MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. We will begin the daily routine.
PRESENTING AND READING PETITIONS
MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Kings North.
MR. MARK PARENT: Mr. Speaker, I beg leave to table the following the petition. The operative clause reads, " . . . that the elimination of poverty should begin with those who are unable to work and are living off provincial disability benefits. The disabled should have incomes that are equal to the poverty line as determined by annual revues of Statistics Canada and known by them as the 'low-income cut off.' The very least that should be done is for the provincial government to start by adding an annual cost of living advance . . . to the present benefits for the permanently disabled." It is signed by 25 people.
MR. SPEAKER: The petition is tabled.
The honourable member for Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley.
MR. BROOKE TAYLOR: Mr. Speaker, I beg leave to table a petition on behalf of 165 Nova Scotians. The prayer in the petition reads, "We, the undersigned residents of Brookfield and area are opposed to the telephone rate increase proposal that has been submitted to the CRTC by Aliant Telecom Inc/MTT. An increase to rural customers is unfair and unacceptable."
Mr. Speaker, I should point out that I firmly believe that this petition is indicative of the 63 communities that reside in Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley and probably is reflective of some other communities that reside in Nova Scotia as well. Yes, I have signed my name to the petition.
MR. SPEAKER: The petition is tabled.
PRESENTING REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
TABLING REPORTS REGULATIONS AND OTHER PAPERS
STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS
GOVERNMENT NOTICES OF MOTION
MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Tourism and Culture.
HON. RODNEY MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Tourism Division has launched Phase I of its 2001-02 Winter Advertising Campaign consisting of the production of two publications in partnership with Saltscapes Magazine and 55 industry partners; and
Whereas 100,000 copies of the first publication called 'Great Inns & Outings' has been produced containing 60 winter vacation offers for visitors and numerous great ideas for a winter holiday in Nova Scotia; and
Whereas this advertising campaign is one of the many combined efforts that follow Nova Scotia's tourism strategy of building year-round tourism and growing this billion-plus dollar industry;
Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House congratulate this province's tourism industry for working together in partnership to grow tourism in Nova Scotia into a world-class four season destination for the economic benefit and quality of life for all Nova Scotians.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
Bill No. 78 - Entitled an Act Respecting Conservation Easements. (Hon. Ernest Fage)
MR. SPEAKER: Ordered that this bill be read a second time on a future day.
NOTICES OF MOTION
MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Leader of the Opposition.
MR. DARRELL DEXTER: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas this fall at Sunday Masses the Archdiocese of Halifax will be collecting contributions for Afghan relief; and
Whereas the Archdiocese of Halifax has already made a direct contribution to help Afghan refugees; and
Whereas all such efforts to help the innocent victims of war and drought deserve our support and encouragement;
Therefore be it resolved that this House commends the Archdiocese of Halifax for its efforts on behalf of Afghan refugees and applauds and encourages all other churches and groups involved in similar humanitarian actions.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Cape Breton South.
MR. MANNING MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas Touch on Wood, in Sydney, is a non-profit, cross-disability organization providing advocacy and recreation for persons with disabilities; and
Whereas it was scheduled to close two weeks ago after it ran out of government funding; and
Whereas only because the Disabilities Partnership Association of Industrial Cape Breton and local businesses donated funding is it able to remain open until March, 2002;
Therefore be it resolved that the Department of Community Services take a lead role in working with the federal government to come up with a solution that would allow Touch on Wood to remain open with permanent government funding.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask for waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Sackville-Beaver Bank.
MR. BARRY BARNET: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas on Sunday, November 4, 2001, friends, family and Sackville community members welcomed home Evan and Donna Morgan from their cross-Canada trek; and
Whereas Evan Morgan walked the entire trip from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland, a distance of over 8,000 kilometres; and
Whereas Evan and Donna raised money from this trip to provide clean water to needy Haitian residents, an event which has been chronicled through their website at www.cupofcoldwater.org;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Evan and Donna Morgan for completing this amazing journey, and most especially for their commitment to people in need.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Sackville-Cobequid.
MR. JOHN HOLM: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the dedicated staff of the Cobequid Multi-Service Centre struggle with diminishing resources and an inadequate facility to provide quality health care to the rapidly-growing communities in their catchment area; and
Whereas government finally agreed to the construction of a replacement facility that enabled the Cobequid's foundation to develop a comprehensive fundraising plan to meet the communities' financial obligations to this badly-needed facility; and
Whereas this government's decision to cancel funds previously promised and its refusal to assure funding will be available in next year's budget may well threaten health care delivery and torpedo the foundation's fundraising efforts;
Therefore be it resolved that this House calls upon the government to commit now to provide the necessary funds in next year's budget to provide for the construction of the new Cobequid Multi-Service Centre on schedule, and make it possible for the Cobequid Foundation to embark on their fundraising campaign.
MR. SPEAKER: The notice is tabled.
The honourable member for Lunenburg West.
MR. DONALD DOWNE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia is an advocate for Nova Scotia Tourism and Hospitality in this province; and
Whereas it strives to enhance the industry's competitiveness and prosperity through increased professionalism and product; and
Whereas TIANS is hosting its 24th Annual Conference and Trade Show in Halifax from November 3rd to November 6th this week;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia on 24 years of great work and wish them success with the conference.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Kings West.
MR. JON CAREY: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the people of Nova Scotia are renowned for their generosity and extraordinary selflessness; and
Whereas having those qualities in great measure, Daisy Idelle Ward of Aylesford was presented today, by Lieutenant Governor Freeman, the Governor General's Caring Canadian Award for having diligently served her community, particularly its young people, for more than 60 years; and
Whereas throughout her life and her career as a teacher, Ms. Ward has provided leadership in many communities and youth groups, including the Harmony-Nicholsville 4-H Club, the Western Kings Community Fair, the Children's Aid Society and Canadian Red Cross Youth;
Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House congratulate Daisy Idelle Ward for receiving this award and offer our warmest wishes in the years to come.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Halifax Needham.
MS. MAUREEN MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas George Elliott Clarke, formerly of Windsor and Halifax, Nova Scotia, has been nominated for a Governor General's poetry award for his work, Execution Poems; and
Whereas this nomination is a well-deserved recognition of Dr. Clarke's enormous talent, not only as a poet but as a playwright and artist; and
Whereas the winners of the Governor General's award will be presented at a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on November 14th;
Therefore be it resolved that on behalf of all Nova Scotians members of this House express pride in the literary achievements of George Elliott Clarke and extend congratulations and best wishes to him on his nomination for a Governor General's Award for poetry.
[7:15 p.m.]
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Dartmouth East.
RESOLUTION NO. 2032
DR. JAMES SMITH: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas two post-graduate students at Dalhousie University won two of the three top awards at the Society for Psychophysiological Research's annual meeting in Montreal last month; and
Whereas Randy Lynn Newman of North Sydney and Jintian Wang of Beijing beat a field of more than 200 students from 20 countries; and
Whereas the Tursky Award acknowledges original, innovative work in the field of technology developed to monitor and measure the response of the body's organs and nervous system to psychological stress;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Randy Lynn Newman and Jintian Wang on their Society for Psychophysiological Research awards and accomplishments.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Pictou East.
MR. JAMES DEWOLFE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame held its annual induction ceremonies Friday, October 26th; and
Whereas the 2001 inductees totaled seven: three athletes, Kathy (MacCormack) Spurr, Cecilia Branch and Donald MacVicar; builders Laurie Power and Virginia Smith; as well as the 1981 Canada Games Softball Team and the 1963-65 Thorburn, Pictou County Junior Mohawks Softball Team; and
Whereas Nova Scotia's Sport Hall of Fame exists to honour and preserve the rightful place of outstanding achievers and contributors to Nova Scotia's sport heritage;
Therefore be it resolved that members of the Legislative Assembly express our appreciation and gratitude to the 2001 Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame inductees for leaving a lasting contribution of sporting achievement to be chronicled into the history books of outstanding Nova Scotia athletic performances.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage.
MR. KEVIN DEVEAUX: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the men and women of 12 Wing Shearwater have worked hard over the years to keep the Sea King helicopters flying; and
Whereas the Sea King has a record of almost 40 years of service for the Canadian military and is now older than many of the crews that fly the helicopter; and
Whereas the Sea King is once again being pressed into service with Operation Apollo;
Therefore be it resolved that this House recognize the efforts of pilots and navigators who keep the Sea King flying, especially those that are now doing this work onboard ship during Operation Apollo.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
I hear a No.
The notice is tabled.
The honourable member for Victoria.
MR. KENNETH MACASKILL: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas a 136 hectare parcel of wilderness on Hardwood Lake in Kings County was given to the Nova Scotia Nature Trust by Kimberly-Clark; and
Whereas this donation will protect the pristine nature of Hardwood Lake's shoreline; and
Whereas Kimberly-Clark has owned the property since 1968 and is adjacent to a Girl Guide Camp;
Therefore be it resolved that members of this House congratulate Kimberly-Clark on its donation to the Nova Scotia Nature Trust and the protection of the Girl Guide Camp and Hardwood Lake's shoreline.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Pictou West.
MRS. MURIEL BAILLIE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas New Scotland Days in Pictou has been selected as one of the top 100 events to be seen in North America in 2002 by the American Bus Association representing motorcoach tour operators across North America; and
Whereas New Scotland Days ranks proudly with other North American selected events that include the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas, the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines and the Marshall County Blueberry Festival in Plymouth, Indiana; and
Whereas each fully-loaded motorcoach on a charter or tour making an overnight stay contributes an average of $5,000 to $7,500 per day to the local economy;
Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House of Assembly recognize with pride the significant achievement for the New Scotland Days Festival in being named one of the top 100 events to be seen in North America in 2002 and wish them every success in this coming year and many more in the future.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Dartmouth North.
RESOLUTION NO. 2037
MR. JERRY PYE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas over a year ago the government commissioned Dr. Michael Kendrick to review the community service system and advise them on how it could improve the process and services; and
Whereas the Kendrick Report recommends and emphasizes user, family and community participation in decisions impacting on the provisions of community services; and
Whereas the department has made a decision to transfer residents from the Cole Harbour Rehabilitation facility to Sunrise Manor without input or involvement of those affected;
Therefore be it resolved that the minister direct his department to implement the recommendations of the Kendrick Report and thereby address the serious concerns of the users of this system and the groups working for them.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
I hear a No.
The notice is tabled.
The honourable member for Leader of the Liberal Party.
MR. WAYNE GAUDET: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas members of the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union gathered in Truro on October 26th for their 25th Anniversary Annual General Meeting; and
Whereas their general assembly consists of approximately 170 nurses who work in hospitals, homes for special care and community agencies such as VON and Canadian Blood Services; and
Whereas this union which represents 5,000 nurses across the province has gathered to discuss issues of concern and of great importance to all Nova Scotians;
Therefore be it resolved that members of this House congratulate the Nova Scotia Nurses' Union on their 25th Anniversary and wish them much success.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Queens.
MR. KERRY MORASH: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the beauty of Queens County - its white sand beaches, large unspoiled forests, salmon rivers and lakes - is unsurpassed; and
Whereas Queeens County also boasts the experience and stability of old, well-established communities and it also shines with the vitality and freshness of its newer and growing areas; and
Whereas in order to protect this environment and prepare to meet future growth, the provincial government has joined with the Municipality of Queens and the federal government to improve the quality of the water and to increase access to municipal sewer and water services through a joint Canada-Nova Scotia infrastructure program;
Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House congratulate the leaders of the Region of Queens Municipality for being practical and forward-thinking, protecting the quality of life in Queens County and for paving the way for future expansion.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Halifax Chebucto.
MR. HOWARD EPSTEIN: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Ecology Action Centre celebrated its 30th Anniversary this past Friday at St. Mary's Boat Club; and
Whereas the Ecology Action Centre has been the province's main voice of citizen advocacy for environmental concerns through all these years; and
Whereas public awareness of environmental issues and solid action on energy, pollution and waste production owe much to the stellar early work of the Ecology Action Centre;
Therefore be it resolved that members of this House join Nova Scotians in celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Ecology Action Centre and tip their hats to the staff and volunteers who have formed the backbone of environmental efforts in Nova Scotia for three decades.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Cape Breton Nova.
Whereas Cheryl McCann of Whitney Pier this morning opened a new convenience store, Cheyanne's Dairy, named for her daughter Cheyanne; and
Whereas the store is located at the former site of Kendon's Dairy on Victoria Road between Muggah and Mount Peasant Streets and its opening will create four new jobs; and
Whereas the leadership and courage displayed by Cheryl McCann demonstrates how to put a positive face on development in the community of Whitney Pier;
Therefore be it resolved that the House congratulates and commends Cheryl McCann on the opening of her new store and wishes her every success in the days ahead.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Preston.
RESOLUTION NO. 2042
MR. DAVID HENDSBEE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Foundation United Baptist Church has established itself as a friendly, family church celebrating its 10 year Anniversary in 2002; and
Whereas the congregation has grown remarkably over that period of time by spreading the good news of the gospel to the communities and surrounding areas of Porter's Lake and the Eastern Shore; and
Whereas on Sunday, November 4, 2001, the congregation and friends and the United Baptist Church leadership gathered in Porter's Lake to commemorate and bless the site for a new church to be built;
Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House of Assembly congratulate the Foundation United Baptist Church for its sod turning for a new church and wish them well and the very best as they build their house of worship.
Mr. Speaker, I ask for waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Timberlea-Prospect.
MR. WILLIAM ESTABROOKS: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas induction into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame is a prestigious award; and
Whereas Nova Scotia's 1981 Canada Games Fastball Team, which captured a gold medal, were inducted in the Hall of Fame on October 26, 2001; and
Whereas Craig Cavicchi of Upper Tantallon, Paul Blackmore of Beechville and Darren Harrison of Terence Bay were key members of that team;
Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly offer its congratulations to these three outstanding young men: Craig Cavicchi, Paul Blackmore, and Darren Harrison and the other members of the gold medal winning Nova Scotia Canada Games Team of 1981 on their induction into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Cape Breton West.
MR. RUSSELL MACKINNON: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas Sempra Atlantic Gas has signed an agreement with the Province of Nova Scotia to surrender its franchise for the distribution of natural gas in Nova Scotia; and
Whereas by this agreement of October 25, 2001, the provincial Tory Government agrees to pay, with taxpayers money, Sempra Gas for the maintenance of its assets; and
Whereas in Section 9 of this agreement the province has completely surrendered the independence of the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board as it pertains to public accountability;
Therefore be it resolved that the Minister of Economic Development provide a detailed report to this Legislature on why the independence of the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board has been compromised for what appears to be nothing more than political expediency.
MR. SPEAKER: The notice is tabled.
The honourable member for Cape Breton North.
MR. CECIL CLARKE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Order of Canada is awarded on behalf of all Canadians to recognize people whose life's work has made a significant impact on this country; and
Whereas Eva Landry of St. Peter's has been given our country's highest honour for lifetime achievement and named Member of the Order of Canada; and
Whereas Mrs. Landry has made a significant difference to the quality of life of those she has worked for - with youth, in education, health care, and economic development - and the valuable contribution it has made to the people of rural Cape Breton;
Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House congratulate Eva Landry on receiving this prestigious award, and applaud her years of community work and the quality of her contributions which have placed her among this country's outstanding citizens.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Hants East.
MR. JOHN MACDONELL: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Special Olympics provides an arena for less abled athletes to compete against one another; and
Whereas the Cobequid Region Special Olympics Swim Team competed this summer in Halifax against swimmers from all over Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and P.E.I., in the Nova Scotia Summer Games; and
Whereas local swimmers Mr. Cameron Cook, Ms. Jean Kirkpatrick, Mr. Bruce Lightle of Shubenacadie and Ms. Joanne Turpel of Elmsdale as part of the Cobequid team helped to win nine medals in the three-day competition;
Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate Cameron Cook, Jean Kirkpatrick, Bruce Lightle, and Joanne Turpel of the Cobequid Region Special Olympics Swim Team for their great success in the Nova Scotia Summer Games.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice and passage without debate.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Richmond.
MR. MICHEL SAMSON: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Tory blue book contained many promises to students including a promise to provide an income tax relief program for graduating students with high debt loads; and
Whereas this promise was scheduled to be implemented in year two of the Tory mandate; and
Whereas despite over two years in office this promise has yet to be fulfilled;
Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House demand that the Premier give his personal assurance that this promise to the students of Nova Scotia be fulfilled.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
I hear a No.
The notice is tabled.
The honourable Minister of Health.
[7:30 p.m.]
HON. JAMES MUIR: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas Francis Collins of Truro was named the first recipient of the Stanley Clyke Memorial Award; and
Whereas the award was given "for demonstrated leadership-by-example in the African Nova Scotia Community of Colchester County"; and
Whereas among the leadership qualities considered in the Stanley Clyke Memorial Award selection process were fairness, integrity, courage, respect and observance of the Golden Rule;
Therefore be it resolved that all members congratulate Francis Collins for being the first recipient of the Stanley Clyke Memorial Award and thank him for his contribution to both the African Nova Scotia and broader communities in Colchester County.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Sackville-Cobequid.
MR. JOHN HOLM: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas Sackville High School hosted the 17th Canadian Student Leadership Conference during the week of September 25th to September 30th; and
Whereas this momentous event drew together over 750 delegates from high schools across Canada to discuss and debate many of the critical issues facing Canada and the world; and
Whereas this event showcased the incredible talents not only of the participants, but also the students, staff and community volunteers and underscores that Sackville High School is one of the premier high schools in Nova Scotia;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate the participants, students, staff and all volunteers for the wonderful success of the 17th Canadian Student Leadership Conference at Sackville High School this past September.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried. (Interruptions)
Order, please. There is an awful lot of noise in the Chamber this evening. I would ask the members to take their conversations outside, please.
The honourable member for Cape Breton The Lakes.
MR. BRIAN BOUDREAU: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas Atlantech Extrusion Inc., in the Northside Industrial Park has been placed in receivership; and
Whereas 13 people have been put out of work; and
Whereas this is another prime example of how the Tories' economic plan is failing Cape Breton and all Nova Scotia;
Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House condemn the Tory Government for its false promise to assist with the economic development of Cape Breton and Nova Scotia.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
I hear several Noes.
The notice is tabled.
The honourable Minister of Economic Development.
HON. GORDON BALSER: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas Carol Elaine Welch has been the librarian for the Westport Library for well over two decades; and
Whereas Mrs. Welch is known throughout the island communities for her love of literature and her genuine efforts to encourage literacy; and
Whereas she is officially retiring in November of this year and she has been recognized by the Western Counties Regional Library for her many years of service on October 29th in Yarmouth;
Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House extend to Mrs. Welch our best wishes for her retirement and join the multitude of individuals she has assisted in thanking her for a job well done.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage.
MR. KEVIN DEVEAUX: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas many Canadians have wondered what they can do to help the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; and
Whereas Eastern Passage and Cow Bay are communities with a proud tradition of supporting those in need and working hard to help others; and
Whereas Holly Goldsworthy of Eastern Passage produced over 1,000 red, white and blue memorial ribbons to raise money for the local Red Cross and the victims of the September 11th attacks;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Holly Goldsworthy for her efforts in raising money for the victims of the September 11th disaster.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Glace Bay.
MR. DAVID WILSON: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas Seaview Manor in Glace Bay has been serving the community for a quarter of a century; and
Whereas Seaview Manor and its staff have always provided the highest level of care in a professional manner; and
Whereas 11 staff members will be honoured for their long service at Seaview Manor;
Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate those staff members, all employees of Seaview Manor and guests on the occasion of its 25th Anniversary.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable Minister of Natural Resources.
HON. ERNEST FAGE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas Amherst lawyer Carol Beaton has been presented with the 2001 Francis Fish Women Lawyers' Achievement Award honouring outstanding women lawyers; and
Whereas her demonstrated commitment to the advancement of women's equality in and through the legal profession has achieved professional excellence in her areas of specialty; and
Whereas Ms. Beaton routinely goes above and beyond the call of duty in her private law practice, has acted as a per diem Crown Attorney since 1991, selected to Rotary International Professional Exchange Program in 1994, and is currently active in numerous community events;
Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House once again recognize Carol Beaton for her achievements as a lawyer, a volunteer and a role model for all women desiring to enter the law profession.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Halifax Chebucto.
MR. HOWARD EPSTEIN: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas emotions have been heightened in the aftermath of the events of September 11th; and
Whereas at such a time the need for tolerance and understanding of all faiths and peoples becomes more urgent than ever; and
Whereas in particular the Muslim and Arab communities need our support and an affirmation of the need for tolerance and understanding in these trying times, but no such message has come forward from this House;
Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House call on political, community and faith leaders to speak out against violence, intolerance or hatred of any kind, directed at Muslims, Arabs and other visible minorities.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Lunenburg West.
MR. DONALD DOWNE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the week of October 22nd to October 26th was declared Small Business Week; and
Whereas as part of this event, the Acadia Centre for Small Business and Entrepreneurship staged a series of informative workshops and small business seminars; and
Whereas the Acadia Centre has been helping South Shore entrepreneurs succeed in business since their Bridgewater office opened in 1994;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate the Acadia Centre for Small Business and Entrepreneurship for its support, throughout the year, of small business and community economic development in Nova Scotia.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Timberlea-Prospect.
MR. WILLIAM ESTABROOKS: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Hammonds Plains Fire Department celebrated its 40th Anniversary on Saturday, October 20th; and
Whereas during the past 40 years these dedicated volunteers have served the growing communities of the Hammonds Plains area; and
Whereas Fire Chief Rob Cahoon and the other men and women of the Hammonds Plains Fire Department continue this fine tradition;
Therefore be it resolved that the House of Assembly offer its congratulations and gratitude to the Hammonds Plains Fire Department on its 40th Anniversary on October 20, 2001.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Victoria.
MR. KENNETH MACASKILL: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the 12.58 per cent anti-dumping duty imposed recently will have a strong negative effect on industry in Nova Scotia; and
Whereas such duties are harmful to the American home-building industry as well; and
Whereas the Premier has indicated in the past that he would assist in the lobbying effort to lift such duties against Nova Scotia producers;
Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House work to assist any efforts that would help lift this unfair duty against Nova Scotia softwood lumber.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Hants East.
MR. JOHN MACDONELL: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas safe play is recognized as an important part of the learning process; and
Whereas the Rawdon District Elementary School needed a new playground but lacked the funds to construct one; and
Whereas the local communities, led by the members of the Pioneer Club, stepped forward and helped raise the necessary funds;
Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly congratulate the Rawdon communities and the members of the Pioneer Club for raising the funds for a new playground and in so doing putting the 'happy' into Rawdon school days.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Cape Breton Nova.
MR. PAUL MACEWAN: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the editorial cartoons in The Chronicle-Herald sometimes make sense, and today's made eminent sense; and
Whereas the depiction of a gaggle of NDP geese all looking shocked and appalled, with one saying "Why can't we just 'Royal Commission' terrorists to their knees?" hits the nail right on the head; and
Whereas a recent Leger opinion poll shows that over four-fifths of Canadians support Prime Minister Jean Chretien on this matter, and that only 11 per cent support Alexa McDonough;
Therefore be it resolved that today's NDP geese show why that Party is so completely out of touch with mainstream Canada that it is currently shopping around to change its name once again.
MR. SPEAKER: The notice is tabled.
The honourable member for Richmond.
Whereas the Hamm Government promised strong leadership and a clear course in the last election; and
Whereas since the Hamm Government has not kept one substantial promise one is led to believe that the government is off course; and
Whereas apparently this lack of direction is rubbing off on the Tory backbenchers as the member for Kings North found himself at Mount A in New Brunswick instead of Mount Saint Vincent in Halifax;
Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House encourage Tory backbenchers to establish their own course so that future mistaken trips to New Brunswick can be avoided.
MR. SPEAKER: The notice is tabled.
The honourable member for Cape Breton The Lakes.
MR. BRIAN BOUDREAU: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities recently held its annual conference and was awaiting a response from government on the issue of equalization; and
Whereas the Premier neglected the issue while at the conference and the Minister of Municipal Relations tippy-toed around the issue; and
Whereas this issue is vitally important to the 52 municipalities in this province.
Therefore be it resolved that the Minister of Municipal Relations sit down immediately with the UNSM to work out an acceptable agreement.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
I hear a No.
The notice is tabled.
The honourable member for Glace Bay.
MR. DAVID WILSON: I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Tory Government was once fond of quoting liberally from Robert Frost's Road Not Taken, and
Whereas recently the member for Kings North came across two roads diverged in a yellow wood and he was sorry he could not travel both; and
Whereas at one point in the journey he may have exclaimed, "Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back."
Therefore be it resolved that the member for Kings North should be commended for living the Road Not Taken as opposed to the Tory tradition of merely mouthing the words.
Mr. Speaker I ask for waiver of notice and apologies to the late Robert Frost.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
I hear a No.
The notice is tabled.
The honourable leader of the Liberal Party.
MR. WAYNE GAUDET: I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas Wayne G. Noseworthy has been named Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, effective November 1, 2001; and
Whereas Mr. Noseworthy has been executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers Association (NLTA) since 1997 and was president of the NLTA from 1981 to 1983; and
Whereas Mr. Noseworthy holds several degrees from Memorial University of Newfoundland, including a Master of Education in Education Administration and has vast experience on various boards and review panels under Health and Welfare Canada.
Therefore be it resolved that members of the House congratulate Mr. Noseworthy on his appointment as Executive Director of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union and welcome him and his family to Nova Scotia.
Mr. Speaker I request waiver of notice.
[7:45 p.m.]
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable member for Cape Breton West.
MR. RUSSELL MACKINNON: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Carefield Manor, a long-term care facility in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality, has been told it will lose several Level 2 care beds in December of this year; and
Whereas 21 seniors will be affected by this funding cut from the Department of Health; and
Whereas there are already long waiting periods for Level 2 care beds in Cape Breton;
Therefore be it resolved that the Department of Health reconsider its cuts to the Carefield Manor and the adverse affects it will have on the seniors at the Carefield Manor.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
I hear a No.
The notice is tabled.
The honourable member for Cape Breton South.
MR. MANNING MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas New Dawn Enterprises, located in Sydney, is the oldest community economic development corporation in Canada; and
Whereas the corporation celebrated their 25th Anniversary in October; and
Whereas it also recently held a successful conference on the issue of community economic development;
Therefore be it resolved that the members of this House congratulate New Dawn Enterprises on 25 years of success in community economic development in Cape Breton.
Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.
MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
The honourable Government House Leader.
HON. RONALD RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, I would ask for unanimous consent of the House to revert to the order of business, Tabling Reports, Regulations and Other Papers.
MR. SPEAKER: Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
TABLING REPORTS, REGULATIONS AND OTHER PAPERS
MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Justice.
HON. MICHAEL BAKER: Mr. Speaker, in my capacity as Attorney General and pursuant to Section 51 of Judicature Act, I hereby table amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules that were made pursuant to the Judicature Act by the Judges of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia on the 25th day of May, 2001, and by Judges of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal on the 18th day of June, 2001.
Mr. Speaker, as well, in my capacity as Attorney General, and pursuant to Section 51 of the Judicature Act, I hereby table amendments to Practice Memorandum Number 27 and Form 62.02(5) to the Civil Procedure Rules.
MR. SPEAKER: The documents are tabled.
ORDERS OF THE DAY
GOVERNMENT BUSINESS
MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Government House Leader.
HON. RONALD RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, would you please call the order of business, Public Bills for Second Reading.
PUBLIC BILLS FOR SECOND READING
MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Government House Leader.
HON. RONALD RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, would you please call Bill No. 29.
Bill No. 29 - Elections Act.
MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Minister of Justice.
HON. MICHAEL BAKER: Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise and speak on second reading of this bill. When it was introduced in April this year, one of the things everyone could agree on is that the changes proposed are long overdue. Fortunately, there are many other things that are agreeable about this bill, most notably the fact that the changes will bring us in line with most other jurisdictions, including the federal jurisdiction.
Mr. Speaker, most of the changes in this bill are based on recommendations made by the Nova Scotia Election Commission. The bill is designed to make the electoral process easier and more accessible. Shortly after the bill was introduced I met with members of the Election Commission. I made it clear that their input was both welcome and encouraged as it had been from the outset. They have come forward with some additional recommendations which I will introduce during the Law Amendments Committee process.
Mr. Speaker, I had hoped to provide a copy of the bill to the commission prior to its introduction. However, time did not permit me to do so. I knew there would be ample time for input and we continue to receive that input. The legislation proposes changes to the rules governing elections in the province. The way that voting lists are compiled is changing. Instead of relying solely on the enumeration process, which is both cumbersome and costly, the list can be created through the sharing of electors' lists and the confirmation of existing data. Of course, privacy rights of individuals will be respected. We can only use the information for the purpose for which it was gathered.
Revisions to the list will be permitted over a three week period versus the current three days. The process for any revisions on polling day will be standardized. We want to ensure all qualified voters have an opportunity to vote. With this bill, proxy voting will be replaced with write-in ballots. It will be possible to vote by write-in ballots within five days after the election call and up to six days prior to the election. This is a much more straightforward and convenient process for proxy votes, Mr. Speaker.
The total hours for advance polls will increase from 16 to 20 hours with this bill, thus making voting more accessible. Those who do take advantage of the advance poll will no longer have to sign a declaration.
Mr. Speaker, this bill changes the provisions that harken back to our colonial days. British subjects will be permitted to vote for one more election cycle; after that they must become Canadian citizens in order to vote.
Mr. Speaker, this bill means that all qualified Nova Scotians will be permitted to vote with the exception of federally-sentenced inmates. As the honourable members are no doubt aware, there is a case now before the Supreme Court of Canada regarding federally-sentenced inmates. With this bill, we are mirroring the provisions of the federal legislation. We will make any adjustments necessary, of course, upon the court's decision.
Mr. Speaker, we are proposing that elections be conducted in 30 days versus 36 days. I am sure that honourable members will agree that this is in keeping with what is sensible. All Nova Scotians must have access to the electoral process; therefore, the legislation proposes that all polling stations have level access. With respect to the elections, the Province of Nova Scotia at the present time has, I believe, the longest election period of any province in the country. Our change will bring it in keeping with all other provincial jurisdictions.
Mr. Speaker, mobile ballots in long-term care facilities will be introduced. Those who are ill or have a disability may appoint an agent to pick up and return their write-in ballot applications. Those who do help voters to cast a ballot will be able to do so for only one unrelated person.
We are proposing that candidates now have access to apartment buildings and condominium complexes to campaign. As well, citizens will be able to post signs in their windows, if they choose. We are proposing that the Chief Electoral Officer be given powers to investigate complaints and refer the matter to the police, if appropriate. It only makes sense to give the Chief Electoral Officer the ability to look into complaints, should they arise.
We are also proposing that if all Parties agree, the Chief Electoral Office may try alternate voting methods in by-elections. If there is a faster and more cost-effective way to hold by-elections, we should explore it. The legislation proposes that returning officers be appointed for a fixed term. With this bill, the registration requirements for political Parties will be clearly set out, and there will be stricter rules in place for the creation of a new Party.
Mr. Speaker, this bill proposes that the official addition of the votes will now take place two days after an election. This will shorten the time application for judicial recount. This means that the time when the representation of an electoral district may be in question will be shorter. In the event of a tie vote, the bill proposes that a lot be drawn immediately after the judicial recount, in the presence of the judge and the candidates' representatives. That provision seems most eminently sensible to me, since it seems to provide an excellent outcome. It is my firm belief that this is the fairest and most cost-effective method to decide the outcome.
As I stated earlier, many of the changes are common sense. Mr. Speaker, this legislation is about improving the process, about making voting more accessible so more Nova Scotians can cast their ballots. I believe these changes are progressive and are long overdue, and I look forward to the support of my colleagues across the floor.
Mr. Speaker, I move second reading.
MR. SPEAKER: The honourable Leader of the Opposition.
MR. DARRELL DEXTER: Mr. Speaker, it certainly is a pleasure to rise this evening and to have an opportunity to address Bill No. 29, the Elections Act. I listened carefully as the Attorney General was speaking and I wanted to say that there is more to this bill than meets the eye. In fact, what happened with this bill is that the Minister of Justice, the Attorney General, did a great disservice to the people of the province by not observing the long-held tradition of having the Election Commission come to a consensus on all of the provisions that were to be amended in the Elections Act. He offers up some pretty thin gruel when he gives an excuse and he says time didn't permit; time didn't permit the Minister of Justice, the Attorney General, an opportunity to properly vet all of these provisions through the Election Commission.
Well, Mr. Speaker, one should remember why it is that we have the Election Commission. It is to ensure that the provisions of the Elections Act, which of course governs how it is that our elections are conducted in this province, that they are done fairly. On the Election Commission there are members from all of the Parties. Tradition has been that all of the changes to the Elections Act would be vetted through the Election Commission and if any one of the Parties disagreed with particular provisions, then no consensus was reached on them and they were shelved.
Now if, as the Minister of Justice says, reducing the time for an election from 36 days to 30 days is keeping it consistent with what happens in other jurisdictions, then surely, if this was of such great common sense, he certainly could have prevailed upon the Election Commission to come to a consensus on this matter. We are not privileged to those discussions. We don't know exactly what it is that the Election Commission had in mind in not recommending this. We only know that it is the integrity of the process that is challenged when the minister decides to circumvent it, to undermine it by putting forward provisions on which there has not been a consensus. That is the reality. That is the disservice.
We are here to not only uphold the substance of pieces of legislation like this, but also the process by which they are arrived at. I think it is a shame because, as the minister says, there is lots in the bill that certainly will be supported by myself and by members of my Party. We certainly argued for many of the provisions that are now contained in this bill. There are some good ones. We certainly want to see to it, for example, that there is access to level polling stations for those who did not have ready access in past years. This was something that certainly our representatives on the Election Commission argued for.
It doesn't go as far as it should in terms of addressing all of the concerns of the disabled community, but it is a step in the right direction because, after all, although the Minister of Justice didn't say this, there is in fact an out in the provision that the Chief Electoral Officer can designate another polling station, or a polling station that doesn't have level access, if one with level access is not available. So there is a certain allowance for the Chief Electoral Officer to do other than what a clause provides for, if there is a reason. Now I am certainly among those who believe that that discretion will be judiciously administered and that in most cases what we will see under this new legislation is, in fact, much greater access by the disabled community into polling places.
One of the little interesting aspects of this legislation - and it is literally true that this is the process that is observed in many other jurisdictions - is that after the Electoral Boundaries Commission reports, and as you know, Mr. Speaker, the process for the Electoral Boundaries Commission is now underway. The committee of members of the Legislature has been set up by resolution. They are going to determine what the makeup of the commission is going to be. They are presently, as I understand it, going to be conducting across the province hearings to talk about the makeup of the commission and then the commission will undertake its work.
[8:00 p.m.]
What's interesting about this, Mr. Speaker, is that once the Electoral Boundaries Commission reports and the report is implemented by this House, all of the returning officers who were otherwise in their positions will be terminated. So this government will have an opportunity to appoint literally all the returning officers right across the province in every
constituency. We can only speak to past practice, but this will be a boon for the members on the other side because, of course, over the years what we have seen is returning officers and the appointment of returning officers being handed out as political patronage plums to the friends of government and that has been the tradition of this House. (Interruptions) That is literally the case and whether it was the Progressive Conservatives or whether it was the Liberals, they just distributed these as if they were manna from heaven for their faithful.
Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed that this bill only provides that these returning officers will be now appointed by the Governor in Council. There is no provision, for example, to see to it that they're advertised for broadly in the newspapers of the province. There is no requirement that there is any kind of a vetting process, that they have to go to the Human Resources Committee, for example, that there's an independent look at their qualifications by anybody other than the Governor in Council. Of course, it simply has to appoint them without going through any other kind of a vetting process.
I think this is very unfortunate, Mr. Speaker, and I can see the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Tourism think it is a big laugh because they know what the result of that will be. The result will be that the Governor in Council, being the Premier and his - I was going to say henchmen, that wouldn't be fair. (Interruption) So let's just say that those members who are closest to the Premier will have the opportunity to see to it that those people who receive these jobs will do it by Order in Council, maybe in the dead of night. We can only speculate as to how those positions will eventually be allotted.
Mr. Speaker, the one thing that I did want to comment on, because I think it is certainly something that over the years many of us who live now in urban parts of this province and perhaps in rural areas as well, is the whole question of campaigning in and out of apartment buildings because this bill does contain a progressive provision with respect to that. It has been one of those things for years that has been the bane of candidates and the bane of representatives of candidates who try to get access into apartment buildings. In many cases the landlords simply prohibited access to the building and there was no way for a candidate or a candidate's agent to force the landlord to allow you into the building. I know there's a whole mythology and a whole mode of campaigning that has grown up around how you go about campaigning in apartment buildings because anybody who . . .
AN HON. MEMBER: We agree on that, don't we?
MR. DEXTER: We do agree on it, but I'm just trying to explain why this is, in fact, part of what we're going to support because, Mr. Speaker, what used to happen is candidates or candidates' agents would go into apartment buildings because some generous soul would let them in and what they would do is they would go in and they would start campaigning from the top of the apartment building. The reason you would say, well, that's because they want to walk downstairs rather than upstairs. That is a good reason too, but that wasn't the
reason. The reason was because the superintendent almost always was on the first floor and if you knocked on the superintendent's door first, they were going to kick you out of the building so what you did is you started at the top of the apartment building and you campaigned down and that way if you hit the superintendent at the end, well, you'd already done the building anyway, so what the heck, right?
This is a good provision because this is about tenants' rights. It provides the tenant with an opportunity to speak with the candidates who ultimately they're going to have to vote for, who they're going to elect, and why shouldn't they have the opportunity that everyone else has to question candidates who are standing for election. This is something that certainly we have looked forward to for a long time.
I don't know if the Minister of Justice knows this or not, but I believe that in other jurisdictions that is actually not in the Elections Act. I think it's actually in the Residential Tenancies Act in other jurisdictions because it's treated as a right of a tenant to have access to people who are campaigning for election.
I see that the British citizenship requirement is being done away with. I think that's interesting. I understand it's not one of those provisions that were actually agreed upon by the commission but, nonetheless, I think it's one that many people have agreed on over the years, that that seemed to be a provision that was not in keeping with the tradition in other provinces. It's hard to know how many people these provisions actually affect, but it'll be interesting to see if we hear from people who are going to be materially affected by that provision.
I do want to state a concern. I would like to get it out of the way now because I think that Clause 15, and I know we're speaking to the principle of the bill, but contained within this is the principle of accessibility for people. The whole idea, you have write-in ballot provisions in here, you have provisions for greater access to polling places, but the other thing you have in here is a definition about what your ordinary residents say. In this case, I will invite all members of the Hosue to have a close look at what is contained in here with respect to ordinary residences in respect to students. There's a provision in the bill which may, in fact, exclude students from voting in the constituencies they're in when they go to school.
For example, for the Minister of Education that could potentially have a great impact on the number of electors that she has in her district. The difference here is she may well have people who are her constituents for all intents and purposes, who will be drawing down the services of her office because they live in her district, but when it comes time to actually vote and to actually vote for the minister or against the minister, they won't have that opportunity, because although they'll be constituents in the sense that that's where they live
and that's where they draw down their services, they won't be registered voters in that particualr constituency.
It's something we want to be careful about. We want to try to enfranchise people not to disenfranchise people. I think, by and large, things like access to voting booths, write-in ballots, those are ways that we go about trying to enfranchise people. We'll have to have a look as we go through the debate on this, but if it turns out that students are one of those groups that are not materially positively affected by this legislation, then perhaps we won't want to have another look at it.
I, too, couldn't help but note that Clause 81, I believe it is, deals with what happens if there's a tie. I have to say, in the last election, for the first time I could ever remember there was a tie. In fact, I am not exactly sure of the method, but I am sure the member for Shelburne remembers very well the method by which that resolution was arrived at - I think it was by a flip of a coin. I'm not sure if there was some other method contemplated by drawing lots,
I would assume it would be out of a hat, which would be the other one. I notice that the Minister of Justice indicated that this was a provision that was brought in because it yielded such superior results, I think he said, Mr. Speaker. I have to say that during Bill No. 68, we thought the result wasn't all that bad either, so maybe that is something on which we can concur.
So there is a lot here. I am certainly looking forward to having the opportunity to listen to the debate on the bill because I think whenever we enter into a discussion that so fundamentally affects the very nature of the democracy we live in, Mr. Speaker, that it bears some real scrutiny, it bears the attention of all the members of the House. Hopefully, we will also hear from government members on this bill. I think in the end, of course, I can't imagine that there will be a huge amount of debate on whether or not the bill as a whole should go forward. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be some good, intelligent debate around the particular clauses and I hope the Minister of Justice will entertain amendments, if they are required, in order to make the bill just simply a better bill. Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Richmond.
MR. MICHEL SAMSON: Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise tonight and speak on Bill No. 29. I am certainly pleased to see that the government is bringing forward this bill that was initially introduced in April 2001. As you will probably recall, when the bill was first introduced, I, on behalf of our caucus, raised concerns about the fact that the bill was brought in with significant changes to it from what had been put forward by the Election Commission to start off with.
Mr. Speaker, if there is one thing that Nova Scotians hold very dear it is the idea that elections are held and that they are held as impartially as possible and as much as possible that is seen to be independent and completely disassociated from the government in office at the time. By bringing in changes, as the government of the day, that were not first vetted by the Election Commission, you are exposing yourself to the fact that Nova Scotians are going to say, look, this bill and these changes are in some way tainted. Now, maybe that is not a fair assessment. Maybe the government has the best of intentions to start off with here and is looking to make sure that these are the best possible changes to the Elections Act to begin with. That may be the case.
If that was so, Mr. Speaker, the proper thing to do would have been to go to the Election Commission, present these changes to them, debate as to why they felt these were the best possible changes and why this would make a better Act, then bring in the bill saying this is being brought in with the full endorsement of the Election Commission. Maybe they could have done that. Maybe all of these changes here that were not initially approved by the Election Commission would have gotten that. We will never know, I guess, because the minister never bothered to avail himself of that opportunity. Instead, he stands today in the House. He didn't give an explanation at the time when the bill was introduced, but today he tells us there just wasn't time to do it.
Well, Mr. Speaker, I have to question that, in all honesty. They introduced this bill in April and we are standing here on November 5th debating the bill. So I am not sure what his rush was to bring it in in April because, obviously, they didn't appear to be in a rush to pass the bill. So his argument kind of doesn't wash very much today in saying he didn't have time to bring it back to the Election Commission. Again, the unfortunate thing is that as elected officials here, we face cynicism in the political process every single day since our election and it is unfortunate that the minister didn't take the time to do his best to address that cynicism by making sure these changes are viewed in a positive light and not in any way being viewed with suspicion. So it is unfortunate the minister didn't do that and, once again, we are left with questioning some of the changes made here by the government in this.
Mr. Speaker, as you are probably well aware, in fact, you sat here in the House at the same time back in 1998 when a similar bill was introduced at the time. Unfortunately, due to the composition of the House at the time, the bill didn't come forward for debate but this, in many ways, is similar to the bill but there are marked changes from what was initially brought in.
[8:15 p.m.]
Mr. Speaker, without a doubt, as I said when the bill was first introduced, the concept of mail-in ballots is one which I believe has been adopted by Nova Scotians through the federal system and is one that has been viewed, generally, in a very favourable light. I can
certainly say that on behalf of the doctors, the overworked doctors of Richmond County, the medical staff and all those in the health profession, I am sure I speak on their behalf in saying how ecstatic they are at the idea that proxy votes will no longer be used, and that the days of pounding on the doctors' doors during election campaigns to get them to sign proxy forms, hopefully, are finally over. I can certainly tell you, coming from a rural riding where physician shortages are a common occurrence, that asking our overworked doctors to sign proxy forms during elections wasn't a pleasant task and I know they certainly had great concerns about that.
Mr. Speaker, clearly the mail-in ballots will address that and avoid that cumbersome duty in allowing disabled people the right to vote. Mail-in ballots will also address the fact that our society of today is one where our constituents, on any given day, can be anywhere in this province, anywhere in this country and in many cases overseas carrying out business, leisure and other activities. In many ways mail-in ballots will address the concerns of those we like to refer to as snowbirds, which are Canadians who routinely visit the United States and other destinations on a yearly basis. I certainly know, in my experience in my two campaigns, that many of my constituents were denied the ability to vote because of the fact that they happened to be on vacation or otherwise away from their riding at the time of the campaign and at the time of the voting. That will address that concern.
The increased hours for advance polls is, once again, a positive change. One of our prime goals here as elected officials is trying to make sure . . .
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. There is too much noise in the Chamber. It is very difficult to hear the speaker.
The honourable member for Richmond has the floor.
MR. SAMSON: Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, the increased hours and the advance polls, one of our primary goals as elected officials is to try to make sure there is maximum participation in the democratic process. As much as we can do to accommodate the lives and the responsibilities of our constituents in allowing them to exercise the right to vote is certainly a positive thing.
Again, special polls being held for longer periods of time are, once again, very important for accessibility. Mobile ballots in long-term facilities, once again, we certainly want to make sure that as many of our residents, whether they be in long-term facilities for whatever reason, be given every opportunity to cast their ballots and cast their ballots on their own, should they choose to do so.
Mr. Speaker, as has been pointed out, the changes being made that will allow candidates access to apartment buildings, as has been said by previous speakers, are extremely important. I can imagine how difficult it is for candidates. I remember when I was in university, I had the opportunity to work as an enumerator one election. In fact, one superintendent didn't even want to allow us in the building to do enumeration, let alone political campaigning. This is a very serious concern, and it is a pleasure to see that this change is being made. One of the other indications was that those people in apartments and other housing will now be able to display election signs and not be forced to take them down.
I know that my colleague, the member for Cape Breton Nova, who I think was going to be addressing some of the concerns here, questioned whether this would apply to public housing. I know in my campaign I was extremely surprised to see that one of my constituents, who had been in public housing, the same unit, for a significant number of years, when they put up a lawn sign was told by the representative from the Housing Commission that they were to remove it and that they were not permitted to put up any sort of election sign.
This may have been an isolated incident and it may not be a blanket policy throughout the province, but hopefully this will address that. If there needs to be stronger language in the bill to deal with public housing, I certainly hope the minister will be open to having that put in the bill. There is no doubt, certainly we do not want to discriminate against any Nova Scotian, regardless of what situation they might find themselves in for accommodations, in saying whether they can display their particular preference in the political candidates.
Mr. Speaker, the changing of the length of the election from 36 days to 30 days certainly brings us more in line with what's going on in other provinces. I can't say for certainty and the minister may correct me on this, but I'm not actually quite positive whether this was a change recommended by the Election Commission or not to go to the 30 day limit and I certainly hope that the minister will clarify that to see if that was the case or not. As you know, going to a shorter election campaign without a doubt favours the Party in government because it is that Party that gets to decide when there is going to be a campaign. It is that Party, that's the one Party that gets to prepare, get their candidates in order and everything else required to run an efficient campaign long before any of the other Parties. So there is an advantage here. Let's be realistic about it. A shorter campaign is without a doubt a benefit to the government of the day and that's why I'm curious to know whether this was a recommendation from the Election Commission or if it is one of those that the minister happened to slip into this bill without going back to them.
Mr. Speaker, the bill does a bit of housekeeping in that British subjects will no longer be given an automatic right to vote here in Nova Scotia and there are certainly provisions there giving them ample opportunity to become Canadian citizens and have their right to vote here in this province. The appointment process for the DROs and the poll clerks, as you
know, has been a process which from each riding that you go to appears to have been a different process and depending on the returning officer, there appeared to be a different rule that was followed traditionally. I know in my own riding the Party that places first gets to appoint the DROs. The Party that places second gets to appoint the poll clerks and they split the enumeration responsibilities. In other ridings I know that the Party in power at the time, is the Party that gets to choose regardless of whether the sitting member, or the last elected member, was a member of that Party or not. So clearly this establishes clear parameters that will be used from one end of this province to the next and certainly it is important that we have that in there.
Mr. Speaker, those are some of the positive changes that we agree are in the bill. There are some areas which do cause us some concern. The move to a permanent voters list, my understanding is that was not recommended by the Election Commission and was put in by the minister as one of these small little changes that he wanted to make to the bill.
Mr. Speaker, as you're probably aware, being a member from rural Nova Scotia, Canada Post over the last few years has made significant changes to the address system here in this province. In almost every riding, I think it is safe to say, postal codes have changed and they have changed drastically and the fact that one small community which may have had one single postal code may now have two or three, this has caused some confusion for our constituents to start off with, with their new mailing address and the new mailing system. Certainly one would hope that the government is going to take this into consideration if they move to the permanent voters list and the question really is, if they're using the permanent voters list, whose list are they relying upon? Is it the federal list? Is it the municipal list? Is it the school board list? Which list will they be using and will that be a list that is recent enough to reflect the changes that have been made?
I think in some instances, Mr. Speaker, it has been recommended that we may want to even hold off on using the permanent voters list because of the significant changes that have taken place in the mailing system here in this province. That is a significant concern and I know that many people say, well, it is only in rural parts, but I can tell you the Town of Port Hawkesbury which is a vibrant town, and I am sure the member for Guysborough-Port Hawkesbury is aware, their entire address system and postal code system has been completely revamped with new numbers that are nowhere near what was there before. So there certainly needs to be a period to make sure that this is properly reflected in the voters list if we are going to agree to go with a permanent voters list.
Mr. Speaker, one of the other concerns that was brought up to us, and I look forward to seeing the minister's comments on this, is the decision to allow the Chief Electoral Officer and the returning officers to vote. I know that concerns have been raised and the point has been made that for many of them, they do not want the right to vote.
Now one could ask, why would someone not want the right to vote? Well, we all know that those who act in those positions are there in an impartial, unbiased role, to ensure that there is no favouritism for any of the candidates that are there. In theory, that is the goal. Maybe that is not always what happens, but certainly, in theory, that is the goal. Many of them have indicated that they do want the right to vote because once they are given the right to vote, it somehow takes away from that position of impartiality, of neutrality, of being the unbiased umpire in the election campaign. I am curious whether the minister has had discussions with the Chief Electoral Officer to see if this was something that they wanted done and if this was something that they were pushing for. Again, I am not saying this to be facetious, I am hoping the minister will seriously respond to these concerns and if I have said something wrong, I hope he will correct that for our own knowledge.
I should point out it was raised, Mr. Speaker, that the provinces of New Brunswick and P.E.I., still do not allow the returning officers to vote. I know that the minister has said many of these changes bring us in line with the federal government and with many other provinces, but in those provinces, they still do not allow the right to vote. So, again, the question is, what consultation took place here and who is making these recommendations to allow them to have the right to vote?
Mr. Speaker, one of the more troubling aspects of Bill No. 29, again going to the theme of the government not going to the Election Commission before bringing in this bill with the changes is that the appointment of returning officers shall be made by Cabinet. Therefore, it is Tory Cabinet Ministers who will determine, in a secret room, who are to be returning officers around this province. Now, not only is it saying that any new openings that come up that this will be the process, they have gone one step further in saying that all existing returning officers shall cease to be returning officers and that all the positions will have to be appointed from Cabinet. So, technically, the returning officer for a riding who exists there today may not be reappointed by the government before the next election. So they start off with a clean slate. They are going to wipe it clean and then decide who they want to appoint as returning officers.
Mr. Speaker, this clearly was not recommended by the Election Commission. This is one of those aspects of this bill which is going to raise cynicism in the people of Nova Scotia. If the minister is bringing in these changes saying, we want to reflect the realities of today, how can he expect Nova Scotians to say we believe the returning officers are going to be neutral, that they are going to be unbiased umpires in the election when they are being appointed by the Tory Cabinet? Now, one could ask, what is a better way of doing it? Well, in fact, this government was given the option of a better way.
The Election Commission recommended that the Chief Electoral Officer make the recommendations to Cabinet. Now the government has chosen not to go down that route. So, once again, I would hope that the minister will stand in his place and explain to us why he
feels that the Chief Electoral Officer should not be the one recommending who the returning officers should be; that the Tory Cabinet is in a better position to be able to do so and yet still leave the appearance and the belief that they are being appointed, not for political reasons, but based on their capabilities, their qualifications and the idea that they will be neutral umpires in election campaigns. So I look forward to hearing the minister's comments on that to explain why that decision was made.
Mr. Speaker, one of the other concerns I want to raise, and I certainly don't intend to speak at length on this, but one of the other concerns, as was raised earlier, is the new definition of ordinarily resident, which is a determination of where you should be able to vote come election day. As a university student myself, having been there not that long ago - and I know many of the members in the government were in the same position - you were almost given two options. You could either vote back in your home riding or you could vote where you were attending university.
[8:30 p.m.]
Certainly there are concerns about people being on two different voting lists, although one knows that one can only vote once. The concern here, Mr. Speaker, is that if students are going to fall under that and you are going to say, yes, you are at Dalhousie University but you live in Cape Breton, that is where your parents are, it is your permanent residence, so you have to vote in that riding. One could argue that the protection is that they can use the mail-in ballot.
Mr. Speaker, if there is one thing we are trying to do, it is to encourage our young people to become active participants in the electoral system. Put them in the ballot room. Put them there with the ballot and let them participate in the election system directly rather than telling them you have got to use the mail-in vote and you have got to go back to your home riding to vote. It is not practical to expect that from university students.
I think it is important that we allow our young people - we send a clear message that we want them to participate actively in the election process, in the political process and that we allow them to vote where they are and where they choose to vote, whether it be their home riding or whether they choose to vote in their district. That is one of the concerns I hope the government is willing to re-examine and to have a look at. The last thing we want to do here is turn off voters and push them away from participating in the system.
Mr. Speaker, one of the last concerns, again, I raised to the Minister of Justice for his own input to see why this was done. I know he has indicated that the decision to allow judges and provincial inmates to vote was based on a court case. My recollection is that court case dealt with inmates, not judges. I am just curious whether the minister can clear that up, whether the court case actually dealt with judges' ability to vote and if it did not, his decision
to allow judges to vote - was that something that came from Judicial Council? Was it a recommendation from them or is this a decision that was made by the government on that?
Again, Mr. Speaker, those are some of the concerns that I have. I am hoping that the minister will be able to clear them up. I know his very competent staff is sending down notes at a furious pace as I am raising these concerns and I appreciate that because, at the end, rather than go on at length on assumptions, I hope that the minister will stand in his place and address the concerns that have been raised so that we can go forward to the Law Amendments process, hear from Nova Scotians and then come back to debate the bill. I am certainly hoping that the minister will continue his practice of being open to amendments, positive amendments, that will be brought forward possibly on this legislation.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I know that some of my colleagues in our caucus wish to make some representations on this bill and I look forward to their comments and look forward to the Law Amendments Committee process on this bill. Thank you.
MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage.
MR. KEVIN DEVEAUX: Mr. Speaker, I want to take a few minutes as our critic on the Election Act, Bill No. 29, to make a few comments on the record on the principles of the bill. I guess I want to particularly talk about the big picture because sometimes in the Legislature we have a tendency to take a look at legislation and look at the fine print, look at the detail and say, is this legislation going to work? Is it going to be effective?
That is an important role for us to play, but I think we are also elected to talk about the bigger issue, the global issue or the holistic approach to legislation. In this particular case I think the Election Act is one of the most important pieces of legislation that can be passed in this Legislature. Why? Because it is the heart and soul of how our democracy works - how it operates and in it - some would say the devil is in the details - there are details that tell us exactly how our votes count, literally how they are counted, but also how the process works so that we do get to the point of voting.
Whether it is the length of the campaign, whether it is the rules around where someone can canvass or campaign - things that we are all familiar with as members of this Legislature, as members of political parties, but most people in the province, they don't really pay much attention to the details. But it is our job as legislators, in voting for legislation, to know exactly what these details. Quite frankly the Election Act is the means by which people determine whether they even want to vote. I think we all take it for granted and I think that is one of the problems. We all, as active political, in some cases junkies, in some cases professionals, take voting as a natural thing, a thing that we will always do.
What we must remember, and I am going to talk about a couple of statistics here, is that to a large percentage of the population in Nova Scotia voting is what they decide not to do. I want to hearken back to a few statistics that I was able to pick up from the Legislative Library, and I will table this, it is the preface page to the 1999 Elections Returns book. In the fourth paragraph of the preface, she talked about the fact that 638,655 electors - which I guess is the legal term for voters - were registered to vote and 435,062 voters actually voted.
The percentage of electors who voted was 68.81 per cent in 1999. Now 1998, 15 months earlier, it was 69.47, so it was a slight drop, but there is a trend. In 1993, 75.39 per cent. I guess they were eager to get rid of the Tories that year, that must have been the reason that everyone ran to the polls. It was 75.76 per cent in 1998. There is a bit of an anomaly. I was just talking to some of my colleagues, in 1984 it was 67.52 per cent. In 1984, it would have been a November election. We were talking about that. My colleague, the member for Halifax Needham, probably remembers it quite well. Were you running that day?
MS. MAUREEN MACDONALD: Edmund Morris.
MR. DEVEAUX: Edmund Morris, that's right. It was 67.52 per cent in 1984 which is quite low; it is actually the lowest in recent history. That is a question that I ask. I am curious why in particular in that election the percentage was so low. It was a November election.
AN HON. MEMBER: Was Mulroney in power?
MR. DEVEAUX: It was 74.1 per cent in 1981 and 78.23 per cent in 1978. Actually a colleague of mine just said it was Mulroney in power. I think that we had just held the federal election, it was just before. That is probable why the percentage of vote was so low. People were sort of "politicked out". That may have been a year of a municipal election as well, I can't remember.
So there is a general trend, in 1978 it was 78 per cent and by 1999 we were down to 68 per cent, which is a 10 per cent drop. Clearly a lot of people in this province are deciding not to vote as an option, which means we have a democracy, a democratic system in our province in which a larger percentage of the people are deciding - and in this case its 32 per cent - not to vote at all.
Well, that is what disturbs me, and if we have an Elections Act it is a golden opportunity for the people of this province to have a debate about how voting can be something that is important for them again, how voting is something that they see is an important and integral part of their rights, of their responsibilities, and of how we can build better governments and from that better people and a better province.
On the flip side we have more and more people deciding not to vote and I suggest that there is nothing in this bill that is going to change that. Yes, the nuts and bolts of this legislation, which I will talk a bit about later, are there. Some of it good, some of it I may have concerns with, my Party may have concerns with, but if the devil is in the details in the ability for us to have a democracy that is effective, that is participatory, and that will ensure that Nova Scotians feel that when they go to the polls they are doing something that is changing their lives, the lives of their children, the lives of their parents and the lives of their neighbours, this Elections Act won't do that.
This Elections Act will not encourage people to say they are an active participant in the political process and they want to go out and vote so that they can have their say. That is something that quite frankly this Elections Act does nothing to address.
This isn't just Nova Scotia, this is something that is happening across North America. Fewer and fewer people are deciding to vote. The United States is legendary for it. I think the numbers in the recent last 20 years are even under 50 per cent. Half the people in the United States decide not to vote. We always sort of scoffed at it in Canada and said, ah, that is the States, their system is a two-party system, their system is so complicated, the ballots are so long, that is why they are not voting down there.
Now we are starting to see numbers in Canada. I think the last federal election was in the low 60s as a percentage of the vote. We are now seeing in Canada similar numbers. This isn't something that we can say is because of the American system. It isn't something that we can blame on politics south of the border and how they elect their people and the fact that they elect anything from the dog catcher to the President of the United States.
We have a very different system here, but we still have the same problem. So clearly, democracy in Nova Scotia and democracy in Canada is being attacked through apathy and this Elections Act will do nothing to fix that. Bill No. 29 will do nothing to address that, which is part of a bigger problem, for an aside with government. This government is quite happy to tout that it is introducing a new Elections Act or new district health authorities or this week they are going to attack the school boards. But these are all symptoms of bigger problems, symptoms of a democracy that isn't working for the people of this province, symptoms of a health care system that isn't working for the people of this province, symptoms of an education system that is not working for the people of this province.
That's the problem, Mr. Speaker. We have the opportunity in this Legislature to talk about how we can reinvigorate democracy, how we can make democracy a better and more participatory process for Nova Scotians. And yet instead we have a government that introduces legislation that only fine-tunes an Act that clearly has resulted in people not being interested in voting, in larger and larger numbers every year.
I would encourage on behalf of myself and my caucus to tell this government and tell the commission that it is supposed to consult with, one that the minister decides when and if he will consult with them. Why aren't we using that commission as an opportunity to debate democracy in this province, debate how we can have a better electoral system?
Mr. Speaker, let's be clear, when we talk about the details of this legislation, of course our caucus is willing to support it on second reading in principle. But this is an opportunity when we are talking about the principles of the legislation, Mr. Speaker, to also talk about missed opportunities that this government did not do what it could have done to improve democracy and improve people's feeling and confidence that politics is an effective way to change their lives and change the lives of their community members. That is what this legislation should be about. Instead, we have legislation that only talks about nuts and bolts and details of improving slightly the system we now have in place.
You know, I always remember from my days in undergrad, Mr. Speaker, I took one political science course, it was a Professor Landes at Saint Mary's, I think he was on the commission of boundary review last time, may have even been Chairman, but anyway, Mr. Speaker, he always talked about Canada as a quasi-democracy. He says a quasi-democracy because in Canada we vote once every four years and that's it, we hand it over to the majority government which in any case is now, even more than it was in the early 1980's.
Back then we used to have, I think there was a trend of about 20 years where every other government was a minority government so Canadians could feel that they were part of at least some accountability. Every few years they would rap the knuckles of a government and rein in their arrogance and say, we are going to have a minority government this year. Well that doesn't even happen anymore, we have had, let's see, since 1980, 1984, 1988, we got like five or six straight majority governments. We no longer have minority governments federally. At least we haven't for 21 years or 22 years.
Mr. Speaker, the problem is that we vote once every four years and therefore we hand it over to a majority government to do what they want. That's a quasi-democracy. Very little opportunity for the people of Nova Scotia or Canada through our first-past-the-post system to be able to . . .
MR. SPEAKER: Order please. There is too much noise and I ask the members to take their conversations outside please.
The honourable member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage has the floor.
MR. DEVEAUX: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My point is that in this quasi-democracy that we have in Canada, in the first-past-the-post system Nova Scotians and Canadians vote once every four years for a government. If it's a majority, that's it. They can scream, they can
holler, they can jump up and down, as we see from time to time outside this Legislature, whether it be Bill No. 68 or the education cuts, and this government just ignores them. The accountability, the ability for people to feel that that vote counts and that they are not basically voting and then being ignored is a real problem and it's a problem that has resulted in more and more people deciding not to vote at all as an option. Voter apathy is a major problem because when they vote like they did in 1999 and then see what this government is doing, they are beginning to realize that maybe my vote is worthless. Why do I even bother voting? Whether it was the promise to fix the health care system - I can assure you there are many people who would say if they voted for the Tories to fix the health care system, they're let down. Mr. Speaker, if they voted because the Tories promised them to rejuvenate the education system, they would now believe that was a wasted vote. If they voted for the Tories in 1999 because the Tories promised to balance the books, we can now assure them based on the comments of the Premier, that was a wasted vote.
[8:45 p.m.]
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. There's too much noise in the chamber. I would also like to remind the honourable member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage to be speaking to the principles of Bill No. 29, not the history lesson and back over a number of years of electoral decisions and whatnot. I would ask you to bring your comments back to Bill No. 29 please. The honourable member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage has the floor.
MR. DEVEAUX: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it's important though to relate to the fact that this legislation is a missed opportunity. It's an opportunity for us to be able to talk about how democracy can work in Nova Scotia and these are just examples that I was providing as to why it hasn't worked in the past and why we need - this is the principle of the bill quite frankly and this is why I am taking the time to talk about it.
Bill No. 29 is an opportunity to talk about how we can instill confidence in voters, to get rid of that voter apathy and begin to talk about how people's votes can count. Yes, this is the nuts and bolts, this is how we run elections, but through it we have an opportunity to rejuvenate people's belieft in democracy, belief in politicians and belief in politics. I would hope that those are opportunities that we would take and not ignore, but in Bill No. 29, this government seems to have taken the opportuntiy to ignore those. It has not even asked the electoral commission I don't believe, to look at some of these things.
I want to talk a bit about some of the details. Some of the good ones and some of the bad ones. On the good side, this legislation does talk about canvassing in apartments - something that I know our Party has for a long time wanted to see; and condominiums and public housing. All these places are important to be able to have access of all political Parties so that they can canvass. This legislation would allow that - again, a good nuts and bolts
change that will ensure that the system we have in place will be improved, but not a change that will necessarily increase or decrease voter apathy.
Access to polls. Clearly, this legislation now ensures that the polls must be on a level ground, access from the street - those are good things. However, here was an opportunity to talk about hearing impaired and closed-captioning on television - something that I know a member from my constituency and many others have raised, yet not something that's in the legislation.
Another good component of this, I call it the O'Malley clause, this is the clause where people are not able to go into nursing homes and come in with 10 or 20 or 30 people and be able to go behind the polling booth and help them check their ballot. So, I can assure you that that's a clause that our Party's very happy to see because it's pretty clear that some in the past have used it in a way that now we have clarity as to who can vote and those particularly who are in nursing homes will still be able to vote but it doesn't mean there's going to be people coming in and "helping" them with their vote.
One of the other components of this is that you're not allowed to have two agents - our Leader talked about that - per poll, which is - many of the others may not know this, but in our Party, if you're a runner, as we call them, people who go into the polls to collect the tally sheets. They come in and usually you have a DRO who's at the front of the polling station if you have more than four polls in the polling station and they will tell you that you're not allowed in, that there is only one agent per poll and we would argue that's not our interpretation. We talked to the returning officer and now it's clear. Now there's an opportunity for two agents to be there again; a good clause, good fine-tuning of the legislation.
There was another clause in there which I thought was interesting - not going clause by clause but, again, on the principle. That clause gets rid of the ability of people - if someone isn't at the door when they enumerate, I think they have to go back once or twice. It used to be a tradition amongst some enumerators to just go out and re-copy the voters list from the last election, or, to say, well I know Joe and I know Mary, so I am going to fill in their names. Of course, that can lead to a lot of problems with the voters list, people left off, people who maybe aren't always of the same political persuasion, God forbid, but that could happen. Now the legislation will ensure that you are not allowed to use alternative information if the people aren't at the door. I think that is important, because it used to be that some enumerators, particularly when they are paid per voter, would find ways to ensure that the information was put on, even if the person wasn't at the door. That is not always the best way to ensure democracy.
The write-in ballot process, that is something that has been done federally. I think it is a good change, something our caucus will support. A couple of concerns, and I raise the questions again for the staff who are here, maybe they can help alleviate some concerns. What I would consider things that I am concerned about, the fact that the rules for a by-election if all three Parties agree . . .
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. Would the honourable members mind taking their seats, please. Thank you.
The honourable member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage has the floor. (Interruptions)
MR. DEVEAUX: Mr. Speaker, one of the issues that is really quite negative, potentially, is that any recognized political Party, in this case it is three, can agree to ignore the rules of the election with regard to a by-election. That could be as simple as shortening the time or lengthening the time for a by-election. I wouldn't have a problem with that, but I can see how these rules can be used against political Parties. It wasn't that long ago, at times our Party maybe didn't have official political status, we wouldn't be one of those Parties to the Elections Act that would have the right to unanimously decide to go against the rules of an election during a by-election.
I would assure you that that is something that maybe we need to be looking at carefully. Putting in place some sort of constraints to ensure that certain fundamental rights that are part of the Elections Act are not abrogated. According to what I have read in the legislation, if all Parties agree, they can abrogate those rules for a by-election, and I have a concern with that.
The other members, the member for Richmond, our Leader of the Opposition, talked about returning officer appointments. That is an absolute concern of ours. I am not sure if that one went through, I don't know which sections the minister decided to consult the commission on and which ones he didn't. Maybe when he gets back up at the end of second reading he can tell us. I don't know if the returning officer appointment process, Cabinet appointing them, term limits for these returning officers, if this is something that the commission agreed to or if this is something that the minister decided to slip in the back door, but it is one that we have a concern with. Obviously this is an opportunity for the Tories to get their people in place as returning officers.
A personal concern, and I will make that for the record, I personally believe that the DROs, the deputy returning officers, and the poll clerks should be independent. I don't think the names should be provided by the Parties. I think they are in very important positions, they are the ones on the front line, and if there is a way in which we could do that, I am not saying
that is something that particularly should be changed, but it is something that I think should have been looked into and something that maybe should have been discussed.
Finally, and I know the member for Richmond raised this, the issue of students in dorms and where they vote. I was saying to the minister while the member for Richmond was talking, that this obviously could help some members of this House who have a lot of university students in their ridings. If those students have a tendency not to vote for those members, then this clause could ensure that they are going to have to vote in their home riding and not in the riding in which they are residing in their dormitory. That may have benefits for some Parties, it may not for others, but I would suggest the system we have now seems to be working.
If the people believe that there are students voting twice, then that is something that is new to me. I would hope that maybe that information could be provided, so that we could have some understanding. Assuming the system, as we have it now, where the student chooses where they want to vote, whether it be in their dorm residence or whether it be in their home where they reside during the summer, I would suggest to you that that system isn't broke, we don't have to fix it.
On those few points, both on the bigger picture of democracy and on the good and bad details of this legislation, I will take my seat. Our Party will be voting in favour of this at second reading. I would be happy to hear a lot of people come forward to the Law Amendments Committee with regard to both the bigger global issue of democratizing Nova Scotia and on the details of this legislation. I would hope that members would listen carefully to what people have to say at the Law Amendments Committee, and if amendments are to come forward, I hope there are some things that we can think about.
MR. MANNING MACDONALD: Mr. Speaker, on a point of privilege, during the remarks made by the member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage on Bill No. 29, the member made reference to the previous rules of this House regarding elections and the fact that a former member of this House used those rules or impugned that this member used those rules to his advantage and even named the name of that particular former member of this House.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that that former member's rights of this House have been misused and indeed all members of this House have had their privileges misused by that member tonight by impugning that any member of this House could use the previous Elections Act for their own purposes by making the kinds of statements that that member made. I would ask you to review Hansard in this particular matter and bring back a report to the House as to whether or not you think that former member of this House has had his privileges misused, or indeed that members of this House have.
MR. SPEAKER: I will certainly take the matter under advisement and report back to the House.
The honourable member for Cape Breton Nova.
MR. PAUL MACEWAN: Mr. Speaker, this is a very large bill. It encompasses 86 clauses and its intent is to reform, revise or otherwise change the system under which we run elections in this province. That is a very significant topic for all of us or, at least, I suggest, it ought to be. We have democracy here in Nova Scotia. I believe we do. I don't agree with the last speaker who suggested that we did not have democracy here, but it is only something that we were sort of groping towards. We have achieved it here. We have had it here for a long time. We have had it here, according to many, since the winning of responsible government, which took place well over 100 years ago. So I don't say that we don't have democracy today, I say rather that we do have democracy today and having achieved that, it must therefore be our duty to attempt to maintain that, and hopefully to try to improve it.
The question then is, does this bill do that? It is my honest opinion that it does not. This is a mark by many standards, on many points. I am told, for example, that the bill is not generated from the Election Commission. It does not have their endorsement. It is rather a composition by government alone. It is not a result of an all-Party consensus. My suggestion to you, Mr. Speaker, especially when we have three Parties in this House that all pledge themselves to believe in democracy, is that surely the way to get a bill of this type passed speedily and promptly would be by an all-Party consensus having been achieved not on the floor of the House, but rather by negotiations prior to the drafting of the bill in the first place.
If the Attorney General could have reported to the House this evening that this bill represented an all-Party consensus established by, and then he could outline the provisions under which that was achieved, then I would suggest, sir, that I would not be on my feet at this time. There probably would be no debate of the bill because it would represent a previously agreed all-Party consensus, which all three Parties were recommending for adoption and that would be that, but instead the government has chosen to do the whole thing itself. They have chosen to ignore the contribution or suggestion or interventions that the other two Parties here in the House might make. When you take that kind of a unilateral approach to governing on a matter of this type of sensitivity, you invite trouble, I suggest. You do.
Having said that by way of positive remarks, opening preliminaries, let me move forward to what this bill attempts to do. In these 86 clauses, it attempts to take something here and take something there and move something here and add something there and thus, overall, change the way in which we run elections in Nova Scotia. Now I realize that on second reading of a bill, debate has to be on the principle of the bill. It can't be on a clause by clause examination. The point is, to the principle of the bill here, is to completely redesign
the way in which we run elections in Nova Scotia. That is a big subject, Mr. Speaker. It is probably the biggest subject that we could deal with here in this House because it affects the very basis on which we operate. To take the Elections Act of Nova Scotia, which governs the running of all elections held in this province, including the one in which every member of this House got elected in the first place, and to go at that with some kind of sledgehammer, saying that 86 changes that this government alone in the solace of its Cabinet sessions held downstairs, or wherever they now hold them, behind a closed door, under an oath of secrecy, with the press having no knowledge of who said what or who took which side in those debates, came out with a unanimous verdict apparently saying this is a government bill so support it - I am sorry, but I'm not prepared to be co-opted by that kind of logic. I have to look at what they're actually proposing to do and the changes they propose, as I see them, don't seem to add up to an improvement. They seem to rather be a step in the wrong direction.
[9:00 p.m.]
Let me enumerate specifically some of these concerns. One section of this bill proposes to implement a permanent voters list. The only election that I have worked in that has a permanent voters list now was the last federal election campaign. That's the only one where one exists. How the federal authorities drew it up, I do not know. I was pleasantly surprised to find my own name on that list, but I know that many of my friends and neighbours were not on that list and they had to go through all kinds of rigamarole, red tape, ID, provision of verification of baptism certificates and everything else in order to get their names put on the voters list.
The result of that was that instead of more people coming out to vote, fewer people came out to vote. The will to vote was taken away by the provision of this so-called permanent voters list. I look at some of the experiences in the United States. I remember that during the civil rights campaign of the 1950's and 1960's, especially after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there were massive attempts to organize formal voter registration drives in various parts, especially of the Southern States, where devices like the poll tax and other things, such as the literacy test, so-called, that required people to provide a regurgitation of the U.S. constitution by memory, were used to keep people from having the right to vote and yet they had a permanent voters list.
Is that the kind of permanent voters list we want here? I suggest that the answer is no. I suggest that the kind of voters list that we have now is as good as you're going to get. It is provided by two enumerators representing two opposed political Parties going to every single doorstep, to every single home or apartment in their constituency, and asking the people, who live here, who is 19 years of age, or 18 years of age by election day, are they Canadian citizens, and then taking that information and putting it down and having a pre-prepared voters list that is hung up in stores that people can go and examine to see if their name is or
is not on the voters list, or if some other name is on the list that shouldn't be there. They have a provision by which they can report that. There are revising officers who can revise the voters list and make it as accurate as possible.
Now, wouldn't having a permanent voters list carved out in stone somewhere be a better alternative than the system we have now? Look at the changes that have taken place just in the last two years with postal codes and with civic addresses throughout our province. It would make most of the rural addresses on the existing federal permanent voters list irrelevant because the people have different addresses now. They haven't moved. They've simply been given, under our new 911 system, a new civic address. I know that in large parts of my riding before there was a community called New Victoria. There were no street addresses. It was just New Victoria and the postal code was B0A 1R0. Nowadays everyone in New Victoria has a postal code that begins with B1H and they have different postal codes depending on which street they live on and everybody has a street address. That wasn't there when the federal election was held. Therefore, all the people in New Victoria by this bill, if passed as it now is, will be wiped off the voters list. But that is just New Victoria and South Bar; that was Rural Route No. 1, Sydney, B1P 6G3. It has now got the postal code of B1N and then three more letters and numbers and everyone has a civic address which they did not have before. So all the people of South Bar are wiped off this permanent voters list should this bill pass in its present form.
MR. RUSSELL MACKINNON: Political chicanery.
MR. MACEWAN: I hear my good friend, the member for Cape Breton West. He has in his constituency the community of Marion Bridge, which is B0A 1P0. It had Rural Route No. 1and Rural Route No. 2 and all the people who live in that area were one or the other. Now they all have civic addresses. They have new addresses like Juniper Heights and they have postal codes that don't bear any reference to the old postal code of B0A 1P0. Therefore, all the people in Marion Bridge are wiped off the voters list by this bill as it is proposed by the Attorney General.
Do I need to go on, Mr. Speaker, all the way from Cape North down to Yarmouth? I think I have made the point. This bill is not representative of current reality in politics. The federal voters list is somehow going to have to be revised and redesigned, but that is a federal responsibility, it's not ours here. But if we know that a list is wrong why do we need to adopt it? We are adopting laws here that will apply to the running of our elections. If we know that a model that we want to copy is wrong and unfounded and unintelligible by present standards of addressing and postal codes, we can't afford to incorporate that into our elections process here. It doesn't make sense. It shows that this bill is not adequately thought out in the first place.
They said they had to introduce it quickly because of the shortage of time. Mr. Speaker, I didn't hear either of the two Opposition Parties on this side of the floor put any pressure on that government at all to come in with this amendment to the Elections Act. They were faced with no adverse publicity. There was no resolution presented by any Opposition member of this House saying you have to change the Elections Act now and based on these 85 points, none. There was no campaign whatsoever of that kind. It was something they decided in their dark dungeon to do to offset the negative publicity that they had encountered through the way in which they governed this province since they came to power. That is what it is. It is an attempt to change direction, to shift the emphasis, the idea of a good offence being a good defence. So this is part of their offence, to say why we have reformed the Elections Act and we reformed school superintendents and we reformed this, we have even reformed labour relations in Nova Scotia, if you will.
That is their line, but I don't buy it, Mr. Speaker. Forgive me, but I don't. There is nothing here in my view, well I shouldn't say there is nothing, there are some clauses that you can identify as being good. Any bill this big would have to have some clauses in it that you could support, but the overall basis of revising the Elections Act, why this sounds like something that would have been thought up by former Premier Gordon Harrington. I trust I am not going to get caught on a point of privilege for mentioning his name because that was a long time ago. Premier Gordon Harrington learned something about having a permanent voters list back in 1928.
AN HON. MEMBER: He was a Tory.
MR. MACEWAN: Well, I am not going to say what Party he was. He might have represented the Reform Party for all I know, Mr. Speaker, but he had a permanent voters bill and it got him in trouble and that is why he got defeated in the next election of 1933. Just a bit of trivia, perhaps, but the history of our province that is.
I am not going to get into further discourse right now about the permanent voters list because there are other amendments as well in this bill. One proposes to change the length of an election campaign from 36 days to 30 days. I know of a province that I am quite familiar with where the length of a provincial election campaign is 21 days, and that is the Province of Prince Edward Island and, yes, they do have a voters list there but it is not pirated from the federal voters list. It is a permanently kept provincial voters list. If you want to register when you turn 18, you go down to the office and you register.
But let me say this, I have never once in this House stood up, in all my many years of being here, and said adopt the Prince Edward Island system of holding elections here in Nova Scotia, because I think 21 days is too short. Why is it too short? Because of the organizational work that is required to organize a provincial election campaign. I am not talking about putting signs up. I get them up within 24 hours, Mr. Speaker. I can tell you that
in terms of setting up the infrastructure needed, the returning officers; the poll clerks; the enumerators, if you have them; the DROs; all the various officials; the doorkeepers and revising officers and so forth, if you only have 21 days to set all that stuff up, instead of 36 days, you don't have enough time to do it properly, in my view. I think providing a bit more time there, rather than less, is more expeditious.
Why are we suddenly compelled to change the length of our campaigns here by six days? The answer is because the Tories in their closed bunker decided that. That is it, take it or leave it. Well, I haven't heard any persuasive reasons for why. Maybe they have one. Maybe some of their backbenchers or other Cabinet Ministers will get up and explain because the Minister of Justice has the right to speak one more time when he closes debate, but all the rest of them over there seem to be quite talkative. They are talking to one another; I would like to hear them talking on this bill and explain why we have to do these things. (Interruptions)
Now, let me not dwell on that one any further. I hear somebody back there who wants to talk, I think it is (Interruptions)
The member for Preston, I hear. A most distinguished member of this House, Mr. Speaker. I would love to hear from him and I trust he will be the next speaker in the debate. (Interruptions)
Now, I don't know all about anything, Mr. Speaker. That is why I am still here. When you get to the point where you know it all, you shouldn't be here any longer. That is my view of it, anyway. The next amendment proposed in this would change the rules in the Elections Act for the running of a by-election, with a little bit of a proviso in there for protection of everybody's rights in that the three Party Leaders together could agree that we are not going to have voting on election day, we will just have the returning officer declare the winner by picking names out of a hat. Perhaps we are not going to go that far, but we are going to see that there is only one polling division established for the whole constituency, just one place for everybody to go to vote. If the three Party Leaders agree on that, it becomes the law.
There is no protection here of basic public rights. There are no basic standards. They are laid down as terms of reference. We are going into a process of electoral redistribution and I happen to be a member of the select committee that is dealing with that matter right now. One of its terms, one of its jobs is to lay down terms of reference for the carrying out of that exercise so that people who are appointed as commissioners can't just do anything they want but have some rules to play by.
This proposed amendment to the Elections Act doesn't establish any such rules; it doesn't lay down anything that you can do or that you can't do. You can just do whatever you want, it seems, if the three Party Leaders agree. Now, I have great faith in our three Party
Leaders here - well maybe not one of them over there - anyway, they might be the finest people in the world, but they can make mistakes. They can, and does the agreement of three people replace genuine popular government of the type that we have here in Nova Scotia under our present system of democracy?
I think it is a rather large power to give three Party Leaders, to make the law. It reminds me of the Act passed by the German Reichstag in March 1933 to enable one man to pass laws by his own intuition. I don't think that is the kind of government we want here in Nova Scotia. I don't. (Interruption)
AN HON. MEMBER: He says you're exaggerating.
MR. MACEWAN: If I exaggerate, Mr. Speaker, please forgive me, it goes with old age. In any case, I am just pointing out an historical allusion that strikes me. Actually, the 1933 Act did not allow one man to rule, it was the Cabinet, but the Cabinet never met, so one man had the final say. Let me get back here to Canada and to Nova Scotia quickly, before I get in trouble.
AN HON. MEMBER: Back to North America.
MR. MACEWAN: The appointment of returning officers. Now this again is a most sensitive decision to make and I think that the method proposed here is wrong. It gives total power to the Cabinet, just like that law of March 1933 passed by the Reichstag, all power to the Cabinet. (Interruptions) That is Bill No. 29. I am on Bill No. 29, Mr. Speaker, I never deviate from it. It strikes me as similar to another piece of legislation passed in another jurisdiction which I think most of us would think to be bad. I will say no more on that one.
[9:15 p.m.]
We have other members of our caucus who want to speak on this bill, too, so I don't want to hold the House up. (Interruptions) I would say that we have many subjects that we can raise because with so many different causes in the Committee of the Whole House on Bills, certainly there will be ample opportunity there to debate this bill clause by clause. We can do that, especially those clauses that are not worthy of support. I am not going to say much about the provision for British subjects. I have a few British subjects who vote in provincial elections and I have always appreciated their votes when they voted for me and, if they voted otherwise, that was their right. I didn't have any problem with that. I think that in my case anyway, the British subjects that I have are war brides and they are not that young any longer but they are still there and they want to vote in elections. Some of them find it rather inconvenient to go down and be naturalized as a Canadian citizen, but if they have to do it, they have to do it. This would not come into effect in the first election in any case, it would be the next one thereafter.
I am not sure that this is something for which there has been any great public clamour. The number of British subjects that I can think of in my riding is one. There may be others. That one lady was always very kind to me when I visited her home. I don't know what way she voted, perhaps she didn't, but I think she did.
I had also a number of citizens of Newfoundland but they became Canadians automatically when Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949. They were Newfoundlanders rather than British subjects - well, they were British subjects too, but that is another story and we won't get into that one, that is taking me astray, aside from the bill.
Let me add a few other pointers here before I take my seat. Mail-in ballots. My goodness, I thought there was some controversy down in Florida just about this time a year ago because of mail-in ballots. Is that the kind of thing we want here in Nova Scotia? I suggest not. I think that George W. Bush has certainly, by this point, established himself well as the President of the United States, but if Al Gore had of won those mail-in ballots, he would be the President now. That is quite a way to decide the future of your country.
I am reminded of what happened in Britain in 1945, Mr. Speaker. This is relevant to this bill, it is about electoral reform. They hadn't had an election in Britain for 10 years, since 1935 and when the war against Germany was won, the coalition that governed the country during the war broke apart and the House was dissolved and after 10 years they went into an election. That was in June. Now in July, the following month, they still didn't know who had won the election because of all the mail-in ballots and soldiers voting overseas and newly liberated prisoners of war who were now enfranchised and they had to be lined up and gotten down to vote and all this counting had to be done.
Churchill went to Potsdam to negotiate the future of Europe and of the world without knowing whether he was the Prime Minister of Great Britain or not. Halfway through the conference at Potsdam, Churchill found out that his Party had lost the election, the Labour Party had formed the government and the next day Clement Attlee was there in his place as the Prime Minister of Great Britain. That is what happens in a country when electoral reform and redesign and mail-in balloting is carried too far. You lose control of the process.
I think the people of Nova Scotia want an electoral system whereby they can learn on election night who has won, if it is at all possible; who has lost, riding by riding and province-wide and when you're getting dependent on all kinds of mail-in ballots and new accoutrements and new ways to make things more fouled up than ever, it doesn't work towards that end. I am not saying that the mail-in ballot is wrong, I know they use it in many provinces. They use it in Quebec. I know about experiences with it in Quebec. I will tell you, in the last provincial election in Quebec the Liberal Party won the greatest number of votes and yet it lost the election to the "Peqs" as Jean Charest calls them, the PQ. (Interruptions)
Somebody says that's all right, but I don't think it's alright for Canada at all. Anyway, that's what can happen when your electoral system is not efficient. (Interruption) Jean Charest was the former national Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, but he saw the light and he is now bringing this country more together than any recent Quebec statesman that I can think of. I had the opportunity to meet with him on Halloween night and I can tell you he certainly impressed me a very great deal, and I would not have been saying that 10 years ago I can assure you.
AN HON. MEMBER: Pick and choose. It demonstrates how quickly Tories and Liberals can change.
MR. MACEWAN: Well, these fellows took Hinrich Bitter-Suermann but I won't get into that.
Mr. Speaker, let me switch from the sublime to the ridiculous. (Laughter) One clause in this bill - and I am not debating it clause by clause, I am just talking about the principle - requires that all polling stations have to be wheelchair accessible. I am not against that, but I raise this question, what if such facilities do not exist?
In most rural communities, you want to hold the place where people vote at the best-known community hall, a church hall, a volunteer fire department, something of that type that is available. Some of those places have ramps and some of them, their applications for the grant to build a ramp came in too late and they didn't get the grant and so they didn't get the ramp. What do you do in such situations? Do you say to the people, because there is no wheelchair accessible ramp at the community fire hall or at the church hall in their community, you don't get the right to vote, or you have to drive 50 miles to the place where the ramp was built? Maybe they have to drive over Smokey to get to vote, or maybe they have to drive over Smokey and Kellys Mountain to get to vote under such a provision.
I know that I've worked very hard in my constituency to try to see that worthy community organizations were supported. One type of organization that we have supported very much in this type of thing has been church halls. We've put three polls into St. Philips African Orthodox Church in the basement, we have put seven polls into the Ukranian Parish Hall, we have put seven or eight polls into Holy Redeemer Parish Centre and about six or seven polls into St. Albans Anglican Church Hall, and just to even out the slate we have also put the rest of the polls into the Electricians' Hall on Bay Street to show our support for the trade union movement. So there you have them all covered.
But St. Philips African Orthodox Church does not have a ramp to get down to its basement, it has steps. Does this mean that the African Orthodox Parish is to be cut off from having a polling division or having a polling place because of this change of the law, and the people who live in that neighbourhood will have to go somewhere else where they have a
ramp? What if there aren't any ramps at all in Whitney Pier? I have heard so many bad things said about the Pier, I thought that the tar ponds were going to be in the very centre of it, although if you look at the map they are nowhere near it at all. What if there isn't, in a community, a ramp for this type of thing? That is the question I raise.
I think there has to be such words as "where available" inserted into that clause to make it concurrent with the actual reality that we face. We don't live in an ideal society. Heaven is up there, it's not here. We are not going to find everything perfect here. We are going to find the best we can find and work with that, do the best we can with it. I suggest that as an amendment if the honourable Minister of Justice really wants to address that particular problem.
Mr. Speaker, there are so many others that I could raise. I know our friends in the NDP, they say they are supporting this bill. I am surprised to hear that, because this bill does not include the principle, I thought they held sacred and dear, of proportional representation. When they get 11 per cent of the vote, they want to have 11 per cent of the seats in the House. That is not the way our system of democracy works. It is based on the British model, which I think is the best one in the world. Sir Winston Churchill said it was the worst system in the world, except anything found anywhere else.
That is what we work with. We make do the best we can with what we have, and we will try to see that this bill, if passed, is passed with significant amendments that take out the features of it that I think would open up abuses that could lead to the loss of the right to vote or that could lead to other malformations, if I may, of the voting system here in Nova Scotia.
Mr. Speaker, I am just starting to get warmed up, but I know we have so many here in our group who want to speak on the bill, I think I should take my seat now. There will be more opportunities, believe me, Mr. Speaker - if the government wants to press forward with this bill - to examine it again; at least one more time.
MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Hants East.
MR. JOHN MACDONELL: Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak to this bill for a few minutes. I want to say that the honourable member for Cape Breton Nova is a hard act to follow, but he is certainly, I think, driving to his old form that I remember previous to his absence.
I thought some comments by other members were appropriate. I think my colleague, the member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage, made some points. I don't necessarily think that I agree with all of what he said. I think that the point he made about the fact that this Elections Act doesn't address the apathy of voters in the province and I would have to say that I am not sure that the Elections Act could address that, Mr. Speaker.
I think that the thing that has really caused the problem in the decreasing numbers of voters that show up on election day has been the previous governments that voters have come to vote. I think that it's the disillusion that voters feel with their governments that has really driven them away from the polls and I think that the Elections Act is not going to address that. Only government itself will address that, Mr. Speaker, and I don't see anything coming over the horizon in the near future that is really going to change the way Liberal and Tory Governments have treated Nova Scotians so that they would feel that Nova Scotia voters are really participants in the democracy of the province in which they live.
I want to make a comment, that the honourable member for Cape Breton Nova, I have always, I have to say, had a fair bit of respect for his ability to speak - and that may show my lack of experience in the House - but one thing that did surprise me was his comment around mail-in ballots because it is my understanding that that was a suggestion by the previous Liberal Government and one of his colleagues who introduced Bill No. 85 in 1998. So mail-in ballots, registering at polling stations, more days for advance polling and clearly stating that apartments and condominiums had to allow access, these were conditions that the previous Liberal Government, it appeared, had supported. So I am surprised that the honourable member for Cape Breton Nova railed to the degree that he did on mail-in ballots.
But with that said, Mr. Speaker, I think that goes to the comments of my colleague, the member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage, when he talked about the decrease in voter numbers because here we have a member who railed to a large extent at what this Tory Government has brought in with this piece of legislation but it is actually something that was supported by the previous Liberal Government.
I think it's that flip-flop that has really disillusioned Nova Scotia voters and I think that the more that Nova Scotia voters see of this then the less likely they are to come out and vote and the more they say that all Parties are the same. I would say that is regrettable because that means that a Party that has never formed a government in Nova Scotia is painted with the same brush as the Liberal and Tory Governments. So that still means that uphill slogging for all Parties and it is a question of does this bill make any substantive changes to elections in the Province of Nova Scotia, and probably it does not. It does make some recommendations that have been highlighted by others in the past and some of those have been presented in this bill, and that, I would say, would be a good thing.
The member for Cape Breton Nova did raise a point that I agree with and he raised a number that I agree with him. I think that his colleague, the member for Richmond maybe actually said it best, and that was around the fact that this bill has come forward without the Election Commission giving its approval. The member for Richmond stated that this bill came to the House in the spring, and yet the minister talked about the fact that he didn't have time for the Election Commission to review this bill and give its approval. I think it is hard for members of the House to respect the minister on that comment and, hopefully, Nova
Scotians will pick up on that because it is obvious that if there's one thing the minister had, it was time. So to try to sell this as though it is such a rush, that there couldn't have been more input, is not something that the Opposition is going to buy.
[9:30 p.m.]
Mr. Speaker, I think that maybe more than any other part of this bill, that is the thing that worries me. The fact that the government, although with the appearance of trying to deliver a bill in good faith to all members of the House and to all Nova Scotians, they really have missed the mark in trying to convince the Opposition. You have to ask yourself, what is the hidden agenda here, what is it that the government feels that they have to bring forward in an underhanded manner that members of the House couldn't have some consensus? As the member for Cape Breton Nova had said, the minister could have delivered a bill that all three Parties had previously agreed to, before it ever got to this House in the presentation in which it came.
So I would say that for the most part the bill tinkers at things that others have raised and I think anything that would be deemed to be positive, I'm not going to knock the government for, but I would have to say why not go further. I don't think that I expect to see anything in regard to proportional representation in the near future, but I appreciate the honourable member raising the point and the debate has to be, I think, just the same as this bill, for whose advantage is proportional representation? I would say that some of the changes in this bill, like going to 30 days, you have to ask, to whose advantage is that? The government will try to make the case that by having a shorter election term it will save Nova Scotia taxpapers' dollars, but I would say that this is probably designed to be a disadvantage to the Opposition.
Whichever way you write it the governments know when the next election will be. If they intend to call it prior to the end of their mandate, which is almost always the case, therefore they do have an edge that the other Parties don't have. I would say that for the government to change the number of days, it certainly works more to their advantage as they have the heads-up and the organization to try to get the jump on the members of the opposite Parties.
There are concerns with this piece of legislation. I think the definition of an ordinary resident is one. I think it has been amply dealt with by other members who have spoken this evening, that it may work out to be an advantage for some members and a disadvantage for others and I think that in a nutshell is the reason it's difficult to determine whether or not the changes in the bill are actually advantages to the electorate generally, or whether they're advantages to specific ridings that the government is trying to target to give their candidate an advantage. If it's a change that you cannot predict that works to be an advantage to all Nova Scotians, then I would say that likely it's a change that you don't need to have, Mr.
Speaker. When my colleague, the member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage, said if it ain't broke, don't fix it, I think that this applies and I think he is right. There hasn't been enough concern raised by anyone to indicate that this change is necessary and it certainly hasn't come recommended by all three caucuses, and I would say it's the government's way to try to get an edge for some of their candidates.
I would have to disagree with the member for Cape Breton Nova on accessibility. I think that it's a right for all Nova Scotians to vote and I would say that for them, if they're disabled, to be able to get to their polling station with a minimum of effort or to remove obstacles to their entry to the polling stations should be on the forefront for any government to see that its people can get to vote. If that means either building a ramp or installing an elevator or changing a location to do that, then if we can put a man or a woman on the moon, we can do something that would allow disabled people to get to their polling stations to vote.
Certainly I'm not sure if the electorate would agree that allowing candidates accessibility to apartment buildings is necessarily to their best advantage, but I would say that as far as candidates are concerned, I definitely would say that I think this is a good move on the part of the government in this bill. I think that the electorate should have access to the candidates. We know that - and I mean in a general way - you can go up to somebody's home who may not want to see you based on the particular Party that you represent, and that's their choice, that would be entirely appropriate, and to knock on somebody's door in an apartment building, if they don't wish to engage you then that's their choice. But to have candidates prevented from entering apartment buildings, to at least make that contact for those individuals inside who would like to be able to engage the candidate, I think that's only fair, and I think in a democratic society allow the candidates in.
The people in the apartments can determine whether or not they wish to engage you and they have that right to say no, but I think the landlord has no right to keep the candidate away from the tenant, and if they are people who are political, they like to engage politicians, then I think they should have every right to be able to do that.
One item that's not included in this bill, that I think actually was something that was included in the Liberal Bill No. 85, that I think would be appropriate would be limits on the terms of returning officers. I think that what this bill has done, has taken us back to the good old days when returning officers will be appointed based on the Party that they support. I think that in the year 2001, I would like to think we've grown away from that a little bit, and certainly putting a limit on the terms of the returning officer, I think, would be an appropriate thing to do, and I would say that a mechanism for appointments of returning officers and DROs, so that it's kind of taken out of the political process completely, that some non-partisan mechanism would be far more appropriate considering the role that these people have.
I would say that it's incumbent upon not just the government, but members of all Parties to try to ensure that the government would move in this direction. It's not only to the benefit of all Parties, but it's to the benefit of the electorate. It's to the benefit of the voter, and I would say that it's those small things that people become very aware of in their communities. For those people who pay attention at all to politics in their community, the place in which they live, those are big things that may seem small to us. I think it is those things that tend to turn people off the process. They see it as a way to exclude people in the community. If you don't belong to a certain group, if you don't belong to the Party in power, then you don't belong. You are not a participant in the process.
I would say that if this Elections Act is going to address the apathy that the electorate has, it is on those small things that will occur in communities that would tend to make the people in those communities aware that they can participate, that they have as much value as anybody else in the community, that they have value based on who they are, not what their politics are, and that they won't be excluded based on their politics. If the government was interested - and this maybe comes back to where I can agree with my colleague, the member for Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage, on how this Elections Act could really have an effect on the electorate, to make it more democratic, to draw people back on election day, it would be these items that would serve that purpose and allow Nova Scotians to feel that they actually can participate in the democracy of their province.
As my colleagues have said, we will be supporting this on second reading, certainly hoping that we can make some changes as this process continues, Mr. Speaker, in the hopes that this Elections Act will be a better Act, more appropriate for Nova Scotians, and actually make changes that Nova Scotians can feel will have a benefit for them. With that, I will relinquish the floor to the next speaker.
MR. SPEAKER: The honourable member for Cape Breton West.
MR. RUSSELL MACKINNON: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise and speak on Bill No. 29, essentially a bill to reform the Elections Act of Nova Scotia. I listened with interest to the comments that were made by the Minister of Justice in his opening remarks. He highlighted some of the good points of the legislation now before the House, but he seemed to have glossed over some of the more considered matters that would be of interest to various parts of the province that sometimes become overlooked, rural Nova Scotia. All we have to do to measure the principle and the intent of what Bill No. 29 attempts to accomplish is remind ourselves of what happened back in the provincial election of 1998 and again, to a lesser extent, in 1999, where there were considerable problems in the urban parts of the province, in particular in metro here, on the issue of enumerating, having various deputy returning officers and poll clerks tend to the functions that are required to ensure that an election campaign is run effectively and fairly for all the candidates on a particular ballot in whatever respective constituency would be in question.
[9:45 p.m.]
Now as we know, Mr. Speaker, there are essentially two economies in Nova Scotia: there is the metro economy or the urban economy and then there is the rural mainland and Island of Cape Breton economy. It is much the same in the political arena. I couldn't help but do some reminiscing through some of the history books in the library, as I watched the minister move rather expeditiously on the issue of boundary redistribution with the select committee and, indeed, with this particular piece of legislation before the House. It could only make me remember back through the annals of history, as I read under a previous administration, that being the Government of Premier Rhodes and eventually of Premier Harrington.
Under the Harrington Government two similar pieces of legislation were introduced. One was called an Act Respecting the Provincial Electoral Franchise, which essentially laid out all the terms of reference for what would qualify a person to be able to vote or not vote. Essentially what the government did at that particular juncture was to introduce a voters list. That was one of the facets of that particular piece of legislation. As we recall, subsequent to that being introduced, every time there was an election called, we would find that the electors list for a particular polling division would be posted in the local post office or the corner store or what have you, so all the citizens in that particular community or general area would have an opportunity to go, because they frequented these public places, to see if, in fact, their names were on the list.
The unique thing about what Premier Harrington did, which effectively cost him his election, was the rigidity of that electoral list. The fact that the government of the day, with the restrictions that were attached to this voters list, made it impossible for many people to qualify to be able to vote. This particular bill, by the way, was in 1931, and the following year, the year before the election, they brought in the redistribution bill, which changed electoral boundaries quite significantly. In fact, it reduced the total number of seats in the province from 40 down to 30. Between what many considered to be the gerrymandering of the boundaries and the rather irregular methodologies that were applied to provide these voters lists, without any hesitation, it cost the government of the day its electoral success. In fact, that government only lasted three years, and it was defeated soundly at the polls.
The only other time in history that I could find that the electoral districts were ever reduced were again under a Conservative Government, and that was just around the time of Confederation, when Premier Tupper was the Premier and the seats were reduced, quite significantly again, from 55 down to 38 seats. Lo and behold, between the way the government conducted its operations, not only prior to the election but most significantly in the conduct of the election and what many perceived to be the gerrymandering of the boundaries, again it cost the government their electoral success. Of course, that went back to the Liberal Government, which ruled for many years thereafter.
Mr. Speaker, the point I am trying to make is that sometimes it is not what the government says, it is what the government doesn't say in Bill No. 29. I am quite intrigued by this issue of mail-in ballots. I don't want to be repetitive to some of the points that were made by some previous speakers, some rather eloquently, but you can't help but think about what happened in Florida, on the issue of mail-in ballots. The election was declared for President and the mail-in ballots are still coming in. What type of an election is that, where you had to get the Supreme Court of the country to declare who was the President, and people are still sending in their ballots.
Now, Mr. Speaker, many would argue that the person who was declared winner by the Supreme Court wasn't, in fact, the real winner if you counted the mail-in ballots. So I don't know what type of restrictions or what type of terms of reference the Executive Council, indeed the Cabinet in simple language, is purporting to put before the people of Nova Scotia because, like any piece of legislation, they are going to require regulation. The fact that the government is now proposing that the Executive Council or the Cabinet will be able to see the fact that we won't have enumerators anymore and we won't have the need for the returning officers as we have them now, but they can appoint them at will.
In other words, Mr. Speaker, with all this redistribution, with the new Elections Act, what the Governor in Council, what the government can do, the government in power, being the Progressive Conservative Government, can effectively say, okay, we're going to go on the voters list on constituencies 1 to 25, because perhaps we're satisfied that enough people are on the voters list so as to preclude the need to commission an enumerator to go out and fill the vacuum that exists between the people who are not on the list that normally would be and those that perhaps may have just moved into the constituency, particularly if you're in somewhat of a transient community to deal with issues such as universities, or individuals who might be moving from one part of the province on a seasonal basis, or what have you.
Mr. Speaker, the government may very well look at the other 25 constituencies and say, hey, hey, there's a political advantage here. The polling shows that we're doing fairly well there, let's make sure we get more of those people enumerated and get them on the list. That way they're franchised. So there's lots of opportunity for some political mischief on behalf of the government and history shows quite clearly that that's the methodology that has been applied by previous Progressive Conservative Governments. So we have no reason to conclude that that wouldn't be the case here, knowing the way the Minister of Justice has conducted himself on a number of other pieces of legislation, particularly Bill No. 68, where he doesn't believe in an appeal process to anyone unless Cabinet decides to give them that authority. In other words, on Bill No. 68 there's no appeal process to a quasi-judicial body, to a court, to any type of tribunal because he and his Cabinet colleagues say there's no appeal process.
So if you apply that principle, that logic, Mr. Speaker, you know that something is not quite right when the Minister of Justice is championing the cause of this particular piece of legislation in such a rapid-speed format.
AN HON. MEMBER: Enough to make you suspicious, isn't it, Russ?
MR. MACKINNON: Well, the track record of the Progressive Conservative administrations in the past and certainly what we have witnessed to date - particularly since they know they're lagging in the polls, they're in third place in the polls, they don't seem to be addressing the issue of a balanced budget. They don't seem to be addressing the issue . . .
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. I think I've allowed the honourable member quite a bit of latitude in regard to the debate of a lot of history and he has taken us back over a number of years, but I will ask the honourable member to bring his comments back to Bill No. 29 which is before the House at this time, please.
The honourable member for Cape Breton West has the floor.
MR. MACKINNON: Yes, Mr. Speaker, it is all relevant, isn't it?
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. Yes, you're right. It is all very relevant and I would ask the member to bring his comments back to the issue of Bill No. 29, please.
MR. MACKINNON: Yes, Mr. Speaker, it is relevant because who is going to pay for the damages that are going to be caused by this government with all the gerrymandering and the chicanery that seems to appear after the fact when the government carries out such actions as what happened to Bill No. 68 and will happen with Bill No. 29 should they not be held accountable for the way they are rushing this through in such a covert fashion. They gloss right over it, Mr. Speaker, to make it look like, let's get modern, let's get up with everybody that is going into the 21st Century in other jurisdictions, whether it be federal, provincial, or what have you. But what they forgot to tell you is what the real methodology is all about. It is shifting the numbers to accommodate their political interest, and history will show that.
So, Mr. Speaker, that is why we are suspect. Yes, we will support this bill going on to second reading. Why wouldn't we? We want some more debate. We certainly don't want the Minister of Justice to sit there and bring in closure like he did on another piece of legislation. I don't think the people of Nova Scotia will allow for gag orders on something so fundamentally important to them, unlike the socialists who said that majority government is an imposition on democracy. Well, we agree with that. We don't agree with the conclusion in the last election obviously, but we respect the democratic process. We don't try to hijack the process until we get a majority government or some shred of cling to life to involve
ourselves in the process. As a responsible, loyal Opposition, we have an obligation to not only compliment the government on some of the good points of the legislation, but also to criticize the government for some of the weaknesses of Bill No. 29.
MR. SPEAKER: Order, please. Will the honourable member for Cape Breton West like to move adjournment of the debate, please?
MR. MACKINNON: Yes, Mr. Speaker. I am looking forward to returning on this issue.
MR. SPEAKER: The motion is to adjourn debate.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
The motion is carried.
The honourable Government House Leader.
MR. RONALD RUSSELL: Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now rise to meet again on the morrow at the hour of 12:00 noon until 6:00 p.m. The order of business following Question Period will be Public Bills for Second Reading. We will continue with Bill No. 29, Bill No. 71, Bill No. 72, Bill No. 73, Bill No. 74, and so on.
Mr. Speaker, I move the House do now rise.
MR. SPEAKER: The motion is for the House to rise.
Is it agreed?
It is agreed.
Would all those in favour of the motion please say Aye. Contrary minded, Nay.
The motion is carried.
[The House rose at 9:58 p.m.]
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Michael Fesseha of Halifax won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Fesseha has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Fesseha for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Brent Cooper of Halifax won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Cooper has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Cooper for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Brett Dickey of Halifax won the gold medal in kayaking K-4 1000 metres, as well as the silver medal in kayaking K-2 200 metres and kayaking K-2 6000 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Dickey has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Dickey for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Geoffrey Dunsworth of Halifax won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Dunsworth has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Dunsworth for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Kristen Lewis of Halifax won the silver medal in women's 10,000 metres as well as the bronze medal in women's 5,000 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Ms. Lewis has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. Lewis for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Lee Myrick of Halifax won the bronze medal in decathlon in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Myrick has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Myrick for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Christina Northcott of Halifax won the gold medal in kayaking K-2 1000 metres, kayaking K-2 500 metres and kayaking K-4 500 metres as well as the silver medal in kayaking K-2 6000 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Ms. Northcott has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. Northcott for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. David Parker of Halifax won the bronze medal in men's 50 metre freestyle in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Parker has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Parker for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Ryan Veinot of Halifax won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Veinot has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Veinot for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Matthew Britner of Halifax won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Britner has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Britner for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Andrew Childs of Halifax won the gold medal in men's sailing - single-handed laser in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Childs has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Childs for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. David Morse (Minister of Environment and Labour)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Christopher Davidson of Kings County won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Davidson has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Davidson for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. David Morse (Minister of Environment and Labour)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Bevan Haley of Wolfville won the silver medal in women's 800 metre freestyle in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Ms. Haley has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. Haley for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Stephen Hart of Halifax won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Hart has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Hart for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
RESOLUTION NO. 2081
By: Hon. Jane Purves (Minister of Education)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Mike Hunter of Halifax won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Hunter has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Hunter for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. James Muir (Minister of Health)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Jeff Chisholm of Truro won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Chisholm has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Chisholm for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. James Muir (Minister of Health)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Christopher Levine of Truro won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Levine has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Levine for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
RESOLUTION NO. 2084
By: Mr. Barry Barnet (Sackville-Beaver Bank)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Adam Lucas of Middle Sackville won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Lucas has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Lucas for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Barry Barnet (Sackville-Beaver Bank)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Eduardo Farias of Hammonds Plains won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Farias has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Farias for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Barry Barnet (Sackville-Beaver Bank)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Adam Doiron of Lower Sackville won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Doiron has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Doiron for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Barry Barnet (Sackville-Beaver Bank)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Simon Page of Hammonds Plains won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Page has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Page for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Barry Barnet (Sackville-Beaver Bank)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Nicholas Crowther of Hammonds Plains won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Crowther has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Crowther for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Ms. Maureen MacDonald (Halifax Needham)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas in the aftermath of the tragedy of September 11th, Canada has committed to action overseas more than 1,400 sailors on five naval ships; and
Whereas over 1,000 of these sailors serve on four vessels of the East Coast fleet based in Halifax; and
Whereas this action has placed a great responsibility upon those sent to serve and a great anxiety upon the families, friends and loved ones left behind;
Therefore be it resolved that this House wishes those serving overseas, and those about to serve, Godspeed and a quick return and pledges its support to their families, friends and loved ones in this time of crisis.
By: Ms. Maureen MacDonald (Halifax Needham)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas Nova Scotia's demoralized Public Service has for years served as a government whipping boy and endured cuts, freezes and rollbacks; and
Whereas the Hamm Government continues this shameful Tory/Liberal legacy of lousy labour relations by crying poor mouth, allowing their public servants to go without a new contract for two years and refusing to go to arbitration on the Civil Service Master Agreement; and
Whereas the tight-fisted Tories felt no such fiscal pangs, however, when they gave raises to their own senior officials;
Therefore be it resolved that this House call upon this government to show the respect due its public servants and let arbitration commence at once to come to a fair and reasonable settlement of the Civil Service Master Agreement.
By: Mr. Cecil Clarke (Cape Breton North)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Adam White of Sydney won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. White has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. White for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Cecil Clarke (Cape Breton North)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Jason Snow of Donkin won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Snow has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Snow for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Cecil Clarke (Cape Breton North)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Cory Christie of Sydney won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Christie has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Christie for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Ronald Chisholm (Guysborough-Port Hawkesbury)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Tyler MacKeen of Aspen won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. MacKeen has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. MacKeen for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Michael Baker (Minister of Justice)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Jonathan Crossland of Bridgewater won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Crossland has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Crossland for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Michael Baker (Minister of Justice)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Ryan Hanrahan of Lunenburg County won the gold medal in men's 4 x 100 meter relay in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Hanrahan has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Hanrahan for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Rodney MacDonald (Minister of Tourism and Culture)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Denise Baikie won the silver medal in kayaking K-2 6000 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Ms. Baikie has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. Baikie for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Rodney MacDonald (Minister of Tourism and Culture)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Brock Brooks won the gold medal in kayaking K-1 6000 metres and kayaking K-4 1000 metres, as well as the silver medal in kayaking K-2 200 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Brooks has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Brooks for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Rodney MacDonald (Minister of Tourism and Culture)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Matthew Grose of Wellington won the gold medal in kayaking K-2 1000 metres, kayaking K-2 500 metres and kayaking K-4 1000 metres, as well as the bronze medal in kayaking K-1 200 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Grose has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Grose for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Rodney MacDonald (Minister of Tourism and Culture)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Christopher MacRae won the gold medal in canoeing C-2 200 metres and canoeing C-4 1000 metres, as well as the silver medal in canoeing C-2 6000 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. MacRae has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. MacRae for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Rodney MacDonald (Minister of Tourism and Culture)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Drew Milne of Ingonish won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Milne has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Milne for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Rodney MacDonald (Minister of Tourism and Culture)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Scott Sheffler won the silver medal in canoeing C-2 6000 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Sheffler has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Sheffler for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Rodney MacDonald (Minister of Tourism and Culture)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Luke Williams won the gold medal in kayaking K-2 1000 metres and kayaking K-2 500 metres as well as the silver medal in kayaking K-2 6000 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Williams has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Williams for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Ronald Russell (Minister of Transportation and Public Works)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Graeme Bezanson of Hantsport won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Bezanson has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Bezanson for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Ryan Connor of Enfield won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Connor has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Connor for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Ronald Russell (Minister of Transportation and Public Works)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. David Lake of Enfield won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Lake has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Lake for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Carmen MacPhee of East Gore won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. MacPhee has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. MacPhee for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Jill Payne of Windsor won the gold medal in canoeing C-1 200 metres and canoeing C-4 500 metres as well as the bronze medal in canoeing C-2 6000 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Ms. Payne has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. Payne for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Craig Smith of Hants County won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Smith has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Smith for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Peter Smith of Lantz won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Smith has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Smith for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Mark Turner of Enfield won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Turner has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Turner for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Timothy Clayton of Yarmouth won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Clayton has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Clayton for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Jevon Titus of Yarmouth won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Titus has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Titus for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Sara Lawlor of Lake Echo won the gold medal in canoeing C-4 500 metres, canoeing C-2 500 metres and canoeing C-4 500 metres, the silver medal in canoeing C-1 6000 metres, as well as the bronze medal in canoeing C-1 1000 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Ms. Lawlor has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. Lawlor for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. David Hendsbee (Preston)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Catherine MacKenzie of Lake Echo won the gold medal in canoeing C-2 1,000 meters, canoeing C-2 500 metres and canoeing C-4 500 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Ms. MacKenzie has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. MacKenzie for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. David Hendsbee (Preston)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Chelsey Bowser of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in canoeing C-2 6,000 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Ms. Bowser has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. Bowser for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. David Hendsbee (Preston)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Justin Rodgers of Dartmouth won the gold medal in canoeing C-1 200 metres, canoeing C-1 500 metres, canoeing C-2 1,000 metres and canoeing C-4 1,000 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Rodgers has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Rodgers for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. William Langille (Colchester North)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Kate Forbes of Debert won the bronze medal in decathlon - shot putt in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Ms. Forbes has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. Forbes for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Order of Canada is awarded on behalf of all Canadians to recognize people whose life's work has made a significant impact on this country; and
Whereas Robert Ackman of Dartmouth, a research professor at Dalhousie University, is one of Canada's leading oil chemists and has dedicated several decades to the science and understanding of the biochemistry of oils, fats and lipids, and has recently been made an Officer of the Order of Canada; and
Whereas his research is highly acclaimed, credited with important developments in the canola oil and fish farming industries, with raising public awareness about the nutritional value of fish oils, and for innovating the chromatographic method which is used world wide;
Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House congratulate Robert Ackman, newly appointed Officer of the Order of Canada, on this national honour and thank him for his dedication to science which has brought credit to our country.
RESOLUTION NO. 2120
By: Hon. Rodney MacDonald (Minister of Tourism and Culture)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas Team Nova Scotia Chef de Mission for the 2001 Canada Summer Games held in August in London, Ontario was Mike Bell; and
Whereas Team Nova Scotia is made up of 18 volunteer Mission Staff; and
Whereas Team Nova Scotia's Mission Staff received the first Claude Hardy award, presented to a provincial or territorial mission team best exhibiting leadership, co-operation, integrity or esprit de corps;
Therefore be it resolved that all members of this House congratulate the Chef de Mission Mike Bell and the Team Nova Scotia Mission Staff for winning the first Claude Hardy Award at the 2001 Canada Summer Games.
By: Mr. Kevin Deveaux (Cole Harbour-Eastern Passage)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas Nova Scotians have been forced to carry the burden of higher taxes, higher fees and worse services because of truly incredible Liberal and Conservative mismanagement; and
Whereas Nova Scotians who suffer because of closed hospital beds and overcrowded classrooms have been insulted by the sky-high salaries and benefits paid by Liberals and Tories to a favoured few; and
Whereas the salaries paid to the Deputy Ministers of Health and Education and the pay packages for school board superintendents are the latest of these excessive salaries;
Therefore be it resolved that the next government of this province should end the pattern of extraordinary and unjustified pay packages for a favourite few administrators in the public sector and start treating all public servants and citizens with respect.
RESOLUTION NO. 2122
By: Mr. David Hendsbee (Preston)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Earlando Simmonds of North Preston won the gold medal in men's 4 x 100 metre relay in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Simmonds has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Simmonds for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. John Chataway (Chester-St. Margaret's)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Thomas Lindley of Tantallon won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Lindley has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Lindley for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
RESOLUTION NO. 2124
By: Mr. Brooke Taylor (Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Casey Higgins of Middle Musquodoboit won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Higgins has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Higgins for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Brooke Taylor (Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Joel Isenor of Dutch Settlement won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Isenor has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Isenor for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
RESOLUTION NO. 2126
By: Mr. Brooke Taylor (Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Jamie Wentworth of Elmsdale won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Wentworth has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Wentworth for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. William Dooks (Eastern Shore)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Matthew Boutlier of Sheet Harbour won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Boutlier has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Boutlier for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
RESOLUTION NO. 2128
By: Mr. William Dooks (Eastern Shore)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Michael Brabant of Cole Harbour won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Brabant has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Brabant for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. William Dooks (Eastern Shore)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Bob Gillis of Cole Harbour won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Gillis has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Gillis for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. William Dooks (Eastern Shore)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Lance Preeper of Eastern Passage won the gold medal in canoeing C-1-1000 metres, canoeing C-2 200 metres and canoeing C-4 1000 metres, the silver medal in canoeing C-2 500 metres as well as the bronze medal in canoeing C-1 6000 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Preeper has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Preeper for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Michael Alexander of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Alexander has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Alexander for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Aaron Barkhouse of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Barkhouse has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Barkhouse for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Greg Bartlett of Dartmouth won the gold medal in canoeing C-2 1000 metres and canoeing C-4 1000 Metres, as well as the silver medal in canoeing C-2 500 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Bartlett has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Bartlett for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Patrick Benjamin of Dartmouth won the gold medal in men's 4 x 100 metre relay in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Benjamin has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Benjamin for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Nicholas Best of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in men's basketball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Best has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Best for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Debra Burke of Dartmouth won the gold medal in kayaking K-2500 metres and kayaking K-4 500 metres, as well as the silver medal in kayaking K-2 200 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Ms. Burke has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. Burke for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Kyle Crook of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Crook has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Crook for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Robbie Dow of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Dow has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Dow for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Robert Gillis of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Gillis has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Gillis for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Joel Grandy of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Mr. Grandy has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Grandy for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Melissa Hubley of Dartmouth won the gold medal in women's 200 metre butterfly in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Ms. Hubley has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. Hubley for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Kate MacRae of Dartmouth won the gold medal in canoeing C-4 500 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication Ms. MacRae has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy, active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. MacRae for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. John Marsh of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Marsh has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Marsh for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Ms. Jamie McCarthy of Dartmouth won the gold medal in kayaking K-1 6000 metres and kayaking K-500 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Ms. McCarthy has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Ms. McCarthy for her recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Jack McDonald of Dartmouth won the gold medal in kayaking K-4 1000 metres as well as the silver medal in kayaking K-1 1000 metres and kayaking K-1 500 metres in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. McDonald has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. McDonald for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Todd Parker of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Parker has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Parker for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Tyler Putt of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in men's soccer in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Putt has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Putt for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Luis Roberts of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Roberts has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Roberts for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Mr. Timothy Olive (Dartmouth South)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Kyle Teal of Dartmouth won the bronze medal in men's baseball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Teal has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Teal for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Angus MacIsaac (Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Daniel Caughey of Antigonish won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Caughey has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Caughey for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Angus MacIsaac (Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Jason White of Antigonish won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. White has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. White for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Angus MacIsaac (Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Jonathon Taylor of Antigonish County won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Taylor has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Taylor for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Angus MacIsaac (Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Mike Grant of Antigonish won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Grant has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Grant for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Angus MacIsaac (Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Jeremy Gillis of Antigonish County won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Gillis has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Gillis for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
By: Hon. Angus MacIsaac (Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations)
I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:
Whereas the Canada Games have been held at two year intervals since 1967, allowing approximately 45,000 young Canadians to participate in the games and allowing another 180,000 to engage in tryouts and qualifying events; and
Whereas Mr. Robert Doiron of Antigonish won the silver medal in men's softball in the 2001 Canada Summer Games; and
Whereas through hard work and dedication, Mr. Doiron has helped to promote excellence in sport, sport development and healthy active lifestyles;
Therefore be it resolved that this House congratulate Mr. Doiron for his recent athletic success, a fine reward for dedication to sport as demonstrated by many long hours of training and practice.
