Rest of the alt-text:

Nova Scotia's literacy rates have lagged behind other province's for decades, and about 1 in 3 grade three students currently reads below expectations for their age. We should be investing more into programs like WITS, not cutting them.

Moreover, our arts, culture, and heritage make us who we are. Who are Nova Scotians without our hooked rugs and handcrafted pewter, our pottery and kiltmaking, our vibrant festivals, our kitchen ceilidhs, our understanding of our own history?

The Conservatives' financial mismanagement has created this budget deficit. Nobody asked for the tolls to be removed from the bridges between Dartmouth and Halifax. The HST did not need to be reduced. About $1.4 billion-with-a-B in government spending was not authorized by the legislature last year alone. And so on. Yes, people are struggling and deficits are bad, but you don't solve any of that by shrinking the economy and putting people out of work.