Premier cool to fixed election date proposal
Posted Apr 14, 2010 06:01:11 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There’s a new call for fixed election dates in Nova Scotia – but the premier isn’t too keen on the idea.
Tory MLA Murray Scott has introduced a bill that would make first Tuesday in October election day, starting in 2013 and every four years thereafter.
“[A fixed date would] give some sense of awareness for citizens across the country to know when they can expect provincial elections,” he said. “We have it now with municipal, federal government has it, other provincial jurisdictions.”
Scott notes that other municipalities and provinces in Canada have explored fixed election dates.
The Liberals say they’re on board, but Premier Darrell Dexter says there are drawbacks.
“In fact, what they have done is essentially led us down the road to a kind of US-style electioneering where you have elections that go on for months and almost years, with everyone fixed on a particular date,” he said.
Dexter says he’s satisfied with the current British parliamentary style, in which the government gets to choose election dates within a five year window or less.
