the eternal search

Like a lost hiker in the desert, MUN continues to amble about aimlessly, looking for a new president.

Ever since Axel Meisen announced he was stepping down more than a year ago, the MUN Board of Regents and the Presidential search committee have been scouring the land for the next person to take the top job. Indeed, they were doing a damn fine job of it, until Joan Burke took over and deemed herself more capable than the presidential search committee.

Everybody knows the story, and it’s getting old by now. Joan Burke used an archaic clause in the Memorial University Act giving Government-in-Council final approval of an incoming MUN President. It was an egregious violation of academic freedom and integrity, and gave MUN a black-eye across the country, with numerous unions and associations coming out against this example of blatant political interference.

Again, that story is old. Nobody seriously buys the bullshit that the government should be more involved in the presidential selection- it’s a tired excuse that doesn’t stand up against even the flimsiest argument.

There have been some recent developments, but nothing earth-shattering, like say government actually modifying the legislation so they can stick their noses somewhere else. But we shouldn’t expect so much from King Danny and his minions.

In any other government, in any other province, Burke would have been canned for her actions. She would have been thrown out on her arse, and told not to let the door hit her on the way out. Ditto for Ross Wiseman, but that’s about as likely as Burke leaving/being fired. No, for to do so would be an impugning of King Danny and His Infalliable Works, and heaven forbid that happen. Danny is exalted for making NL a have province- not the millions of barrels of oil offshore, not the mineral deposits in Labrador, not the offshore deals that he didn’t even sign- but when there’s a problem, the buck gets passed further and further down.

Firing Burke and Wiseman would be an honourable and intelligent move, and a move that’s arguably necessary. But then, that would require, y’know, honour and intelligence on the part of the government.

And we all know how likely that is.

poor george baker

The NL blogosweird (yes, I’m stealing it from Kinsella. Deal.) is alight with George Baker’s outburst on Power Play, and the subsequent overreaction by, oh, everybody, in response.

If you haven’t seen the clip yet, I highly encourage it. The entertainment value is through the roof.

Essentially, Baker made comments to the effect that the mistreatment of the federal government of Newfoundland and Labrador was stoking the nationalist movement here, and could one day result in the creation of the Bloc Newfoundland and Labrador (BNL, nicely done Tim Clark.) “$1.7 billion dollars,” he screamed as he pounded his hands together, “cut cut cut cut cut!” All this accentuated by repeated “cutting” gestures of course. Again, wonderful showmanship.

Several of the more sovereigntist-leaning bloggers and political wonks ’round these parts leapt to Baker’s defence, saying that of COURSE the NL separatist movement is growing- how could it not? I mean, nobody gets mistreated this long and sticks around, amirite?

As if anybody needs to be blowing more sunshine up King Danny’s ass these days. People make it seem as if Williams, the calculating, ruthless Rhodes Scholar and business magnate, couldn’t see past the political acumen of Stephen Harper in 2006; he was just trying to help out his province, and got duped by this evil, evil man. Indeed, Danny trusted Harper, who went on to break that trust in an ever-escalating war of attrition.

If what Baker said was completely true, why didn’t the NL First party gain more than a smattering of support? Surely, the disaffected masses must be rising in opposition to the mainland and cleaving to the party that “stands up” for Newfoundland and Labrador.™

Of course Harper and his newfound Senator lapdog are going to pounce on what Baker said- they can’t believe a caucus member had an independent thought. That’s grounds for expulsion with the Tories these days.

Newfoundland is simply the latest in a long procession of provinces who are seemingly swept up in separatist fervour. Alberta was the same way a while back- “you can only kick a dog so long…” So much for that.

Quite frankly, there’s no comparison between the Bloc Quebecois and any sort of Bloc NL, for a number of reasons. One, even Albertans would have to agree that Quebec has a rather unique cultural milieu when compared to the rest of the country- must be all them funny words they say. And no, adding “s” and “h” to words where they don’t belong does not qualify as another language.

Two, the Bloc Quebecois is notoriously difficult to pin down on the economic spectrum- they began as mostly disaffected Tories, but have increasingly ventured to the political centre-left, although veering hard right sometimes on social issues. The one thing the Bloc members have in common (other than mental deficiencies) is an undying commitment to sovereignty above all else. They can put other bickering aside for their perceived good of the province. Try that here. We all know there are some die-hard Tories or Liberals that would rather eat dirt and pry out their own fingernails than vote Red or Blue, not to mention the hardcore Dippers who coalesce around either one provincial politician or one federal politician (although in boom times, this inflates to include one provincial politician and one federal politician). A Bloc NL would inevitably fall apart as one or all sides would eviscerate the other.

Thirdly, and perhaps most glibly, Quebec has 75 seats in the House, and is one of the country’s economic engines. NL has seven seats, a bit of offshore oil, and some nice rocks up in the place provincial politicians don’t like to talk about (Lab-raw-door?) Even if a BNL was successful here, they’d be drowned out on the national stage. The BQ works because, grudgingly as hell, Canadians have learned it’s probably best to listen rather than go through another referendum, whereas they can forget about NL out here in the fog.

If there is a rise in NL separatism, it is solely because Danny Williams deliberately strokes the egos of all those nascent nationalists by constantly billing the day-to-day workings of intergovernmental relations as a pitched battle between the Proud, Strong, and Determined and the evil Ottawa. Grimes tried the same thing, but to less success. “No, don’t blame any of the province’s economic woes on my chronic mismanagement of government and the public purse- no, blame Ottawa, the source of all things bad and untrue!” What’s worse is the people lap it up.

We need to get Greg Thomey out of 22 Minutes retirement- now, surely, is the time for the reappearance of Jerry Boyle and the Newfoundland Separation Federation.

If you can mark an X…

your tax dollars at work

Politicians are always putting out press releases for one thing or another. Whether to congratulate little Johnny Asshat on finishing fourteenth out of fifteen on some national competition, or to announce government policy, or to apologize for diddling a prostitute, the PR people for politicians are busy all the time.

When you slap a “Government of Canada” logo in the header, though, all that partisan nonsense is supposed to stop. It’s longstanding policy that government releases deal solely with policy, not with politics. That is to say, because we end up paying the money to wire services for press releases through tax revenue, we expect press releases issued by government to be of importance to Canadian people, to contain actual substance, and to be free of partisan bickering.

Why the lesson, you ask? Well, it seems the Conservative government is having some problems with this notion. Twice last week, the Conservatives issues press releases attacking the Liberals for something or other, and both releases were under the Government header. Gail Shea, token Easterner in cabinet Minister for Fisheries and Oceans, released a press release attacking a “hidden Liberal agenda” in the case of Liberal Senator Mac Harb, who introduced a bill in the Senate this week seeking to close the Atlantic Seal Hunt. What’s notable in this, of course, is that the bill failed to find a seconder, which is unbelievably rare in a system where Senators will often second a bill they may even disagree with out of professional courtesy. Not only is ending the Seal Hunt not Liberal Party policy, it shows that opposition to the hunt is muted within caucus.

The other press release concerns the same subject, this time made by former Danny whipping boy and triumphant loser-cum-Senator. What’s worse with Manning is that he doesn’t even have a tenuous connection to the DFO, yet his release was still on departmental letterhead.

The stupid, it hurts.

No “Have” Celebration

What a shame.

It appears we won’t be celebrating for casting off the shackles of equalization just yet. It’s too bad really- these days, it seems there’s not a whole lot this government enjoys doing more than reveling in its own beneficence, so we’re at a loss to know why this isn’t going ahead.

Perhaps it’s because they’ve wet the proverbial bed, and have so badly mismanaged the economy that there is no prosperity? New housing projects have plummeted in December and January. The province went from a massive surplus to a massive deficit in one year- all while playing the Stephen Harper “there is no recession” spiel as recently as October. And our wonderful Premier is suggesting we pay off debt to be able to get back into debt further down the road. The brilliance is staggering.

MUN Liberal posters and FacMan shenanigans

If you’ve been around campus since Wednesday night, hopefully you’ve seen one of our posters. We plastered campus with three different posters in an (vain?) attempt to get the word out about the club. Much to our chagrin, when we came back to school on Thursday, every single one of our posters in the UC had been removed.

Now, if this is an issue with tape against the paint or something like that, fine. I can deal with that- we didn’t know such regulations existed, but if it’s a rule, it’s a rule. The problem is, of course, that we were never informed one way or another what an acceptable adhesive and location for posters would be. To come back in on Thursday morning, after spending quite a bit of money printing full-colour posters and time putting them up, and not see them anywhere? Yeah, that’s a piss off.

If it’s a rule concerning the physical structure of the building and the detrimental effects tape has on paint, that’s fine- but apply the damn rules evenly. I see MUNSU and other society posters up every day with tape, yet they aren’t taken down. If the issue is political, then someone at MUN or Facilities Management needs to remove his or her head from his or her sphincter. Political posters should be encouraged- I mean, I know under the King Danny administration dissent is frowned upon (and crushed with an iron fist) but this is a place of higher learning, where ideas should flow forth, not be stifled by bureaucratic idiocy.

Maybe I’m fretting about nothing. Maybe there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of it. But when I see EWB and Vagina Monologue posters put up in places there used to be MUN Liberal posters, I get a little mad.

Infrastructure Spending

It’s long been a hallmark of governments in Canada to play around with funding to give more the their own ridings than those of the opposition. In a cruel, sadistic way it even makes sense- the more money you pump into a riding you have, the more likely that riding will vote for you in the next election. It’s a system of patronage that spans across the board, in all parties, in all levels of government. The Bloc and NDP may never have been in charge of the Federal government, but on the provincial level, Glen Clark and Lorne Calvert were both adept at this sort of thing. It’s just an old-school way of doing things, but it’s got to change.

Enter “Canada’s New Government™” with the lauded “Accountability Act.” They spoke of a new way of getting things done, and with the Prairie populist Reformers leading the charge, some people actually believed the lies that the Harper regime would end a long-standing tradition of patronage and funding shenanigans. As Gerard Kennedy pointed out, however, that’s simply not the case.

John Baird can bluster about to his heart’s delight and chastise the Liberals for criticizing a budget they supported, but he’s missing a key detail. The Liberals supported the budget (and will continue to support the budget) only as long as the government remains accountable, transparent, and fair in implementing the budget. When they fail to do so, the Liberals and Ignatieff have every right to hold their feet to the fire.

But hey, we shouldn’t expect anything by way of fairness or intelligence from this government- they got elected through deliberate misinformation and preying on the fears of Canadians (see: Green Shift.)

Show Me the Money, Danny

There seems to be a pattern emerging in Newfoundland and Labrador under the current administration.  Whenever the provincial treasury is getting a bit low, or popularity sags just a tiny bit, Danny Williams (unofficial Lord Protector of the Realm) goes apeshit over something-or-other in Ottawa.  It’s almost like clockwork- taking the flags down, the ABC campaign, and now the equalization nonsense- they all seem to happen when a political shitstorm is about to hit the province.

This time, Danny has to admit to the populace (snicker, snicker) that the bold proclamation that NL is a “have province” is a tad misleading- we’re still going to collect equalization payments this year.  Not only that, but recent forecasts say that the Provincial Treasury will be in the red to the tune of more than a half billion dollars next year- not bad for a “have province,” wouldn’t you say?

It’s shocking the level of gross mismanagement this government has and continues to display.  From a billion dollar surplus one year, to a half-billion dollar deficit the next.  What’s to blame?  Sure, the precipitous fall in commodities prices, specifically oil, didn’t help matters, but is that any wonder for a government that gets more than 50% of total revenue from the off-shore industry alone?  The Auditor General warned of this a scarce three years ago, warning that government revenues were too unstable to facilitate the kind of spending going on.  Was there a nest-egg set aside for hard times?  Did anyone stop to think, “hey, instead of shoveling cash out the door as fast as we bring it in, perhaps we should hold on to it, just to see”?  No, of course not.  

A 20% increase in public employee wages makes for great politics- but shitty fiscal prudence, especially when that raise is going to come at the price of ever more debt.  But hey, who cares about the future generations, amirite?  Now, of course, the government is playing hardball with the Nurses Union- why?  Because they got stupid, gave thousands of people a raise the government couldn’t afford, and when the nurses came to get theirs, the rubes on the Eigth Floor of the Confed Building realized that, uh-oh, they don’t have the cashflow for that.  Brilliance.

Danny Williams loves a good fight, and if it distracts the rest of the province from looking at what’s really going on, that’s all the better.  Most Newfoundlanders adore Danny for standing up to the “evil” Ottawa, finally “taking back what is rightfully ours.”  It’s preying on peoples’ basest emotions- nationalism and that sense of lingering discomfort from 1949.  Worse yet, while people may worship Danny, our reputation nationally goes down the tubes.  Some people are calling NL the next Quebec- now there’s an insult.

It’s time the people of the province started thinking for themselves, instead of letting some blustery windbag speak for them- especially some blustery windbag that is screwing the public purse royally.