Amanda Mombourquette Unveils Nova Scotia Liberal Leadership Platform Focused on Collaboration and Accountability

Mombourquette Releases Comprehensive Leadership Platform

Amanda Mombourquette, a candidate for the Nova Scotia Liberal Party leadership, has released the final three policy documents comprising her campaign platform. The documents outline a broad vision aimed at increasing government accountability, fostering collaboration with communities, and supporting economic development across the province.

Emphasizing Community Buy-In for Major Projects

Mombourquette, who serves as a Richmond County municipal councillor, stressed the importance of securing community support for significant development initiatives, especially as the province seeks increased revenue. She highlighted the need for improved collaboration between government, municipalities, and Mi’kmaw leadership, stating, "Government works best when it works with communities and people. Communities are feeling left behind and that’s not acceptable."

Economic Development Strategy and Royalty Fund Proposal

The platform calls for a comprehensive economic development strategy, including sector-specific plans for tourism, agriculture, fisheries, energy, defence, clean technology, and forestry. Mombourquette advocates that large-scale industrial projects should demonstrate economic gains without compromising environmental standards. While expressing skepticism about fracking as a solution for Nova Scotia, she remains open to future discussions if environmental risks can be mitigated by technological advancements.

For major projects like offshore wind, her campaign proposes a royalty trust fund, modeled after approaches used in Scandinavian countries. This fund would utilize project royalties to ensure stable, long-term funding for libraries, community and arts groups, and other organizations that often face uncertain financing.

Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnerships

Mombourquette supports increased use of public-private partnerships (P3s) to address infrastructure challenges, particularly road maintenance, citing the government's difficulty keeping pace with existing needs. However, she opposes the use of tolls for funding these partnerships, noting, "I definitely don’t think Nova Scotians have an appetite for that."

Post-Secondary Education and Institutional Autonomy

A reversal of recent government legislation increasing provincial influence over university governance is another priority. Mombourquette criticized ongoing academic reviews mandated by the province for focusing too narrowly on labour market demands, calling such measures "a level of government interference" that makes her uncomfortable.

Health Care and Women's Health Strategy

In health care, Mombourquette proposes a review of system delivery and needs, targeting greater efficiency. She also calls for the introduction of a women's health strategy and the inclusion of social determinants of health in government programs and initiatives.

Boosting Government Accountability and Public Engagement

Measures to enhance government accountability form a central part of the platform. Mombourquette advocates for establishing a legislative calendar to standardize MLA sessions in Province House for spring and fall. She suggests increasing question period frequency from four to five days per week, offering opposition members more opportunities to question the government.

Additional proposals include developing community engagement and outreach metrics for both MLAs and the Liberal Party. She recommends forming a broadly representative committee to explore proportional representation, suggesting it could boost public engagement in the political process.

Affordable Housing and Financial Management

The platform commits to creating more affordable housing, including earmarking ambitious investments for campus housing to free up broader housing stock. Regarding fiscal management, Mombourquette calls for unbudgeted government revenue to be used for debt reduction, reflecting concern about the province's record deficits and debt. "We don’t have our house in order financially," she said.

Liberal Leadership Race and Next Steps

Mombourquette's opponent, Becky Druhan, completed the release of her platform last month. Approximately 3,000 delegates have registered to vote for the party’s new leader, with the winner set to be announced on November 21 at an event in Halifax.

Source: cbc.ca.