[Sust-mar] Rise Again: Nova Scotia's NDP on the Rocks

[Christopher Majka]

When the New Democratic Party was elected to office in Nova Scotia in June 2009 it was heralded as an historic breakthrough. After a century of alternating Liberal and Conservative governments, a social democratic party took office, winning majority government. Hopes and expectations were high. What happened? With such a full head of steam, how did the NDP ship run aground?

In Rise Again: Nova Scotia's NDP on the Rocks, Epstein — a lawyer, environmentalist, social activist, and former Halifax municipal councillor - provides an inside look at the NDP in Nova Scotia. He charts its years in opposition, from the feuding of the 1960s and 1970s in the Akerman and MacEwan years, through the strong leadership of Alexa McDonough in the 1980s, to the near miss of the 1999 election under Robert Chisholm, and finally the rise and fall of the NDP under Darrell Dexter.

He illustrates the long and patient political journey that laid the groundwork for the party's 2009 breakthrough - followed by the rapid change of course from core social democratic values and programs to 'pragmatic' goals of re-election. It's a sobering account of missed opportunities and increasingly blurred political vision.

For further information visit the Rise Again web page:

	http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~aa051/Rise-Again/

There are sample pages from five chapters, a detailed table of contents, and information on how to order a copy of the book. Epstein touches on many environmental topics including aquaculture policy; forest management; carbon, climate change and NS Power; renewable energy; fracking, EGSPA (Environmental Goals and Sustainability Act); Georges Bank moratorium; uranium mining; and pesticides regulation. There are also lengthy discussions of issues such as poverty, housing, and economic development in Nova Scotia.