I love a good rainy day at this time of year. Dreary days like this are wonderful for kickstarting all the perennials and spring flowering bulbs. My may flowering tulips are bursting into bloom and my elusive Canada 150 tulips have finally begun to peek out.
We don’t generally get a lot of politicians out here. Are they worried that our dreadful old road will be too hard on their cars? This time around, I expect that Leo Glavine will not be particularly interested in trying to explain why “putting patients first” still seems to be on the back burner. And of course there is always the cold hard reality that many consider it an inefficient use of time to campaign on a road with sixteen houses at best.
Although, to be fair, Chris Palmer did show up here when he ran in 2009 and that same year it is entirely possible that I may have scared Leo Glavine away for good by asking uncomfortable questions about animal welfare.
But this is a new year and a new election. On the off chance that anyone does stop by, I have a little list of questions ready.
#2 Will you / your party amend the Municipal Act to prohibit breed bans. If not, why?
#3 Will you / your party amend the Municipal Act to obligate all Municipal Animal Departments, and by extension their contractors, to publicly advertise all impounded animals. To list all impounded strays on the Nova Scotia Lost Dog Network? To allow the impounded animals to be transferred to rescue when the impound period is up? And last but not least, to require all Municipalities and their contractors to post Animal Control Statistics on their Municipal Websites. If not, why?
#4 Will your party liaise with SPCANS to include humane education in the Nova Scotia Elementary School curriculum?
#5 Will you / your party support legislation to ban the use of electric shock collars, prong collars and electronic fences? If not, why?
#6 And last but not least, will you / your party write a new regulation for the Animal Protection Act to require all rescue animals imported from outside Nova Scotia to have a certificate of health from a Nova Scotia veterinarian? If not, why?
Oh … and PS … can you please fix our darned road ?
Sheesh …. it is entirely possible that I did scare Leo away with a similar list before!
But here is the thing … we DO live in democracy and we ARE allowed to express our opinions on issues that matter to us to our politicians. There simply is no better time to communicate these concerns than during an election.
What time is it? At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, it is always time to remember that the way ahead for the animals will only ever be paved by strong voter feedback. If you are wondering who is running in your riding, PLEASE CLICK HERE
The best thing about this group of candidates is that only one of them can win. Will Rogers