Danny Williams is one of the richest people in Newfoundland and Labrador. He is a multi-millionaire who owns a successful hockey franchise in St. John’s. Danny Williams makes a lot of money from the St. John’s IceCaps, If he didn’t, Danny wouldn’t be in the hockey game. Good for Danny
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The Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Ins and Outs of Newfoundland Politics #nlpoli
Ralph Champneys Williams was a career British public servant who came to Newfoundland as the Governor at the tail end of one of the greatest periods of political turmoil in the country’s history. Sir Robert Bond went to the polls in the 1908 at the head of the Liberal to
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Insider baseball, again #nlpoli
Paul Davis delivered one of the shortest victory speeches Saturday night of any person elected to lead a party in power. Davis said very little but what he said might reveal much: This weekend we started down a path, a path to rebuild the PC Party of Newfoundland and Labrador,
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It took one more ballot than expected but Paul Davis is the new leader of the provincial Conservative Party and the Premier-designate of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Conservatives spent a lot of time talking about the value of the leadership in rebuilding the party. A majority of the delegates didn’t
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Disconnection Trending #nlpoli
Tom Marshall got lots of coverage for his little ego-stroking farewell in the tradition of his ego-stroked predecessors. The media advisory billed it as a thank-you to public servants and by jingo the local media reported it extensively and called it exactly that. The one who organized the little show
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Spectators and the “Me” Generation #nlpoli
The official media advisory describes the event at Confederation Building this morning as an opportunity for Premier Tom Marshall to thank public servants “for the support provided by their work over his time as Minister and Premier.” In reality, this is another one of the grandiose celebrations that have become
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: At last! #nlpoli
Without a doubt, this is the most interesting, entertaining and revealing thing to come out of the Conservative leadership campaign. This could probably use a bit of writing and editing to tighten it up, but fundamentally, it’s the kind of thing that distinguishes John Ottenheimer in a positive way in
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Ragging the puck #nlpoli
The Conservatives will have a new leader this weekend. Tom Marshall will resign as Premier not long after and the new guy will take over. Terry French announced last week that he will resign from cabinet and leave politics “later this month.” That fits too, because the new premier will
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Everything has a price #nlpoli
Danny Williams famously once said that at some point, “principle converts to cash.” When his old friend Tom Marshall named a court house after Williams, the former Premier said this to reporters about his emotions: "I can’t put a price on it." He may not be able to convert his
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: A fitting reminder #nlpoli
Tom Marshall has a few days left as premier so he figured the best thing to do would be to name the courthouse in Corner Brook after Danny Williams, Marshall’s patron. One of the reasons Marshall gave for his decision was that the province has not done as well as
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Trash, Give-aways, and Conservative Policy #nlpoli
Friday is trash day in the world of political communications. It’s the day when you slip out stuff that is unpleasant in the hopes people will miss it. If you can slide in another story, like say the completely unnecessary appointment of a finance minister who will have the job
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: They’ve got a little list #nlpoli
Justice minister Terry French announced on Thursday that he’d be resigning in a couple of weeks time to take up a job in the private sector. French’s announcement looked like an effort to get in front of rumours that have been circulating for a while in some circles and that
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Voter Choice #nlpoli
When Kathy Dunderdale jumped or was flicked out of office in the first part of 2014, CRA boss Don Mills issued a release covering his company’s February 2014 self-promotion poll that claimed that Tom Marshall was doing wonders for the Conservative party because public satisfaction with the government was up
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Johnson to give colleagues the finger on Friday #nlpoli
Finance minister Charlene Johnson will be leaving politics on Friday, September 5. Under changes that Johnson and her colleagues made to the provincial election laws, that means the Premier – whoever it is at the time – will have to call a by-election no later than November 5 and have
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Pension deal = good news #nlpoli
Three things: 1. The agreement to deal with the unfunded pension liability is a good thing for workers and for taxpayers. It deals with a substantial financial problem, which is the bonus for taxpayers, while preserving defined benefit pension plans for workers, which is the big win for them. The
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Nalcor and the Eff In Way #nlpoli
Over at Uncle Gnarley, JM’s at it again with the first of a two-parter on Nalcor and its problems with forecasting for Muskrat Falls. Nalcor assumed that they would get 830 megawatts of electricity out of Muskrat Falls in the winter months when demand is highest. That’s the number they
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Family reasons #nlpoli
The story flopped out on Friday morning, broken by VOCM, based presumably on information that came directly from Charlene Johnson herself. We can presume that because as the rest of the newsrooms caught up to VOCM, Johnson confirmed that the story was generally true. As CBC reported, “Johnson said she
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Postmodern Jukebox: Maps
It’s the Friday before a long weekend. Enjoy some music. And if you like Morgan James, you can find more of her work at her website: www.morganjames.com. -srbp-
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Shockwaves #nlpoli
The day after the by-election in St. George’s-Stephenville East, federal New Democratic Party member of parliament Ryan Cleary showed an interest in provincial politics some might find curious. “The question is not how to stop NL Liberals,” Cleary tweeted, “but how to boost provincial New Democrats. Status quo not working.”
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Big Dams and Empty Promises #nlpoli
Conservative leadership candidate Steve Kent may be running in third place in the race, but the guy makes bold promises. His energy policy includes the pledge about Muskrat Falls that he will “bring this project in on time, and on budget.” That’s a rather silly promise considering that the project
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