In his own words: Shawn Skinner on federal-provincial relations

Jonathan Crowe: But I mean, your boss is saying "Anybody But Conservative" in the next election. That's gotta be difficult when you meet Minister Hearn out in the lobby and shake hands.

Hon. Shawn Skinner: Not for me, it isn't. My boss can vote for who he wishes. He can mark his 'X' where he wishes to mark it. From my perspective, I have a job to do. I'm elected by the people of St. John's Centre. I'm in cabinet representing the people of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and I have a job to do. And I'm going to do that to the best of my ability.

If and when there is a federal election, we all as individual citizens can make up our own minds what we want to do. I'm here today as a provincial minister and I'm carrying out my duties as a provincial minister.

These words are causing Skinner such problems that he apparently felt the need - or more likely was ordered - to call Randy Simms just now and explain that he was completely behind his Leader in the anti-Harper campaign.

And Randy bought Skinner's explanation.

Problem solved.

Not at all.

First of all, Simms seems rather quick to accept one side of a story these days even if the other side is equally plausible and neither side has been proven correct by an independent review. Think fundraising, accountants and a shoe that has yet to drop on that set of ledger books.

Second, Skinner's comments are pretty obviously out of step with Danny Williams' plan to fight against the federal Conservatives. One would have to be willfully blind to miss the sentence "my boss can vote for who he wishes," followed right away by the clear statement that meanwhile I, Shawn Skinner, am elected by the people of my district to represent them.

Skinner's been known to make some ill-advised remarks, but it's pretty hard to imagine in this instance that he didn't mean what he said or that he was taken "out of context". bankrupting the province was obviously out of context and Simms and other news media jumped all over that one.

Here, though, we have another matter. It's highly likely - as in, bet the farm on it - that there is some disagreement within the current administration with the ongoing war with Ottawa.

That disagreement on Williams' policy is reflected in Skinner's remarks. It's blatantly obvious.

Cabinet ministers represent the people of the province and need to have a working relationship with whichever administration is in power in the federal government. Most don't have that right now and the only way to fix it is to get Danny to settle the blood feud.

The problem for local Tories is all the worse given that most of them are good friends with their Conservative counterparts and have been working the same campaigns and same backrooms for years. They certainly wouldn't want to campaign against Tom Osborne, for example, or Jack Byrne should those fellows actually take a run for federal politics. Given the internal Tory fractures, it would very hard for Danny Williams to deploy a cohesive political force behind any Liberal or New Democrat candidate. Williams might be able to force Shawn Skinner to tug the forelock and apologise to Williams publicly because Shawn likes the cabinet job he holds.

But would Shawn be prepared to pull a Scott Simms and go knocking doors for the New Democrat in St. John's South?

This schism within the local Tories is apparent enough that the federal Conservatives are working to exploit it. Loyola Hearn and his federal friends are nowhere near as politically stunned as Lorraine, Yvonne and the other Danny. Case on point: the letters on disaster compensation. Don't think they came from the provincial side of the racket. There are other, less obvious signs, but the signs are there that the Connies are trying to wedge open those cracks in the Danny Williams team just a wee bit wider than they are.

And Shawn?

Well, he just said what other local Tories are saying behind closed doors and in small groups, just like some have started to explore leadership options for the time only a few short months from now when we will be in a post-Danny Dannyland.

The next few months are going to be very interesting.

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Negotiating tactic

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro chairman Dean MacDonald tells an Ontario energy association meeting that when it comes to the Lower Churchill development "[w]hen you look at what the impediments are in front of us [to transmit power across Quebec to Ontario], we really have no alternative" than to build a power line through the Maritimes and ship power into the United States.

Meanwhile, Premier Danny Williams tells local reporters that, contrary to the implication of MacDonald's comments, Hydro hasn't abandoned the East-West sale potential.

On the face of it, this speech looks like a negotiating ploy by Dean. Tell the Ontarians we have power but can't get it across Quebec to you. Therefore, pressure Ottawa to intervene. In fact, the Globe story makes that pretty clear:

He urged Ontario energy executives and government officials to pressure Ottawa to intervene in the dispute between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, which are "rolling around in the mud" over the issues of access to markets and transmission systems.

Newfoundland has filed a submission with Quebec regulatory officials to require Hydro-Québec to deliver Lower Churchill power to markets through its transmission system, but it's a long process, Mr. MacDonald said. "With the lack of a connection between the provinces east-west ... we'll follow the path of least resistance, which is south," he said.

Then again, Dean's remarks also fit with comments he's made in the past and echoed by the Premier. Cost isn't an issue with the route through the Maritimes, according to both Williams and MacDonald; "if it costs us an extra billion to go north-south, we'll be the masters of our own destiny."

There's no conflict between Williams and MacDonald. They are both consistently singing the same song and it would perfectly in character for both men to use a speech like this to try and elicit some political intervention in the case.

There is a problem with their approach, however.

MacDonald was speaking to a sophisticated audience that can crunch the real numbers on the Maritimes route. These people know the idea of the alternate route costing "an extra billion" lowballs the real number, lowballs the overall cost and therefore doesn't even come close to explaining how the power can get to an American market at a competitive price. it's an historic problem and one that might only be solved - as has been suggested - by selling the power at or even below cost in the initial stages.

These Ontario energy players also know that MacDonald's team has so far only been able to turn up only one exploratory memorandum of understanding with one theoretical, potential customer and even that was for only 200 megawatts.

They likely think the whole posture MacDonald is taking is a big bluff.

How can you tell?

MacDonald said so: "I think a lot of people thought we were bluffing. We're not...".

When you have to state categorically that you aren't bluffing, that's a pretty big clue you are spinning a tale in which even you lack confidence.

Why not just promise to hold your breath until you turn blue?

It would be about as convincing and about as effective.

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Hey, Steve! Message for ya!

Photographers sometimes capture images that they didn't see, but which turn up in the process of sorting shots after a shoot.

Like this one, taken during the recent campaign. Nope, it hasn't been photoshopped.

This is the original image as the premier adjusted his glasses during a speech.

Did he mean to do it?

Well, he meant to adjust his spectacles, but many of us use the middle finger to move our eyeglasses upward on the bridge of our nose.

Beyond that, there's no way of knowing if Danny wanted to send Steve a message.

Doesn't really matter.

It's still funny.

Danny Williams.

Middle finger salute.

And low and behold, a rather glum and sour expression.

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Whither the fishery?

In the Wednesday Globe, Derek Butler, executive director of the Association of Seafood Producers of Newfoundland and Labrador, offers some frank insights into the state of the province's fishery and on the way ahead.

The fishery remains of great value. Newfoundland & Labrador‘s industry represents 25 per cent of landed value of seafood in Canada. The country's seafood exports totaled $4.1-billion, of which Newfoundland & Labrador's share was $798.2-million. Heady figures indeed. So where's the problem?

After the collapse of the ground fish and pelagics fisheries, programs were implemented to reduce the number of participants in the industry, to make it more viable for those remaining. Yet we have not done that. For too many years now we have struggled to qualify workers (those in the know will heave a collective sigh) and dissipate the wealth in the industry. Our intentions were good. Keep people working and share the wealth, but to such a degree, that few people could truly make a go of it.

The reason we are having a crisis is because we are expecting the fishery to carry 30-plus crab plants, and a dozen or more shrimp plants, and tens of dozens of ground fish and pelagics plants. We must break the cycle of false hope by adopting a rationalization program and putting in place funding to help those affected. At some point, government and the people in affected communities must be protected from the delusion that 10 weeks' work is enough.

...

Industry – harvesters and processors – both know that we must adapt to face the new realities of a more competitive China, higher fuel prices and the stronger dollar. Instead, we have gone about things as of old, and expected a different result. That's, as the saying goes, the definition of insanity. That challenge includes requiring a fresh look at the price setting mechanisms in the industry, unique in the world (Joey Smallwood's last piece of legislation in 1972). We have a collective bargaining structure for what is essentially a business to business relationship. We negotiate minimum prices around a table, and then go out on wharves around the province to conduct a second set of ‘free-market' negotiations and auctioneering precisely because the prices negotiated formally are minimums, and the overcapacity leads to irrational economics. This renders the collective bargaining process obviously redundant.

Are there bright spots out there? Yes, if one takes hope from the government-led renewal initiative last year (though of merit, it was not all industry had hoped for). The resource remains strong, and the industry is tackling new challenges like eco-labeling with the pending Marine Stewardship Council certification for northern shrimp, showing our coldwater shrimp comes from a sustainable, well-managed fishery.

But the same can't be said for the economic viability of the industry itself, in either harvesting or processing. It may be that the challenges of industry renewal are truly intractable political problems. Fair enough, but if it's confession time, no one is on their knees - except in terms of the economics.

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Another resounding victory...

1. In the cause for electoral reform or political reform or some kind of reform: another riding taken by a party already in dictatorship territory, with 38% of the vote.

2. For incompetence: Proof the current executive of the party - and especially the president - need a vacation.

Well, more like a retirement, actually, but a bit more permanent.

3. Blindness: New Democrats. A wake-up call that there is no "labour" vote. Re-think your approach to politics

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Emergency confuddles

Someone released a bunch of letters between the provincial and federal governments about emergency response funding.

From a media standpoint, yesterday belonged to the feds:

The province argues Ottawa has not made good on outstanding claims for flooding in Stephenville in 2005 and a storm surge in February 2006. The province asked in August for an advance on damages caused by Tropical Storm Chantal.

But federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, in letters to the province obtained by CBC News, said that the ball is in the province's court, and that the federal government has not received the appropriate paperwork.

Newly minted municipal affairs minister Dave Denine responded today with a news release.

There's a brave attempt to blame the federal government, but the essence of the release is contained in the lede, namely the provincial government is having problems collecting because it is having problems, "most of which relate to difficulties associated with requirements under federal accounting and audit processes."

There's nothing surprising in that, nor in the subsequent paragraph in which Denine says that information is submitted, further information is requested by the feds and that - quite obviously - slows the process. Anyone who has dealt with the federal government, especially in the wake of Gomery, will know that federal financial controls are pretty stringent. That may come as a bit of a culture shock to people used to dealing with - ooooh, maybe the House of Assembly - but the federal system is the kind of accounting and audit system one would expect from a competent administration looking after other people's, i.e. public, money.

At that point, though, Denine's release goes a bit off the rails:

"Federal representatives have made misleading statements to the media in stating that they have made advancements of $21 million in recent years. In fact, these payments date back to events between 1973 and the present," said Minister Denine. "We are also concerned about statements made by federal officials that advance federal payments can be provided to the province when, in reality, the federal program does not provide for any payments, advance or otherwise, until work has been completed and documentation is submitted which, in some cases, can take years."

That comes right after he acknowledges this:

In relation to events since 2000, the province has received $7.1 million in interim payments from the Federal Government through the DFAA program, including $2.3 million for Storm Surge 2000, $2.6 million for Tropical Storm Gabrielle 2001, $1.0 million for Badger Flood 2003, and $1.2 million for West Coast Flood 2003. [Italics added]

That's basically what the feds claimed in their letters. "interim". "advance". Potato, potato.

After trying to accuse the federal officials of making misleading statements, Denine gets back to the core of the issue: the provincial government has been having some consistent problems in getting the paperwork filled out properly. And yes, to its credit, this administration has put in place a new emergency response organization within government that takes emergency services out of the basement and gives it the prominence it deserves.

And, unfortunately for those who really want to understand emergency response, Denine leaves the most important point to the end: emergency response is a provincial responsibility. The provincial government policies should provide compensation and it is the provincial government which is reimbursed for its costs.

The people should not be inconvenienced, if they are at all.

Has anyone bothered ask if the province hasn't been compensating people until it receives federal cash?

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Lest we forget

An e-mail this morning drew my attention to the use of the poppy, which, until this morning, was prominently displayed at the top of the right hand navigation bar at Bond Papers for more than a week.

As it drew closer to November 11, I went looking for an appropriate image to use and found, largely by accident, a very attractive rendering of the poppy.  Turns out it was actually the Royal Canadian Legion's official version.

Perfect, so it seemed.  I also looked for a link to the Legion's Poppy Fund but couldn't find one;  there was plenty of background on the poppy and remembrance but nothing that offered an opportunity to contribute to the fund and thereby support the legion's work on behalf of veterans.

The e-mail linked to a post which ultimately linked back to a controversy from 2005 about the use of the poppy by Pierre Bourque on his site. Copyright and trademark are serious issues so if the Royal Canadian Legion is actively defending its rights, Bond Papers will respect that. The poppy is gone.

But here's the thing.

I scoured the Legion website trying to find links, images that were available for use or even a specific e-mail address for the Legion's Dominion Command communications section.

Nada.

Zip.

Rien.

Compare that to the Royal British Legion site. There are numerous contacts for poppy images, corporate relations and the Poppy Appeal.

In place of the poppy, you'll find at the right an image for the Veteran's Affairs Remembrance Week.  Veterans' Affairs Canada not only has a page with good links and useful information, VAC actually makes versions of its banner available in varying sizes for just such uses as the one here at Bond Papers.  On top of that VAC supplies html code - that's right they actually make it easy for people to take the images and reproduce them, complete with embedded links back to the VAC website.

The week leading up to Remembrance Day is a time of respect and remembrance. That was the intention of using the poppy and that remains the intention.  Out of respect to the Legion, its members and their rights, the poppy is gone. The VAC banner is a fitting alternative.

If the Legion had provided any useful contact information beyond the standard "info@" junkmail address, I might have sought permission.  Frankly, since a better address isn't available and since the Legion hasn't gone through the effort of offering any simple code or an appropriate portion of their website to link to, I took it that they really weren't interested in the contact in the first place.  That's my assumption and mine alone, but when people don't make it easy for anyone to contact them, that usually signals disinterest.

The Legion might want to rethink their approach.

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Power, politics and change

People should not be afraid of their governments.

Governments should be afraid of their people.

'Tis that time of the year once more, dear friends, when the political origins of an ancient commemoration once more slips a wee bit more from the popular view. This is a shame since in the events marked by bonfires in many parts of the Commonwealth we may find a timely inspiration.

The Gunpowder Plot was an attempt at violent political change and the book and movie from which the opening quote is taken contained its share of violence. Yet, violence is not as sure a means of effecting political change as knowledge and words.

Discovery of the Plot set back the cause of Roman Catholic emancipation in Britain for some two centuries, yet experts will equally argue that had the plot succeeded in killing the King and the Protestant members of parliament, it may well have led to a period of even greater repression of Roman Catholicism throughout the United Kingdom.

Compare that experience with events in India before 1947 or in the United States when the power of non-violence coupled with information produced far more dramatic and positive social and political changes.

The truth is that governments in the past century of human civilization do fear their people. They fear not so much the potential for violent revolution, although that has occurred. Rather if we look to Pakistan of just the past few days, we see the actions of a government declaring martial law because it feared the prospect of a change in government administration through legal, i.e. peaceful means. The pretext for martial law is a particular decision of the country's Supreme Court, but the struggle between the courts and General Pervez Musharraf go back many months. The rule of law has been frustrating the General's plans and, in some respects, it may only have been a matter of time before Musharraf or another member of the armed forces that has ruled the country for too many years seized power.

Closer to home we may also see evidence of a government that fears its people. The Prime Minister recently ruled out the prospect of an inquiry into allegations against one of his predecessors, not because the allegations have already been reviewed, but because such an inquiry would be "dangerous".

Yet neither the Prime Minister nor his predecessor found the prospect of public inquiries into other matters to be "politically driven", or in the case of Paul Martin sufficiently dangerous to his own political fortunes to serve as an excuse for not appointing an investigation.

The Prime Minister, we would contend might be afraid of the implications such an inquiry might have for his own administration. He is almost certainly afraid of undermining his own politically driven use of past misdeeds.

Closer to home, we find another government and another first minister seemingly afraid of the people. The struggle in this instance is waged with words that are effectively stripped of any real meaning. The legislature is kept closed while the evidence makes plain that the excuses offered by the cabinet are nonsense.

People are warned against demanding increased public spending on one or another cause they consider good because of "the debt." Never mind that the debt has increased and that public spending under the current administration has kept pace with the flow of petro-dollars; the spending of course, is on things which the government considers important. People should scarcely need reminding that this same administration has refused to tell the people what they will actually be charging developers for the right to develop public natural resources and fought for the longest time to prevent an inquiry into spending on fibreoptic cables. These are actions, we are reminded of an open, accountable and transparent government.

Therein lies the clearest example of how governments show their fear of the people who they would rule. Culture and history are malleable and the very meaning of common words may be altered to the point where even reasonable people cannot grasp the inherent contradictions in what they claim.

I like the fact that our current premier seems intent on appealing to the strengths and skills of the people of this place. I like the fact that his government beefed up the rules for MHAs in the wake of the constituency-allowance spending scandal, based on Chief Justice Derek Green’s recommendations.

or from the earlier column:

He preaches that the solution lies not with him, but with us.

How "he" alone accomplishes this we do not know, especially when the political program is designed to increase government control over resources rather than creating an environment in which enterprising individuals may flourish. How "he" should be credited with introducing those rules when, as anyone may well see, "he" allowed the inappropriate spending - the allowances not the alleged criminal activity - to flourish until discovery of the latter revealed the former; let us not forget either that implementing those rules was delayed, as the columnist's own paper reported, while people were led to believe something else. The "solution" - no problem is defined - cannot rest with "us" when the entire premise of the administration is founded on "him" being in charge; "us" should dutifully follow and offer only positive suggestions in support of whatever is decided by "him" and "his" ministers.

Words can have no meaning in a world where they are changed at whim, where information is withheld from the public and where, as it turns out, even editors have let slip the mooring lines of fact.

I remember how the meaning of words began to change. How unfamiliar words like "collateral" and "rendition" became frightening, while things like Norsefire and the Articles of Allegiance became powerful. I remember how "different" became dangerous.

Another writer called it Newspeak, but in other works, George Orwell demonstrated his clear appreciation of how language may be perverted to obscure meaning and thereby frustrate public understanding. In some countries, governments show their fear of people with violence. In others, they show fear by doing violence to language and history.

Both fears are rooted in the understanding that power rests ultimately the individuals within a society. Yet in any democracy worthy of the name, there is no legitimate reason for fear nor for the response it seems to engender from the governors toward the governed.

In Pakistan, the country has taken a step backward from democracy and only time will tell how the Pakistani people will respond.

In Canada, we may continue to work for change and to exercise our power as citizens in a democracy in the country as a whole or within the province. We must reject the debasement of language and history.

True power, after all, does not come from the barrel of a gun. It comes from the exercise of basic freedoms, despite what some governors may ponder.

As individuals in a free society, we should remember that true power comes from the mind.

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Why the ABC thing might just turn out to be a farce or a ruse.

The Star, via nottawa.

The Conservative victory in 2006 was a function of a strong New Democratic performance.

Someone could reasonably conclude that an intervention that pushes votes to the New Democrats in this province, or which splits the non-Conservative vote would actually help the federal Conservatives secure the seats they have and maybe pick up a few more.

maybe that's what ABC is all about anyway. A political phoney war? maybe.

But definitely the kind of intervention that might help Stephen Harper rather than hurt the federal Conservatives.

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Don't show us your tits: the media coverage

Cheryl Cruz's sorry experience at Universal Studios Florida has turned into a bit of a media storm for the entertainment giant.

Local Orlando news has picked it up, including wftv.com which is running a poll on the question of public breastfeeding.

There's even been some chatter on an Internet discussion group.

One employee makes a mistake.

A media controversy ensures; let's see how big the controversy gets.

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Unfashionably frank, closer to home

Craig Westcott, publisher editor and just about everything at the Business Post is now blogging.

The Public Ledger

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Unfashionably frank

Until his death last week at age 92, Paul Tibbetts never expressed any regret, remorse or indeed any emotional reaction at all to what became the defining event in his life as far as most human beings were concerned.

Paul Tibbets was the pilot of Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb used in warfare.

National Public Radio's website contains some of the most straightforward accounts of Tibbet's life and it includes some links to related stories. There are plenty of other commentaries out there, including a simple one by Bob Schieffer of CBS News.

Tibbetts was unfashionable in his views on the atomic bombs, but the man who died in relative obscurity was consistently frank in his views. They remained the same at his death as they were when he was handed the job of getting ready for the mission in 1944:

"I thought to myself, 'Gee, if we can be successful, we're going to prove to the Japanese the futility in continuing to fight because we can use those weapons on them. They're not going to stand up to this thing. After I saw what I saw I was more convinced that they're gonna quit. That's the only way I could do it,'" he told Morning Edition.

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Woodrow packs it in

John Woodrow has quit as the Liberal candidate in the deferred central Newfoundland election.

He didn't do it for the right reasons; he did so claiming as vocm.com put it that "he did not feel he had the support of the party executive or caucus."

The Advertiser has a more detailed version of the story:

Mr. Woodrow’s decision to withdraw from the race was also made following comments by provincial Liberal Party president Danny Dumaresque in the most recent edition of the weekly provincial newspaper, The Independent.

In the news story in question, Mr. Dumaresque stated, “Basically the people of the province have already cast their opinion and undoubtedly we would love to win it (the seat), but I don’t see it as a must-win at all as far as importance to the party is concerned.”

Dumaresque should be the next to go.

The result of the last election - which Dumaresque uses as an excuse in the central fight - rests in some measure on the head of the president. That to one side, even, Dumaresque should give up as party president since he signed endorsed Woodrow's candidacy without checking on the guy's history.

Instead of packing it in, Dumaresque seems to be quietly soliciting support for a run at the party leader's job. In light of the Woodrow mess, Dumaresque should have a very hard time convincing anyone he's the right guy to lead the party into the 2011 general election, that is, unless he plans to promise four more years on the opposition benches.

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Business Shorts

1.  South Coast Partners LP concludes takeover of Oceanex.

2. Cornerstone adds new director.

3. Vulcan Minerals Inc. has been advised that NWest Energy Inc. is being acquired on a share-for-share basis by Trilogy Metals Inc., a public company.

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CSC boss likes government focus on volunteer/not-for-profit sector

Penelope Rowe, president of the Community Services Council, told CBC that a new provincial government ministry aimed at the volunteer and not-for-profit sector is a good thing.

Well, of course.

"By working collectively with government, we can try to lay out a framework that looks at the issues across a variety of organizations," Rowe said.

The CSC news release is effusive in its praise for the new initiative, identifying the appointment of a particular individual as minister as a key aspect:

“Naming The Honourable Tom Hedderson, Minister Responsible for the Volunteer and Non-Profit Sector is a major step in recognizing the importance of this sector to quality of life in communities across the province,” said Penelope Rowe...

Rowe singled out specific initiatives from the progressive Conservative platform, namely:

• formalize a policy and program framework to strengthen and support the community-based sector and to enhance the development of social economy enterprises, especially in rural regions, as means of improving services, providing additional employment
• recognize and celebrate the work of community volunteers
• through discussions with the Community Services Council and other community organizations in the volunteer sector, produce a scope of work document to set the terms for an initiative to strengthen the relationship between the government and the volunteer sector, to improve the grants process, and to identify opportunities for cooperation and collaboration.

Odd that Rowe stopped there in the list.  The next one may give some idea as to why the CSC is quite so tickled with the new initiative for volunteers and not-for-profits:

• increase funding for the Community Services Council

But Rowe, who is obviously fairly tight with the current administration, didn't seem to feel any need to either raise a question about or even mention the next item listed in the Tory platform:

• continue to implement the recommendations of the task force on the not-for-profit sector

If Rowe knows anything about the task force, she sure wasn't letting that slip either.  If Rowe doesn't have some kind of inside knowledge on this task force, she ought to be questioning what it is and what the report says.

As Bond Papers noted during the recent election campaign, there is absolutely no public record of such a task force even being created let alone issuing a report which is already being implemented.  

Maybe someone will asked Hedderson or Rowe about the apparently secret task force or consider going to someone other than Rowe for comment on this initiative. The CSC isn't the only volunteer/not-for-profit in the province and CSC is by no means an umbrella organization.

The volunteer sector is important, but when you head the only group in the province singled out in a party campaign document for extra cash from public coffers, your endorsement would be  - at the very least - taken as a given.

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Exxon confirms second Orphan Basin well

ExxonMobil confirmed Thursday that it will drill a second exploration well in the Orphan Basin offshore Newfoundland in 2008.

The well had been forecast but until Thursday, the oil giant had been reluctant to commit to drilling.

Its first well in the deep water area north of the Jeanne d'Arc Basin - site of current offshore production at Hibernia, White Rose and terra Nova - cost an estimated US$200 million.

The Orphan Basin is located approximately 390 kilometres northeast of St. John's. The area is estimated to hold as much as eight billion barrels of oil. Existing exploration parcels are both inside and outside Canada's 200 mile exclusive economic zone. Water depth ranges from 250 metres in the western portion to over 2500 metres in the centre. More detailed information on the area is contained in the environmental review conducted for the offshore regulatory board in 2003.

Also on Thursday, ExxonMobil reported third quarter profits were down 10% form the same period in 2006.

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Don't show us your tits

A woman from this province is asked to cover up while breast-feeding in public.  She was giving her tyke a meal while at Universal Studios, Florida.

Starting at about 3:10 of this clip is Bill's Maher's new rule on breastfeeding.  He ranted in September after an incident that occurred at an Applebee's restaurant.

Try it.

The video, that is.

You'll like it.

It's funny.

But here's the thing.

Breastfeeding has become a politically controversial topic in some places.

 

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Stop your more for me please rants

Danny Williams is using Loyola Sullivan's old debt boogeyman to try and frighten people away from demanding too much of a provincial government awash in petro-cash.

The problem for Williams is that while he uses the debt as a bogeyman, his own record of increased public spending and increased public debt make it clear his administration is willing to spend.

His spending and borrowing is fueled by rising oil prices that may deliver a $500 million dollar surplus to the province's treasury by the end of March.

"The people of the province also realize that we have the highest debt in the country, and still do, and will have for a long time," Williams said.

"Our debt is twice as high as the next worst province, which is Nova Scotia."

Of course, it will and of course the debt is the highest in the country.

That's because the provincial government doesn't have a debt reduction plan; it has a debt management policy of borrowing at lower interest rates and of rolling over debt to lower interest rates when it comes do.

And, if everything rolls out as the premier plans, the provincial government will increase the public debt through loan guarantees and borrowing on projects like the Lower Churchill.

Everything Danny Williams said is absolutely true.

The provincial government will have the highest debt in the country and "will have for a long time."

And in the meantime, Williams was basically warning people to stop asking for more and thereby interfering with his own spending and borrowing plans.

It's that line from the campaign song:

"Stop your more for me please rants."

People should expect they'll be hearing it a lot more from Danny Williams during his last couple of years in office.

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Throne speech and budget promised within two weeks of winning leadership: Tom Rideout, 1989

Rideout called an election, but it's interesting to see how another premier handled the challenges of governing.

Rideout shuffles, trims cabinet to get ready for election call

March 28, 1989 

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - With election rumors blowing through this frigid capital, Premier Tom Rideout took his first step toward government reform yesterday by naming a leaner cabinet and reorganizing departments.

Rideout appointed a 19-member cabinet - four fewer than the previous one - while assuming the duties of minister responsible for intergovernmental affairs and the status of women. The Tory premier also restructured six portfolios, turning them into three larger departments. One portfolio was expanded and one new department was created.

"I promised the people of Newfoundland a plan for the future and I mean to deliver," the 40-year-old premier told reporters. "I promised them a more efficient government and I plan to deliver, I promised them leadership into the 1990s and I mean to deliver."

The cabinet was sworn yesterday by Lt.-Gov. James McGrath five days after Rideout became the province's fourth premier, succeeding Brian Peckford. Despite his promise to fashion a new image for the governing Tories, Rideout brought in just two new cabinet ministers.

Newcomer James Hodder, 48, takes up the reorganized Department of Cultural Affairs, Tourism and Historic Resources, while 58-year-old Kevin Parsons leads the new Department of Sport, Recreation and Youth. Dropped from cabinet were Labor Minister Ted Blanchard and Mines Minister Jerome Dinn.

"A new leader, until he goes to the people, can only pick a cabinet from the people who are serving in the caucus," said Rideout when asked why there weren't more new faces in cabinet. "There's only 33 of us there and I can only pick a cabinet from them."

The big winners were those who strongly supported Rideout in the recent Tory leadership race, such as Lynn Verge, who becomes the first female deputy premier in Newfoundland in addition to retaining the justice portfolio. Rideout supporter Charles Brett moved from municipal affairs to head of the Treasury Board.

The four cabinet ministers who opposed Rideout during the leadership race also received senior posts. Former finance minister Neil Windsor takes over a revamped Energy and Mines Department. Len Simms, former head of the Treasury Board, was named development minister, Hal Barrett is finance minister, and Loyola Hearn retains the education portfolio.

With cabinet ministers just sworn in, Rideout also announced that he's canceled plans to call the legislature into special session this week to pass an interim financing bill. Instead, he intends to convene a regular session in mid-April which would include a throne speech and a budget. But Rideout, who represents the rural riding of Baie Verte-White Bay, left the door open for a snap election call.

"An election could be called at any time," he said. "The present government will begin its fifth year on the second of April and a new leader will obviously want to seek a new mandate at an early opportunity."

Asked whether he's made up his mind when to call an election, Rideout smiled and replied, "I have a plan."

Rumors of an impending election call have been fueled by recent meetings between Rideout and Tory organizer John Lashinger of Toronto. Lashinger ran Rideout's slick leadership campaign and helped Peckford win three consecutive electoral victories.

The Liberals and New Democrats are holding nomination meetings so that candidates will be in place when the election is called.

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Could call legislature sitting less than a week after taking leadership: Tom Rideout, 1989

Ah, if only Tom Rideout was in charge:

 

Thursday, March 23, 1989,

Rideout takes office as Newfoundland premier 

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CP) - Tom Rideout became Newfoundland's fourth premier yesterday. The straight-talking son of a fisherman was sworn in as Conservative premier by Lt. Gov. James McGrath during a brief, simple ceremony in the lieutenant-governor's residence.

"We are embarking on a journey which requires a captain on whom the people can depend," said a sombre Rideout, as his family of four proudly looked on. "We have survived and grown in number and prospered so we no longer believe it is a fantasy for us to be masters of our own destiny."

Rideout, who dreamed of being premier as a teenager in his hometown of Fleur-de-Lys, Nfld., succeeded Brian Peckford who held power for 10 years. Peckford announced his resignation in mid-January, saying he'd lost the ruthlessness to make hard political decisions. The 40-year-old Rideout is the province's fourth premier since Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949. Tory Frank Moores and Liberal Joey Smallwood held office before Peckford.

Only hours after the pomp of the swearing-in, the new premier got down to business, telling reporters he could call the legislature into session as early as next Tuesday to pass an interim financing bill. If the opposition doesn't agree with that scenario, he would begin the session in early April with a new budget and speech from the throne.

But the former fisheries minister could be on the election trail before members of the legislature are long in their seats. "We could be very close or we could be far away from an election," he teased reporters. "But April 2 is the fourth year of this government and a new premier would want to seek his own mandate as soon as possible."

Before an election, Rideout said he wants to honor several promises such as setting up a premier's task force on family violence and sexual abuse against children. Rideout hopes to announce his new smaller cabinet Monday as the first phase of a reshuffling of departments aimed at producing a leaner, more efficient government. The premier said he is thinking about taking on a second cabinet position as part of his duties.

While Rideout met with reporters, his staff moved from a hotel suite into the rambling eighth-floor premier's office. Only three of Peckford's 20-member staff have been asked to stay on and most senior people, including Peckford's bodyguard and press secretary, will leave.

"I want to bring new faces to the premier's office. . . . I want to portray to the people of the province I intend to lead, to take a new direction as we spring into the 1990s." The government, however, will follow established policy and provide the outgoing premier with money to operate an office with a secretary for up to three years.

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Danny's long slow good-bye

Did anyone else notice the relaxed, jovial Danny Williams on election night?

No?

How about the post-election vacation?

Okay.

Well, did anyone notice that he came back to St. John's - where he lives - to celebrate his second majority government rather than celebrate in Corner Brook which is in his district?

Hmmm.

Well, those are clues that Danny Williams was serious when he said last year that he wouldn't be hanging around for a third election.

The world has changed a lot since last Christmas. Williams worked diligently and managed to get the oil companies back to the negotiating table so he could make concessions and get a Hebron deal. 

The energy plan is done. Well, sort of done, since both the oil regime and the gas royalty regime are still in draft form.

And then there's the Lower Churchill.  The crowning achievement of Williams' tenure secured, as it likely will be, with government loan guarantees backed up by the offshore oil deals, pretty much as Bond Papers has maintained. those are the things Williams will be focusing on in the next three years and that's basically what he said to reporters in a scrum after the cabinet swearing in ceremony.

The big clue of his departure, though, has been Williams' claim that he is loosening the grip on the cabinet he re-appointed, with minor changes, on Tuesday morning.

"As we mature as a government, I want to see an increased role for the ministers," Williams said after the cabinet swearing-in ceremony.

"I've been criticized on the one hand for being a one-man show. On the other hand, if you don't show up for something ... I get criticized for that, so we've got to strike that happy medium."

No one likely missed the curiosity of a guy claiming he doesn't run a one man show while at the same time saying that he wants to see an "increased role" for cabinet ministers. Not showing up for something is a reference to criticism Williams took last week for being away on vacation while about 100 workers in his own district were laid off at the local paper mill. Williams gave in to the criticism and interrupted his most recent vacation for a short meeting with union officials. 

That's hardly the thing one would expect from a guy who is planning to run again in the same district in four years time, especially when the laid-off paper workers watched Williams go to the mat for their brethren in a neighbouring town only two years ago.

Aside: Incidentally, is it possible that the Kruger announcement was delayed after an intervention by the provincial?  Word on High Street is that people at the mill heard rumours of the machine shut-down three weeks before it was made public. They were likely clued in by an announcement on October 2 - a week before polling day - and the shut-down of the same machine at Corner Brook in July. in hindsight, it looks like the July announcement was actually the closure.  Look at the wording.  There's no suggestion it was going to be for a mere two weeks yet that's what it turned out to be.

In any event, old habits are hard for the Premier to break though, as his other comments reveal.  His penchant for using "I" still comes through loud and clear, as does the reference to people he supposedly doesn't watch. McGuinty announced his cabinet on Tuesday and up to the sudden announce from the provincial government's propaganda service Tuesday morning, there was absolutely no sign Danny Williams was ready to announce his cabinet.

"I don't guide myself, or our government doesn't guide ourselves, by what Premier McGuinty does or Prime Minister Harper does or anyone else in the country does," he said.

"We're running our own show down here and we do it as we see fit, and I think we're doing a great job."

The pattern Williams is following here is pretty much the one he used in 2003, although the overall circumstances don't warrant the delay in opening the legislature. in 2003, a cabinet was hastily sworn in out of constitutional necessity but it took until February before the names of the new departments were announced. This is an administration that takes its sweet time to do anything and there's no sign that will change in Williams' last years.

The serial government will carry on and, as noted here in January, speculation will mount as to which of the current crop of minister's will start angling for the Premier's job.

All the signs are there.  You just have to look for them.

And in the meantime, Danny Williams will depart from office in the same way he has occupied the office:  doing everything in his own time.

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National Velvet Astroturf

Strange things turn up in the Bond Papers e-mail.

Like the following letter published in the Edmonton Journal online edition extolling the virtues of the far East's energy policy. It's odd for a few reasons which are in bold print.

Odd things like reference to the Council of the Federation's energy plan. Odd because few Canadians know of or care about the Council, let alone keep track of missives like the energy document. That document, incidentally, was produced by a committee headed by Danny Williams.

Then there is the repeated use of the phrase "Newfoundland Labrador". That phrase doesn't appear in the CP Stylebook but it does appear in the local PC Style Guide.

Newfoundland Labrador.

It's the name of the new province re-born under Danny Williams.

Think about it for a second. Aside from provincial government advertising, which includes VOCM stuff and Tories, do you know anyone who says "Newfoundland Labrador"?

Everyone else has no trouble using the word "and" in between "Newfoundland" and "Labrador".

See?

It's right there.

Heck even the Tories aren't consistent in it, as their campaign platform shows. There are references to the province with the "and" there and in other places, you'll see Newfoundland Labrador Housing. Still, though, when it turns up in a letter to the editor, there's just something odd enough about it to make you wonder.

Could be nothing at all, of course. But given this administration's love of artificial turf, there's a good possibility this letter is part of a concerted effort to spread The Word far and wide, especially in "Steve" Harper's backyard.

You can find more of Don Abbott's stuff at cbc.ca, for example on the same subject.

More Letters
Edmontonjournal.Com
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Section: Cityplus

Energy development is slowly assuming a new, more comprehensive direction in Canada.

In recent months, among other initiatives, the Council of the Federation outlined its first-ever action plan for a sustainable and secure energy future for Canada.

And, Alberta and Newfoundland Labrador released positions that grapple with the thorny issues of royalty reviews and the development of future energy projects.

The federal government's reaction has been unsurprisingly mute. Ottawa appears incapable of forging a complete and credible policy that combines energy growth and prosperity with enhanced environmental and social responsibility.

Industry reaction to Alberta's ongoing royalty review has predictable. Energy company officials protest the sky will fall and billions in investment will be withheld.

Newfoundland Labrador has had years of similar reaction. Despite the critics, it has enhanced royalties and agreed to a five-per-cent ownership share in new, and 10-per-cent share in undeveloped, offshore oilfields.

It also has stated its determination to go it alone, if need be, on the Lower Churchill hydro project, which leaves the fate of a promising East-West power grid at Quebec and Ottawa's doorsteps (where it has been for 40 years).

A completely new attitude and set of principles is emerging that reinforces the call for sounder planning and stronger leadership for future energy policy in the country. These principles currently are being driven at the provincial and territorial level.

They incorporate a myriad of factors including spiraling energy needs, ownership, administration, pace of development, equitable returns, greater efficiency, less destruction, the full economic cost of research, human resources and infrastructure, the changing face of the North, and human and ecological necessities.

At almost opposite ends of the country Premiers Ed Stelmach and Danny Williams are helping initiate foresight in future energy development.

Their principled stand, for a more inclusive energy policy for Canada and Canadians, resonates well across the length and breath of the land.

Don Abbott, St. John's, NL

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Another little piece of secretive business to keep an eye on

In addition to his duties as intergovernmental affairs minister, Tom Hedderson will also be responsible for the volunteer and not-for-profit sector.

Forget for a second that there is absolutely nothing  to connect IGA with not-for-profits and volunteers.

Not a thing.

Focus instead on the line in the Progressive Conservative campaign platform that promised to "implement the recommendations of the task force on the not-for-profit sector."

Actually, it said continue to implement.

Odd that there is no public record of such a task force anywhere.

Yet, the Tories committed to continue to implement a report no one in the public has ever seen and on top of that there was a promise to create a new office and a ministerial post dedicated solely to supporting "volunteers and not-for-profits."

Curious.

Don't ya think?

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The accountable government at work

It's hard to keep a government accountable when they keep wiping out any traces of the past.

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And this took three weeks?

New provincial cabinet.

No major change in major portfolios.

There are a few demotions, most notably John Hickey, Tom Hedderson and Kevin O'Brien.  The latter goes from being a potentially high profile minister in a high profile department with lots of big announcements to the minister of licenses and permits.

Hedderson goes from a lead portfolio in the arts and tourism to being, essentially, the guy who sends pay cheques to our man in a Blue Line cab on behalf of the guy he really works for, namely the Premier. Intergovernmental Affairs doesn't have the profile it once had and it doesn't look like it will become a Action central in the near future.

The table - shamelessly lifted from labradore -  shows the number of ministers and parliamentary secretaries from 1996 to the present.  The figures between 1989 and 1996 are comparable to the early Tobin period on the chart.

The official excuse is that these are new times and the province's finances are in better shape.

The real reason for the increased size of cabinet, largely through the creation of minor ministries, was politics. 

The enlarged cabinet wouldn't look so obviously political if there had been some changes to the arrangement or to the faces.

Then again, given the lack of significant change, one wonders why the House of Assembly hasn't been called back into session or why this shuffle took three weeks. Deputy premier Tom Rideout's excuses offered up when he announced the cancellation of a fall session don't seem to hold much water in light of events. 

Keep an eye on municipal affairs.  Rumour has it there is a cabinet paper on amalgamation that was put on hold pending the election;  there's a strange line in the Tory campaign platform about "no forced amalgamation."  In the absence of any discussion of municipal amalgamation, the comment just stood out. St. John's and Mount Pearl won't be dragged to the altar but on the northeast Avalon, there's always the chance a new supercity will be crammed together out of the other towns or the existing cities will swallow up bits of their neighbours. One prime candidate for elimination:  Paradise. 

One interesting observation:  With the exception of Danny Williams, Tom Rideout and Trevor Taylor, there is no one in cabinet who was elected before 2003. Keep an eye to see if the House opens only once a year in the future. The majority of members - Opposition benches included - have such little interest in the House and display such an obvious lack of interest in being there, that they'd just as soon keep it locked tight. If that happens, democracy in Newfoundland and Labrador will take another body blow.  Don't look to the opposition benches for too many voices of genuine dissent.

Big surprise:  despite all the signs of a rapprochement and much media speculation, Beth Marshall still sits on the back benchers.

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Quebec's outmigration problem

From ctv.ca, a report on the growing outmigration of young anglophones from Quebec.

As in Newfoundland and Labrador, they are being lured by better economic opportunities elsewhere.

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The remittance economy and the long-term future

CBC Radio is running a short series of reports on remittance workers. Those are people who maintain a permanent residence in Newfoundland and Labrador but who travel to other places, mostly Alberta, to earn a living.

If the CBC figures are accurate - upwards of 10,000 people earning pre-tax salaries of $100,000 a year - then remittance labourers are contributing to the Newfoundland and Labrador economy on a scale that rivals agriculture and the fishery.

Remittance labour is a common feature of the economy in the developing world. The figures for Newfoundland and Labrador would be also on a par with some countries at the low end of the scale in a 2003 World Bank study. Bond Papers noted the local history of remittance work in a post earlier in 2007.

The local workers involved in the Newfoundland and Labrador version of remittance labour include fishery workers displaced by changes in that industry. Others are older, skilled workers from the former paper plant at Stephenville or from the shipyard at Marystown. Neither of these groups will likely be doing the Big Commute for a long time. Either the projects they are working on will shut down or they will retire in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Others are young men and women who are attracted by high wages and steady work in their chosen fields. While the older workers are contributing to a localized economic boom in places without major industries - like Marystown or Stephenville -

Only a major and sustained series of local projects rivaling the work elsewhere will cause the younger workers to stay in the local labour force. Many are likely to settle outside of Newfoundland and Labrador.

In that context, it's interesting to recall that in 2003 Danny Williams campaigned on his commitment to "growing" the economy and creating jobs. He didn't do that, of course, as Bond Papers has noted several times, including in a reprint of a 2004 column from the original (pre-Cleary) incarnation of The Independent. The economic miracle of the past four years has been entirely due to the upsurge in world oil prices.

Essentially, the current progressive Conservative administration is following the same approach of its predecessors. The long-term is sacrificed to short-term expediency. The rise of highly-paid remittance work has served to both cushion the blow of outmigration and enable the provincial government to contribute disproportionately to the provincial economy in the process.

The current administration started out, supposedly, with a plan to control spending and deal with the burgeoning provincial debt. In reality, it did nothing about either. Spending has grown by 35% - well beyond the rate of inflation - and at the same time, the provincial direct and total debt is larger today than it was in 2003. Spending is forecast to increase, as is the debt.

Both oil prices and the remittance economy are shaky underpinnings for government spending and development of larger debt. Oil prices are historically subject to significant fluctuations. The remittance economy is limited either by the life of projects or the short time some of the workers have left to retirement.

Remittance work and the related subject of demographic changes in the province have been largely ignored by successive provincial governments in Newfoundland and Labrador and there is virtually no discussion of it in the public at large.

Perhaps the CBC report will change that.

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Invasion of the sock puppets

Telegram media blogger Geoff Meeker has been on a thread lately about local talk shows and the organized partisan callers.

His latest post includes some comments from people who worked inside the system.

One in particular is worth quoting since it fairly and accurately describes the current state of affairs:

Political operatives organize and coordinate it. Government-side in-house political operatives, voluntary political operatives and key 'lay' party members are all given direction (and often talking points, generated by communications people and other public servants for ministers' use) to call on particular topics.

Communications personnel in Communications Branch are and were public service employees. They were required to monitor, analyze and advise on response to talk radio, but not to call…. Making partisan calls would undermine their professional reputation for balance and fairness in doing their core jobs.

Line department new or junior communications personnel have occasionally been asked to call, by both administrations, especially if they are politically connected. When they (and their voices) became/become better known to media, they were no longer asked to do so.

I never worked in the opposition office, but had I had friends there and my sense is that there is (and was) less if any line-stacking directed out of there. This may be due to lack of resources - fewer communications staff to draft the talking points, fewer political staff to rally the volunteer troops, fewer volunteer troops, etc... This is yet another area where her majesty's loyal opposition is out-gunned by Her Majesty's government.

Of course, there are still callers challenging government on a partisan basis, but that is usually self-directed, except during election time.

This is a fascinating and very useful bit of public discussion. I think it really helps for people to understand how this particular talk radio environment works.

Meeker links to Bond Papers that nets him a big thanks for the traffic.  To make it easier for his readers, here's a link to the first of a three part series from August and September 2006 on the whole business of astroturfing that the current administration has raised to an art form. One of the big changes from the system employed before October 2003 is that the current administration co-opts public servants into an essentially partisan process.

Of course, readers can also site search Bond Papers for the words "pitcher plant" and find a bunch of other posts.

Astroturfing is an old political idea. It shows up in newspaper letters, radio call-back lines and on the Internet through web sites or news (discussion) groups. Some of the anonymous and pseudonymous commenters are also well-known open line callers or partisan political operatives.

"Kirwin Nicholson", for example, is just one sock puppet created for the recent campaign.  He or she made several posts before accidentally revealing himself in a partisan attack on one Liberal candidate by posting using his or her more common identity.

Since there is no way of knowing who is actually posting, a great many of the people posting to nf.general on political topics could be sock puppets, Internet slang for "the act of creating a fake online identity to praise, defend or create the illusion of support for one’s self, allies or company."

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Woodrow, Dumaresque should resign

The Liberal Party and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador should be seeing a couple of resignations this weekend.

They won't see either, but they are entitled to both.

John Woodrow should do the right thing and withdraw as the Liberal candidate in the deferred election in Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans. if Woodrow had any serious interest in the job, he'd have come forward long before now. But that's not the real problem.

Almost a decade ago, Woodrow was at the centre of of an alleged bribery scandal. No charges were laid, but in the allegations Woodrow made, he told a justice department lawyer that he had paid bribes to a cabinet minister and several officials.

The police investigated but no charges were laid.

Nonetheless, Woodrow seemed quite happy to make the allegation in the first place. Even if we allow for the presumption of innocence on Woodrow's part, that is, if he didn't provide any benefits to the minister, the minister direct family and/or the minister's staff in contravention of the Criminal Code, Woodrow's willingness to make such an accusation in the first place makes him unfit to hold any public office. That conclusion should be patently obvious.

As for Danny Dumaresque, the party president, he should resign for failing to do anything to discharge his responsibilities in this matter properly. By his own admission, Dumaresque did not meet with Woodrow prior to signing the nomination papers.

Obviously, Dumaresque didn't even conduct a simple google search. Had he searched for "John Woodrow Newfoundland" the very first thing to appear would have been a reference to the scandal.

The party president is responsible, among other things, for the proper administration of the party. Even if the district level executive was willing to accept Woodrow, the party president owes a duty of care to the party as a whole, to the provincial executive and to the leader. Dumaresque failed in that responsibility.

When the party executive board meets again - according to some sources they are meeting this weekend - the first order of business should be ending Woodrow's candidacy. if he's not prepared to quit, then the party executive must act.

The second order of business should be to accept Dumaresque's resignation. The only honourable thing for him to do is quit.

If Dumaresque tries to stay on, then it is incumbent on the executive to fire him.

Should they fail to act, the individual members of the board who approve of Woodrow and Dumaresque in this instance can expect their own tenure in office will be as short as short can be.

Meaningless numbers

At what point will someone in the provincial government's business department decide to tell the people of Newfoundland and Labrador just exactly what sorts of regulatory requirements have been eliminated or reduced as part of the so-called red tape reduction program?

"We have further reduced the number of regulatory requirements by 32,866, which means the elimination of an additional 11,651 requirements since April," said Minister [Kevin] O'Brien. "We have successfully reduced the regulatory burden by just over 10.5 per cent. This achievement puts us on the way to the halfway mark of our objective to reduce the number of regulatory requirements within government by 25 per cent."

This is the kind of vacuous statement that brings public relations into disrepute. Without knowing what the "regulatory requirements" are, no one can tell whether or not eliminating even one of them actually means anything.

This isn't news.

It's drivel.

Vacuous, meaningless tripe.

Let's not even discuss the tortured grammar of that first sentence of the quote.

Rather than this pile of words, the two communications directors involved - that's right, it took two people to issue it - could simply have printed a limerick.

You know the one:

There once was a young man named Paul

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Alberta boosts royalties

Alberta premier Ed Stelmach announced today that the Alberta government has accepted most of the recommendations of a recent review panel and will therefore hike oil and gas royalties by 20%.

The new royalty framework announced today will boost overall royalties by $1.4 billion or 20 per cent in 2010. But Stelmach has rejected a call to impose an oilsands severance tax that established producers would have had to begin paying next year.

The new rates, which will hike royalties from current highs of 35 per cent to a maximum 50 per cent for conventional oil and natural gas, won't take effect until 2009.

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EnCana approves $700 million Deep Panuke gas project

CALGARY, Alberta, Oct 25 (Reuters) - EnCana Corp (ECA.TO) will build its own pipeline to ship gas to shore from its C$700 million ($721 million) Deep Panuke gas project off Nova Scotia rather than use the line from the nearby Sable project, an EnCana spokesman said.

EnCana had been weighing the two options since before it restarted regulatory proceedings early this year for the Atlantic Canada gas development.

"Each of the parties (EnCana and the Sable partners) looked at it. It was agreed that technical, commercial and operational circumstances were not something we could come to an agreement on. It didn't have optimal benefits for both," EnCana spokesman Alan Boras said.

EnCana gave the corporate green light on Thursday to Deep Panuke, which will be the first new project off the coast of Nova Scotia since Sable was developed in the 1990s.

It is due to start producing 200 million to 300 million cubic feet of gas a day in 2010.

The cost of building the pipeline to Goldsboro, Nova Scotia, from the gas field, 250 km (155 miles) southeast of Halifax, is included in the overall C$700 million capital budget, Boras said.

Sable partners Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and Royal Dutch Shell have their combined 18 % interest in the Deep Panuke project on the auction block.

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Workers wonder where Williams wanders while woodwork withers

From CBC:

"I'm kind of wondering where Danny Williams stands on it all. I'd like to know," said Nathan Wareham, who attended a meeting of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper workers on Wednesday evening about parent company Kruger Inc.'s planned cuts.

Apparently, the premier is on vacation, according to his office, following his recent election victory.

Which, if memory serves, was preceded by a vacation.

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Change is good

If you've been reading Bond Papers regularly, you'll likely notice the format changes over the past few weeks.

We've changed the masthead, colour scheme and the fonts, all with a view to making Bond Papers visually appealing and and easier to read.

The latest change is to stretch the layout so that each post is wider across the page. The whole thing should be more legible and the layout works well at the two most common display settings being used by Bond Papers readers.

The sidebar is also wider. This also facilitates reading but it also makes the content more attractive to the eye.

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The hard work of being Premier, another perspective

And while Danny is off having a bit of a lark, the province has been left in the hands of this man, right, deputy Premier Tom Rideout.

Rideout said "there is no urgent public business" facing the legislature and all of it can be dealt with in the new year.

Draw your own conclusions.

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The hard work of being Premier

Looking kinda tanned just before the election [Photo: right].

Vacation maybe?

No House of Assembly sitting until sometime next Easter because supposedly there isn't enough time to get everything ready in the six or seven weeks between election day and the usual time for opening the House in the fall.

Two television appearances after the election.

And this Saturday night?

Ottawa for the national press gallery annual dinner.

Steve won't be there, apparently, but Layton and Dion will be.

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The political road ahead

Update: Kruger machine closure and government subsidies

The official government news release came in the middle of Monday afternoon.

Turns out the provincial government has subsidized the newsprint industry to the tune of $30 million over just the past two years.

In the release, natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale notes:

"We met with Kruger officials last week and told them very clearly that this was unacceptable. We reminded the company of the support it has received from this government. In the last two years, we have provided over $30 million in assistance to the pulp and paper industry in this province. The company has revisited its plans and moved ahead with today’s action that will see the shutdown of one machine. The impact of their business decision has been lessened because of the significant support this government has provided, and continues to provide, to this industry."

Hmmmm.

The last time issues like this came up, the provincial government wound up shelling out millions in subsidies. In 2006, it was an unspecified amount to deal with a cost problem with operations on the island. Later in 2006, it was a $10 million subsidy on power costs. A bit of simple math suggests that the earlier subsidy was upwards of $20 million but the actual figure was never made public; it could be there have been other subsidies that Dunderdale or her predecessor never announced publicly.

Subsidies to private industry are nothing new for the current administration. In a failed effort to salvage the Abitibi mill in Stephenville, the provincial government was prepared to offer the company upwards of $10-12 million annually to keep the mill open. Bond Papers concluded that subsidy actually worked out to more than the provincial government's tax take from Abitibi's Stephenville operation in certain circumstances.

No one should be surprised if there is a government decision between now and next spring, while the legislature is conveniently closed, to announce further subsidies for the pulp and paper industry in the province.

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Rumpole and the Car Park

When I good friends was called to the bar... I never imagined I'd be adjudicating parking disputes."

One can easily imagine Chief Justice Derek Green being somewhat chagrined as he dutifully took the submissions of the High Sheriff of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Registrar of the Supreme Court and rendered a 14 page decision over parking spaces at the court house in St. John's.

The application made by the Sheriff sought a variance in a 2004 order on the use of court parking spaces on the Water Street side of the court house. The Sheriff was looking for two parking spaces in the lot which is controlled by the Registrar. The dispute apparently involved Sheriff's officials and others who took to parking in the spaces in such a way as to block access to some of the spaces in the overcrowded and over-permitted space.

After a recapitulation of the entire situation, the Chief Justice issued a simple order, amounting to granting two spaces to the Sheriff's officials.

[34] There is no basis for continuing the injunctive order against the two officials of the Office of the High Sheriff designated by the High Sheriff as needing access to parking on the Water Street lot. Accordingly, I will make the following order and declaration:
1. The Interim Order (Ex Parte) made on March 17, 2004 is hereby varied by adding an additional paragraph as follows:

5. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Order, it shall not apply to two persons employed in the Office of the High Sheriff and designated in writing by him from time to time as eligible to apply to the Registrar for a permit to park on the Parking Lot

2. It is declared that the Registrar has the discretion:
(a) to issue permits to park on the Parking Lot to the two persons designated by the High Sheriff pursuant to paragraph 5 of the amended order, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be appropriate to promote the overall effective and efficient use of the parking lot for the benefit of all users; and
(b) to revoke any such permits from time to time or to impose revised conditions and restrictions thereon as circumstances may dictate.

Considering the valuable time of the courts and the costs involved by all parties, including the time of the Chief Justice, surely it was possible that this matter might have been resolved more amicably, less tediously and in a far less costly way than this.

Horace would not be amused.

-srbp-

Shame! Shame!

The red line: The number of sitting days, by year, in the unelected Senate, from 1996 to 2007. The last number is estimated, since the Senate is still sitting. It's current total of 54 days (as of 22 Oct 2007) will likely hit the 70 days or thereabouts which have been typical over the last five years.

The blue line: Sitting days in the elected House of Assembly, over the same time period. The 2007 figure is accurate since the Williams administration has decided to cancel the usual fall sitting of the provincial legislature.

For all the jokes about the Senate being the ante-chamber to the Kingdom of heaven and the the cracks about senators not showing up for work and still getting paid, here are the bare facts. It should be an embarrassment to every legislator in Newfoundland and Labrador that the senators put in more time doing their jobs than their local elected cousins do.

Consider that senators spend considerable time outside the chamber attending committee meetings on a variety of subjects like the fishery, national defence, or federal-provincial relations. Members of the House of Assembly are not burdened by such responsibilities; they just get to show up and, if the last sitting is any guide to the future, nod their approval when the House leader gestures such that 70% of the bills presented get passed with a mere couple of hours of discussion. Legislation in the local chamber are never subjected to detailed scrutiny by the elected representatives of the province.

The men and women who fought to have responsible government established in Newfoundland and Labrador are surely spinning in their graves.

Those of us who voted in the recent general election are just plain appalled.

-srbp-

Almost immediate update: Since 2003, the House of Assembly has met, on average, about the same number of days each year that Tom Rideout spent as Premier in 1989.

Kruger shuts machine at Corner Brook

Faced with declining demand and a high Canadian dollar, Kruger Inc is shutting Paper Machine No. 1 at its Corner Brook operation. The shut-down is for an indefinite period beginning November 5 and will reduce the mill's output by 80,000 tonnes annually.

No sign when the provincial government first learned of the decision, although it was far enough in advance to see the natural resources minister shipped to Corner Brook for a media availability. Kathy Dunderdale told CBC's Radio Noon that the provincial government had "invested' heavily in Kruger's Corner Brook operation in recent years. Dunderdale put the figure at $20 million. That would include a harvesting subsidy announced by Dunderdale's predecessor Ed Byrne to Kruger in March 2006, although the government didn't announce the price paid at the time. That amount would also include a power cost subsidy of $10 million Dunderdale announced last October.

Dunderdale said 83 people will be laid off as a result of the machine closure but that the figure might be reduced to 13 due to layoffs.

Kruger closed one machine temporarily in July, 2007 citing the same reasons as the ones given on Monday.

-srbp-

Right-wing facebook

Thanks to Kevin for the link to this parody of facebook for Republican candidates in the United States.

For those who might be wondering, red is the colour associated with the Grand Old party, while blue is for Democrats.

Enjoy!

-srbp-

Saskatchewan election blogs

Cross-posted from John Murney's blog:

I have been following a number of other blogs that are also giving some measure of coverage to the provincial election campaign. Here are some of those blogs...

Small Dead Animals

Although Kate McMillan is not blogging only about the election campaign, the stuff Kate posts is usually substantive and noteworthy. Kate has a razorsharp wit, and a keenly analytical mind. I feel SDA is the strong conservative voice in cyberspace in this election campaign.

Catprint in the Mash

Lance Levsen falls into the same category as Kate - I pay close attention to anything Lance has to say about this election. Lance is a great analyzer, and I enjoy his feedback on the daily twists and turns of this campaign. Lance's blog is a must read for anyone wishing to follow the campaign.

Giant Political Mouse

GPM is the primary left-wing blog in this election campaign. To get a good idea of what lefties think about this campaign, GPM is a credible voice in that regard. GPM is one of my daily reads in this campaign, and you should add it to your list of election blogs as well. This blog makes for a great read.

NDP Boogeyman

Since making contact with the host of NDP Boogeyman blog last week, I have been paying close attention to this blog's careful monitoring of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party in this election campaign. You should put this blog high on your list of reads.

Larry Hubich's Blog

The President of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour has an excellent overall blog, and in particular many keen and interesting insights and observations about the provincial election campaign. No list of blogs covering the provincial election would be complete without adding Larry's blog!

Birkbeck's Blog

Larry Birkbeck is a former Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative MLA and is now an independent political consultant. Larry has excellent political judgment, and his commentary on this provincial election campaign is ignored at our peril. I have never known Larry to be wrong in his assessment of the Saskatchewan political landscape, and his special insight will be invaluable in the days ahead.

The blogs I have listed above are all well written by intelligent people. Their coverage of the Saskatchewan election campaign is incisive, well thought out, creative, and credible.

-srbp-

A new Beowulf movie

Coming November 16, another new movie based on the oldest story in English:  Beowulf.

The tagline on the in-theatre poster:  Pride is the curse.

Trailer 1:

 

Trailer 2 [Note:  nudity and violence]:

 

-srbp-