The MLA who paved the way for Christmas trees
By MARK COFFIN
Pam Birdsall’s story wasn’t the typical ‘vote for my party and I’ll pave your road’ kind of tale. It falls in the category...
The reality of road fixing — and fixation — for MLAs in nova scotia
By LOUISE COCKRAM
"In the views of your constituents, that road is the most important thing in their lives. They don't care about what you're...
What we’ve learned since starting Make Democracy Better.
We launched the Make Democracy Better project to build a space – on the ground, and online - where people could contribute to a discussion...
Stephen McNeil, Jamie Baillie and Darrell Dexter on Democratic Renewal
Written by Mark Coffin
Tomorrow, thousands of Nova Scotians will head to the polls. Despite popular belief, we will not be electing a government. Instead,...
Mining the exit interview for political gold
It's not often citizens get a candid look at the political process. In fact, modern politics is so tightly scripted that we rarely ever...
Maverick MLAs walk tightrope between party loyalty, conscience
By MARK COFFIN
Howard Epstein has never been known as someone who keeps his cards close to his chest. The former MLA served the district...
The call to public office in Nova Scotia — ‘If not me, who?’
A lawyer, a nurse, and a farmer walk into Province House.
Some people might think that what happens inside the Nova Scotia legislature is a...
First MLAs are marginalized, then they get marching orders
By MARK COFFIN and LOUISE COCKRAM
As we pointed out in our introduction to this series, exit interviews with former MLAs are a valuable tool. After they...
The nature of systems is to resist change
Written by Michael Chender
Changing something as embedded as our voting system is a big undertaking. In fact, as any of us who have worked...
Solving for first past the post: what’s wrong with that?
Guest Blog by Katelynn Northam
I remember distinctly the moment when I realized how broken our voting system is. It was the night of the...