hot

• changes to Elections Nova Scotia? rules regarding corporate? and union political donation?, and relatively less controversial ones on other matters
• loads on public health care and use of private health clinic?s to offload operations paid for by the public
  • 560 emergency room day?s over the past five years in which Nova Scotia hospital?s have been closed, according to the NS Liberal Party?
• ecological fiscal reform, specifically green tax shifts
• Sable Island natural gas pipeline? being protested by Green Party of Maine? - see also the NB issues related to this, especially St. Andrews.
• projected NS labour shortage?
• immigration
  • "We must do much better in immigration. Our universities attract many foreign students who can be encouraged to stay. We should allow those students to work off campus while studying and have a longer period after graduation to find a job. We should target market skill sets where we know there will be shortages, such as skilled trades and health care professionals. We should have an efficient process for evaluating and where necessary, upgrading foreign credentials for professionals. And we must use existing immigrant communities to help welcome new arrivals." - former Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia? leadership candidate Bill Black
• minimum wage?
• NS Power? behaviour
  • reliance on coal, and in particular human rights and labour rights violating Colombian coal?, when Cape Breton coal? is nearby
  • refusal to deal with renewable energy? in a serious way when wind power? and tidal power? and low head hydro power? are all practical options in this province
  • "We need to reduce our dependence on energy generated by hydro-carbons. In the next while you will hear a statement from us in support of a much increased use of wind energy." - former Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia? leadership candidate Bill Black
• stupid regulations
  • if you fill a home heating oil tank? with biodiesel? who cares if it leaks?
  • if you can drink your own sewer outflow? who cares if there is a lot of land to absorb it?
  • regulations that prevent energy conservation? or high density? eco-villages

warm

• impact of Elizabeth May on GPC-NS and GPNS
• Fair Vote Nova Scotia and MMPR? and bioregional multi-member district and NS Citizens Assembly? options in the wake of 57% and 74/79 riding support for BC-STV in the BC electoral reform referendum, 2005?
• disappearance of Atlantic Salmon? from rivers
• relation of ACOA and the GPI Atlantic? ecological and social indicator - considered at a conference in June on Gross National Happiness
• a C$12.5B provincial debt
• Gulf of Maine International Ocean Wilderness
• Halifax Regional Municipality 2030? - a 25 year plan?
  • how to backcast to fixed time horizons so far out?
  • should HRM transit? really be conditional on urban sprawl?
• loopholes in flood plain? definitions and regulations that are permitting developers to flood out their neighbours

cool

• Fabry's disease - mostly settled
• Grey seal hunt - no visible opposition
• Green Party of Nova Scotia relationship to GPC-NS - changing
• youth and competence of party leaders:
  • Rodney MacDonald, 33, presently Premier of Nova Scotia?
  • Nick Wright, a law student and outgoing GPNS leader
• tax bottled water? destined for export??
  • Digby Neck water? supplies are very limited as it is a narrow peninsula with salt water on both sides,
• NS lobster? fishery
  • over $1M per license, and Canadian federal government? lets people doing nothing collect payments on this for lending out licenses under individual transferable quota? arrangements - should community quota? apply?
• Cape Breton secession? - it was a separate colony in 1820 and was forced to merge, it's an island, and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality? has studied the question of becoming a Canadian federal territory?

cold

• Nick Wright's vow to run a full slate? - he did it, and took the heat for running a sludge farmer for office
• Peter MacKay's love life, and "whether he can control his woman" Belinda Stronach, in the words of trolls who enjoyed a short-lived trollfest on CBC radio? Halifax.
• Atlantic Accord 2005 imperiled due to the Canadian federal budget, 2005 delay caused by the Canadian federal confidence crisis, 2005