LETTER: Don’t dwell on the past N.S. Liberal government but don’t forget it about it either | Saltwire – SaltWire Network

I thought I should reflect a bit before deciding on who would get my vote.

Compassion and the desire to do the right thing for the people is an important quality in a political leader, as is courage, respect for all people, and humility. I think our members should be well educated, and have skills in listening and planning. Probably one of the most important things in a leader is respect for the democratic process.

Here in Nova Scotia, we need leaders who will protect nature and reverse current destructive practices.

For most of the last seven years of Liberal government, former premier Stephen McNeil ruled like a 17th century monarch. After COVID-19 struck, he appeared almost daily on TV with Dr. Robert Strang, and showed a more compassionate side. A cynic would say he used the power of television to remake his image.

On TV we saw a leader talking about hugging our loved ones, a sharp contrast to the premier who bullied doctors, denigrated teachers, disrespected nurses, tried to flatten prosecutors, and dismissed the media.

McNeil used legislation to abort the collective bargaining process. His centralization policy resulted in the disappearance of local autonomy in education and health care, and ensured centralized control with handpicked yes-people who suffered from central-office syndrome." It also ensured a lack of common sense from locals who had a better grasp of local needs.

McNeils priority was to balance the budget, a laudable goal. However, he ignored people who tried to tell him what the needs were in health and education, the two highest expenditures in a provincial government. In doing so, he made a major mess of health care, as the doctor debacle clearly illustrated, and he moved the progression of education backwards.

His controlling approach to health resulted in the creation of a duplicate health administration, the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), the board of which had more accountants than doctors. When doctors were later added, their voting capacity was limited. The new health authority dismissed common practices in the hiring of doctors, and made recruitment a joke.

In education, he removed school principals from the teachers' union, which was like removing the heart from a school. The same move in Ontario spawned lost cohesion and morale in staff. He also demolished local school boards, saying the department of education would provide the administrative leadership. Well the department didnt, leaving a huge hole in the chain of command.

At a time when research skills are paramount, he removed the librarian technicians from middle schools, a very regressive move in my opinion. To top it off, he did not cap class sizes, leaving teachers of overly-large classes, and their students, severely disadvantaged.

Democracy took a dive under McNeil. Liberal MLAs did as bidden by their leader, and the cries of constituents were ignored. Transparency did not exist as the media was shut out. As one Halifax journalist said, they want your written questions in advance and promise to respond, but that doesnt mean you get an answer."

So, why the review of the Liberal governments record? The concern I have is that many of the Liberal MLAs began their political run under McNeils tutelage. Its like being a self-taught skier where youve put a lot of bad techniques into your muscle memory. If reelected, will they all of a sudden embrace transparency, respect for constituents, and communication with the media? In short, if reelected, can and will Premier Iain Rankin retrain himself and others to walk the democratic path?

Jane MacNeill

Ben Eoin

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LETTER: Don't dwell on the past N.S. Liberal government but don't forget it about it either | Saltwire - SaltWire Network