Its the Small Battles that Win the War

Hello all,

Monday is here and another week lies before us. We had a few lively and interesting comments on some of the articles posted here in the past week and for that I thank-you. Nothing is more valuable than free and open dialog.

Well, its Provincial Budget day again. Hope you all enjoyed the weekend, this week should be an interesting one on the local front.

I just have a couple of items to touch on today related to the Conservative convention this past week.

It looks like the party didn’t self destruct as some had predicted, although it was a little shaky for a while. I don’t know about you, but my take on this is that a strong Conservative party may be a pretty good thing for all of us, (and no, I am not a member of the party).

I realize that we have always had a lot of issues with Ottawa, even when the old PC party was a major player on either side of the house. Having said that, I still think I would rather see the Conservative, Liberal or (dare I say it) the NDP party, as the official opposition in the house, rather than the Bloc.

I am only speculating, but I suspect that NL concerns aren’t very high on the Bloc’s agenda. I could be wrong, but I doubt it in this case. Taken from that perspective, having the Conservative party remain viable isn't a bad thing at all.

Then again, for anyone who is tired of the Liberals, Conservatives or NDP and is looking for an alternative, there is always the NL First party. Although they are destined, by the structure of parliment, to remain a small federal party, they may provide an alternative voice for those unhappy with the status quo. I visited their web site recently (you can find a link on the right side of my site) and they seem to be building some support in the province. Alternatives are a good thing as well.

If you will permit me to wander off topic for a minute, I would just like to say a quick thanks to the Executive of the NL First party. Although I am not directly affiliated with the party, they have seen fit to post a link to my site and display it prominantly on their main page. I would like to extend my thanks to them for doing that and just say a quick, "keep up the good fight".

Now, back to the convention topic, I hear that the party agreed to back a stronger and less centralized control of our fisheries along with supporting the seal hunt. Not a bad thing either.

Finally, it appears that the big flap at the convention was centered on the number of delegates that could attend conventions for each riding going forward. The idea was floated that only the larger ridings (those with 100 members or more) could send the full slate of 10 delegates. This was a sticking point for the old time PC crowd. I’m sure it would have been an issue for NL delegates as well, as they would stand to be short changed if it had passed. It didn’t. This of course means that each riding in NL will be as important at these conventions as each of the larger western ridings, where the support for the Reform wing of the party is the strongest.

Nothing earth shattering in any of these convention items of course, but I mention them here since I feel that its "In the winning of the small battles that the war is won".

They all add up.

If anyone has any other NL related items from the convention or just general comments, I would appreciate you passing them along.

That’s about it for now. I know you will all be checking out the budget today and there may be some interesting items in that to discuss, so thanks again for stopping by and keep the comments coming.

Patriot