Newfoundlander's are a humorous lot. We like to poke fun, torment and tease. From local concerts to This Hour Has Twenty -Two Minutes and the Annual Rising Tide production, we celebrate our culture and politics with wit and satire.
Another avenue for political expression has been in the form of local music. Simani's Double Daylight Savings Time , the Soirees Seven Spanish Trawlers and ,s Meech Lake Breakdown are a couple examples of using songs and wit as a popular way of expressing opinions on politics.
Someone forwarded me a song that has become a local internet sensation over the past week. While I do not endorse the content, Jimijojo's - The Budget Song is an expression of how Premier Dunderdale has lost credibility as a political leader.
It speaks to the questions and discontent echoed across the province.
Monday, May 13, 2013
VEXATIOUS, REGRESSIVE AND DRACONIAN: WHAT IS DUNDERDALE HIDING
As one of the hundreds of people directly impacted by the Provincial Government's "right sizing" initiative it boils my blood when I learn of the administration's largesse with public tax dollars for partisan purposes.
Whether it be increases to the salaries of political staffers, board appointments as rewards for partisanship or other largesse, the hypocrisy of doing one thing themselves well selling a message of restraint to the public is maddening.
Thanks to the persistence of the fourth estate, particularly the CBC and The Telegram, we continue to learn how the Dunderdale Administration abuses/manipulates the democratic process.
This government has become the most secretive in the America's. It's arrogance, paranoia and self-righteous indignation are the trademarks of the partisan entropy that inevitably sets in when political parties fail to renew.
The revelation by the CBC today that the Dunderites paid a mainland communications outfit to examine the government's communication malaise confirms the extent of the inability of the crew voters elected to communicate with us, and the extent to which they are utilizing the draconian Bill 29 to prevent us from learning what they are up to.
During the Well's administration public relations positions, in particular Communication's Directors were professionalized. What was a partisan plums for friendly media types was transformed into roles for communications professionals. Public relations became a little more than calling your chums in the various newsrooms to manage your minister's public relations. It appears the pendulum has swung right back to where it started.
Every Cabinet Minister has his or her own highly paid Communications Director, than there are the dozens of communication directors and the Communication's Branch of Executive Council. Thumb through the Departmental Salaries released during the budget.
Do a search for communications positions?
Amazing!
Million of dollars for partisanship. Dozens of appointed communication jockeys that are supposedly responsible for strategic communications, Yet with all of this, Dunderdale needed to reach outside and spend more of my hard earned tax dollars for a solution to their communications problems.
Apparently, the details of the $150,000, 68-page report fall into the "vexatious, frivolous or trivial". The failure to produce goes along way towards substantiating the concern from the opposition, think tanks, journalists and freedom of information advocates that the amendments to ATIPPA were designed to keep information away from the public.
Talk about your ironies, I am sure the number one issue with government messaging was that Dunderdale has no credibility. The public do not trust her or her word.
All of the Queen's communication directors, communication directors, partisan board appointees and sock puppets can not repair that problem.
The trust us approach illustrated in failing to produce the communications document reduces that credibility even more. What are they hiding? Why are they afraid to release this information? You just can not trust this crowd at face value can you?
Perhaps, if the governed more and acted less like telemarketers, they might have some credibility.
Whether it be increases to the salaries of political staffers, board appointments as rewards for partisanship or other largesse, the hypocrisy of doing one thing themselves well selling a message of restraint to the public is maddening.
Thanks to the persistence of the fourth estate, particularly the CBC and The Telegram, we continue to learn how the Dunderdale Administration abuses/manipulates the democratic process.
This government has become the most secretive in the America's. It's arrogance, paranoia and self-righteous indignation are the trademarks of the partisan entropy that inevitably sets in when political parties fail to renew.
The revelation by the CBC today that the Dunderites paid a mainland communications outfit to examine the government's communication malaise confirms the extent of the inability of the crew voters elected to communicate with us, and the extent to which they are utilizing the draconian Bill 29 to prevent us from learning what they are up to.
During the Well's administration public relations positions, in particular Communication's Directors were professionalized. What was a partisan plums for friendly media types was transformed into roles for communications professionals. Public relations became a little more than calling your chums in the various newsrooms to manage your minister's public relations. It appears the pendulum has swung right back to where it started.
Every Cabinet Minister has his or her own highly paid Communications Director, than there are the dozens of communication directors and the Communication's Branch of Executive Council. Thumb through the Departmental Salaries released during the budget.
Do a search for communications positions?
Amazing!
Million of dollars for partisanship. Dozens of appointed communication jockeys that are supposedly responsible for strategic communications, Yet with all of this, Dunderdale needed to reach outside and spend more of my hard earned tax dollars for a solution to their communications problems.
Apparently, the details of the $150,000, 68-page report fall into the "vexatious, frivolous or trivial". The failure to produce goes along way towards substantiating the concern from the opposition, think tanks, journalists and freedom of information advocates that the amendments to ATIPPA were designed to keep information away from the public.
Talk about your ironies, I am sure the number one issue with government messaging was that Dunderdale has no credibility. The public do not trust her or her word.
All of the Queen's communication directors, communication directors, partisan board appointees and sock puppets can not repair that problem.
The trust us approach illustrated in failing to produce the communications document reduces that credibility even more. What are they hiding? Why are they afraid to release this information? You just can not trust this crowd at face value can you?
Perhaps, if the governed more and acted less like telemarketers, they might have some credibility.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY
To every mom who visits these pages, I want to wish you a happy Mother's Day.
I was lucky to be raised by a fantastic mother who provided me with knowledge, skills and abilities to survive outside the nest. I am blessed that my wife, the mother of my precious three boys is a loving, caring hockey, soccer, Shallaway and Tennis mom. We have a great family, anchored by glue the binds this crazy outfit together, Kristine.
The good days outnumber the bad. I look forward to many more years of parenting and the expectation of more broken furniture, lost phones, scratched hardwood and misplaced tools.
Happy Mother's Day!
THE BIG LAND IS BIG PRIZE
Barring a dramatic change, Yvonne Jones will add Member Of Parliament to her long list of accomplishments tomorrow.
Jones became the mayor of her home town, Mary's Harbour in the early 1990's. After an unsuccessful attempt to defeat incumbent M.H.A Danny Dumarsque for the Liberal nomination in 1996, she went rogue. Her keen political senses indicated that the two term MHA, who was Parliamentary Assistant to than Premier Clyde Wells, could be beaten. She ran as an independent and the voters backed her over the Liberal Candidate. She went on to represent Cartwright - L'anse au Clair in the House of Assembly until the Spring of 2013, resigning to represent the Liberal Party of Canada in tomorrow's by-election.
She is no stranger to controversy or adversary. Over the past seventeen years she has successfully fended off changes to her nomination, became the first and only female NL Fisheries Minister, became the first female leader of the Provincial Liberal Party and survived breast cancer.
While I had reservations about Yvonne's tactical approach to securing the nomination in this current race, there was not much doubt that this political war horse was going to paint Labrador red - once again. Despite disgraced former Conservative Minister Peter Penashue's desperate attempts to define Jones as a selfish "double-dipper" every poll shows she is way ahead.
As dirty and personal as the campaign has gotten, Peter the Cheater has only been racing to the bottom. The people of the Big Land can not be bought by the politics of division and self-interest which the Harper Conservatives have been using to lure support to their cause for the past decade. Cuts to E.I., Search and Rescue, a failure to address the legitimate claims of Nunatukavut and mixed support for the proposed Lower Churchill Project have contributed to a definitive anti-Harper vote in Labrador.
While I think that this has been a campaign based on local issues and personalities, much will be made of the result. I thought the NDP had a shot at making this by-election competitive,however it appears not to be the case.
A win will give new Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau momentum. It will act to fan the fires of Trudeuamania and signal the inevitable demise of Harper as leader of the Conservative Party. Harper stood by Peter the Cheater. The rejection of the Prime Minister's ally, former cabinet minister and his only M.P. from Newfoundland and Labrador, will be seen as a signal that it is time to move on and pass the torch of leadership to someone capable of taking on Trudeau.
The NDP, who had high hopes of being the spoiler, will be disappointed. While this is simply a traditionally Liberal seat going back to fold, Canadian's may see it as a rejection of the NDP as the alternative to the Conservative Party as governors. Many may feel that the protest is over and return to the Liberal Party feeding the resurrection of the so called "natural governing party"
Yvonne Jones, the calculated political savant poised to deliver her leader his first seat, tangible proof of a shift in the political landscape that will shake both the foundations of the Conservative and New Democrats.
Jones became the mayor of her home town, Mary's Harbour in the early 1990's. After an unsuccessful attempt to defeat incumbent M.H.A Danny Dumarsque for the Liberal nomination in 1996, she went rogue. Her keen political senses indicated that the two term MHA, who was Parliamentary Assistant to than Premier Clyde Wells, could be beaten. She ran as an independent and the voters backed her over the Liberal Candidate. She went on to represent Cartwright - L'anse au Clair in the House of Assembly until the Spring of 2013, resigning to represent the Liberal Party of Canada in tomorrow's by-election.
She is no stranger to controversy or adversary. Over the past seventeen years she has successfully fended off changes to her nomination, became the first and only female NL Fisheries Minister, became the first female leader of the Provincial Liberal Party and survived breast cancer.
While I had reservations about Yvonne's tactical approach to securing the nomination in this current race, there was not much doubt that this political war horse was going to paint Labrador red - once again. Despite disgraced former Conservative Minister Peter Penashue's desperate attempts to define Jones as a selfish "double-dipper" every poll shows she is way ahead.
As dirty and personal as the campaign has gotten, Peter the Cheater has only been racing to the bottom. The people of the Big Land can not be bought by the politics of division and self-interest which the Harper Conservatives have been using to lure support to their cause for the past decade. Cuts to E.I., Search and Rescue, a failure to address the legitimate claims of Nunatukavut and mixed support for the proposed Lower Churchill Project have contributed to a definitive anti-Harper vote in Labrador.
While I think that this has been a campaign based on local issues and personalities, much will be made of the result. I thought the NDP had a shot at making this by-election competitive,however it appears not to be the case.
A win will give new Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau momentum. It will act to fan the fires of Trudeuamania and signal the inevitable demise of Harper as leader of the Conservative Party. Harper stood by Peter the Cheater. The rejection of the Prime Minister's ally, former cabinet minister and his only M.P. from Newfoundland and Labrador, will be seen as a signal that it is time to move on and pass the torch of leadership to someone capable of taking on Trudeau.
The NDP, who had high hopes of being the spoiler, will be disappointed. While this is simply a traditionally Liberal seat going back to fold, Canadian's may see it as a rejection of the NDP as the alternative to the Conservative Party as governors. Many may feel that the protest is over and return to the Liberal Party feeding the resurrection of the so called "natural governing party"
Yvonne Jones, the calculated political savant poised to deliver her leader his first seat, tangible proof of a shift in the political landscape that will shake both the foundations of the Conservative and New Democrats.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
SAR RESPONSE FROM 5 WING GOOSE BAY UNFORGIVEABLE
In the last days of the Federal By-Election Campaign, focus is once again on the lack of adequate Search and Rescue Resources in Labrador.
The Conservative Government does not give sufficient priority to search and rescue facilities in Labrador.
I think Captain Dave Bowen, 5 Wing Goose Bay’s Public Affair’s office might be looking for a new challenge after his comments that the safety of Labradorians ranks third on DND's list of priorities.
While trying to explain why neither of the three Griffon Helicopter’s at the base were available for the 30 minute flight to rescue a fishing party in the frigid waters at Park Lake, he told The Telegram “ The main role of 444 is not SAR.. They are a ..Secondary SAR Unit. The initial mandate is to support wing operations here at 5 Wing Goose Bay. The second function is combat service utility and their third function is SAR”
Instead, a Cormorant out of the Primary Base in Gander arrived three hours and 15 minutes later. The SAR unit carried out a medical evacuation for a survivor but it was too late for former Innu Nation Grand Chief Joseph Riche whose body was recovered yesterday morning.
It was in the wake of furor over the Burton Winters tragedy that Defense Minister Peter MacKay stationed a third Griffon at Goose Bay to improve the military’s ability to assist with search and rescue. On April 11th 2012, MacKay said “ This helicopter represents another resource that can contribute to Canada's Search and Rescue system in support of primary responders in this region."
Peter the Cheater, a minister in the Harper Cabinet, MP, a former Innu Chief, said at that time, "That will bring the number of helicopters from two to three and that will give full services to 5 Wing Goose Bay for their needs, as well for any request for ground search and rescue.”
Other functions of these military these assets include are ferrying soldiers to fishing trips to No-name Lake. Perhaps, if some R&R was needed at no-name lake a Griffon might have been ready for duty!
The question now is how the hell did the military allow all three helicopters to be offline at the same time?
The military can not hide behind weather conditions, poor communications or a series of unfortunate events to cover their asses this time. Gross neglect of the importance of having a SAR asset available when needed for Labrador is the issue.
If all three helicopters were out of service, why was another asset not deployed for such an emergency?
Thanks to Captain Dave Bowen we know the answer, SAR is not a top priority, it is somewhere below an invasion by Finland!
Final question, had NDP MP Jack Harris's parliamentary resolution to establish a 30 response time for search and rescue services in Labrador not been sabotaged, would the outcome of the horrible accident at Park Lake been different?
The Conservative Government does not give sufficient priority to search and rescue facilities in Labrador.
I think Captain Dave Bowen, 5 Wing Goose Bay’s Public Affair’s office might be looking for a new challenge after his comments that the safety of Labradorians ranks third on DND's list of priorities.
While trying to explain why neither of the three Griffon Helicopter’s at the base were available for the 30 minute flight to rescue a fishing party in the frigid waters at Park Lake, he told The Telegram “ The main role of 444 is not SAR.. They are a ..Secondary SAR Unit. The initial mandate is to support wing operations here at 5 Wing Goose Bay. The second function is combat service utility and their third function is SAR”
Instead, a Cormorant out of the Primary Base in Gander arrived three hours and 15 minutes later. The SAR unit carried out a medical evacuation for a survivor but it was too late for former Innu Nation Grand Chief Joseph Riche whose body was recovered yesterday morning.
It was in the wake of furor over the Burton Winters tragedy that Defense Minister Peter MacKay stationed a third Griffon at Goose Bay to improve the military’s ability to assist with search and rescue. On April 11th 2012, MacKay said “ This helicopter represents another resource that can contribute to Canada's Search and Rescue system in support of primary responders in this region."
Peter the Cheater, a minister in the Harper Cabinet, MP, a former Innu Chief, said at that time, "That will bring the number of helicopters from two to three and that will give full services to 5 Wing Goose Bay for their needs, as well for any request for ground search and rescue.”
Other functions of these military these assets include are ferrying soldiers to fishing trips to No-name Lake. Perhaps, if some R&R was needed at no-name lake a Griffon might have been ready for duty!
The question now is how the hell did the military allow all three helicopters to be offline at the same time?
The military can not hide behind weather conditions, poor communications or a series of unfortunate events to cover their asses this time. Gross neglect of the importance of having a SAR asset available when needed for Labrador is the issue.
If all three helicopters were out of service, why was another asset not deployed for such an emergency?
Thanks to Captain Dave Bowen we know the answer, SAR is not a top priority, it is somewhere below an invasion by Finland!
Final question, had NDP MP Jack Harris's parliamentary resolution to establish a 30 response time for search and rescue services in Labrador not been sabotaged, would the outcome of the horrible accident at Park Lake been different?
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
I SMELL A MUSKRAT
What a predicament the Lower Churchill Project has put us in?
On top of the plethora of concerns about the projects financial viability, it has had the all but neutered our provincial government’ desire to challenge the Federal Conservative Government on issues of life and death.
As I was driving back from work along Windsor Lake yesterday evening, CBC rebroadcasted an exchange been NDP Leader Lorraine Micheal and Premier Dunderdale regarding the Federal Auditor Generals’s damming report on the decrepit condition of Search and Rescue services, equipment and locations in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Dunderdale had her dander-up. Her lack of passion and convection to fight for the restoration of statistic resources and assets was heartbreaking.. Was this really a Newfoundland Atlantic Ocean , refusing to call an inquiry or demand the Prime Minister undo the Coast Guard cuts.
Instead she has directed her Municipal Affair's Minister Intergovernmental Affairs Minister to write a letter to Ottawa
What makes this even more farcical is that she should be engaging her IGA minister, you know the one that will be stripped of his job at the end of the month. That role is being folded back into the Premier’s office!
What makes this even more farcical is that she should be engaging her IGA minister, you know the one that will be stripped of his job at the end of the month. That role is being folded back into the Premier’s office!
If it were not for the deadly seriousness of her inaction and the Federal Conservative’s malice in removing search and rescue capability from this province, it would be laughable. A black humor filled episode of Yes Minister!
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
NATHAN WHALEN TO LEAD THE NLFSC
 |
| CBC STORY |
It was on Nathan Whalen's agenda. The young 18-year-old chair of the school council at Bishop's College was full of energy. He had great ideas, passion and the maturity of someone much old then he was. He ran for every position on the executive besides secretary. Unfortunately he was unsuccessful.
Instead of leaving with his tail between his legs, Nathan acted on a number of the action issues that he felt needed to be addressed in education. He also started to investigate how School Boards, in particular Eastern District, operated.
Unable to get answers through the front door, the aggressive teenager started filing requests through access to information. He turned up some very interesting information on how these boards spend and the lack of transparency in some decision making.
This spring he spearheaded a meeting with St. John's School Council representatives to discuss the impact of the Dunderdale Government's cuts on schools. Council representatives turned out to discuss their concerns about the amalgamation of the provinces' four school boards into one, administrative cuts and the impact of significant cuts to the special needs allocation.
His outspoken nature, passion and genuine concern was contagious. So much so that at this year's annual meeting his school council peers voted overwhelming for a fresh young face at the helmof the organization.
As a member of the executive, I look forward to the new energy, a focus on consultation and watching the Federation of School Council meet it's potential as an outspoken voice for parents and schools.
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