Having had a bit of fun with Ed Byrne over a couple of posts, let's take a closer look at the minister and his portfolio.
At the outset, let me say I have known Ed Byrne for about 20 years. We aren't close buddies by any stretch but when we meet, there's no problem in stopping and having a chat about the goings-on around the district in which I live, and he represents, or in general in the province.
Ed Byrne was first elected to the House of Assembly in the early 1990s and served as leader of the Progressive Conservative opposition through the 1999 general election. Despite what was rumoured to be a difficult term as leader, Byrne led his party to a credit-worthy showing against Brian Tobin. The PC s managed to make it a race in 18 seats and in six, it was touch and go right up until the end for the Liberals. By the end, Byrne and the PCs managed to knock off three Liberal incumbents.
Under Danny Williams, Byrne rose to a more prominent profile, if that was possible and quickly established himself as a strong spokesman for his party. He served, as I jokingly said once, as a better leader after he left the job.
Byrne's reward was a large and important portfolio. Natural Resources encompasses onshore and offshore energy, forestry and agriculture all of which continue to make strong contributions to the provincial economy. Byrne has been publicly acknowledged for his strong support of agriculture, a good thing since Kilbride district has a strong agricultural sector.
Taking all that into consideration, it has been surprising to see Byrne have such a low profile on the offshore discussions, a slightly higher profile on aspects of the Lower Churchill, and, as noted in another post putting out a release soliciting bids for a strategy to explore the prospect of wind power as an alternative energy source.
This latter one is particularly strange because it seems to be an announcement of something already in train. At the same time, the province's long overdue energy strategy - a policy to encompass all energy resources would naturally incorporate a component on alternative sources like wind power.
What's up with that?
Speculation is easy. There is a general impression out there that the Premier has taken the big files - Lower Churchill and offshore - because they are big and have a high profile. That doesn't explain, though, why Loyola Sullivan got a higher profile as a spokesperson on offshore revenues than Byrne did, especially since Byrne's Nova Scotia counterpart was a key player in that province's campaign. There is a logical structure to these things and it seemed natural that Byrne should be part of a team approach and be seen to be part of the team.
There is also a view in the political community that Byrne has been tasked with focusing on his role as government House leader. In that job, Byrne's main effort has been on dealing with the Opposition parties and certainly this interpretation seems to be confirmed by the prominent and largely successful job Byrne has done in counter-attacking and attacking the government's political Opposition.
There has also been growing rumours that Byrne is keeping an eye on federal politics. In one scenario painted by the local speculators, Byrne will run in St. John's South-Mount Pearl once Loyola Hearn either retires or takes on a weakened John Efford in the Avalon riding where Hearn's home is and where he maintains his strongest support.
If that comes true, then Byrne would be a formidable opponent. He is young, experienced, articulate and has a strong political organization. Byrne also matches the demographic profile of the riding making him a natural fit.
But all that is speculation.
In the meantime, there are some major policy issues Byrne could tackle in his current job.
First, he could announce development of a comprehensive energy and energy development strategy for the province. The high profile projects like the offshore and the Lower Churchill need to be put into a larger context. That's been missing for a while now and Byrne could be setting out a policy that relate energy development to other factors rather than just talking about a few windmills. For example, future offshore development and encouraging greater exploration will require an examination of economic, labour, environment and safety policies as well as and tax incentives.
Second, Byrne could clear up policy regarding the province's hydro-electric corporation. In the last election, all three provincial parties talked about turning Hydro into something more than it is now. Now 18 months after being sworn in, the Williams administration hasn't done anything on this policy plank other than switch out some of the directors on the corporation's board.
Maybe it's time to re-examine the idea of privatizing Hydro, thereby strengthening the province's private sector and reducing the debt burden on the treasury. Maybe Hydro can be a productive energy Crown mega-corporation with interests in offshore development. Maybe Hydro can use some of its retained earnings to fund environmental projects of the type the provincial government can't fund directly. There are plenty of options but it seems more productive to engage the public in a debate over the future of Hydro in the Big Picture sense rather than in just a chat about wind power.
Third, Byrne could raise the profile of discussions about ending marketing supports for agriculture. This is an industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the province. Current international negotiations could see an end to market supports to farms across the province and raise the prospect of the industry being swamped by mainland competition. Byrne doesn't have to take one side or the other but he could open up the discussion in the broader public good - better to have participation than to spring something on people. Other provinces have concerns about this issue as well and Byrne could increase the province's visibility on a file most people wouldn't naturally association with Newfoundland and Labrador.
Fourth, Byrne could become a spokesperson for the province's offshore supply industry. They were noticeably invisible during the recent offshore talks except for NOIA's interventions already noted. But the industry needs to be recognized publicly and Byrne is a logical minister to help raise the profile of companies that are helping to make the province the principle beneficiary of offshore development.
Since taking office in November 2003, the Progressive Conservative government has seemed to operate on issues taken in series; first the budget, then the strike, then the offshore, next the Lower Churchill. Given the number of government issues out there, it will take forever to deal with them with government seemingly focused on just one issue after the other.
With capable ministers, it should be possible to manage some files in parallel and get more done in a shorter space of time.
There could be more to Ed Byrne than parrying Liberal and NDP thrusts in the House and in the media.
