Not fit for it, indeed #nlpoli

Once upon a time not so long ago, you would think politics in this province was a mash up of  Nineteen eighty-four and Animal Farm.

These days,  the Orwellian times in which Danny Williams thrived seem a kindergarten compared to the Franz Kafka novel which we now inhabit.

"Before any election the [Auditor General] should make public the financial state of the province,"  some fellow said on Twitter Wednesday morning. 

"This should be done yearly by a non-partisan person. hold the gov accountable, TO US VOTERS,"  said another fellow in reply.

"It's already done,"  said one of the Known Critics.  "It's called the Public Accounts [issued by the Auditor General every year]."

"REALLY???"  replied the US VOTERS guy.  "Liberals say this, PC'S say that.. which is it? who do ya believe?"

Stop your “more for me please” rants, Dundernomics edition #nlpoli

Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador is nothing if it is not funny.

Last week, Premier Kathy Dunderdale warned the crowd running the province’s fish processing industry  - and everyone else in the province too - that they can’t “constantly turn to government” to fix every problem out there.

So on Monday, the people who prompted her to make that decision – Ocean Choice International – is meeting with provincial officials to discuss what sort of cash the province is going to cough up to help workers affected by OCI’s decision to close two of its fish plants.

As VOCM reported:

Ocean Choice International is meeting with government today about support for a worker adjustment program. The company announced Friday it was folding their operations in Marystown and Port Union, affecting 410 employees. President and CEO, Martin Sullivan, says financial assistance to an adjustment program for workers is part of an overall package to be defined in consultation with government and the FFAW. He says it's priority number one for OCI. The company plans to work with the affected towns in the future. Sullivan says if their properties in Marystown or Port Union can become part of the solution to the community economic development, then they are more then willing to discuss the options with the communities.

And without any sense of hypocrisy, irony or even humour, Premier Kathy Dunderdale joined with her fellow Atlantic Premiers on Monday to demand that the federal government cough up more cash for health care, among other things.

Again, from voice of the cabinet minister:

Atlantic premiers want the federal government to put more money into social transfers to help cover the rising cost of delivering health care.

The four premiers met in St.John's today to talk about a number of issues including the amount of money they receive from the federal government. A joint communiqué calls on the feds to cover 25 per cent of the cost of delivering health care. Their share currently is at about 20 per cent. There will be a First Ministers conference in January at which time social transfers and other issues will come up for discussion.

The premiers are also concerned about federal debt reduction. They would rather see cuts made first in the National Capital Region than the Atlantic Provinces.

Stop your “more for me please, rants” indeed.

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Like sands through the hour glass…

Adios John Hickey, the Pavement Putin of the Permafrost.

The ever-troublesome labradore offered a fitting tribute to Hickey as leaves politics.

The staunch defender of the Muskrat Falls megadebt project won’t like people being reminded of his position a decade ago when another Premier had a better deal, at least as far as the taxpayers of the province would be concerned.

labradore offers a copy of the letter then-Goose Bay mayor John Hickey sent to then-Premier Roger Grimes conveying the position of the town council on Grimes’ potential deal.

Among Council’s reasons for rejecting the development of Gull Island and Muskrat Falls together without saddling the province with massive debt, jacking up domestic electricity prices and shipping discount power to people outside Newfoundland and Labrador?

For starters, they wanted a written guarantee 500 megawatts of power would be available for development in Labrador.   In the Muskrat Falls plan, there is no written guarantee and the thing won’t produce enough power to ship to Nova Scotia for free, to the island and still give Hickey 500 megs for Labrador.  It’s not possible.

Then they wanted direct industrial development in the Lake Melville region from the project.  Again, the Muskrat Falls project offers exactly nada on that one.

Lastly, Council wanted to make sure that ALCOA would have what he termed a “competitive opportunity” to build a smelter in Labrador. 

Again:  goose egg.

Wasn’t Leo Abbass a member of Council back then?

Maybe someone should ask him if that 2002 letter still represents his resolute position.

 

 

.

What am I supporting today? asks Abbass

Happy Valley-Goose Bay mayor Leo Abbass thinks it is just smurfy that his provincial Conservative friends won’t be spending money on a new prison in central Newfoundland.

According to voice of the cabinet minister:

Happy Valley-Goose Bay's Leo Abbass … is in favour of using the money for programs, services and housing, rather than for building another prison.

Abbass’ commitment to social programs would explain why he supported the federal Conservatives in the recent federal election and their agenda of building more prisons.

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All good Tories flocking together…again

Some people seem to think that having a bunch of provincial and federal Conservatives all gathered together trading sloppy kisses is news.

How short some memories are.

In 2004, the provincial Conservatives sort of helped their federal cousins out.  They sort of helped them because – while there was no instruction to stay away – the provincial guys were trying to court the Liberals to get a couple of billion in cash.  They weren’t interested in causing waves at a time when federal Conservatives couldn’t form government.

In 2006, things were different.  Every provincial Conservative and their dog worked hard for their federal cousins.

How hard?

Well, some of you may recall a series of print ads showing provincial cabinet and caucus member gathered with some of their buddies.  Apologies for the poor quality scans.

Here’s the way your humble e-scribbler put it in the original post back in 2008:

“The guy seated on the far right of the picture is Loyola Sullivan, the finance minister at the time.  He quit federal politics not long after this picture only to take up a job with the federal Conservatives.

The guy behind him is former speaker Harvey Hodder.  He retired before the 2007 provincial election.

Immediately to Loyola Hearn's right is Sheila Osborne, part of the Osborne-Ridgley political machine.

The guy standing right behind Loyola Hearn - with that great big grin on his face - is Bob Ridgley, brother of Sheila. You will recall him as the Conservative who supported Belinda Stronach for leader even though, by his own words, he thought she was "shallow as a saucer".

Bob is now Danny Williams' parliamentary assistant.

The other two guys are - left to right - Shawn Skinner and Dave Denine. Skinner is the provincial human resources cabinet minister and Denine is looking after municipal affairs.

You'll recall Skinner was taken to the woodshed by Danny Williams for going off the ABC message track.  He was made to apologize publicly for his transgression.

Denine's had a few problems of his own, but never for doing something that went against orders from the top.

Interesting picture that, if only because it makes you wonder when they line up behind a candidate if they really do it out of personal choice or if they have been directed by some authority or other.

Makes you wonder that if they lend you support do they expect a quid pro quo, a back scratch in return.

…”

Prophetic, no?

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Harper and coalitions

Without hypocrisy, some political leaders wouldn’t have anything to stand for.

Last night, a post from 2008  - “Taking power without an election” - suddenly found renewed popularity.

Given Stephen Harper’s condemnation of coalitions after he dropped by the Governor General’s place on Saturday, it becomes all the more hysterically funny to recall that in 2004, Steve thought coalitions were the cat’s ass.  They were just the answer the GG should give if the prime minister came a-calling looking for an election writ.

Coalition governments are bad.

Unless Steve is heading one.

Then they are good.

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Fried Clyde dumps Danny’s fish policy

Remember earlier in the month when fisheries minister Clyde Jackman abandoned the fisheries reform process?

Let’s just take a jump back to something that stood out from his newser at the time:

What Jackman did mention one too many times for comfort was the idea that some people think time will take care of the whole thing.  In other words, in an industry dominated by people rapidly approaching retirement, most of the people who would be “restructured” will simply leave the industry on their own if nothing else happens. He also talked about signs that prices might be climbing again soon, perhaps another clue as to what some in the provincial government might be hoping for.

No surprise, then, that Jackman is on the front page of the Telegram on Tuesday with this to say:

“…how can I justify, going forward looking for $190 million dollars, to justify a 30 per cent reduction (in harvesting), when the report clearly says that if you leave it alone it will restructure to an even greater degree than the ask that the FFAW put forward?”

How indeed, except that there is a difference in sheer human cost between an organized series of cuts and the wholesale slaughter that may well leave nothing much in the fishery to restructure when it is all over. You can see the same thread running through the front end of the letter Jackman sent to the processors and the union representing fish-plant workers and fishermen, now called “harvesters” in polite circles.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Jackman’s letter is that he winds up abandoning the position he and his colleagues championed for seven years. Gone is taxpayer-funded bailouts and buyouts.  In two successive federal elections, Jackman and his colleagues tried to get commitment after federal commitment to doing just that.

What’s even more bizarre  - some might say disingenuous - about the Dunderdale’s government’s supposed concern for public spending is that it doesn’t apply to things like Muskrat Falls. 

It’s also a bizarre strategy to take in an election year especially when there are so many rural seats the Tories currently hold but where their grip might be weakening a bit.

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It’s not sexism

It’s just more of Bob Wakeham’s usual bullshit.

Yvonne Jones became leader of the Liberal Party through acclamation, not a bonafide leadership convention. …

Lorraine Michael had a leadership contest with a political nobody, and won her party’s leadership in a proceeding  in which a mere 100 or so delegates cast ballots, not exactly a history-making, barn-burner of a race.

…

If there are cheers to be hollered from inside the ranks of those who have diligently fought the good fight for women, or if Newfoundlanders wish to pat themselves on the back for an enlightened view of gender equality, then I would suggest the appropriate time, the most meaningful time, would occur when and if women have fought it out tooth and nail in the kind of process that have elevated men to roles of governance.

Meanwhile, Bob makes no observation about how his recently departed hero got his political job.

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Health care and a politician’s privacy

Now:

The Premier, as well as every one of the rest of us, has a right to privacy.

and

"You forgo a lot of privacy when you put your hand up to do this job but there are certain areas of your life that are sacrosanct," [Deputy Premier Kathy Dunderdale]  said.

but back then?

Well, let’s just say things were different.

Extremely different.

One example, an official news release:

Williams provides update on medical condition

ST. JOHN'S, May 20, 2003 — Danny Williams, Leader of the Opposition and MHA for Humber West, today provided an update on his medical condition. Williams was admitted to hospital on Wednesday, May 13, suffering from severe back pain. He was permitted to leave the hospital over the weekend while his physicians awaited the results of medical tests. However, his mobility was severely limited.

"The physicians and staff of St. Clare's have conducted tests to determine what is causing the pain. They believe it is the result of inflamed tissue in my back. Tomorrow, [May 21, 2003] they will perform back surgery to try and alleviate the pain," Williams said.

While recovery time will depend upon the extent and nature of the surgery, Williams' back problem is not expected to have a long-term impact on his political career. "I expect a full recovery and look forward to serving the people of Newfoundland and Labrador for many years to come. However, any type of surgery and subsequent recovery should be treated very seriously. I will follow the instructions of my doctor with regards to recovery time and physical activity and won't do anything to compromise my long-term health and well-being.

"I respectfully ask for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador to be understanding of the fact that I will be temporarily out of the office while this back problem is being addressed. However, I am in regular contact with my staff and caucus and am still able to perform my duties as the MHA for Humber West, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador.

"I want to thank the staff at St. Clare’s for their first-rate care and medical treatment. They have been extremely professional and I am very appreciative of their efforts. I would also like to thank all the people who have left messages of support. My family and I take great comfort in knowing that so many people are thinking of us."

Followed by another:

Williams undergoes successful back surgery

ST. JOHN'S, May 21, 2003 — Danny Williams, Leader of the Opposition and MHA for Humber West, today underwent successful surgery to alleviate severe back pain. Williams was admitted to hospital on Wednesday, May 14, and is expected to remain there for several days as part of his recovery.

During the complicated operation, which lasted more than two hours, doctors removed a mass of tissue from his back that was believed to be the source of his pain. As a standard precautionary procedure, this tissue will be analyzed over the next 48 hours. Williams is now fully conscious and resting in hospital with his family.

While Mr. Williams is expected to make a complete recovery, his physicians will work with him over the coming days to develop a comprehensive rehabilitation program. That rehabilitation program will determine when he is able to return to the office and resume his provincial tour schedule. In the interim, he continues to be in regular contact with his staff and caucus.

"I ask people to understand that while I may not be able to travel throughout the province in the short term, I will continue to fully discharge my duties as MHA for Humber West, Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador. I will do everything possible to work with my doctors to expedite my rehabilitation program and I look forward to a complete and prompt recovery," Williams said.

The Williams family would like to sincerely thank the physicians and staff at St. Clare's for their professional care and treatment. They would also like to thank the countless people who have sent messages of support and encouragement. The family is truly touched by such a wonderful outpouring of emotion.

And then another…

Williams receives excellent prognosis for recovery

ST. JOHN'S, May 26, 2003 — Danny Williams, Leader of the Opposition and MHA for Humber West, today provided an update on his medical condition. Williams was admitted to St. Clare's Emergency Department Wednesday, May 14, and underwent surgery Wednesday, May 21, to alleviate severe pain that was being caused by a mass of tissue in his back.

"My physicians are very pleased with the surgery and expect me to make a full recovery. In fact, I am already able to take short walks in the hospital. All tests to date have been completed and the results were extremely favourable. Doctors say that I am making excellent and steady progress, but given the nature of the surgery, complete recovery could take upwards of six weeks. They have developed a rehabilitation program that involves rest, appropriate physical exercise and physiotherapy. I will strictly adhere to that program and will do everything possible to expedite my recovery," Williams said.
As a result of the surgery, Williams is experiencing normal post-operative pain. He is continuing to receive medical treatment in hospital and is being re-evaluated on a day-to-day basis to determine an appropriate discharge date.

"Given that physicians are advising me not to travel in the immediate future, I will be asking a number of our MHAs to represent me and the party at various functions throughout the province. With the exception of travel, I expect to be able to conduct all of my duties as Leader of the Opposition, MHA for Humber West and Leader of the PC Party of Newfoundland and Labrador while working from my office at home."

Williams once again thanked the physicians and staff of St. Clare's for their outstanding medical care. "I don't think a person can truly appreciate the remarkable efforts put forward by our health care workers until they are able to experience it first hand. These dedicated professionals work very hard to provide quality care to their patients. My family and I are very grateful for their efforts. We would also like to thank the thousands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who have called or sent cards with their support. Such kind gestures will never be forgotten."

There is no record that the premier’s personality cult voiced any objections to these news releases or the subsequent news coverage.

-srbp-

Spin doctor: heal thyself

Danny Williams is miffed that Eastern Health issued a news release Friday that included information that 38 more people had been identified who should have had their cancer screening tests redone.

Well, miffed is not the right word. He’s pissed off.

To quote the Premier:

"It's disgraceful. They should be shot over there."

Now that’s bad enough.

Just imagine just for a second if someone – in an authentic and understandable rage - had used those very words to described, for argument’s sake, the inactions of ministers or other officials a wee bit closer to the Premier’s heart than the bureaucrats at Eastern Health.

Okay, that’s a fairly obvious bit of Danny Williams’ favourite standard: the double one. He’s also practicing his other art: spin doctoring.

Then he added this bit:

"This is about people's lives … They have a right to be told," Williams said. "They have a right to be told in a proper manner. There has to be proper disclosure; there has to be someone there to answer questions. It's not something you do at the tail end of a Friday afternoon."

He’s right about that much.

And he’s right that the crucial bit of hard news ought not to have been buried in a news release that, as it would seem, was deliberate structured in all respects to obscure the kernel of news that directly affected people’s lives.

But to be perfectly frank, on a go backwards basis, it’s not like a whole raft of people much closer to the Premier’s political and administrative heart than the Eastern Health crew haven’t done exactly the same thing at least once before.

The culprits: Jerome Kennedy and the crew in government comms.

The incident: the risk of identity theft, not to forget potential disclosure of the details of medical records over the Internet.

The time: January 2008.

The news release: hard news buried at paragraph seven of an 11 paragraph news release.

Can we really fault people for following the examples offered by the tone at the top?

Say it ain't so update: The irrepressible fountain of uncomfortable truths, otherwise known as labradore, has compiled the Chronicles of Ridicule, that is, the litany of examples of the current administration releasing information late on a Friday or at other odd times when no one is available to comment.

He missed a couple on Equalization within the last six months, of course, but that's for another time.

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The rules only apply to other people

Michael Walker is right when he draws this analogy to Danny Williams’ expropriation bill:

Under the terms of the monopoly that Mr. Williams eventually abandoned — in return, reportedly, for a couple hundred million dollars — Newfoundlanders in his area were compelled by force of federal law to use no other television delivery system than the one that Mr. Williams provided. Satellite dishes which brought “illegal” television signals to their owners also brought the RCMP to seize the illegal dishes and charge the owners. Now, presumably Mr. Williams would claim that he owned the license to exploit Newfoundlanders in this way and he had every right to sell it. In fact, he would probably agree that if there had not been a system of laws ensuring him of his right to sell the right to exploit he would not have invested the money in the monopoly in the first place. “To attract capital investment in such activities, governments have to create the rule of law to make the environment attractive for the investors,” he would have had to agree.

Poor Michael just misses the crucial point:  in Newfoundland and Labrador, the rules only apply to everyone else.  If Danny Williams had every been treated the way he treats other people, you’d never hear the end of the screaming and moaning.

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Sponsorship of Connie hypocrisy

From the Calgary Herald, news that more money was spent by Canada's New Harpocrisy on Canada Day celebrations in Quebec than in the rest of the country combined.

The bill for celebrating our birthday

Calgary Herald, July 1, 2007

OTTAWA - If today's Canada Day parties seem a bit more festive in Quebec, thank the federal government. Over half of all federal "Celebrate Canada" funding is directed to Quebec-based events, government records show.

More than $3.7 million will pay for flag-raisings, fireworks, face-painting and other projects across the province, accounting for 55 per cent of the funds channelled through Celebrate Canada.

In contrast, funding for national holiday events in the rest of the country totals just over $3 million.

Celebrate Canada was created to fund citizen-initiated events for Canada Day, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Multiculturalism Day and National Aboriginal Day. The Department of Canadian Heritage says Quebec receives a larger share of money for holiday celebrations because its provincial government doesn't fund Canada Day events.

The bulk of money goes to Quebec's Canada Day organizing committee, which is set to receive $3.2 million for events in Montreal and 27 other municipalities around the province in 2007-08. The theme of the events this year is "Tip of the Hat to the Environment."

The organizing committee in Alberta, meanwhile, will receive $50,000 in federal funds. Ontario's committee will get $100,000 and British Columbia's $190,000, according to figures released by Canadian Heritage.

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Canada Day funding by province

Quebec $3,690,786
Ontario $1,013,500
British Columbia $491,250
Alberta $310,250
Manitoba $211,000
Saskatchewan $174,294
Nova Scotia $173,250
New Brunswick $172,000
Newfoundland & Labrador $148,000
Prince Edward Island $123,000
Yukon $87,000
Northwest Territories $76,650
Nunavut $64,300

TOTAL $6,735,280

-srbp-

Connies write off three NL ridings

A news release like this one virtually guarantees the seven seats in Newfoundland and Labrador will represented by someone other than a Conservative after the next federal election.

It confirms that federal government will be altering the 1985 and 2005 offshore agreements if and when the Newfoundland and Labrador government adopts the new Equalization program, something they never mentioned until caught at it last week.

How many times have the federal Conservatives said there were or would be no caps on the Atlantic Accord?

Surprise.

It isn't a cap.

It's a hood.

Around Bond Papers, we've been callin' 'em Connies for a couple of years.

Seems they are Connies.

Trying to con people into giving them votes.

Danny Williams must be especially rotted, seeing as he threw his lot in with these guys, even though it was painfully obvious at the time what the result would be.

Danny Williams even attributed things to Harper that Harper never even said, all in an effort to get Harper a few seats.

Wow.

That's gotta hurt.

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Update: Among the others like Danny Williams smarting at the latest Harper political shaft must be the local talk show maven who sometimes calls herself Hydroqueen.

She spent a lot of time shilling for Steve Harper and his local candidates during the last federal election.

She even invented bizarre political theories to bolster her argument. Hydroqueen was wrong in the theory and, as it turns out, in the practice as well.

Maybe we need to start a special Homer Simpson gallery of people who backed Harper in 2005, lambasted any Liberal in sight on a purely partisan basis, and who today are feeling just a wee bit used.

Update Update: Yet another person who fell for the Connie job. Well, "fell" doesn't accurately describe someone who actually reworked reality in an effort to back his cause, but let's be generous.

An abuse of public money

Hiring a separatist to handle a dirty little partisan job speaks volumes about the administration that set up the latest witch-hunt.

This matter has been investigated thoroughly by an impartial and competent official.

What was announced today is an abuse of public funds.

Update: The federal public works minister apparently picked Daniel Paille from a list he drew up of people he considered qualified.

Qualified to do what, exactly, aside from do a dirty little job at public expense?

No competition.

Imagine.

Update Update: And just when it couldn't get worse for M. O'Brien and les autres Harperites - Paul Wells.

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