Avalon

As part of its Five Point Democracy Plan the Atlantica Party supports free voting in the Nova Scotia Legislature. Free voting allows MLAs to arrive at their own decision on how to vote issue by issue. Currently MLA voting is dictated by their party resulting in constituents having no say. Ideally all votes should be free votes.

“If I am a sitting MLA and I am told how to vote issue by issue, why should I take the time and energy to consult with my constituents on these issues when their opinions will not alter my vote?”, asks Atlantica Party Leader, Jonathan Dean. “Atlantica Party MLAs will constantly be consulting with their constituents on the issues of the day and that will influence their final voting decisions.”

The Atlantica Party proposes a bundle of reforms such as Recall that are intended to substantively loosen party discipline.

“Pressure to vote a certain way from one’s party is valid and in fact a good and necessary thing, but not to the extent that all other influences are stifled such as one’s constituents wishes and one’s good judgment. What we need is a balance so that each MLA can decide freely how to cast their vote.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 13th, 2010 at 6:08 pm and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.