Keynote Address by the Honourable Karen Casey
Leader, PC Party of Nova Scotia
February 5, 2010
Check against delivery
so many supporters here tonight. A warm welcome to former premiers MacDonald, Hamm, Senators, Members of Parliament, former MLAs, Progressive Conservative members and friends of the Party; and my Caucus colleagues: Alfie, Allan, Cecil, Chris, Chuck, Keith, Murray and Richard.
I want to thank all of you for your support for our party and our Caucus, and for demonstrating that support by attending this year’s Annual General meeting. The organizing committee has put together a program designed with your interests in mind. I encourage you to participate fully in the meetings, the workshops and the hospitality events.
I am honoured to be speaking to you as the Leader of this great Party. And it is, indeed, a great Party! It is the Party that has formed government in this province for 36 of the last 50 years. It is the Party that can boast having 7 of the 11 premiers in this province during that same time. And it is the Party that will, once again, be the Party of choice by Nova Scotians to form government in this province.
The political landscape in this province has changed significantly since our last AGM in February, 2009.
(1)We have lost a dear friend, a dedicated MLA, Minister and Leader around the Cabinet table in Michael Baker. He inspired all of us, and his absence has left a void that cannot be filled.
(2)We have seen MLAs retire and others begin a new career.
(3) We have seen former colleagues ( not re-elected) who have accepted new positions within their professions and within their communities.
(4) And we have seen our party become a party of opposition.
We are facing some tough and challenging times. The last eight months have not been easy, but our party has faced similar challenges before, and we will do again what we did then..... We will prove that we are strong, and we will resolve to become stronger.
On June 9th we were sent a message . 45 % of Nova Scotians who voted on that day wanted another political Party to form government. We may not like their decision, but we must respect the democratic process. The people of Nova Scotia spoke, and this new government now has a chance to show leadership.
But tonight, ladies and gentlemen, our focus needs to be on the future of our Party. We need to use the lessons learned and the past experiences to strengthen our Party as we move forward. And that process of strengthening has already begun. The recent by-elections in Inverness and Antigonish confirm that there are many Nova Scotians who still vote Progressive Conservative. A tally of the total votes cast in those two by-elections shows that over 6000 voters cast ballots for the Progressive Conservative candidates - that is 400 more votes than second place NDP, and 1100 more votes than the Liberals.
It will be our drive, our energy, our perseverance, our dedication, our insight and our hope that will lead us back to victory.
So where to go from here? It is important that we see our current position as an opportunity, and we must seize the opportunity. We have done that. Immediately after the election our Caucus met to determine our new mandate - the mandate of a caucus in opposition. Very quickly we defined that mandate. It is two fold:
#1. To hold the government accountable;
#2. To bring concerns of all Nova Scotians to the floor of the Legislature.
I am extremely proud of the work of our Caucus in the fall sitting of the Legislature. We did hold this new government accountable through resolutions, through pointed questions, through debate and by forcing emergency debate on key issues. We were an effective opposition. We were the opposition. The commitment of our Caucus to you and to all Nova Scotians is to do what you expect of us...........to provide strong leadership and effective opposition, both through a positive and respectful approach.
We have also been effective in choosing press releases that focus on issues of importance to Nova Scotians. Those issues include, but are not limited to
-transportation links in Southwest Nova
-campaign commitments and broken promises
-correction facilities in Cumberland and Antigonish
-H1N1 - the implementation plan
-conflict of interest - issues with Minister of Fisheries
- community rinks funding in all communities across the province
-emergency room closures in rural Nova Scotia
-emergency room overcrowding in Metro
-the budget process - the Auditor’s Report
-the economy and stimulus spending
-the beef industry in Nova Scotia
-contract negotiations
- NSTU (community college staff)
- CUPE (health care workers)
- CUPE (School Board support staff)
One of the most recent and most significant releases dealt with the issue of the deficit, and the misrepresentation of our budget of May 2009. This government chose to artificially inflate the deficit from $53 million in July of 2009 to $592 million in September of 2009, and to create in the minds of Nova Scotians that our government had been dishonest with our financing. Since June we have been plagued with this issue, and it was not finally resolved until the Public Accounts meeting of January 20. Through intense questioning by MLA Cecil Clarke, Shannon MacDonald from Deloitte and Touche, the same firm commissioned to do an audit of the province’s books, reported that the previous government did not “cook the books”.
We also recognized that we needed to strengthen our Caucus Office. To do that we needed a skill set within Caucus Staff that could support members in being successful with our new mandate. This included additions to our research and communications staff, and the introduction of field representatives, or outreach workers. It is these workers , new to our caucus staff, that will be our presence in all 52 constituencies, regardless of which political party the sitting member represents. They will be working directly with our associations to provide a direct link to our Caucus and our party. Such positions have proven to be effective with other parties and we have every indication that early on in their assignment that they too will help to improve communication and support for the hard working PC volunteers throughout Nova Scotia.
Much like the leaders before me, I have accepted the challenge of helping to restore the proud traditions of our party I began my leader’s tour in September; my goal is to have it completed in May.
As I make my way across the province I am excited by what Nova Scotians have to offer. At the best of times the advice is encouraging; at the worst of times the criticism is stinging. But is it constructive and it needs to be received as such.
I have made a commitment to visit communities in the 52 constituencies across the province, and to engage Nova Scotians in conversation - a conversation about
-their communities
- their needs
- their priorities
- and their expectations of our party
To date, that includes 31 constituencies and over 100 communities
- from North Sydney to Membertou and Louisbourg,
- from Yarmouth to Clair and Argyle
- from the fish plants in Pubnico to the farmhouse kitchens in Annapolis
-from the Boards of Trade members in Cape Breton to HRM councillors in Spryfield
-from community leaders in Digby to pipe fitters in Pictou to shipyard workers in Halifax
Nova Scotians are telling me they welcome an opportunity to meet the leader of a political party at a time other than an election campaign - to meet them in their communities and on their own turf. These meetings include Nova Scotians from all parties, not just the party faithful.
Our goal is to form government again. To realize that success, we need to find the winning combination. We know what that combination includes - it includes the following:
- strong leadership
- credible candidates
- strong and active constituency associations
-progressive party policies
and - a go-forward platform that reflects the needs and realities of our province
As Abraham Lincoln once said, “The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.”
On this day:
We know where we are
We know where we want to go
We need to articulate how we get there
That is our challenge.
A strong PC Party is what Nova Scotians want; it is what Nova Scotians need; it is what Nova Scotians deserve.
-We must give our people hope
-We must renew their faith
-We must rebuild their confidence
-We must be a party of which they can be proud.
We will not let them down.
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