If he weren't so utterly annoying, the whiner from Renews Loyola Hearn would be the funniest member of parliament elected from this province since maybe Dave Rooney.
Dave used to spend most of his time as MP sending off entries to National Lampoon's "True Facts" page. Since it happened to be in his riding, Dave is the guy who sent the Lampoon the picture of the road sign that pointed to Dildo in one direction and Heart's Content in another.
Would that Loyola would send road signs out as news releases instead of the tripe he foists on the people of the riding he represents but doesn't even see fit to live in. Mr. Hearn has apparently described a budget bill tabled in the Commons on Thursday as the "sneakiest, lowest form of politics he's ever seen. " At least, that what the Telegram is reporting on Saturday.
The bill is an omnibus one, meaning it has a whole bunch of different subordinate ones inside the big bill. It is a budget measure so that if the government loses a vote on it, there would likely be an election.
Here's the truly laughable statement from Loyola, who has repeatedly assured us that his party will give Newfoundland and Labrador everything on the offshore it wants. Mr Hearn is apparently worried that "if something isn't done, the province may never see any of the $2 billion in Atlantic Accord funding."
How would that work exactly, Loyola? If the bill passes, the province gets all the money it signed on for. If the bill is defeated, we have an election. If the Liberals are returned to power, the bill gets passed and the province gets its money.
What happens if Mr. Hearn becomes a cabinet minister in a Harper government? Apparently, Loyola is worried he can't deliver the goods. Loyola knows that if the Tories get elected, the whole offshore deal is toast. We will get not a sausage; bugger all. Mr. Harper is committed to changing the Equalization formula, not to giving this province an offset deal like the one signed in January. That requires consent of all the provinces, so the chances of it happening are pretty slim.
So what Loyola is really saying is that we should work to get the Liberal bill through or get the Liberals re-elected because his guys just can't be trusted. The sneaky part of this whole exercise would be Loyola's assurances about the Cons supporting Loyola and the province on the offshore issue. The "lowest" part of this would be Loyola attacking the Liberals when he should be attacking his own guys or maybe apologizing to the people he represents for misleading them. Have I got that right, Loyola?
By the way, Mr. Harper also plans to sell off the Hibernia shares "for the good of all Canadians" as he put in in a letter to Danny Williams. Loyola doesn't want to talk about that, however.
Mr. Hearn: try telling the truth for once instead of launching into your partisan diatribes, most of which are built on saying things that are untrue, false and factually inaccurate.
If Loyola says this budget bill is the lowest thing he has seen, he knows of sneaky political behaviour. He has been witness to or perpetrated some of the lowest forms of political behaviour in Newfoundland history. Like, for example, slashing the Opposition budget as close to zero as possible after the 1982 election. One of Loyola's Tory buddies said the Liberals could go meet in a phone booth for all he cared. There went a democrat, hey, Loyola?
Of course, Loyola himself has been known to participate in some low forms of political behaviour.
Like spreading totally false information. His last constituency flyer issued right before the writ dropped for the 2004 election had some complete and utter falsehoods in it about the Atlantic Accord. Actually, throughout the Accord discussions, Mr. Hearn was fond of spreading misrepresentations and other falsehoods. They were all things Mr. Hearn knew to be untrue or ought to have known were untrue when he uttered them.
As for Mr. Hearn's behaviour during the campaign it was some of the most cowardly or arrogant behaviour imaginable. I can't decide which it is when the candidate runs on a platform of accountability and then steadfastly refuses to appear on any platform or at any event with any of his fellow candidates. I think the Mount Pearl Chamber of Commerce is still waiting for the arrogant Mr. Hearn to respond to their invitation to an all-candidates debate.
Some of us here in the riding thought of sending out search parties to find the little fellow from Renews when couldn't be found either campaigning or doing media interviews. He did participate in a CBC Radio forum but refused to show up in the studio with the others. Brave Mr. Hearn literally phoned it in.
Any guy who tells his constituents things that are simply not true in order to get ahead shouldn't be criticizing anyone else for anything.
If Mr. Hearn had an ounce of class, he'd apologize for his behaviour and then just clam up for a while.