Mediaboss Marketing

;

Judicial recounts have been completed for the Nova Scotia election, confirming the Liberals slim majority.

The Liberals have confirmed their majority with the final judicial recount on Monday declaring Liberal candidate Hugh MacKay as the MLA-elect for Chester-St. Margarets.

The riding was one of five that kept the final result of the election whether the Liberals would maintain their majority or have a minority in doubt until the early hours of the morning. The NDP filed for a recount after MacKay won against NDP incumbent Denise Peterson-Rafuse by 90 votes.

READ MORE:Nova Scotia election: Heres what Stephen McNeils Liberals have promised

According to Elections Nova Scotia, the recount saw Peterson-Rafuse lose one vote, bringing the total votes separating the two to 91.

Well were very pleased that it confirmed the choice by the voters of Chester-St. Margarets, MacKay told Global News in a phone interview. And [were] very glad that it did not significantly change things because I think both this recount and the two that were done on Friday resulting in a change of only two votes really does demonstrate that the process thats implemented by Elections Nova Scotia is sound.

MacKay, the founder and director of Doors Open Halifax, caused a surprise upset on election night when he unseated the two-term NDP MLA and former cabinet minister. Peterson-Rafuse served as community services minister under the NDP government and was re-elected in 2013, though lost her cabinet post when the Liberals formed government.

Peterson-Rafuse was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2016 and took a leave from the legislature, but returned that fall.

Global News reached out for comment from Peterson-Rafuse but did not receive a response by end of day.

Asked what was next with his election confirmed, MacKay jokingly said hed read the manual on how to be an effective MLA to represent his riding.

He also said he looked forward to getting to work in the legislature.

Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice James L. Chipman certified the statement of polls summaries and declared MacKay to be elected.

Last Friday, two other recounts in Guysborough-Eastern Shore-Tracadie and Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank declared Liberal incumbents Lloyd Hines and Bill Horne, respectively, as elected in their ridings. Both also won on election night by slim margins against the Progressive Conservatives, who then filed for recounts.

READ MORE:Nova Scotia election: How the results impact each partys bottom line

With the recounts confirming all three Liberal wins, the party has 27 seats in the legislature. Twenty-six were needed for a majority.

2017Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

See original here:
Nova Scotia Liberals maintain slim majority after recounts in 3 ridings - Globalnews.ca

The outrage over Trumps rejection of the Paris accord raises a number of issues.

1. There is a distinction between three types of opinions. There are our personal and social biases.

Chocolate ice cream may be preferable to vanilla. There are scientific opinions which are generally created by research or the conclusion of mathematical manipulation. Then there are opinions that might be called religious. A person may say, I have never seen an angel, and you have never seen an angel, but I believe angels exist.

As demonstrated by the climate change debate, it is easy for scientific opinion to become doctrinaire and begin to fall into the religious category.

When a person or organization picks out individuals who do not appear doctrinally pure and charges them with being unscientific or science deniers, then you know you are not only dealing with ignorance, but those making the accusation are doing so in a mindset indistinguishable from religious fervor.

2. Science and politics dont mix well. Carl Popper claimed mixing the two created something akin to astrology. This is especially true when politicians are out in front of the movement followed by a mass of true believers, with scientists bringing up the rear.

The political solution to climate change demands one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history. Where do you think it will go? Of course, you already know the answer to that. How much difference in climate change will be experienced by the hundreds of millions of small people sacrificing to pay the bills? The scientists have told us we shouldnt expect much. The priests of the new religious orders have already decreed that because of our environmental sins, we are all going to a purgatory that looks remarkably like Beijing. The last time we checked, Beijing may or may not abide by the Paris accord, at least in the near future.

3. The ruling elites who were defeated last election were banking on climate change doctrine to fulfill several essential functions. It creates a religious-type motivation that unifies their rank-and-file followers. It is a cause that can be used to consolidate wealth, power and influence. Think of Al Gore if an example is necessary. And last, but certainly not least, it is an issue that can successfully be used to defeat and maybe even destroy their enemies.

Losing power creates a temper tantrum, but for the true believers marginalizing the elites ability to manipulate the apparatus of climate change creates an existential crisis.

4. Will the left now see the wisdom of not having an all-powerful president with pen and a phone? When they are in power, they act like nothing could be finer than a president who can do anything he wants as if he ruled some banana republic. But Trump has demonstrated they are not always in control, and what one president can do, another can also do.

Having constitutional restraints on power is a very, very good idea.

Dennis Clayson is a marketing professor at the University of Northern Iowa.

Original post:
Liberals' climate hysteria - Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier

Toronto Sun

Wynne's Liberals have lost touch with reality Toronto Sun Never mind that while the Liberals boast about having invested billions of dollars upgrading the province's electricity system, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk, another independent, non-partisan, spending watchdog, said in her 2015 annual report that ...

View original post here:
Wynne's Liberals have lost touch with reality - Toronto Sun

New York Times

Religious Liberals Sat Out of Politics for 40 Years. Now They Want in the Game. New York Times Frustrated by Christian conservatives' focus on reversing liberal successes in legalizing abortion and same-sex marriage, those on the religious left want to turn instead to what they see as truly fundamental biblical imperatives caring for the poor ...

View original post here:
Religious Liberals Sat Out of Politics for 40 Years. Now They Want in the Game. - New York Times

Now that a minority NDP government is poised to take office with Green Party support, the question must be asked where does the future of the B.C. Liberals lie?

While the party came within a hairs breadth of gaining a majority in last months election, there was a palpable sense of voter exhaustion in several key strongholds.

Back in 2001, when the Liberals were elected, their emphasis on discipline was welcomed. The preceding decade of NDP rule, at times chaotic, had created a desire for stability among voters.

But as time passed, discipline turned into rigidity. Iron budget management became an excuse for ignoring other legitimate interests.

And the policy of accepting large corporate donations fed a suspicion that the party was more attached to big business than working-class families.

After 16 years in office, the Liberals appeared increasingly tone-deaf and out of touch. Voters wanted change, and not just in policy, but in style and empathy.

Fairly or not, any such change has to begin with the premier. Christy Clark, for all her strengths, is unavoidably a voice from the past. As long as she remains leader, everything the public has come to dislike about the Liberals lives on.

Then there is the matter of timing. Some in the Liberal caucus might believe there is no hurry. Wait long enough, they might think, and the NDP/Green alliance will self-destruct.

But that would be an error. We have been promised a referendum on electoral reform in October 2018. The Liberals stand to lose if such a reform were made.

Over the past four elections, the partys share of the vote lagged well behind the NDP/Green total. Had some form of rep by pop been in place, the Liberals would have lost all of those contests.

However, if the party means to dispute the need for change, it must first regain its standing as a government in waiting. That means overhauling its platform.

And it must do this in little more than a year. Time, in other words, is not on the Liberals side.

So what might a new platform look like? Certainly, it should continue to emphasize competent management. This is the partys main claim to govern, and it need not be abandoned.

But in two areas, major changes are needed. First, the Liberals must re-forge a connection with voters on social issues such as child care, support for low-income families and affordable housing.

In the process, several hatchets must be buried, in particular with the teachers union, and with the childrens representative. Near-endless warfare on these fronts damaged the Liberals and contributed to their reputation for picking the wrong fights.

Second, a way must be found to articulate a middle ground between protecting the environment, and protecting jobs and the economy.

Tilt too far in the green direction, and you breath life back into the B.C. Conservative party. Fixate on the economy, and you lose support in suburban communities where the environmental movement is strongest. It was here that the Liberals surrendered their majority.

Still, in the end, it all depends on who becomes leader. True, the Liberals have never possessed a particularly strong caucus, and some contenders, such as the outgoing health minister, Terry Lake, retired or lost their seats.

Nevertheless, it is essential that a fresh new face be found. Justin Trudeaus revival of the federal Liberals comes to mind.

Will any of this happen? To date, Clark has expressed every intention of staying.

Her strength of will is commendable. But if she persists in this view, the Liberals might be consigned to the backbenches for a very long time.

Original post:
Editorial: Liberals must rebuild quickly - Times Colonist