20 October 2008

Comfortable words

According to the provincial premiers, "Canada's economic fundamentals are sound".

Like we haven't heard that one before, and not from Dubya and Steve, either.

There's nothing like an international economic crisis to end the go-it-alone talk, either.

"We're here to indicate to Canadians that we're prepared to act as a united front. We're in good shape, which is not to say there aren't problems, but we're in the best situation in the world."

The premiers apparently agreed to drop inter-provincial trade barriers as one sign of viewing the country as a whole.

People in Newfoundland and Labrador are all too familiar with the go-it-alone stuff, but they've grown so used to the contradictions between the words and the actions, they'll likely wonder how come the two have suddenly matched up on the "we are all Canadians" side.

It's like telling a crowd of Provincial Conservatives in Corner Brook that "[t]his great provincial party has taken our province in a whole new direction towards 'have' status and self-reliance. No more give aways, no more begging from others.…" right after sending the latest round of begging letters to Ottawa.

Jack Harris coined a phrase that will go down in local political history.

-srbp-