Jackson must have hoped that his readers have not read Mr. Justice Halley's recent decision in Ruelokke v. Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and that they are generally ignorant of the issues involved in the offshore board. Certainly Jackson has not read the decision nor does he display much knowledge of the offshore board. (We'll leave aside his apparently naive view of governments and their actions being always in the best interests of the citizenry.)
Even a brief examination of its [the offshore board's] short-lived history unveils a litany of disappointments. The board has failed to show the same kind of vigilance in localizing job opportunities exhibited by its counterparts in the North Sea industry.In the 20 year history of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, it has done exactly what it was intended to do in the Atlantic Accord (1985). That is, the board has regulated the offshore industry.
Jackson does not see fit to provide a litany of of these supposed disappointments. He mentions only one - engineering jobs on the Terra Nova project and recites the story of Andy Wells and the FOGO group. However, when Jackson - and others - talk of benefits they conveniently forget that the negotiation of offshore benefits lies solely where it should: at the feet of politicians. If they have a problem with Terra Nova or any other project then they should be looking to politicians to deal with it. The decision on the engineering jobs was made not by the chairman of the offshore board but by Premier Brian Tobin and his energy minister. Jackson's entire argument on this point is nothing short of a fiction.
In the current matter, Jackson finds Mr. Justice Halley's decision troubling in this respect:
A decision earlier this month by Justice Raymond Halley confirmed Ruelokke's appointment, but it contained highly contemptuous language in describing the province's stand. And by straying off course and attacking Wells' credentials, Halley's decision took on an almost personal tone.However, Halley did not "stray off course". His comments on Wells' lack of qualification essentiallyally an aside, a comment. The core of Halley's decision focused on the central issue. It details the process involved in Max Ruelokke's appointment and Halley makes his decision based entirely on the facts presented to him.
Halley's characterization of the treatment Ruelokke received, while strong, is entirely justified. Anyone who has read the decision - Jackson evidently not being one of them - could hardly fault Halley for his conclusion or for the powerful words he used to condemn the arbitrary and contradictory nature of the provincial government's position.
As for his concern over Wells' hurt feelings, Jackson would do well to remember that it was not Mr. Justice Halley but rather the three-member arbitration panel which determined Andy Wells was not qualified for the job at hand. They made the decision based on criteria established by the provincial government.
Jackson has built no case here akin to Ghandi's India or the American south in the 1960s. In fact, basis of his argument is nothing more than a recitation of the mythology of the Upper Churchill contract. According to Jackson, Danny Williams would be justified in subverting due process - the rule of law - because of the Upper Churchill demon. (For the record, Jackson misstates the issues involved in the reference and the Supreme Court's decision.) Something drooling under the bed, though, is no justification for the fundamentally undemocratic notion Peter Jackson proposes.
Simply put, Jackson is fundamentally wrong. Politics should never trump the law. The rule of law is the bedrock on which our society - our democracy - is built. Each of us - especially politicians and the government - must be bound by the law. This is the underpinning of Mr. Justice Halley's decision and the Premier would do well to abide the decision as he committed to do.
To do otherwise - to succumb to the facile arguments offered by editor Jackson - would be to return our province to the very darkest of times, when a single politician could rule by decree and few, including the Telegram's editor at the time, would dare challenge his autocratic regime.
Not since Duplessis' Quebec has a newspaper editor written such a spirited endorsement of dictatorship as Peter jackson offers. He should only hope that his morally bankrupt argument does not come back to haunt him and his employer. Jackson should only hope that on Monday morning his boss does not ask him to explain why he shouldn't have won a lawsuit against the provincial government a decade ago when he too found the actions of a provincial government intolerable.
As for the rest of us, we should hope that Jackson's views are not widely held. If they are, then our province is in for a very difficult - and undemocratic - time of things.
For the record, here is Jackson's column in its entirety:
The law is not always right
There are many instances in Newfoundland and Labrador's history where the rule of law has not represented the best interests of the province's citizens. This is particularly true when it comes to federal rulings on matters of provincial concern.
Perhaps the most glaring example of this is the Churchill Falls contract signed by Joey Smallwood in 1969. The benefits have been pouring across the border to Quebec ever since.
In the early 1980s, the province was defending in federal Supreme Court a recently passed water reversion act which, in effect, would have returned water rights and benefits of Churchill Falls to the province.
The province's argument - a convincing one, by any standards - was that the hydro contract violated the basic constitutional right of provinces to maintain control over their own natural resources.
In 1984, the Supreme Court overturned the act. The judges ruled that the province overstepped its jurisdiction because the intent of the act was to nullify an interprovincial contract with a federally registered company.
That this was the intent of the act could hardly be surprising; governments tend to act in the best interests of their constituents. What was surprising, however, was that the Supreme Court concluded a commercial contract took precedence over the fundamental constitutional principle of resource ownership. (I'd be remiss not to point out, yet again, that former Newfoundland premier Clyde Wells was a lawyer arguing against this province in that case.)
People in this province know the Churchill Falls deal is morally and politically repugnant, and many still believe its constitutionality is dubious. But we have had to put up and shut up for almost 40 years because the federal courts insist we must.
There is a similar scent of court-imposed oppression in the current kerfuffle over Max Ruelokke and his supposed iron-clad right to take the helm of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (CNLOPB).
I'm sure Ruelokke is an intelligent, honourable man, and his credentials - on the surface, at least - seem to back up his selection by a third-party panel to lead the board.
Crucial role
But the CNLOPB plays a crucial regulatory role in the development of offshore oil, and it is therefore an agency over which the provincial government wants to exert as much influence as possible.
If this sounds like political interference, it's not. The CNLOPB is the very embodiment of the Atlantic Accord, which grants joint management of the offshore resource between the federal and provincial governments. And for too long, it seems to have had very little teeth when it comes to ensuring that the spirit of the Atlantic Accord - according maximum benefits to this province - is upheld.
Even a brief examination of its short-lived history unveils a litany of disappointments. The board has failed to show the same kind of vigilance in localizing job opportunities exhibited by its counterparts in the North Sea industry.
Premier Danny Williams has steadfastly insisted he wants to see St. John's Mayor Andy Wells take the board's top job - or at least share the job by splitting the CEO and chairman positions.
His rationale is obvious. Back in the late 1990s, Wells founded a lobby group called Friends of Gas Offshore (FOGO) which fought the transferring of 250 engineering jobs to England by the Terra Nova developers.
Over the ensuing years, FOGO lobbied to prevent a floating platform design for the White Rose project, even going so far as to launch legal action.
Given the CNLOPB's apparent impotence in defending the province's interests, Williams can hardly be blamed for wanting someone outspoken at the helm rather than another scion of the oil industry. (Ruelokke's only involvement in provincial politics was a stint as deputy minister of energy.)
A decision earlier this month by Justice Raymond Halley confirmed Ruelokke's appointment, but it contained highly contemptuous language in describing the province's stand. And by straying off course and attacking Wells' credentials, Halley's decision took on an almost personal tone.
Nonetheless, the courts - barring an appeal - have had the last word. It appears the Williams government, like many administrations before it, has little choice but to bow before the unbendable will of judicial impulse.
Sometimes, politics should trump the law.
Peter Jackson is The Telegram's features editor. He can be reached by e-mail at pjackson@thetelegram.com.