On The Record, Off Script - Atlantic Canada | Politics | Democracy

This week’s featured interview is with Mark Parent, a former PC Party MLA and environment minister. Mark spoke to us about a range of his experiences in public life: - his transition from being an NDP supporter, to backing Flora MacDonald's 'red toryism'; - the flagship legislation he spearheaded as Environment Minister, the Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act, and the path to multi-partisan support it required to turn it into Law - the efforts made by both Stephen Harper and Elizabeth May to encourage him to run in their respective parties as a candidate for federal MP. - his long list of advice for future lawmakers See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Eleanor Norrie shares stories about her time in politics, including her negotiations with Texan oil tycoons as Natural Resources minister, chairing the failed attempt at running a leadership convention by telephone voting, taking part in the cabinet decision to close the Nova Scotia Teacher’s College (which was in her writing) and co-writing the platform that got John Savage’s Liberals elected to government. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Yvonne was the NDP MLA for the riding of Preston for just 18 months in the late 90s. Despite having a relatively short career in elected public office, she has plenty of reflections on her time as an MLA, and the state of politics in Nova Scotia. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

MLAs have a great deal of choice when it comes to the kind of work they focus on, but there is one job that nobody but the elected MLAs can do: the creation of law. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sera Thompson teaches and practices Deep Democracy, a psychology-based practise for resolving conflict among groups. In this special episode of the podcast, we share a conversation where she gives us a sample of what participants learn on one of her introductory courses. This fall at Springtide, Sera will be teaching Co-Resolve - An Introduction to Deep Democracy on September 25 and 26 in Halifax, and you can register for that course here: http://bit.ly/2tV5unj See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There are very few written rules that outline what is expected of MLAs once they take their jobs. But that doesn't mean that there aren't significant expectations placed on them once they take office. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There has never been a Mi’kmaq MLA in Nova Scotia, despite the fact that a seat has been reserved for one in the House of Assembly Act since the early 1990s. This week on Off Script, Sandra Hannebohm explores why. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we explore some of the background for next week's episode, which explores the seat that has been reserved for Mi'kmaq people in the legislature, but has never been filled. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Andrew Younger recently gave a talk to the Rotary Club in Dartmouth on the realities of being an independent MLA and candidate. The talk was scheduled before he withdrew from the race to be the independent MLA for Dartmouth East for health and family reasons, but the talk was given after he had withdrawn. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we explore the stories of the people who have run, and in some cases won, elected office as Nova Scotians living with disabilities. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There is an election happening on May 30th. In this special episode, Mark explains why writ drops are different than mic drops, how continuous ballot collection can dampen the impact of changes in the polls mid-way through the campaign, and how we have a government with no MLAs. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the 259 years of responsible government in Nova Scotia there have been just five African Nova Scotian MLAs. This week, we speak to three former MLAs who each sat as the sole African Nova Scotians in the legislature during their time. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this week's episode of Off Script, research lead and Carleton PhD candidate Louise Cockram speaks with Sandra Hannebohm about how the experience of Nova Scotian female politicians compares to those across Canada. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week on Off Script, we explore the unique experiences of the women who ran for and won seats in the Nova Scotia legislature - the challenges they faced in getting there, and the challenges awaiting them once they arrived. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Bob's father was a cabinet minister in John Savage's liberal government, but most of Bob's friends are 'on the orange team.' Bob shares the story of the 'strong and, frankly, bizarre reactions' of people from the red, orange and blue teams when he starred in a satirical video intended to draw attention to the cuts made by the Liberal government to the film industry in 2015. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi is one of Canada’s most well known political figures. Regardless of how close your own politics are to his, most people can probably agree he has been a powerful voice for the importance of local government. One of the ways that he does this is through his approach to engaging with the public, the media and other politicians. We invited him to join us for a public conversation during his visit to Halifax in March of 2015. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mike Savage has something to say about negativity in politics, and he wants you to tell you what 'togetherness' has to do with Van Gogh, itchy sweaters, imperfect families and a box full of puppies. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Andrew Black has been an active progressive conservative party member for over a decade, but his most successful campaign was the one that got an active member of another party elected to the mayor's office in Halifax. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Starting in April, Sandra Hannebohm will be a regular co-host, writer, and contributor to Off Script podcast. On this week's Off Script podcast, listen in on Mark's 'interview' with her. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The second part of a discussion shared between former NDP MLAs and authors, Howard Epstein and Graham Steele. Howard explains why he never crossed the floor to sit as an independent, and Graham outlines why (despite all his gripes with the system) politics is 'so worth it.' See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.