Newfoundland Appoints Historian as Representative to Ottawa

Last week Newfoundland and Labrador Premier, Danny Williams, announced the appointment of historian, Dr. John FitzGerald, as the province's representative in Ottawa. According to the official announcement, the role will promote provincial issues and maintain an ongoing presence on the ground there. There are those who question the value of the liaison office saying that the 7 elected MPs and handful of senators already in the Nation’s capital are enough to do the job. I for one disagree with them and I applaud the Province’s move, although with reservations.

In my opinion the majority of MPs the Province has sent to the Hill over the years have turned out to be nothing more than Ottawa’s representatives to Newfoundland and Labrador, not the other way around. As soon as they step off the plane the provincial agenda is pushed aside in favor of internal party politics and the overall national agenda, not pushed forward by those who have been elected. The liaison office on the other hand might actually give the Province an opportunity to move its agenda forward, if those involved are up to the task at hand.

As I’ve said, I applaud the Province’s move but I wonder if Dr. FitzGerald will have the stomach to do what needs to be done in Ottawa. By all accounts FitzGerald is a good man who doesn’t carry any of the political baggage or party alliances that affect most members of the House and Senate. As a historian he is well versed in the cultural factors that play a major role in Newfoundland and Labrador life and his passion for the Province is unquestionable, but in order to be effective he will need to rub elbows with some pretty unsavory characters and I wonder if he is up to it.

Even though Premier Williams hasn’t actually said so, in reality Dr. FitzGerald’s role will be that of a lobbyist for the Province. Whether we like it or not politicians are simply the public face of government. Government’s direction and actions, more often than not, are pushed by lobby groups and bureaucrats from behind the scenes, not the politicians out front.

Ottawa is rife with lobbyists selling every agenda under the sun. The Forest industry, big tobacco, mining companies and others have had countless men or women on the ground wining and dining public officials for decades. It’s their agenda that is met most of the time, not the voter’s. Newfoundland and Labrador has learned this ugly reality and has decided to take its first baby steps into this hidden world, but you can’t go into an endeavor like this half way.

Personally I find the whole scenario sickening. That doesn’t change reality and the provincial government would be more than stupid if it didn’t take full advantage of the situation. My only hope is that Premier Williams and Dr. FitzGerald are both willing to push aside their own personal sense of decency and do what needs to be done.

The most successful lobby groups in Ottawa have deep pockets and they aren’t afraid to spread the green around. The provincial liaison will need to do the same. In Ottawa a lot more can be accomplished over a few rounds of golf or a night on the town than can happen in weeks or even months of official meetings and negotiations.

If it wants to be successful, the Province will need to ensure that the liaison office is staffed with politically savvy backroom support, in other words, people of minimal conscience. The Province has already seen the value of corporate lobbying now they need to take another page from the corporate world and start aggressively head hunting inside the most effective lobby groups already in place. Yes, these highly paid slime balls may be expensive to entice into the fold, but the knowledge and abilities they possess could be well worth the price.

Politics is a dirty business, no doubt about it. It’s sad that the Province may have to resort to playing this game but nothing else has been effective in the past 50 plus years and I don’t believe for a minute that Dr. FitzGerald will get anywhere by doing it alone. The good Dr. certainly brings with him the passion and knowledge needed to sell his agenda but unless he can make the right contacts, move in the right circles and find someone to grease the wheels for him, he’ll end up as nothing more than a lonely voice in the wilderness.

A successful recipe will require Dr. FitzGerald to put aside his personal ethics and allow himself to be supported by a nest of vipers. He will need to continue presenting the squeaky clean public image he is known for while looking the other way occasionally. Ottawa is filled with slime artists, sleaze balls, crooks and rogues and the big winners are usually those who can get the best of the worst to work for them. The way I see it, if the Province is going to delve into this nether world it needs to go all the way by ensuring that it has slimiest, sleaziest, most crooked rogues on its payroll, rather than on someone else’s.

Only if the Dr. FitzGerald can maintain plausible deniability, the province is willing to spend a few rubles and an effective shadow team can be put together will this turn out to be a successful venture, albeit a rather unpalatable one.