The reason, of course, is because citizens are not involved in any meaningful way in the political discourse of our time; they have no "skin in the game", so why bother? This is a perfectly normal reaction. If your input is not wanted, why offer it?
But is our political system supposed to be so insular, running on its own in a corner with no oversight?
Some people say yes. It makes things more "efficient". This is true enough; no concern for public opinion, no counter views, rubber-stamp voting in the Legislature, and no debate seems to appear more "efficient". This view also argues for the permanent closing of the Legislature, the end of presumption of innocence in the court system, and more in the name of "efficiency". I trust that most citizens don’t support this. The citizens that do agree have either not thought things through to their logical conclusion, or they personally benefit from such creeping totalitarianism.
Others say the political system is indeed held in check by pointing to elections. Really? First, the Premier games the election's timing to his/her benefit; second, elections are treated as a nuisance, something to be endured and gotten over with as fast as possible in a blur of partisan PR with no discussion of the issues; third elections are years apart. How does this model provide month to month accountability? It cannot and does not.
Yet others argue this is the way things are supposed to work. I say emphatically no! We need an empowered Legislature independent from the government. Without it, the government can run rampant, safely ignore citizens, pass expedient ill-conceived legislation, overreach, expand at will, run deficits, and ignore issues with no consequences. Any citizen's frustration with the government is due to an absent Legislature.
However, all is not lost. The genius of our inherited political system is that it allows the people, informed by a free press, to renew our democracy from time to time. Just as we no longer live under despotic kings, we do not need to live under an unrestrained government.
We need to free our House. The Legislature must be returned to complete independence from the government, end coercive secret voting and make all debate and votes free. Our representatives will then be free to represent the people again, inquire into government operations, and debate and vote for or against government proposals.
As part of its Democracy Revolution, the Atlantica Party calls for the freedom and independence of the Nova Scotia Legislature now!
Jonathan Dean
Leader
Atlantica Party
If you agree that our Legislature must be free, please consider donating $20 to the fight.
The Atlantica Party is Nova Scotia's newest registered political party. The Atlantica Party is Nova Scotia's only political alternative committed to fixing Nova Scotia's democracy and making Nova Scotia a "have" province.
The Atlantica Party's Democracy Revolution is a comprehensive plan to fix Nova Scotia's democracy and empower the voter.