The Sir Robert Bond Papers
The real political division in society is between authoritarians and libertarians.
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Churchill Falls and Muskrat Falls - Background
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07 June 2015
Q2 2015 Poll Speculation #nlpoli
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Corporate Research Associates boss Don Mills has done a good job of teasing the results of his latest poll, due Monday. "Significant&...
05 June 2015
Politicians and other damn fools #nlpoli
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On Wednesday, politicians in Newfoundland and Labrador condemned the federal minister of fisheries for making a decision about the fishery i...
04 June 2015
The Persistence of False Information: free electricity version #nlpoli
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An exchange on Twitter reminded your humble e-scribbler on Wednesday evening of the power of false information to persist despite either be...
03 June 2015
Duff in the Hole #nlpoli #cdnpoli
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Dwight Ball’s announcement last week about Liberal Party funding was a good example of how relatively simple mistakes can turn a good-news a...
02 June 2015
Politics, CETA, and the fishery #nlpoli
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The European trade deal came up in the House of Assembly on Monday. Everyone kept to the same lines they've been kicking around for m...
01 June 2015
For want of a nail... #nlpoli
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Dwight Ball demonstrated last week how very simple things can turn into problems very quickly. He handed his political opponents a stick the...
29 May 2015
Parting Gifts #nlpoli #cdnpoli
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Peter MacKay may have quit federal politics but that didn't stop him from porking up the federally-appointed courts before he left. On...
More delays in taking out the trash #nlpoli
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On Monday , municipal affairs minister Keith Hutchings announced that the provincial government was setting back the clock on the provincia...
28 May 2015
Yesterday #nlpoli
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The news should have been good. Party leader Dwight Ball announced on Wednesday that the Liberals had rid themselves of the debt the part...
27 May 2015
Conservatives abandon ridiculous position on European trade… again #nlpoli
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In January , trade minister Darin King wrote a letter to his federal counterpart about the European trade deal. King said the provincial...
26 May 2015
The party is over #nlpoli
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There are times when you wonder why anyone pays attention to a crowd like the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council. They showed up in St. J...
25 May 2015
Everything will be fine. Or not. #nlpoli
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This pretty picture shows a very ugly problem. Look at the point (2008) where the red and blue lines separate. The area in between repres...
22 May 2015
A week of truth for the Conservatives #nlpoli
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Not that we didn’t know the provincial government had already granted exemptions to its supposedly sacred minimum fish processing requiremen...
21 May 2015
TBT: a cabinet divided #nlpoli
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The latest case of the Premier and one of his ministers saying different things can’t be put down to brain farts. You also cannot dismiss ...
Oil Royalty and Oil Price Forecasts (2015) #nlpoli
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Don Mills says people in Newfoundland and Labrador have a false impression of the state of the provincial economy. Wade Locke says Mills i...
20 May 2015
Brain Farts #nlpoli
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Some people have a hard time with the idea that a great many political decisions are not the product of deep thinking, extensive research, a...
19 May 2015
Political Pandermonium #nlpoli
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You can tell the election is already going on. You can tell because of what some of the political workers are doing. The Liberals are goi...
18 May 2015
Owing it forward #nlpoli
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The provincial government will balance its books this year by borrowing $2.1 billion. Lots of people don’t know that, as Michael Caine wo...
15 May 2015
Never heard anyone say that before #nlpoli
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“This may be our last shot at it,” said captain of industry Paul Antle this week as he set off to find other captains of industry to help hi...
14 May 2015
And it’s only Wednesday #nlpoli
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Imagine, if you can, what it must be like to be Sandy Collins. Sandy is a very young man who is - right now - living the first line of hi...
13 May 2015
A Memorial at Gallipoli #nlpoli
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The provincial government announced four years ago that a caribou memorial at Gallipoli would be part of the Honour 100 commemorations to ma...
12 May 2015
When is a cut not a cut? #nlpoli
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A couple of years ago, the province’s auditor general noted that a Crown agency responsible for developing an integrated health information...
11 May 2015
Ethnic identity economics #nlpoli
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Wade Locke and Don Mills are two of the faces most associated with the current Conservative administration in Newfoundland and Labrador, asi...
08 May 2015
Trends: corpse kicking after a lost decade of delusion #nlpoli
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Don Mills is the latest fan of the provincial Conservatives to turn on them savagely. The St. John’s Board of Trade had Don back to delive...
07 May 2015
The Fourth Party #nlpoli
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A Telegram editorial on Wednesday contained a curious comment. The subject was news that broke this week about the provincial governme...
06 May 2015
Austerity #nlpoli
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All this talk of austerity, gutting the public service…. Then you look at the salary costs, from the provincial budget. There’s somethin...
05 May 2015
The Red and the Black: budgets and politics #nlpoli
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The annual budget is probably the most political document of any government in a Westminster style parliament like ours. At its simplest a...
04 May 2015
Fearful Symmetry #nlpoli
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There are a couple of constables in an office over in the basement of the old Memorial College building at Fort Townshend, right next to whe...
01 May 2015
Conservatives stay the debt-building course #nlpoli
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Budget 2015 offered absolutely no surprises. On major areas the Conservatives continued their policy of spending more than the provincial ...
30 April 2015
The little things will get you #nlpoli
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Maybe someone can point to this information somewhere please. Maybe your humble e-scribbler missed it. But in the past couple of days, t...
29 April 2015
Yes. The government has big financial problems #nlpoli
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Yet another academic paper emerged on Tuesday that pointed out that the provincial government has a big financial problem caused by followi...
28 April 2015
Contending Political Strategies #nlpoli
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Starting last Friday, the ironically-named Conservatives currently running the place started holding a series of “pre-budget” announcements....
27 April 2015
Hysteriana #nlpoli
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The response to the proposed boundaries for districts in the House of Assembly has been…what’s the word for it? … oh yes, totally off-the-w...
24 April 2015
You know things are going badly when… #nlpoli
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… you launch your election campaign at at huge fundraiser and your signature policy announcement gets slaughtered on Twitter within seconds ...
23 April 2015
Another little thing that stood out #nlpoli
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From Tuesday’s throne speech , here’s another little passage buried away, that could prove to be one of the most significant parts of any th...
22 April 2015
The little things that stand out #nlpoli
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Throne Speech 2015 was the kind of document you’d expect from a group of politicians who are out of new ideas. People are making a big de...
21 April 2015
Pre-emptive rebuttal #nlpoli
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This excerpt from Tuesday’s federal budget speech seems aimed at province's like Newfoundland and Labrador where the government promised...
The problem with no problem #nlpoli
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Dwight Ball is the latest Liberal to emerge from the candidate protection program. He popped up on NTV on Monday evening to tell us all tw...
20 April 2015
The Political Game of Stupidity #nlpoli
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Last week, the provincial Liberals came out of the candidate protection program to talk about the Dunphy shooting. Liberal justice critic ...
17 April 2015
Has anyone seen the Liberals lately? #nlpoli
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This editorial by Craig Westcott originally appeared in The Pearl newspaper and is re-produced here with permission. Two of the most ...
16 April 2015
Goldilocks and the three mayors #nlpoli
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Almost a week after we all got a peek at the new provincial electoral boundaries, things have settled down in some areas and the insanity h...
15 April 2015
Minority Report #nlpoli
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One of the police officers responsible for the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary’s Twitter presence did an interview with CBC’s Anthony Germai...
14 April 2015
Politics, the police, and tragedy #nlpoli
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Last October, Premier Paul Davis appointed Lynn Moore to his new advisory council on crime. Moore is in private practice these days but, a...
13 April 2015
Political Boundary Issues #nlpoli
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Some people thought that the electoral boundaries commission wouldn’t get its job done within 120 days. On Friday, those people found out...
10 April 2015
The week from hell #nlpoli
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You gotta feel for police chief Bill Janes and the rest of the men and women of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. All this happened bet...
09 April 2015
The irresponsible rush to judgment #nlpoli
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For those not involved but deeply concerned about the events in Mitchell’s Brook on Easter Sunday, one of the more disturbing aspects of the...
08 April 2015
For the Quebec lovers #nlpoli
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We’ve got two recent pieces on events in Quebec. Don Macpherson explains why the student “strikes” aren’t really strikes at all. And fo...
07 April 2015
The Dunphy Shooting: serious questions #nlpoli
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Question Number 1: Who has been trying to spin the story by feeding both David Cochrane and Fred Hutton with confidential information? Th...
06 April 2015
Soothsayer #nlpoli
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Wade Locke has had a profound impact on public policy in this province like no academic since Parzival Copes . Locke has been intimately i...
02 April 2015
The New Chainsaw Earle #nlpoli
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Carol Furlong had the good fortune to be the head of the province’s largest public sector union at a time when the provincial government had...
01 April 2015
Rumpole and the Judge’s Wage #nlpoli
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How hard can it be to figure out what Provincial Court Judges should get paid to do their work dispensing justice all around the province? ...
31 March 2015
The sky is falling. Or not. #nlpoli
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First they claimed the budget consultation would be way later than usual. So your humble e-scribbler worked it out. Turns out it wasn’t...
30 March 2015
More like a snapshot than a panorama #nlpoli
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Last week, a group called Samara released the results of its research on Canadians and politics. Democracy 360 t hey called it. The media...
26 March 2015
More of the same. It’s the economy. And, … #nlpoli
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Past behaviour is a good indicator of future behaviour. If that’s the case, then lots of people are getting their knickers in a very great...
25 March 2015
The ongoing saga of the remittance economy #nlpoli
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A downturn in the economy in Saskatchewan and Alberta caused by falling oil prices will affect Newfoundland and Labrador. This is hardly ...
24 March 2015
Letto to speak on access legislation #nlpoli
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Commissioner Doug Letto will be speaking to the Newfoundland and Labrador Chapter of the Canadian Public Relations Society at the Fluvarium,...
A legacy of secrecy and bad deals #nlpoli
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In response to questioning in the House of Assembly last Tuesday and Wednesday , natural resources Minister Derrick Dalley confirmed that t...
23 March 2015
Budget ignorance abounds #nlpoli
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The provincial government’s own economics and statistics agency conducted a telephone survey for the budget consultations this year. The...
20 March 2015
The Next Question #nlpoli
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Scott Andrews’ political career ended last fall. He may not have realised it at the time. His bizarre news conference on Thursday made p...
19 March 2015
British VC Memorial Dishonours Former British Dominion #nlpoli
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As part of its commemoration of the Great War, the British government unveiled a memorial to Victoria Cross winners who were born in other...
18 March 2015
The Endless Supply of Sacred Cows 2015 #nlpoli
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On the first day of the session in the House of Assembly, the finance minister tabled an interim supply bill for slightly more than $2.7 bil...
17 March 2015
Oil and polls #nlpoli
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Two things for Tuesday after a monster snow storm. Oil: Brent crude hit a low of $52.50 before rebounding to finish Monday at just belo...
16 March 2015
Felix the Half A-G #nlpoli
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If politicians are good at one thing, they are usually good at telling a story that serves their purpose even if it isn’t, strictly sp...
13 March 2015
Constable Contempt #nlpoli
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Paul Davis fired Judy Manning from cabinet on Wednesday. He didn’t meet with her in person. Davis called her on the phone. Short of se...
12 March 2015
The Salvation of Bell Island and Other Fairy Stories #nlpoli
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The Conservatives rode to power in 2003 by accusing the Liberals of not being able to manage anything. Ferries played a big part of their ...
11 March 2015
The Other Other March Madness #nlpoli
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Premier Paul Davis mentioned the prospect of privatizing some public services last week. This week, the Liberals started running ads decl...
10 March 2015
Gimme that Old-Time Religion #nlpoli
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Kim Keating is the president of the St. John’s Board of Trade this year. In her Telegram column on Saturday, Keating offered some advice ...
09 March 2015
Gimme that Old-Time Reaction #nlpoli
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The only news to come out of the New Democratic Party convention this past weekend is that the party now has not one but two leaders. Earl...
06 March 2015
Federal Presents, the 2015 edition #nlpoli
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November 2005. The Harris Centre at Memorial University issued a report on the number of federal public servants working in Newfoundland a...
05 March 2015
The Offshore Ownership Fight Examined #nlpoli
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Last year was the 30th anniversary of one of the most significant events not only in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador but of Canada ...
04 March 2015
The Abacus Insight #nlpoli
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[Updated: 1715 hrs] By lunch time today, you’ll have Corporate Research Associate’s latest quarterly omnibus poll. Odds are the overall ...
03 March 2015
Class Conflict #nlpoli
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The former Premier. The premier wannabe. -srbp-
Obesity in Newfoundland and Labrador #nlpoli
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A study published in 2014 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal projected that 71 percent of people in Newfoundland and Labrador wou...
02 March 2015
The Elephant in the Room, the Astigmatic Seer, and other horrifying budget tales #nlpoli
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Has anyone noticed a small problem in all the discussions about next year’s budget? On Point’s David Cochrane had both NAPE’s Carol Furl...
27 February 2015
Language Problems #nlpoli
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“Increasing taxes is not about solving the deficit, it’s about maintaining our programs and services that we have.” That’s what Labrador a...
26 February 2015
Nova Scotia won’t get Muskrat Falls electricity #nlpoli
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As part of its deal with Nalcor, Emera will get its electricity from Bay d’Espoir, not Muskrat Falls. The Business Post’s March 2015 ed...
25 February 2015
Bond Raters and other things to wonders about #nlpoli
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Cast your mind back a couple of years and you will probably remember finance minister Jerome Kennedy told us a couple of things. One was ...
24 February 2015
The Unsustainability Problem #nlpoli
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The annual budget consultation farce started on Monday with a couple of sessions. This year the provincial government has turned out a bud...
23 February 2015
The theory of everything #nlpoli
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People are talking about the budget. People are talking about Bill 42, the politicians’ decision to cut public representation in the House...
20 February 2015
A cunning plan it ain’t #nlpoli
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The whole “Paul-Davis-Decisive-Leader” thing doesn’t seem to be working for the provincial Conservatives. The latest NTV/MQO poll puts th...
19 February 2015
Stragedy and Polls: Chop House version #nlpoli
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Public opinion polls are a really useful thing in politics. The Liberals did a poll the weekend before the Liberals and Conservatives vote...
18 February 2015
St. Pierre shifting health care to Moncton, Halifax #nlpoli
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Rising costs are forcing the government of St. Pierre to look at shifting health care for its residents to Moncton New Brunswick from St. Jo...
17 February 2015
Lighter and Lighter #nlpoli
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Three separate stories over the past three days highlight changes to the local media world. On Saturday, Telegram editor Russell Wangersk...
16 February 2015
Money and Politics – the Chronic Enforcement Problem #nlpoli
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We can have all the rules in the world about how political parties and political candidates receive and spend money in Newfoundland and Labr...
12 February 2015
Money and Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador #nlpoli
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Some people are making a big deal over the fact that the judge heading the boundaries commission made political donations to both the Liber...
11 February 2015
The Boundary Commission Fun is closer #nlpoli
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The Chief Justice has named Justice Robert Stack as the chair of the boundary commission appointed under the Electoral Boundaries Act . We...
10 February 2015
The Other DarkNL #nlpoli
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For as long as anyone can remember, some people in Newfoundland and Labrador have had a love of conformity. They loathe discussion and de...
09 February 2015
Reforming the budget process #nlpoli
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We already know that the provincial government won’t unveil its budget for the new year until late April or early May. That’s not as unusu...
06 February 2015
Government by Committee #nlpoli
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Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador (2015) – Part 5 In the fifth and final instalment in this series on politics in Newfoundland and ...
05 February 2015
Elections and Voting #nlpoli
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Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador (2015) – Part 4 The politicians in the province share a lot of common views and tend to agree on m...
04 February 2015
The Dysfunctional House of Assembly #nlpoli
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Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador (2015) – Part 3 In the third instalment in the series, SRBP looks at the way the House of Assem...
03 February 2015
One Big Party #nlpoli
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Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador – Part 2 The plan to cut public representation in the House of Assembly has drawn public attenti...
02 February 2015
Making the rich richer #nlpoli
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Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador – Part 1 The plan to cut public representation in the House of Assembly has drawn public attention...
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