The most important implications of the Trimper Affair escaped notice.
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In the midst of all the public commentary about the
Trimper affair last week – strikingly racist as it was in some respects – even
the people ostensibly supporting the Innu missed the most obvious and most
meaningful aspects of it.
The most striking was the skillful way in which the
Innu Nation organization obliterated Perry Trimper as a political force and
imposed its will on southern politicians from all parties. The Innu Nation project against Trimper displayed
a sophisticated understanding of how the media works in the province, a solid
appreciation of the weaknesses of the governing Liberals under Dwight Ball, the
organizational cohesion to implement a simple but effective plan, and, above
all the will to do it.
Equally compelling to watch was the speed with which
the Premier’s Office slit Trimper’s political throat. While
southern newsrooms and Twitterati neither knew about nor cared about the wider
context of the story that unfolded in front of them last week, Dwight Ball and his
staff either knew or ought to have known.
After all, Ball had brought Trimper back to cabinet
only the week before he resigned. The
environment side of Trimper’s portfolio would bring him in direct contact with
the sensitive issue of Muskrat Falls and others throughout Labrador and
Newfoundland that would involve dealing with organizations representing Indigenous
people.
Certainly, Ball and his staff would have noticed that
Trimper took – literally – a dozen votes out of Sheshatshiu in the general
elections. Of the two polls in the
community, Trimper got five in one and seven in the other. His Conservative opponent garnered 238
votes. An unaffiliated candidate took
three votes in each poll.
Ball and his staff, admittedly down by three key
people since the election, should have anticipated problems might come up with
Trimper. Yet, Ball brought him back to
cabinet and at the very first sign of trouble, Ball disowned his minister. Ball’s
statement issued Thursday evening said - in effect – that Trimper did not
represent the government. The statement
was blunt and simple.
