A symbol of failure. A reason to change. #nlpoli

A couple of weeks ago, the St. John’s media devoted huge amounts of of the reporting space to the death of a woman who spent most of her time beating the streets of St.  John’s.

The word the news writers settled on to describe her was “iconic”.  People started a Facebook group about her and talked of making a collection to build a statue or do something else to mark her life.

There was a real sense to the reporting that suggested people didn't understand the meaning of the word “icon” any more than they knew the woman’s name.  She went by “Trixie” but one of the fascinating trends inside the story itself was the way the news outlets had to edit their stories as people came forward to tell them what her real name was. And then others came forward to tell them that the real name was not the real name they’d been reporting but another one.

Few people knew who she really was, as it turned out. 

Socially-responsible reporting trumps irresponsible government every time #nlpoli

For starters, the messenger the provincial government comms geniuses selected to scold CBC wasn’t their best possible choice.

Well, not if demonstrated credibility was the goal.

Charlene Johnson has a long history of bungling as well as a rep for coming off as condescending and arrogant without even the slightest possible justification for being so.  

She is, as SRBP put it before, Nicola Murray but without the political oomph.

Food bank use up in Newfoundland and Labrador

Our poverty reduction strategy has been nationally acclaimed.

-  Premier Danny Williams, National Post, August 2010*

Food bank use in Newfoundland and Labrador is higher in 2010 than it was a decade ago, according to a new report released on Tuesday by Food Banks Canada, the national organisation of community food support organizations.

Food banks across the province serve six percent of the population, the highest ratio of any province in Canada.

Food bank use in Newfoundland and Labrador is up 3% from 2009.  According to the annual Hungercount, 71% of food bank users in the province receive provincial government income support,  14% receive employment insurance and 10% reported employment income. The Newfoundland and Labrador portion of the report was prepared by Eg Walters, head of the province’s Community Food Sharing Network.

For the third year in a row, we have seen an increase in the demand for
food bank services throughout Newfoundland & Labrador. While it may be argued that it is only a modest 3% increase, this, combined with previous years’ figures, shows a continued upward trend on the demand for food aid.

- srbp -

* This is the same article in which Williams tied his own political philosophy to that of the Reform Party: 

“On his own brand of Red Tory-ism We have a Reform-based Conservative Party which is probably ideologically more right-wing. I’m very fiscally conservative. What I wanted to do in Newfoundland and Labrador was get our fiscal situation under control. We were headed to bankruptcy six years ago. Now we’re a have-province. That’s the fiscally conservative side.

On the other side, I’m very socially conscious. Our poverty reduction strategy has been nationally acclaimed. We’ve doubled our health-care budget. We’ve put a lot of money into education. I felt our transportation and communication infrastructure was very important. I’m trying to give us all the basics to succeed after a non-renewable oil [resource] moves on.”

Guaranteed Annual Income

The Globe and Mail version by Kevin Milligan.

From the 1992 Strategic Economic Plan, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s idea for income support reform as a means of promoting fundamental economic and social transformation:

The unemployment insurance system was originally intended to provide temporary income to people seeking alternative employment who had lost their regular jobs in the work force. The system was not designed to provide basic income support, or as supplemental income for short-term, seasonal jobs. The present downturn in the economy has pointed to weaknesses in this system which must be addressed and corrected.

Strategy Statement. The Province will work with the Federal Government to ensure that the inevitable changes to the current income security system are designed so that basic income support is provided to every household, and that weaknesses in the present system are corrected to encourage the economic growth that is needed to reduce dependency on income security itself.

- srbp -