Tom Hedderson would probably like a do-over. Responding to an opposition call for a ban on road-side pesticide use by Hedderson’s department, the minister compared the toxicity of the chemical defoliant his people use to table salt.
And table salt was worse!
In politics, that sort of comment can be demonstrably true but it can also be one of those moments where that truth doesn’t matter as much as other truths.
For those who missed it, here’s transportation minister Tom Hedderson explaining why the herbicide is safe as safe can be.
If you want to spend a few minutes in that altered state of consciousness called being a cabinet minister, take a listen to an interview transportation minister Tom Hedderson did back in October with CBC Radio’s West Coast Morning Show.
The interview is about damage claims people are filing after using sections of the Trans-Labrador Highway. Seems that they’ve been hitting potholes and are looking to have repairs paid for by the provincial government due to supposed inadequate maintenance and signage.
In the course of the interview, Hedderson acknowledges that increased traffic has caused increased wear and tear on the gravel road – yes it is a highway that has no pavement – but he insists that his department is doing everything it can to keep the road up to snuff. He also acknowledges that the road surface will deteriorate after a heavy rain.
So yes, there have been claims for damages but the department won’t be paying anything because – by its own decision – everything they are doing is adequate.
To sum up:
1. There are potholes.
2. There is no compensation.
There is no compensation because the same people responsible for maintaining the road are the same people who make the decision about whether or not they will pay. Hedderson just rubber stamps the decision by officials.
There’s even a Pythonesque moment right at the start where the interviewer asks Hedderson if they have in fact paid any claims to anyone at all. No, says Hedderson. Cheese vendor Michael Palin couldn’t have done any better.
Later on, Bernice Hillier asks Hedderson about “legitimate” claims since, apparently Hedderson had said earlier in the year the department would pay for legitimate complaints. “Legitimate” claims get paid, it seems.
Hedderson’s definition of a “legitimate” claim is basically one they’ve paid.
And since they haven’t paid any claims… draw your own conclusion.
That interview aired on October 28.
On October 26, Hedderson issued a news release announcing changes to the Labrador coastal boat service because of improvements in the road network.
"Now that there is a highway link connecting the communities currently served by this run, the time has come to discontinue the passenger and freight service between Lewisporte, Cartwright and Happy Valley-Goose Bay," said the Honourable Tom Hedderson, Minister of Transportation and Works. "This is a natural step in light of the approximately $275 million investment in Phases II and III of the TLH and is consistent with the delivery and maintenance of transportation infrastructure and services in other communities that are accessible by road.”
Wonderful stuff. People can drive around now on this highway. In fact, more people are using it and will use it in the future.
But they shouldn’t expect that government will compensate them for damage resulting from using the roads.
That is, unless they use “more legal type means”.
That would be Hedderson-speak for getting a lawyer and filing a damage suit in Provincial Court. Given the laughable way Hedderson handles complaints to his office, that might be a good idea. Hire a lawyer who will fight bureaucrats and their self-serving, circular logic.
Anyone ever heard of a lawyer like that?
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Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro chopped the power because of an unpaid bill by the previous owner.
Provincial fisheries lifted the plant license in a dispute over construction of a wastewater treatment system for the plant.
The provincial government apparently fronted the money, the preliminary work was done but the contractor wasn’t paid.
[Provincial fisheries] Minister [Tom] Hedderson said that Atlantech did the work and were ready to put the treatment equipment in the Gaultois plant. However, a serious problem arose when the company was not paid for its initial work. Basically, government gave GB Seafood International the first $182,000 of an approximate $400,000 project to pay for the work completed by Atlantech. However, the money was never paid to the PEI company and no one seems to know where the money is.
Read the rest from The Coaster.
The money for this little disaster came from a 2007 announcement by former fish minister Tom Rideout.
That would be the same one in which he announced construction of an aquaculture veterinary facility that would be finished by 2009.
They called the tender for construction this month.
And announced it again, not like Tom hadn’t already announced it at least once before.
Anyway…
Do the words due diligence mean anything to anyone any more?
The best line in The Coaster story is the one where it’s clear there’s nearly $200,000 of public cash gone and no one knows where it is.
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