Why is Fighting for What's Right Considered "Fed-Bashing"?
In a recent Globe and Mail article, reporter Daniel Leblanc, covered the Newfoundland and Labrador PC convention and the tense relationship between the province’s premier and the visiting prime minister. It strikes me as odd that the attitude of reporters and likely the general public, outside the province is so different that it is inside. In the piece the reporter referenced the “latest round of fed-bashing” and noted that it would be popular in the province.
It’s an interesting spin on the situation. From the local perspective the issues that exist between the two levels of government have nothing to do with “fed-bashing”. In fact if anyone is being bashed it’s the province, not Ottawa.
Consider what it is that Newfoundland and Labrador is trying to get the prime minister to agree on.
One key point is equalization. Most provinces who have been blessed with non-renewable resources, such as oil and gas, agree that it should be removed from the formula for determining federal funding. The reason is simple, these resources have a very limited lifespan and if the revenues they generate are clawed back by Ottawa then the province does not have these funds necessary to build and diversify its economy in a way that would eventually allow it to move off of equalization all together and require even less from Ottawa.
In addition to the removal of non-renewable resources, one plan being considered by Ottawa as a potential change to equalization would see every province in Canada receive additional funding while only one, Newfoundland and Labrador, would receive less. Equalization is enshrined in Canada and is designed to allow all of the provinces to provide similar levels of service, such as health care, at essentially the same levels of taxation. In essence, what the plan under consideration would do is take funding away from one of the provinces least able to provide those services and which already has the highest levels of taxation in the nation.
It is also a fact that Mr. Harper, in a signed letter to the premier during the last election, promised exactly these things. His letter stated that non-renewable resources would be removed from the equalization calculations and that no province would be worse off as a result of changes to the system. Both of these promises are now being ignored by the prime minister.
The other major issue the province is fighting is the lack of support in Ottawa for fallow field legislation. This type of legislation would allow the province to force oil companies to develop properties in a set time frame or they would lose their rights to them. It is similar to legislation already in place in provinces like Alberta. Think about it. A big oil company finds billions of barrels of oil and decides that because their busy on other projects or because they are in no rush to develop it, they will simply sit on it for 20, 30 or even 50 years. Meanwhile the province has no ability to do anything to move the project forward. Apparently Ottawa sees no problem with this.
The problem the province has with it is the reality that if the oil were under the land, as it is in Alberta or Saskatchewan fallow field legislation would not be an issue because the province would have total control. Since the oil and gas in these parts lies under the water it’s a different story and Ottawa has to agree to the legislation. Fallow field legislation is nothing new. Other provinces have it in place already but with Ottawa standing in the way, it won’t happen in Newfoundland and Labrador.
As I said, I don’t see the current tensions between the premier and prime minister as “fed-bashing”, not at all. What I and most people in the province see, is a premier who is simply trying to get Ottawa to live up to its obligations east of Quebec rather than the historical approach of most Canadian leaders which has been to continually side against the province on major issues of concern.
41 comments:
Another temper tantrum from Danny boy I see.
This guy is another Hugo Chavez, and why you people adore him is beyond the imagination.
That's too funny. Other than the fact that you heard the name Hugo Chavez used in describing the NL premier do you even know who he is? Boy, its really hilarious to see the level of intellect of some anons. They read something written by a conservative/centralist columnist and suddenly they're an expert.
Hugo Chavez actually changed the laws and broke contracts and made up new contracts to benefit from oil. Danny Williams pretends to be able to do the same.
The problem is how many more laws can Chavez change and keep oil companies investing in Venezuela?
This doesn't apply to Nl because the oil resources in Nl are nothing compared to oil resources in Venezuela.
Well I imagine the newfies will adore danny-boy and follow him anywhere, right over a cliff.
The newfies are going the way of the doodoo bird with the 'i'm entititled" attitude.
Head west all you newfies...head west!
There has never been a bad contract torn up and cancelled here yet. But I think there are few that should be closely examined for wrongdoings that left the province of Newfoundland and Labrador the poorest in the country.
Seems to me that your representatives should have read the fine print in those contracts! Oh wait, thats right, you people have the highest illiteracy stats in Canada!
Yes and it appears from some of the posts you write. that you aren't the sharpest knife of the shelf.
Separation is the only solution.
There's always the possibility that we may not survive on our own, but remaining a province of Canada is a guaranteed death sentence. I'd rather see NL go down fighting than dying a slow and undignified death at the hands of the Canadian bastards.
Fellating Ottawa has left us with nothing but a bad reputation and a foul taste in our mouths. It's time rid ourselves of these condescending pricks that benefit from our resources and take charge of our own future.
Why hasn't the above post been deleted? It has offended me and other Canadians who love NL and our great country. Please remove it.
Ummm, to the anon poster who posted "that you aren't the sharpest knife of the shelf" I believe the saying goes as follows...not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Another newfie Einstein I see!
It's time rid ourselves of these condescending pricks that benefit from our resources and take charge of our own future.
How does "Canada" benefit from "our" resources in a way that would change by separating?
Edgar said...
Why hasn't the above post been deleted? It has offended me and other Canadians who love NL and our great country. Please remove it.
What's the matter??? Does the truth hurt??? Anyone who thinks Canada is a "great" country is deluding themselves. A country's citizens should work together for the greater good of that nation, something Canadians know absolutely nothing about.
In Canada, the provinces are all willing to knife each other in the back for every possible revenue. There's no sense of national pride, there's no unity... In Ottawa's mindset, Canada is nothing more than Ontario and Quebec, the original Upper and Lower Canada, with a bunch of colonies to be pillaged at their leisure and for their benefit. After all, the majority of the country's population resides in these two provinces, so as long as they are content and are willing to repeatedly vote for their representatives, the contentment of those of us in 'the colonies' is irrelevant.
NL is dying, plain and simple. NL'ians are barely acknowledged as Canadian by other Canadians (many of whom freely state their hatred of us on this blog, thanks to the anonymity of the internet)... We have no voice in the House of Commons... 57 years of 'playing nice' has yielded only a series of kicks to the crotch... Continuing to kiss Canada's ass will not correct the downward spiral NL is currently in. Either we throw down the gauntlet and demand to be finally become the partner in confederation we were told we'd be, or we say 'screw you' and leave.
But apparently you're one of those people who is content to ignore reality, as well as the 'ride' Ottawa is taking on your ass.
WJM said...
"How does "Canada" benefit from "our" resources in a way that would change by separating?"
How do NL'ians benefit from the resources within "our" boundaries by being a part of "Canada"???
ANON or is it EINSTEIN? Please stop posting to Patriots topics and changing the topic to some other topic than what he wants to discuss. You, without fail, always change his topics to the 'SEAL'. Or to the 'PLANES' that landed in Newfoundland and Labrador during the 911 tragedy. Then when we rebut what you say, you ask us why we always bring up the PLANES that we accepted into our territory during the TRAGEDY. I want to ask you what are you trying to do when you do such things? You are purposedly trying to make us appear stupid. I have figured you out a long time ago. So please stop your diversions.
Okay, I'll strictly stick to this topic.
Yep, you newfies are at odds with the feds..."AGAIN"!
Steven Harper is not going to lose much sleep over threats from Danny boy. You newfoundland only has 7 seats, and the CPC only won 3 of those, so big hairy arse deal.
Steven will do what he darn well pleases with equalization, Danny boy be damned! Looks like your precious accord money is going to go out the back door, wave bye bye to it!
How do NL'ians benefit from the resources within "our" boundaries by being a part of "Canada"???
No less no more than by being outside Canada: by employment in the exploitation of those resources, and by direct royalty revenues in the case of mineral resources.
So, f*ck Canada I ask you: How does "Canada" benefit from "our" resources in a way that would change by separating?
Thank you in advance for your reply.
Anon
Come on let us be fair! Should it matter how many seats a province has, when the province of Newfoundland and Labrador has so many resources, and to boot a lot more renewable resources than most of the other provinces in Canada.
Be fair here, shouldn't we be afforded a standard of living that is on par with the rest of the Canadian provinces, even the provinces with very little resources? My God we are paying our way in Spades. It is sickening to me that we have to be put through the wringer every time we ask for a little more gruel. We are no different than Oliver Twist who lived in the workhouse of 150 years ago. Every time we have to ask Mother Ottawa, May we have a little more soup? A province with so many resources should never have to get down on its knees and beg.
Yes, INDEED, how unfair? When a province endowed with so many resources WHICH ARE used for the betterment of CANADA and the WORLD has to ask, just like Oliver Twist of the Workhouse days, May I have a few more cents of dole, Mother Ottawa, to buy another bowl of Gruel/Soup? It is shocking to know that this is a fact and nobody in Canada other than politicians are apprised of it. And they have the means of the press to cover it up with non-transparent witings in Newspaper columns. Matter of fact, I am crying here while I am writing this post. It makes me SAD. I won't say I am ANGRY, I am actually SAD, NOT ANGRY because I love helping out the World ANYWAY I CAN to alleviate Hunger and Poverty. What I really want to do is exist in this beautiful and loving province of Labrador and Newfoundland and have just a little bit of our resources so that I and my fellow Labradorians and Newfoundlanders can exist here and make a decent living here where we all belong. WHY SHOULD WE MOVE WHEN THE RESOURCES WE HAVE COULD BE USED TO PROVIDE A LIVING FOR US AND PART OF THE WORLD RIGHT HERE?
Sorry Anon/Einstein, By calling you Einstein I don't mean to be mean and I am not deriding you here, I am just identifying the Anon, with whom I am speaking to. You my fellow colleague in posting to this blog could help us with more positive postings, but you choose do go the negative route.
Anon I want you and yours to exist in Dignity wherever you are in Canada or the World, but I want my fellow Labradorians and Newfoundlanders to exist without having to beg for another meal. Check out the resources that the province of Labrador and Newfoundland has; resources which are not working very well for us, and your heart will probably bleed like minefor the same reason that my heart is bleeding. And hopefully you will say to Mother Ottawa and the provinces which are covetous and which want everything in the name of resources for their economies, and make a plea and ask them to PLEASE do not do this to such a Kind and Generous province as Labrador and Newfoundland. They want the BEST for everyone. They want the whole World to exist and to be fed 3 square meals a day and to exist in Harmony.
The biggest problem in the World today is that too many people do not have jobs with sufficient income to look after their families properly. Since 96 percent of the Wealth exists in 4 percent of the population of the World. It is a GREEDY WORLD and the problems are as a result of CORRUPT Politicians and CORRUPT Industries. They get together and to make sure the above statistics stay the way they have been for a long time .
Be fair here, shouldn't we be afforded a standard of living that is on par with the rest of the Canadian provinces, even the provinces with very little resources?
"Afforded"?
What is the standard of living, provincially and nationally? How is it measured? How far apart are those two figures? And isn't a standard of living something you build for yourself, not something that someone else "affords" you?
When a province endowed with so many resources WHICH ARE used for the betterment of CANADA and the
WORLD has to ask,
1) Which resources are those?
2) Is there a jurisdiction, anywhere in the world, other than perhaps that Marxist paradise North Korea, which uses all its resources internally? If so, which one?
3) Who let the resources out? (Woof, woof, woof-woof).
It is shocking to know that this is a fact and nobody in Canada other than politicians are apprised of it.
What is a fact?
And they have the means of the press to cover it up with non-transparent witings in Newspaper columns.
Who are "they"?
Which columns in which papers?
WHY SHOULD WE MOVE WHEN THE RESOURCES WE HAVE COULD BE USED TO PROVIDE A LIVING FOR US AND PART OF THE WORLD RIGHT HERE?
Who's stopping you from using those resources?
Why haven't you opened a steel mill or an oil refinery?
Check out the resources that the province of Labrador and Newfoundland has; resources which are not working very well for us,
They're not?
How could they work better?
Isn't it up to people to work for themselves, and not to have their resources do the work?
If they aren't "working better", whatever that means, whose fault is that?
such a Kind and Generous province as Labrador and Newfoundland.
If Newfoundland is so generous, why do they take from Labrador and give nothing back? Why the double-standard? Why the hypocrisy?
WJM you know the answers to all the questions asked above since you work on behalf of the Federal Government. And apparently that is your job to peruse the blogs and then ask questions on everything so as to skew things.
A question for you WJM - ARE YOU THE ANON WHO MADE REFERENCE TO EINSTEIN ABOVE? I believe you and that ANON are one and the same.
Here we go again ......... WJM whining on endlessly. Asking his stupid questions designed only to disrupt our discussions. It's kind of sad actually. He whines, then he logs in as anonymous to make a few really stupid remarks and then posts something under WJM, and so on. The "normal" people read these blogs and have to wade through the remnants of his verbal masturbation. It's just too yucky!!! I just hope he can find another place to play with himself. I know it's his job to disrupt these blogs but it certainly seems that his work is starting to disrupt his fragile sanity. But then again, I guess that's the price you pay when you're a lap dog in Ottawa. :0(
WJM you know the answers to all the questions asked above since you work on behalf of the Federal Government.
A body isn't allowed to ask rhetorical questions? It's very telling that no one is willing to answer.
A question for you WJM - ARE YOU THE ANON WHO MADE REFERENCE TO EINSTEIN ABOVE? I believe you and that ANON are one and the same.
Nope. I don't do the ANON thing. The Anon (or Anons) are different people altogther. I'm not ashamed to sign what I post here.
Feel free to believe differently, but please know that you are wrong.
Here we go again ......... WJM whining on endlessly. Asking his stupid questions designed only to disrupt our discussions.
No, they are designed to make the posters and their audience think about the BS that they so uncritically accept, spout, propagate, and multiply.
It's kind of sad actually. He whines, then he logs in as anonymous
No, I don't.
No he doesn't....I log in as anonymous to disrupt everything HAHAHA.
I think this province needs more people like WJM who ask intelligent questions instead of blindly following a leader who is so obviously bi-polar it's scary!
Is there a bigger baby in Canadian politics?? Maybe Klein.......pretty close race there.
So, do you newfies think Danny boy should tear the canadian flags down again?
If Danny pulls a stunt like that again, the feds should immediately punish the province by pulling all services provided to it by the government. Also, they should stop ferry traffic to the island and block access to Labrador and boycott you fools until you come to your senses.
Some observations here:
Patriot whined and moaned and bashed the "feds" and wrote a big article about the base at Goose Bay closing down when IN FACT it was just a recommendation that was leaked premature. Turns out it wasn't going to happen at all and it was struck from the records.
I don't hear anyone on this blog saying oops. I don't hear anyone saying they jumped the gun. I don't hear anyone saying maybe it's not all a big conspiracy against Newfoundland.
Nope........not a word. Let's just
continue Fed-bashing and call it "standing up for what's right" No wonder we get such a bad rep in Newfoundland.
We go from one complaint to the next in rapid succession. We cry and moan and weep poor us, or we sit by and let our Premier fight with everyone who dares set foot in our fair province and doesn't do exactly what he wants. What better way to drive away business and opportunity.
If this province is dying it's because we won't let anyone tell us how to fix it. If all our bridges get burnt....how are we going to cross them ourselves??
"I say to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians: "Ask not what we can do for our country, because we have done enough. Let's ask our country what they can do for us."
- Danny Williams, April 2001, acceptance speech on winning
the Progressive Conservative Party leadership
Few people likely noticed those words when Danny Williams uttered them. That is, no one noticed them buried away as they word in a very long-winded speech.
Few people likely understood the meaning of them and certainly, when Bond Papers posted them a short while ago, quite a few readers e-mailed to question either the accuracy of the quote or the meaning.
Rest assured the quote is entirely accurate and Danny Williams' meaning - both then and as his consistent actions have shown - could not be more plain.
As much as Danny Williams likes to talk about developing a province which is self-reliant, economically self-sufficient and of making the people of the province masters of their own destiny, his actions have consisted of a relentless pursuit of increased federal transfer payments to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
His first, and so far only, major political success was in securing an offshore revenue deal with Ottawa. However, the January 2005 deal was not based on increasing the provincial government's revenues from offshore oil and gas. Rather it was, from the outset, an effort to increase the amount of federal tax dollars pouring into the Newfoundland and Labrador treasury.
The Fraser Institute report contains simple information that makes the current situation plain. In a mere three years, Danny Williams has managed to unravel the steady progress to genuine self-reliance of a decade and a half. He has restored Newfoundland and Labrador to a position of fiscal dependence on the Government of Canada not seen in over a decade.
Not contented with this accomplishment, Williams is now seeking to increase federal transfers to Newfoundland and Labrador, already the highest in the country as a percent of provincial revenue. If his Labrador hydro venture succeeds, Williams will either double the provincial accrual debt load or, through federal loan guarantees, increase dependence on Ottawa by an unprecedented order of magnitude.
Few people will likely miss the meaning of Danny Williams' words in the future as easily as the did in 2001.
Anon speaks like a true mainlander when he says, "We won't let anyone TELL us how to fix it" He or she may claim to be an NLer but the attitude that someone else has to tell us how to do things here is a typical mainland response.
As for the jumping the gun on the base at 5 wing I don't believe I did. It was because of the outcry and the work of some NL senators that this report was modified not that it was releaseed early as you said. If nobody had fought for it the report would have been finalized but it wasn't. Get your own facts straight before you impune someone elses anon.
Anon, you are full of crap. Number one, the 2 billion or so is not tax dollars flowing into NL it is simply recieving the benefit of our offshore oil without having to contend with clawbacks that impede our ability to grow the economy. As for trying to get more from equalization all the current arguement is about is trying to not get shafted and become the only province to lose money as a result of the potential reforms. You are an idiot. Ask not what your brain can do for you but what you can do for your brain.
Your esteemed Danny williams and his histrionics is going to turn your province into a paria in which the mere utterance of its name will cause the collective groan of canadians.
I can just hear you newfies squeel when the poop hits the fan .."yes bye, dee canadian guvmint is out to get us dey is. dey is goin to cut out our guvmint chiks (EI cheques) cuz dey don't like danny."
You the last anonymous to this blog is the most ignorant person of the lot. Your ignorance shines.
It will be the histronics of Ottawa and its leaders who will turn this province off completely from the Canadian Wolf. Ottawa has been so underhanded and so non-transparent during our 57 years of being part of it, that we are totally turned off. My God which province wouldn't be if they had so much resources stolen from them, as we have had, with the aid and abettment of Mother Ottawa for the betterment of the other dear little provinces. Its all I can do is to keep from vomiting on my keyboard here when I think of the evilness that has been done to us by Ottawa and its 9 cohorts. The quicker the end comes for this province's partnership with Ottawa, it will mean a blessing to all of us. Sorry but I feel Ottawa is a Big Bad R A T! Of course Gopvernments are made up of people, it is not the physical geographical Ottawa that I am talking about, it is the Big Bad RATs that run it, Rats I might add that could be made up of counterparts of your ilk. You actually sound B A D from your writings and you actually scare me to death. It freightens me to think that there might be just one person in the government like you that would have to deal with this province. Boy what a scary thought.
Patriot- You actually believe that an "outcry" from Newfoundland did anything to change the minds of senators in Ottawa. Be real.
As for calling me a Mainlander suit yourself. I am and will always be a newfoundlander. And yes, we DO need people to help us and tell us what to do sometimes because we sure as hell ain't got it right so far!
Also, they should stop ferry traffic to the island and block access to Labrador and boycott you fools until you come to your senses.
Anonymous, don't drag Labrador into this. We kept our Canadian flags up while Danny Williams was desecrating them everywhere else.
Number one, the 2 billion or so is not tax dollars flowing into NL it is simply recieving the benefit of our offshore oil
We already have and do. Read the agreement that Danny Williams signed.
It's actually about receiving the oil benefit AND equalization at the same time.
without having to contend with clawbacks that impede our ability to grow the economy.
It is really disturbing that growing the provincial government's treasury is seen as being synonymous with "growing the economy".
My God which province wouldn't be if they had so much resources stolen from them,
Which resources have been "stolen"?
To WJM who asked not to be dragged into it, well tuff cookies dude, you are part of your province hence part of the problem.
As far as I'm concerned, Labrador is only a drag on the country. The Canadian forces needs to forget about Goose Bay, it has no purpose other than to suck up money from canadian taxpayers in order to create a false economy for the people there.
And how about all the Canadian taxpayers money (millions) wasted to move a bunch of lazy substance abusing Inuit from one site to another, what a waste!
Quebec should take Labrador over, move all the inhabitants out of there and use it as they see fit. Flood the whole thing and create a large hydro project as far as I am concerned.
WJM said "We kept our Canadian flags up while Danny Williams was desecrating them"
what do you mean by desecrate?
To WJM who asked not to be dragged into it, well tuff cookies dude, you are part of your province hence part of the problem.
How do you figure? Labradorians have a very different outlook on things from Newfoundlanders...
As far as I'm concerned, Labrador is only a drag on the country.
Oh? How do you figure?
And how about all the Canadian taxpayers money (millions) wasted to move a bunch of lazy substance abusing Inuit from one site to another, what a waste!
If you don't know the difference between Innu and Inuit, you have lost the argument already. Tuff cookies to you, too!
Quebec should take Labrador over, move all the inhabitants out of there and use it as they see fit. Flood the whole thing and create a large hydro project as far as I am concerned.
Boy, you, Ricardo Lopez, and Pierrette Venne, to say nothing of Slobodan Milosevic ("Ethnic Cleanser! Now with Anti-Bosnian Action!) would get along dandy!
(And how do you figure, hydrologically speaking, you could flood all of Labrador, anyway?)
what do you mean by desecrate?
Insulting it ("dat flag'll be gawn and dat flag'll be gawn and dat flag'll be gawn...") and removing it from buildings against the wishes even of the majority of the people he supposedly represents.
What a childish, separatist, thing to do.
Oh I was wondering who wrote the Anon post recently in one of the blogs with all the gobbly guck language that I didn't recognize. I guess it was the last poster who was the author to that foreign language, but it wasn't signed with those 3 letters.
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