election 99: the challenge ahead

Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 17:42:05 -0300 (ADT)
From: Paul A Falvo <pfalvo@chebucto.ns.ca>
To: Sustainable Maritimes <sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca>
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Well folks, the Nova Scotia election is history. While i am sure that some
of our subscribers were delighted with the results, i know that a good
many others will be sorely disappointed. 

But i'd like to suggest that we all, as people concerned about the
environment, view the new government as an opportunity to make positive
change for the environment. 

Because the environment is not a partisan issue. It is not something we
want to be looked after for periodic 4-year stints. Nor is it something we
should think about just once every 4 years. As constituents of Earth, we
need to ensure that politicians of all stripes think about the future. 

Therefore, i'm encouraging everyone, whether you voted orange, blue, red
or otherwise ... to remind the folks in power ... and those in opposition
... that green goes with EVERY colour!

That means writing letters to elected representatives and to the newspaper
... and staying or getting active in local environmental groups.

And for the politically-inclined, it also means working within your local
constituency association to make sure that the environment is not
forgotten. For example, the Sierra Club of Canada's national Political
Effectiveness action Committee works to organise people to be active within
federal constituency associations, to work on making the environment a
priority (check out www.sierraclub.ca) 

There are many possibilities to do this ... the important thing is to stay
active between elections.

I'll close by putting a quick plug for PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION. In
case you didn't notice, the PCs got a majority government, with a MINORITY
(39%) of public support (popular vote).

This is the result of Canada's antiquated first past the post electoral
system.

Under a PR system, John Hamm would still be premier. But the number of
seats in his government would correspond more closely to the wishes of
Nova Scotians, as shown by "popular vote" percentage. 

Something to keep in mind ...

take care
~paul :)

_________________________________________________________________________
Paul A. Falvo, LL.B. * chebucto.ns.ca/~pfalvo/Profile.html * 902-454-9573



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