Wade Locke and Don Mills are two of the faces most associated with the current Conservative administration in Newfoundland and Labrador, aside from the politicians, that is.
Mills played a key role in Danny Williams administration. Mills polling firm provided government with quarterly surveys. Williams also tried to manipulate Mills’ survey results for questions on local politics that Mills used to market his research company.
The quarterly polling was key to Williams efforts to silence dissent and maximize his own freedom of political action. The more popular Williams became, the less likely were any opposition politicians or news media to question his decisions.
And for everyone else, the Conservative message was that any dissidents were out of step with the majority of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Mills’ polling purportedly showed that Williams and his party were popular to an unheard of degree. “He’s right because he’s popular and he’s popular because he is right,” was a common Conservative talking point.
That’s why it has been so interesting the past few months that Mills has been criticising the provincial Conservatives in Newfoundland and Labrador.
