What Harper got in writing

At the upcoming first ministers meeting, expect to hear the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador talk a lot about what he got in writing from Steve Harper.

What you won't hear the diminutive, dyspeptic Dannyboy say is what Harper got in writing from him:

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is advocating...(3) comprehensive revenue coverage (which would include, in full, all renewable and non-renewable natural resources)... [Emphasis added]

Don't expect Williams to head for the parapets in defence of that one; which of course makes John Crosbie's observations all the more prescient.

Adios Jim-bo

Jim Hodder announced his resignation from the House of Assembly today, for health reasons.

He becomes the third Tory to pull pin in little over a month, thereby forcing Premier Danny Williams to call no fewer than three by-elections by the middle of March.

Other names are due to come just as they will for the Liberals too. The thing is it is so strange for a first-term party fresh off years on the opposition benches to suffer attrition at such a rate. Including the three already declared, Bond Papers has about another seven names who either won't run again or who are in danger of losing their seats for one reason of another.

A year ago that list of Tories dead or on life support was completely blank.

Hodder deserves a proper send-off, for this is second retirement from politics.

Hodder was first elected in 1975 as a Liberal, crossed the floor in the 1980s to sit with the Conservatives and subsequently served in Peckford's cabinet. After resigning from politics in the 1990s he ran again after a brief absence and was re-elected.

For those who read this far, here's a bonus question for 10 points:

What other current member of the provincial legislature with a career profile very similar to Hodder's is also looking at resigning from the legislature?

This other Liberal cum Tory from the Class of 1975 is planning to run against Scott Simms [Right, not exactly as illustrated].

Hint: unlike Hodder, this re-tread made it to cabinet again.

And this just in...

Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

Really old people who watched Saturday Night Live from episode one will get the joke.

To be sure, vocm.com does report tons of useful information daily and a couple of weekends ago they outed a major story.

This one just struck the funny bone.

Lono nominated

At least two Liberals in the federal riding of St. John's North read that and fainted.

They should read this instead.

Good on ya, buddy.

The two Liberals will have to wait to faint at the other nomination.

Danny Williams: Public Enemy Number One

Ok.

So the headline on John Crosbie's latest column might be a bit overdone, calling Newfoundland and Labrador's dyspeptic first minister the greatest current threat to national unity.

Crosbie's observation are still spot on, as the audio of his interview with CBC's Jeff Gilhooley.

Lono, at Offal News, has a good take on it, as well.

The age of persuasion

Around this neck of the woods, Thursdays at noon are the time when things go mostly quiet and we flip on CBC Radio One.

That's the time for "O'Reilly and The Age of Persuasion", ad man Terry O'Reilly's look at his business.

There's no way to describe the show and goodness knows the CBC website for the thing would definitely not lead you to suspect you will be getting a half hour that provokes and entertains while it educates.

That's okay.

There's a blog, but it really isn't very exciting.

That's okay, too.

Over at the website for O'Reilly's agency - Pirate Radio and TV - you will get every conceivable indication of just exactly how creative and possibly insane O'Reilly and company are. Pirate does its own work but it also subcontracts production for other agencies.

This is the Internet presence of a truly inventive bunch of people. Click on "Reels" in the top menu and you get samples of their work.

Like the Irving Mainway radio spots for Target that - if memory serves - won an award the first time they aired. O'Reilly directed them. They are actually a variation on a concept originally used for Labatt in another market to push its bedrock line, Blue. The Labatt concept involved having an actor making calls at random to unsuspecting businesses - out of the blue, get it? - with a simple but potentially funny scenario. The whole thing dependend very much on getting the right person on the other end of the phone but odds are good that with a few calls, you could wind up with 30 seconds or so of radio that truly stands out from the clutter.

In the Irving spots, the calls were to people who had won an item in a Mainway contest. They worked really well the first time they aired, since it was hysterical listening to some guy answer questions about winning a bottle of juice as if it were a million bucks. He's humouring this over-the-top chick making the call. However, by the second or third season, the whole thing got tired.

There are some devastatingly funny radio spots for everything from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to a Toronto car dealership. None of it - absolutely none of it - is conventional.

Is there talent enough to do this kind of creative work around here?

You betcha.

The challenge is finding the clients willing to go with it.

Meanwhile in Nova Scotia

The Premier is having troubles of his own.

Check the latest at the Daily News here, here and here.

The Canadian Press version is here.

The root of his problem comes from someone asking a simple couple of questions:

What did you know?

When did you know it?

More people should ask those questions.

Why Loyola left

They had a deal Sully could live with on Equalization.

Danny was of a different mind.

Instead of being a meeting to formally agree, this one will likely be the scene for another Danny tirade. Don't be surprised if he stages some storm-out to avoid having his fellow Premiers rip him a new one for his petulant, self-interested posturing.

Just like the last time.

Notice the date, though.

February 7.

Hmmmmm.

Would be convenient to use a problem with Equalization where Danny supposedly stands alone against the rest of the Premiers and the Prime Minister as an excellent excuse to call an election.

And, as Danny knows full well, he doesn't have to recall the House to drop the writ.

Fishery Products back on the block

CBC News is reporting that talks are underway - again - that might see Fishery Products International Limited's (FPIL) groundfish assets in Newfoundland and Labrador sold off.

As in the last go 'round, two of the potential buyers are Barry Group and Ocean Choice, owned by the Penney Group.

A third proposal is expected from FPI management.

As noted on Bond Papers last May, the goal of the provincial government's changes to the FPI legislation was actually to make it easier to break up the company and sell off the assets. The FPI bill gave cabinet the authority to approve any sale of FPI assets. Under the original Act, a sale of assets would have required a change to the legislation, meaning it would had to come before the legislature for public debate.

Here's why our weather is warmer

Forget global warming, El Nino and cow flatulence.

Newfoundland and Labrador is experiencing milder than usual weather because the weather office is back in Gander.

Iintergovernmental affairs minister John Ottenheimer is quoted as saying "[w]e are committed to examining opportunities where the federal government and the province can benefit from an increase in federal jobs in Newfoundland and Labrador...", after he reminded us that the weather office thing was a Conservative party commitment during the last election.

Unfortunately, Minister Ottenheimer forgot that almost exactly one year ago, the chief Conservative party representative in Newfoundland and Labrador reminded us all that the weather office was the sum total of the commitment.

After all, as Hearn noted, federal jobs that come merely from our tax dollars aren't sustainable.

And it isn't even sweeps week

CRA polling doesn't start up again until October, but already the publicity machine on The Hill is cranking out happy news.

Like this one from the innovation minister's department on a regional trade mission to Florida. It's a general one that says - in so many words - about the same thing as this one from December 14, 2006 and this ministerial statement from December 5, 2006.

It's all great to hear that local companies are making inroads in overseas markets, but how many times can we say essentially the same thing?

Is someone trying to qualify for a Tobin Award - most news releases from a single event or incident?

From the headline - "Florida More Than a Vacation Destination" - some people would likely mistake this for an account of the Premier's favourite place during the winter months.

Another jihad in the offing

Will Gander get the same level of attention in the meantime as Deer Lake?

Update: Of course, Gander is not in the district of a provincial politician accused of double billing her constituents - and the rest of the province's taxpayers - for expenses.

Outmigration details

Statistics Canada figures for the third quarter of 2006 show that outmigration from Newfoundland and Labrador that quarter was the third highest quarterly decline since 1993.

Latest NL Executive Council fashion accessory

Do they have to pay for it or are these covered on an expense claim?

Did Danny say this?

Yes.

Last week.

Announcing that John Hickey would be relieved of his cabinet duties over accusations he has filed duplicate expense and travel claims to the House of Assembly totalling over $3700.

"I have done what I have done because, as the premier of the province, if I have a person in my cabinet [with] any kind of cloud over at all, [I must] either ask them to resign or move them aside until that cloud passes or is dealt with."

This week, the Auditor General issued a public report, recommending the matter be referred to the police.

The local constabulary has opened a file.

Williams response - contrary to a longstanding tradition designed to protect the integrity of government and the administration of justice - was to restore Hickey to cabinet and begin an orchestrated spin campaign involving Williams himself, Hickey and Kathy Goudie, another member of the legislature accused of submitted duplicate claims.

Doing the right

In Labrador, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have demonstrated they the can do right in addition to desiring it.

The bills so nice they claimed them twice

Roger Grimes and Ralph Wiseman - both former members of the legislature - are right on this one: ultimately the submission of claims is the responsibility of the person making the claim.

If members of the House of Assembly didn't submit duplicate claims for the same service, there wouldn't be any double billing.

Looking at the Hickey and Goudie reports, and allowing for the peculiarities of the Auditor General's reporting, though, it's difficult to say that Goudie and Hickey didn't appreciate that by submitting two separate claims using two different means of documentation for the same service that they were doing something that was definitely not kosher.

Premier Danny Williams has tried to apply another frame to these most recent accusations as part of his effort to tamp down the scandal that has now embraced his own ministry directly.

Curious to see experienced reporters accepting the Premier's explanations before they saw the details of what is alleged to have occurred. It'll be more curious if they stick to the same interpretation now that they have seen more information.

Among the curiosities in the latest portion of the House of Assembly spending scandal:

- A member of the legislature reimbursed for a meal dated three months before she was first elected.

- Two members of the legislature submitting different claim forms for the same service and being paid for both. Sometimes the payment was on the same day; sometimes the payments came weeks apart.

- Credit card receipts or debit receipts submitted for meal claims showing one amount; the restaurant invoice submitted for the same meal on a separate invoice showing a different amount.

- One member receiving double payment of per diems for meals and accommodations normally paid when the House is in session, for dates when the House was not sitting.

- Double claiming $775 in donations to various groups, one donation being for $500.

- A member claiming three days of per diems and receiving double payment ten days apart.

- A member submitting two separate claims for a $500 donation using two different receipts and a cancelled cheque as supporting documentation. The dates on each of the three supporting documents shows a different date for the donation.

Afrighting the ear

Lumber World has been running a radio spot on VOCM for way too many months now extolling the virtues of Bruce brand hardwood flooring.

There's some reference to Shakespeare and "trodding the boards", presumably to attach the hardwood flooring to some sort of elegance, grace and education.

Unfortunately this is a good example of a truly hideous radio spot where both the writing and the voicing wind up affrighting the ear of any listener with half a clue.

Not only is there a meaningless hodge-podge of some Shakespearean dialogue, one portion of which sounds like the prologue of Henry V, but the guy pretending to be an actor obviously has no idea what he is reading.

The word is Agincourt - pronounced "aazhincour". This guy pronounces it as if it were Jethro Bodean's way of saying "again".

Just so you get the point, here's Derk Jacobi's performance, from the 1989 Branagh version. No one's expecting the VOCM guy to deliver a performance worthy of one of the finer actors around, but at least we could expect that he could get the pronunciation right.

No one said you'd asked for it, Jerome

We just said Danny would offer you the job.

All Jerome Kennedy [right] did on Monday was confirm that Danny Williams hasn't approached him - yet - about taking an appointment to cabinet.

Ok.

At a Monday news conference, the Premier did admit he'd considered making Kennedy an offer, presumably that Kennedy couldn't refuse. But Danny Williams said he hadn't spoken to Kennedy.

Yet.

And then there's Dr. Fitz

Odd to hear a story on CBC Radio this morning discussing the activities of His Excellency the High Commissioner in Ottawa.

Sources tell CBC News that FitzGerald — who taught courses at Memorial University before being appointed last year as what he at the time described as the province's eyes and ears in Ottawa — has not had a significant impact during his eight months on the job.

Sources say FitzGerald does not have much traction with Ottawa mandarins, and lacks the power to negotiate on behalf of the province.

The audio version had a bit more detail, noting, for example, that after Stephen Harper's trip to Dannyland in October, His Excellency was despatched to the Langevin Block to set things right with the Prime Minister.

Fitz was left outside the office cooling his jets, reduced to offering to walk with the PMO staffer to his next appointment if need be.

Such is the impact Danny's man has on The Hill.

If they haven't already started, CBC Radio should expect angry e-mails flying from the Blackberrys at the Premier's publicity departments and threats of legal action from Fitz's legal counsel.

Fitz is nothing if not touchy.