In 1969, the province’s major daily newspaper proudly declared that the contract to develop Churchill Falls was a good thing:
Fears that Newfoundland came out on the short end of the stick in the agreement to develop Churchill Falls appear to be unfounded.
In fact, Newfoundland fares quite well, although it may appear otherwise on the surface.
At the same time, the paper’s John Carter did acknowledge that the “$950 million project in Labrador… probably would have come earlier had it not been for Premier J.R. Smallwood's uncontrolled outbursts of provincialism...”.
Fast forward four decades and it is clear that, to paraphrase Premier Danny Williams from Thursday’s dog and pony show, the experience of that disastrous contract has surely taught everyone in the province a few lessons on what not to do the next time.
Over at the Telegram, they learned their lesson very well about waiting until they had an actual agreement to study before heaping on the praise. Friday’s editorial begins with these sober and cautious words:
Lower Churchill is no longer a dream. It’s a reality.
Uh huh.
Right.
And the editorial accepts every single statement by every single government official from Thursday without question at all.
Lesson learned, indeed.
- srbp -