The e-mail inbox these days is a bit like an Advent calendar.
Every day there is a little surprise.
The only difference between the e-mail and the Advent calendar is that the little surprises keep coming 24/7, 365 days a year.
Like this little blast from the cod war past, which includes some details on the 1987 deal with France that Brian Peckford forgot in his recent recitation of the "evidence" of cod being traded for other people's products to the supposed detriment of Newfoundland.
No wonder Danny called out a political hit on his predecessor last week. We can't have two 'bad-boys' of Confederation running around using the same tactics and same language, can we? people might actually start to realise how much of the Williams' schtick is just recycled Peckford.
The Montreal Gazette Wednesday, September 30, 1987, p. B4
Cod War heats up as Peckford trades shots with fellow Tories
ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. - ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - The northern cod is a grey- green fish with a barb under its chin, found in abundance in the chilly waters around Newfoundland.
Sometimes called Newfoundland currency, cod is to Newfoundland what wheat is to the Prairies, timber is to British Columbia and automobile plants are to Ontario. You don't mess with the cod fishery.
It's as emotional as the seal hunt, and as staunchly defended as the island's outmoded narrow-gauge railway. And as Newfoundland Premier Brian Peckford knows, cod makes good bait.
After learning this month that Canada had formally offered France some cod to settle a boundary dispute around the French-held islands of St. Pierre-Miquelon south of Newfoundland, Peckford pulled in his lines.
The self-described "bad boy of Confederation" said he was taking the Newfoundland government out of further involvement in the Canada-France negotiations. That put opposition parties on election alert and led senior Newfoundland MP John Crosbie into a political sparring match with Peckford, a fellow Conservative.
The Crosbie-Peckford clash, one of the high points of the so-called Cod War, has some Tories wondering about party unity and federal-provincial relations.
"I do think many people must be confused," said provincial Justice Minister Lynn Verge. Peckford says Newfoundland, Canada's poorest province, should not have to give up some of its cod to settle an international boundary dispute. France claims a 200-mile territorial limit around St. Pierre-Miquelon while Canada recognizes a 12-mile boundary.
For the past two weeks, the sometimes wild-eyed premier has been using television, radio and newspaper ads, including a 15-minute prime-time television broadcast, to urge Newfoundlanders to "stand tall" on the issue.
Crosbie staged a similar 15-minute province-wide broadcast Monday, accusing Peckford of engineering a phoney crisis.
The amount of cod formally offered in negotiations so far is less than what the French are now taking out of Canadian waters under an agreement with the European Community that ends this year, the federal transport minister said.
Crosbie also said the French have the right to take Canadian fish under a 1972 agreement. Peckford says that agreement doesn't specify the French can have cod - the most sought-after species on the Grand Banks.
If a settlement of the St. Pierre-Miquelon boundary is not negotiated, the dispute may go to international arbitration. Crosbie says Canada could then lose more fish than it has offered.
Peckford's actions have made the provincial Liberals and New Democrats nervous. In the past, Peckford has called elections on emotion-charged battles such as the offshore oil agreement.
But Norman Whelan, provincial Liberal party president, doubts the Cod War is enough to hang an election on, especially since offshore oil activity is at a standstill, the provincial debt is skyrocketing and Peckford is only 2 1/2 years into his term.
"He hopes to create a wrap-yourself-in-the-flag issue so he can win another election," said Whelan. "I don't think he's going to, because it ain't flying."
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