| Description | Declaration of Principles
1. We believe that the people of Nova Scotia are entitled to a fundamental justice which entitles them to benefit, without discrimination, from the programs and expenditures of the provincial government. We affirm the equality, value and dignity of the individual and the right of citizens to advocate, without fear of intimidation or suppression, public policies which reflect their most deeply held beliefs. This includes freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and the freedom of all people to express their thoughts.
2. We believe that all people, including lawmakers and other government officials, should be equal before the law.
3. We believe in the importance of the family unit as well as the individual to the well-being of the province and the nation.
4. We believe that major public policy should reflect the will of the majority of Nova Scotians, as determined by referenda and the decisions of truly representative elected assemblies.
5. We believe in the common sense judgement of the people and their right to be consulted on matters of public policy before any major decisions are made by representative assemblies.
6. We believe that elected representatives should be accountable to the electorate. The duty of elected representatives to their constituents should supersede any obligations to their own political parties.
7. We believe that public money should be regarded by governments as funds held in trust. The Nova Scotia Government should use these funds responsibly and strive to balance expenditures and revenues, producing an accessible and detailed public account at the end of each fiscal year. Budgets should be balanced and deficit financing at all levels of government in Nova Scotia should be prohibited by law unless there is a consent from the majority of the electorate, who are the taxpayers.
8. We believe that the people of Nova Scotia should be given an accurate plan of a political party’s intentions during an election campaign. Radical and unjustified deviations from those previously stated intentions would be sufficient grounds for the initiation of recall procedures.
9. We believe that Nova Scotia’s economic well-being is best achieved through the operation of a free-enterprise economy. That a private enterprise system is fundamental to a strong, viable and effective economy and that there must exist the freedom to try, freedom to buy, freedom to sell, freedom to succeed and freedom to fail. Lower levels of taxation for consumers and businesses, a greater emphasis on education and technical training for Nova Scotia’s youth and the development of Nova Scotia’s industrial and resource potential should be the guiding principles of government trade policy.
10. We believe that the people of Nova Scotia have a personal and collective responsibility to care and provide for the needs of Nova Scotians who are unable to care and provide for themselves.
11. We believe that the wealth of the country should remain with the people as much as possible because people will use this wealth more wisely than would a government and/or bureaucracy.
12. We believe that government's proper task is to serve the general interest, not special interests, and that special interest groups should therefore get their support from their supporters, not from government.
13.We believe in an Elected Senate which has Equal representation from each province and which is fully Effective in its constitutional duty to safeguard regional interests.
14. We believe in the supremacy of the electorate over the Legislature and of the Legislature over the judiciary and that whatever the legislature has manifestly done shall not be undone by judicial review.
15. We believe that a political party must abide by its constitution.
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