30 million and two reasons to miss Brian Tobin

Courtesy of Craig Westcott and The Express comes another reason to miss Brian Tobin: his hand in shagging up the provincial fishery, as noted in a recent report compiled for the provincial fisheries department by former Liberal member of parliament and fisheries union president Richard Cashin.

Management of Processing Capacity

When the Fishing Industry Renewal Board submitted a report in 1996 on management of the fish processing sector, one of the issues was the demand for new crab licenses. The report cautioned against a wholesale increase in crab processing capacity. Instead, it recommended consideration for new licenses be given only to three major fishing centers (Twillingate, La Scie and St. Anthony) that then did not have crab licenses. There is no doubt in my mind that the Wells government, which commissioned that report, intended to implement it generally as it was presented.

Unfortunately, Premier Wells stepped down. It is ironic that his successor, Premier Tobin, proceeded in 1996 and 1997 to do the exact opposite of what he had done as Minister of Fisheries and Oceans in 1993 and 1994. Then he had been the recipient of the Atlantic Task Force on Incomes and Adjustments in the Fishery. He also was mainly responsible for getting billions of adjustment dollars spent to deal with aftermath of the cod fishery closures in Atlantic Canada, mostly in Newfoundland and Labrador. The primary problem in the industry then had been the considerable redundant capacity created by these closures. Problems in the ranks of harvesters and plant employees were addressed in part. The newly redundant capacity in the processing sector was not. In 1996-97, that provincial government, with the full knowledge of the mess we had been in only four or five years earlier issued 17 new crab licenses. Three more licenses were issued from 1998-2000 and another six would be added in 2001. [Emphasis added]

This undisciplined response to the increases in the crab and shrimp resource and harvesting licenses of the mid to late 1990s contributed to the build-up in crab (and shrimp) processing capacity and in a significant way to the crisis we have today. The additional processing licenses were issued for both species with complete disregard for such basic factors as total resource requirements versus availability, economics of location and the general viability of processing operations. This was a singularly unprecedented ignoring of the processing over-capacity problems that still lingered in the industry from the groundfish collapses of the early 1990s. Indeed, some of the crab licenses issued never operated; resource availability was already inadequate even before the declines of this decade began. The main results of that abdication of responsible public policy included the maintenance of some operations that would, and should, have left the industry, the establishment of other facilities in uneconomic locations and even the entry into the crab processing sector of new operators. The overcapacity created by these licensing actions drove the various industry-led attempts to find rationalization measures and plans for the crab and shrimp sectors over the last six years or so; these usually featured RMS as the preferred solution of processors. [Report of the Chairman, Raw Materials Sharing Review Committee, December 2005, pp. 48-49]

Sadly, the Westcott piece isn't on The H'Express website. Cashin gave Westcott some even juicier quotes, which I have been forced to retype below.

As Cashin notes, this unwarranted increase in processing capacity would have been bad enough but given that Tobin had previously been federal fisheries minister and was well aware of problems in the fishery, his actions are almost unfathomable.

"It's really appalling, but it's really indicative that Brian Tobin was not really engaged in being premier," said Cashin.

"He was really engaged in some sort of masochistic exercise which he misguidedly believed would lead him to the prime ministership of Canada."

...

From 1993 to 2000, Cashin served on a federal panel that brought him into contact with most Liberal MPs from Atlantic Canada.

"As best as I could figure it from talking to them, there was a strong mood that if Tobin's name came forward, there was a maximum of one MP who would support him," Cashin recalled.

Anyone who wants to know why Tobin dropped out last time and didn't take a run at it this time can have a look at that last bit from Richard Cashin.

Westcott contacted Tobin on the matter. Tobin - not surprisingly - begged off comment claiming he had other things on his mind. He referred Westcott to John Efford, who was fish minister at the time. Brian never did like to take responsibility for stinky issues. He always liked to slough those off on his ministers.

Gee.

There's yet another reason to miss Brian Tobin: his willingness as first minister to take responsibility for things that happened while he was in charge. At right, Brian Tobin points the finger at someone else. [Photo: Greg Locke]

Of matching and magic

The lack of candidates for the provincial Liberal leadership is now a subject for some media attention, as witnessed by David Cochrane's report on CBC television on Thursday.

Former leader Roger Grimes offered the view the number of candidates may have more to do with individual circumstances rather than a problem among provincial Liberals.

He may be right in some instances.

In other cases, such as Paul Antle or Siobhan Coady, one can easily conclude from their own comments that their interest was more with federal politics and provincial politics, so it makes sense that they'd prefer to turn back to their own businesses than challenge a relative unknown to lead provincial Liberals.

Still others were likely off-put by the daunting challenge handed to the prospective leader by the Liberal Party leadership. The effect of having the leadership convention - if it occurs - a full year after Roger Grimes stepped down is to give the new leader the task of finding 48 candidates, rehabilitating the party organization and banking the better part of $2.0 million and then fighting an election against an organized, wealthy, popular incumbent political party all within the space of a year or less.

The party executive seems to have assumed the leadership would attract great interest, that the convention would generate huge popular interest and that this interest would be the "bump" to carry the party through the election. This would be known as the "and then magic happens" strategy, which is fine, except that magic only happens in fairy tales.

Part of the reason for the attention to the lack of candidates comes from the assumption that the leadership would be heavily contested or even that there would be more than one person to come forward. While that has occurred in the past, it has been infrequent and there wasn't a guarantee it would happen this time.

What has occurred though is that the one candidate to come forward - Jim Bennett - actually matches with outlook of the caucus and likely much of the party executive. In such a homogeneous world as the one currently inhabited by the Liberal caucus, there really isn't a need for several leaders to come forward all of whom basically represent the same point of view.

There certainly isn't anything to attract someone with genuinely new ideas who would face the challenge of not only getting ready for an electiion but of facing a caucus that opposes most if not all of the new leader's agenda.

Bennett is a proponent of the Ruralist school. He champions the salvation of rural areas of our province through some, unspecified means. His first, and so far only, public policy statement is to call for the nationalization of Fishery Products International (FPI), in whole or in part. That's an old idea to be sure and one which has never worked either here or in the former Soviet Bloc.

Of course, the real reason for government buying FPI is to avoid changing the fishery. The only likely outcome of government buying FPI is that government would pour tens of millions of dollars into the company and keep people working at jobs that are not economically sustainable. However, to Ruralists, economics are meaningless in pursuit of the goal of preserving our unique "rural" way of life at any and all costs.

Bennett fits with the dominant view from the current Liberal caucus. This is the same caucus that while in government supported having Sue Kelland Dyer as a senior policy analyst to champion every nationalist cause imaginable, the same caucus that paid millions to have Vic Young chronicle yet again historic local grievances against "Canada".

This is the same caucus, through interim leader Gerry Reid, that saw the recent federal election results as proof that the wealthy parts of the province (i.e. the Avalon peninsula) voted Conservative while "rural" areas voted Liberal.

This neat little division of our province in "rural" and "urban" areas misses much. Fundamentally, however, it prevents the Liberal Party from developing any policy that would appeal to the province as a whole. It certainly writes off the bulk of the population, which lives on the Avalon peninsula and more specifically in the northeast Avalon in and around St. John's. With it, the party effective is writing off its chances of winning a majority of seats in the next election.

Taken in that light, no one should be surprised that only Jim Bennett has come forward to seek job of being leader of the Liberal Party. He is a perfect match with the caucus and, by extension, with the wider party headshed. Other possible candidates with the same or a similar outlook are otherwise occupied with their lives, much as Roger Grimes noted. Within caucus, there is also no need for any of them to run solely for the sake of running. There is no reason to have a leadership race in which one merely picks from among a group of people who are all just variations on the same theme.

In the meantime, Bennett can carry on as leader with the task of getting ready for the next election, knowing that he speaks to the constituency the party seems to be aiming for.

We will all know soon enough how successful the overall strategy is, how potent the Cult of Ruralism actually is.

And once that test is met perhaps the Liberal Party can come up with a plan that doesn't involve hoping for a leader who graduated from Hogwarts.

The dark side

Newbie members of parliament are busily getting their bearings in Ottawa in anticipation of taking up their new responsibilities within the next week.

Congratulations to them on all getting elected.

But there is a dark side to politics, as Steve Paikin described in his book of the same title.

One of the statistics thrown at the new MPs in their orientation is chilling: fully 70% of them will be divorced or have done serious damage to their relationships by the time their political career ends. The long hours, frequent travel and prolonged absences from home, partners and children take a heavy toll on politicians and their families. For those who take up cabinet responsibilities the stress and pressure is even greater.

Political staff often suffer the same pressures. Divorce is all too common. Young children often miss out on the support of the political staffer parent whose job demands much of his or her time and energy. Scott Feschuk joked about it on his blog during the campaign, but it is all too real a problem. My son was four before I actually got to spend any serious amount of time with him; it's time I'll never get back, but more importantly, our relationship was profoundly affected for a very long time by my lack of involvement with him from the very beginning.

Paikin argues at one point that Canadians should be more forgiving of politicians who take spouses along on business trips, at taxpayers expense. He builds the case by profiling politicians who have suffered relationship problems not by any of their own sins of commission but simply by virtue of the demands we, as constituents, place on our political leaders.

The book is readily available in both hard cover and paperback versions. For those of us whose only political activity is voting, check around for Paikin's book. Read it, and give it some thought.

And for all those newbies in Ottawa these days, it's a book whose message is worth serious contemplation.

You have nothing but our best wishes for success and from those of us who have read the book or who have some direct experience with political life, you can count on our understanding.

Hearn + fish minister = potential problem

If Loyola Hearn gets to be fisheries minister in a Stephen Harper cabinet, there will likely be a problem.

For one thing, if Hearn gives in to his pet belief that northern cod stocks can handle a commercial fishery, as he told CBC recently, then he might run smack into the scientific projections that cod stocks can't handle the fishing done on them now.

That's a problem both for fish stocks and for Hearn's long-term prospects as fisheries minister.

If he rejects the calls for a cod fishery, then he'll raise the political ire of those he has worked to court over the past few years. That's a problem for Hearn, but a win for the fish.

Of course, if the information was placed in front of people who have a direct interest in the fishery - , i.e. the fishermen - odds are good they'd make the right choice.

That's what Hearn is quoted as referring to at the end of the CBC piece. Too bad he didn't make that his only comment, rather than offering the view it was okay to open the fishery.

We are going to be in for an interesting spring if Hearn gets the fish portfolio.

Not one isotopic teaspoon, I say

A newly discovered uranium deposit in Labrador turns out to be larger than initially thought.

I say in all seriousness that government should not let one isotopic teaspoon of the ore outside the province without a ensuring that the uranium is processed to the fullest extent possible locally.

If everyone is upset about lack of secondary processing for iron ore and nickel then they should be furious about uranium leaving the province altogether without being turned into everything from weapons to electricity.

After all, we could build a nice reactor in Labrador, hook it up to the Lower Churchill and develop even more electrical power.

There are 30 million reasons to miss Tobin. What's yours?

Some of us will be mourning Brian Tobin's decision to stay out of politics but not for the reasons his old party pres gave to local CBC Radio this morning as he waxed nostalgic about the glory days of the Second Brian.

Nope.

1. Some of us will be missing Tobin's ability to ramble through a media interview and take every conceivable position on a subject without actually taking one.

2. Some of us will miss his "Conversations with the Premier" on one local radio station. The things were a blatant rip-off of something Joe Smallwood used to do. But as one person said, the guy who stuck the mike in Smallwood's face got the chance to ask questions.

3. Some of us will miss Tobin's petulant - read childishly temperamental - attacks on reporters for asking simple, legitimate questions.

Like his long-talked about call to one reporter in which Tobin, upset that the reporter's story on outmigration didn't match Tobin's optimistic bullshit, commented negatively on the size of said reporter's family jewels.

Reputedly the reporter has the call on tape.

4. Some of us will miss incidents like the one in which the deceptively soft-spoken Ramona Dearing, hosting the CBC Radio Morning Show call-in, stood toe-to-toe with the biggest bullyboy blowhard in town until he backed off.

5. Some of us will miss major items of public policy made up in the back of the car as Tobin was being driven somewhere to deliver a speech.

I used to keep a quote from Tobin on my wall. It said something like "Public policy is not made at the drop of a hat; it comes after careful deliberation." He said that in the House of Assembly right after announcing a policy he had just that moment pulled from a pronounced bodily orifice.

6. Some of us will miss his fetishistic attachment to the words "quite frankly", "at the end of the day" and "in the fullness of time". They are hollow, empty, meaningless, space-fillers.

7. Some of us will miss the $57 million bucks in public money Tobin arranged to get from his buddy, hydro board chairman Dean MacDonald, to run something called the Lower Churchill project office. The money was never properly accounted for but the stuff that has been publicized showed a pattern of gross waste and no concern for cost. The money was spent at the direction of the Premier's Office and was accounted for neither to the House of Assembly nor, apparently, to the Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro board of directors.

8. Some of us will miss Captain Canada and the Montreal Rally to Save Canada. Hmmm. Something else pulled from an orifice.

9. Some of us will miss the Turbot War, or as it would be more accurately be remembered: the Great Tobin Crusade for International Media Attention for Himself. That had to be the name for it, since the overfishing continues despite all the hype at the time.

10. Some of us will miss Tobin claiming in 1990 that he was Clyde Wells' secret constitutional advisor. Some of us will really remember the high-level phone call in which it was pointed out that either the bullshit stopped or Wells would sort the matter out...publicly.

The bullshit stopped.

11. Well, at least some of the bullshit stopped. Some of us will miss Tobin insisting straight-faced to Doug Letto that he intended to complete his second term, less than 18 months before he bailed out to go to the job everyone knew he wanted - one in Ottawa as a stepping stone to replacing Chretien.

Ah yes.

Many of us will miss the chance to have Brian Tobin back in politics.

We all have different reasons.

What are yours?

Send your Tobin story and we'll post the best.

Hearn off national radar, ditto Newfoundland and Labrador

Loyola Hearn, predicted by some to be John Efford's replacement in Ottawa, is not on Don Martin's list of the top 15 picks for the Harper cabinet.

Martin is the Connie-friendly scribe for the National Lampoon Post, semi-demi-official organ of the Conservative Party of Canada. Our very own right wing Pravda, without the pravda.

For his part, Hearn is the guy who is described by a number of people as being one of the architects of the Conservative Party. Guess that counts for exactly squat in the greater scheme of things.

Martin's story means that either Harper won't be appointing to cabinet anyone east of Quebec other than Pete MacKay, DDS,...

or, most likely our man Loyola will need a super, extra strong voice and maybe a box to hop on when he stands up for Newfoundland and Labrador from his seat well outside the inner circle of cabinet.

He's gonna be so far out of touch with the people making the decisions the only way he'll get noticed is if he sets his arse on fire.

Come to think of it, that's how Efford made the news too:

Self-immolation.

Democracy in action...at nottawa

Head over to Mark's Random Musings and take part in his Great Experiment in E-Democracy.

He's looking for some input on when the national Liberal Party should hold its leadership convention.

Williams' honeymoon over?

The provincial auditor general John Noseworthy released a detailed - and damning - report yesterday into the provincial government's administration of public finances.

Among his findings:

1. A culture of entitlement exists in some parts of the senior public service that allows senior mandarinsto flaunt treasury board guidelines without consequence. Noseworthy pointed to numerous examples of executives receiving salary overpayments with no recovery being sought. The problem is a crhonic one, going back decades...but hey, Danny Williams and his finance minister were elected to implement a New Approach.

2. In December 2003, a Mount Pearl manufacturer received a $300, 000 government loan based on a directive from the premier's office despite advice to the contrary from government officials:

Contrary to the recommendations of officials at the Department of Finance and the Department of Innovation Trade and Rural Development, a directive from the Premier's Office in December 2003 resulted in a manufacturing company being provided with a $300,000 loan in 2004.

Officials cited issues such as:

- the loan would not be secured in that prior liens of other investors would have claim to the company's assets in the event of bankruptcy;

- the investment would not generate additional employment in the Province;

- a revised business strategy of the company was not advanced enough to determine if the company would be viable; and,

- several other existing investors were not prepared to increase their investment.

3. Government contravened the Financial Administration Act and other government policies in the way it provided financial assistance to Icewater Seafoods; and,

4. The provincial government retains a considerable number of surplus properties yet has no strategy for managing or disposing of them thereby increasing government costs.

In media interviews yesterday, Loyola "Rain Man" Sullivan looked extremely uncomfortable. That's likely because Noseworthy's audit revealed significant problems in financial administration that Sullivan can't slough off on the previous crowd.

He and his boss own a bunch of these problems, yet they haven't done anything about them.

Sorta like the debt strategy we are still waiting for.

Two years later.

and they dissed Lono's Code of Conduct

In light of the ongoing fiasco over handing themselves a hefty raise by breaking their own rules, St. John's city council has likely caused a bunch of residents of the capital to ponder their votes in the last election.

They are probably thinking too about the stunning silence of council candidates who paid no attention to Simon Lono's code of conduct. Lono, an at large candidate, unveiled a simple set of principles he said would guide him as a councilor. The candidates who didn't ignore Lono altogether on this point thought the idea was irrelevant since they would always act in an open and transparent manner, putting the public interest ahead of their private interests.

Yeah, well, recent actions demonstrate that council just didn't get it then and they still don't get it. Even the councilors who voted to postpone their pay hikes spoke about the whole matter as a simple misunderstanding.

Tom Hann - who simply echoed sentiments of several councilors including the mayor - said something to the effect that if the whole reason for the hike had been properly explained, residents would have understood.

Barrrrrrmp.

Wrong, Tom.

The point was never about raises.

It was about the sneaky way council set about doing it.

Against council's own rules.

Rules that council was prepared to chuck because they were inconvenient.

Rules that required openness and transparency in the process by sending the matter of council pay to an independent committee.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you once again, the Lono Code of Conduct for city councilors in St. John's. Note especially the parts of the code that apply in this case.

Did any member of council come close to adhering to these simple principles?

Code of Conduct
for members of
St. John's City Council

As an elected representative of the people of St. John's, I will:

*• Act in the public interest. I will work diligently for the public interest of the City and not for any private or personal interest, representing the will of residents and treating all persons, claims and transactions in a fair and equitable manner.

* • Behave in an ethical, open and transparent manner. On being elected, I will publicly disclose all my business and personal interests and will abstain from council debates and decisions in which I have a financial interest, organizational responsibility or personal relationship that could present or appear to present a conflict of interest; I will not accept or use gifts, services or opportunities offered to me which could present or appear to present a conflict of interest; I will not use for personal or private purposes City resources that are not available to the general public of St. John's.

* Conduct public business in a civil and respectful manner. I will debate in Council Chambers, and in all public and private forums, in accordance with rules established by Council, Robert's Rules of Order and basic good manners; I will inform myself and focus on the merits of the question under discussion, maintain courtesy and fairness in debate and refrain from defaming, demeaning, interrupting or attacking the character or motives of other members of the City Council, boards, commissions, committees, staff or the public.

* Maintain open communications with citizens of St. John's and staff of the City. I will consult with City residents and businesses on matters of municipal policy, planning and programming; communicate decisions and other information affecting residents and businesses in a timely fashion; and engage City staff to understand their concerns as public employees.

Then there are ducks

Dad is not without some talent, of course.

At left is a 1/35th scale DUKW built and painted by your humble e-scribe. This is a picture from the almost-finished version so it is still missing some little bits and pieces. Nevertheless, you'll get the idea.

DUKW's, known affectionately as ducks, were built on military 2.5 ton truck chassis and designed to ferry men and supplies over the beaches at Normandy. They are fully amphibious, meaning they can go straight from land into the water and vice versa.

At right is a real DUKW lovingly restored and driven through mud, muck and water by its American owner.

Ralph just bided his time

Alberta may well be introducing changes to the province's health care system that include direct billing by doctors to patients for some services.

What a surprise. it's not like Ralph Klein hasn't talked about that before.

Let's see how the new Conservative administration in Ottawa responds, if indeed the changes violate the Canada Health Act.

Charges laid in DND fraud case

Some Connies tossed the case of alleged fraud within the Department of National Defence on the doorstep of the Liberals, largely because they just tossed every one they could into the pile of alleged "corruption" and miscellaneous evil and kitten eating.

Well, read the story by Canadian Press.

There was criminal activity. The police were called. People were charged. Those who blamed "Liberals" for this were, as usual, grossly deficient in their facts.

Then again, some people can never be accused of letting facts get in the way of a smear.

The battle lines might be forming

over the so-called vertical fiscal imbalance and Equalization reform.

Check the Globe and Mail on Tuesday, specifically the story on the Harper budget due for March.

It includes this section at the end:

Experts warn that the new Tory regime will be hard-pressed to pay for a controversial election promise to share Ottawa's surplus riches with the provinces. Last December Mr. Harper pledged to fix the so-called fiscal imbalance between Ottawa and the provinces.

"I think we have to face the fact that Ottawa is rolling in tens of billions of dollars in surpluses . . . at the same time as provinces and municipalities are having trouble meeting the essential core services without going into debt," he said then. "We must find a long-term revenue transfer from the federal government to the provinces and municipalities."

But economists warn that the Conservative fiscal plan provides scant resources for assistance to the provinces. The Tories did not budget any cash for fixing the imbalance, but said they will fund it from $22-billion in budget surpluses their plan would generate over five years.

Dale Orr, chief economist at Global Insight (Canada), said the Tories won't have much cash to spare, especially if they set aside some of each year's projected surplus to guard against economic downturns. He said what's left is small potatoes. "That's not very interesting to the premiers . . . They are talking big, big bucks."

Quebec not interested in elected senate

Since Steve Harper has only committed to a "national" approach, there's no reason why we couldn't wind up in the bizarre situation where some provinces elect senators and some don't.

In the original announcement, Harper left the impression he'd turn the selection process for senators over to provincial premiers rather than run national elections organized by elections Canada.

Quebec clearly isn't interested.

Now we have to see how serious Harper was about senate reform.

Goose Bay take note: Connie defence promises to be modified

As noted here, the Conservative defence promises contained many elements that could not be delivered, at least in the near term.

Canadian Press reported on Monday that the plan will be modified. The $2.0 billion price tag is way too low.

Toronto power needs good sign for Lower Churchill

As much as Danny Williams likes to muse about building the Lower Churchill hydro project on his own, the joint offer from Quebec and Ontario is still the best option available.

A story today in the Toronto Star confirms Ontario is so strapped for power, the provincial government is looking at building a gas-fired power plant in Hog Town to make sure the lights stay on.

The Harper Plan

Courtesy of the Toronto Star comes a speculation piece on Steve Harper's plans for Canada.

Part of the plan is already easy to see: the Conservatives plan to reduce federal involvement in areas of provincial jurisdiction, such as funding programs in health care, social services and education.

That's one of the logical implications of the Equalization reform proposals, for example, which are designed, in part to lower Ottawa's outlays. As some others have suggested, the Conservative starting point in talks with the provinces would be reduced federal taxes that would have the ffect of opening room for the provinces to boost their tax haul.

Expect that one to disappear quickly.

What political leader wants to raise taxes?

Provincial Liberals still hunting for leader

Interim provincial Liberal leader Gerry Reid announced today that he won't be seeking the job permanently.

Former cabinet minister Anna Thistle - admittedly a long shot - also confirmed she won't be running.

The hunt is still on for someone to challenge lawyer Jim Bennett. So far he's the only declared candidate. Bennett enjoys the support of former Smallwood-era cabinet minister Bill Callahan, current caucus chair Percy Barrett and St. John's city councilor Tom Hann.

Bennett, who is married to Ontario cabinet minister Sandra Pupatello, has announced only one initiative thus far: to nationalize Fishery Products International, either in whole or in part.

Others reportedly considering a run for the leadership include Paul Antle and Siobhan Coady.

St. John's council gets religion - sort of

Surprise. Surprise.

St. John's city council voted tonight to send the matter of their raises to an independent committee of some kind for a review and recommendations.

Only Mayor Andy Wells voted against the motion to rescind the pay hikes.

Update: As The Telly reports, councilors were quick to admit they had a problem but their conversion seems reluctant and half-hearted.

As one wag put it it's like council feels that they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar, sister ratted them out and mommy just needs to understand the reasons why they took the cookies in the first.

Andy comfortably predicted the independent consultant who will now review the matter will come back with the same recommendation.

That all depends on who council picks to be the "independent" consultant.

Hands up who thinks it will be Andy's buddy, like say Marie White?