This House Would Recognize That The NDP Should Lose the 2009 Nova Scotia Election

"All parties are coming in with a form of carbon tax, I would encourage all Nova Scotians to look very carefully at all the federal plans." My opponent quotes Stephen McNeil with this. But he only proved my point; he is at least willing to look at a carbon tax as an alternative idea. Any leader, any *proper* leader, would not dismiss all ideas right away. With that, my opponent openly admits that the cap and trade system WILL increase the price of things. He then says that will be negated because there will be a flood of green products on the market. Yet, my opponent doesn't realize again, that these take time to implement. Cap-and-trade systems take much longer and are much more complicated to implement than carbon taxes, and in the mean time, Nova Scotians will be forced to pay more for their goods and services. This is just an example of the NDP willingness to make Nova Scotians pay. The carbon tax proposed by Stephane Dion in the last federal election, despite the attack ads by the Conservatives and the pure hypocrisy of the NDP, was to be completely revenue neutral. Meaning there would be no cause for Nova Scotians to cost more. The fact that Dexter refuses to even look at it shows his irresponsible plans to fight climate change. That is not leadership, that is Darrell Dexter. My opponent cites the Liberals one bill for crime as reasons for their lack of vision for justice. Maybe my opponent doesn't realize that the Liberals are in fact the third-party and cannot introduce as many bills as the NDP can, or the fact that the PC government has increased police officers by 150 since 2006, is proof that the government of Nova Scotia is paying attention to crime. (http://pcparty.ns.ca...) My opponent then decides to say that the people don't have time to wait around for the PC government plan. Well, simply put, does my opponent believe that the NDP plan will open up the emergency rooms with the snap of their fingers? The NDP need money and time to implement their plans. Nurses and doctors cannot simply keep the emergency rooms open because the NDP say so, unless the NDP want to go against the unions, their main financial backer. The fact of the matter is, the NDP have a very, very admirable plan for health care. The problem is that it is not feasible without showing how they will do it - they expect it to just happen. That isn't the sign of a leader, it is just the sign of a wannabe magician. The government already has a plan in place - a plan that the NDP has shown its full support for - that is costed, is feasible and the results are already showing. The NDP plan will only add more costs unto the healthcare system, overload it with uncosted promises and cost Nova Scotians more. That is not leadership, that is Darrell Dexter. My opponent has just decided to change the terms of reality. He said the NDP have promised to introduce their programs in a cost-effected way that won't create a deficit. He just now decided to repeat the line used by every single party. He just proved that the NDP are hypocrites. He is right - their word isn't as good as the Liberals and the Tories. But the difference is that they at least have outlines of their promises. My opponent asks, "what if the Liberal numbers are off?" I say to my opponent, at least the Liberals have shown their plans are feasible, unlike the NDP, who expect everything to happen at the snap of their fingers. My opponent says that he can rely on Darrell Dexter as a 'innovative leader.' Let me provide the definition of 'innovative': "being or producing something like nothing done or experienced or created before" (http://www.thefreedictionary.com...) Darrell Dexter is not an innovate leader. He is not innovative in healthcare, he is only wishful. He is not innovative in balancing the budget, he only claims to be because Gary Doer is a great premier. He is not innovative in promising too much, because the Ontario NDP did the same. He is even not innovative in his lack of a costed platform, because he is clearly the disciple of Jack Layton and the former federal and provincial NDP leader, Alexa McDonough. That is not leadership, that is Darrell Dexter. My opponent cites the 1998 election as a 'slap in the fact to voters', because the Liberals gained the support of the Conservatives in order to govern. That is a ludicrous notion; the NDP and the Liberals both got 19 seats, and the Tories 14 seats. What should the Liberals have done. Let the NDP deny every single bill presented by the government? He has said that the NDP should have held up government. Since I have no proof otherwise to this fact, I'll just go along with it. The NDP wish to hold up government and deny Nova Scotians a right to have their legislature work properly. That is not leadership, that is Darrell Dexter. It is clear that Darrell Dexter's leadership is not enough to win this election. My opponent had demonstrated, even *admitted*, that the NDP plan is uncosted and that the NDP will make Nova Scotians pay more for their products. He only shunts these aside by claiming that it is a 'common political practise', or that it is a good think that they don't look at all options, including the option that won't cause Nova Scotians to pay more. That is not what Nova Scotians want. He rides upon the notion that because the NDP governments in Saskatchewan and Manitoba can balance a budget, it means Darrell Dexter can as well. That is a fallacy, and is negated by the fact that despite the platforms of Gary Doer and Lorne Calvert, Darrell Dexter has opted for a Jack Layton approach to budgets; don't cost anything, and rely on rhetoric to prove our points. Just like Jack Layton was rejected as Prime Minister, Darrell Dexter will be rejected as Premier. What is more, I have demonstrated that the politics of this province and this country put the NDP at a significant disadvantage in the election. My opponent doesn't have an argument for these contentions, and rather cites that these factors are not probable, despite them being noted in almost every single election. Nova Scotians may want something better for themselves, but the NDP have been in opposition since 1998 - clearly, Nova Scotians don't want them and their tiresome leader, Darrell Dexter. It is clear that my opponent has not made his argument, and instead decides to avoid the issues and avoid the math. I have proven to you, the voters, that the NDP are at the disadvantage in this election, and that disadvantage is only furthered due to Darrell Dexter's lack of leadership. My contention is clear; the NDP will not win the 2009 election. I encourage all of you to get out and vote regardless of your political beliefs. Vote for a stronger, better Nova Scotia. Thank you.