Memorial University economist Jim Feehan proposed in the December issue of Canadian Public Policy that the provincial government should change the way electricity is priced in Newfoundland and Labrador once Muskrat falls comes on stream. Now to be clear, the way government prices electricity will already change for Muskrat Falls.
Continue readingAuthor: Ed Hollett
The Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Keystone Kops Ride Again (2013) #nlpoli
We already knew that the provincial cabinet had abandoned their budget before the document had been debated in the House. That happened last week when the Premier ordered the justice minister and the attorney general to abandon the cabinet-approved cuts in the justice department. Less than 12 hours after meeting
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Conservatives and Millennials #nlpoli #cdnpoli
The talk was supposed to be about the political culture in Newfoundland and Labrador. Does it ever change? What Tim Powers wound up spending a lot of time talking about was Donald Trump, millennials, and Liberal Party databases in the last election. Not surprising, really, given that Tim is a
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Toward a fair and just society (2012) #nlpoli
The December 2008 expropriation bill was not the right thing for the provincial government and the House of Assembly to do.The expropriation was wrong.It was wrong, but not because it didn’t work.It was wrong, but not because the provincial government accidentally expropriated a contaminated mill site.The December 2008 expropriation was wrong because
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Debt servicing and revenue, 2013-2016 #nlpoli
There are lots of ways of looking the government’s budget. Here’s one that’s a bit unconventional. Rather than look at how much the government is spending on debt servicing as a share of all expenses, let’s take a look at what it means as a share of the government’s income
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Torque wars: media, politicians, and the Muskrat Falls loan guarantee #nlpoli (2011)
Some people will tell you there the federal and provincial governments have a deal for a federal loan guarantee on Muskrat Falls. The provincial government has already met three criteria set by the federal government and Stephen Harper confirmed that in a speech in St. John’s. That’s what you could
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Campaign Finance Reform: shifting attention #nlpoli
Until 1996, there were no campaign finance laws in Newfoundland and Labrador at all. In 2003, the Conservatives promised to make dramatic changes to the laws governing how parties financed election campaigns. They delivered none of it. In 2015, the Liberals promised changes to campaign finance laws and one year
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Williams announces political exit plan (2010)
Danny Williams always said that building the Lower Churchill was the only thing he wanted to do before leaving politics. He took a huge step down that road in 2006 when he rejected other options in favour of the supposed go-it-alone strategy. With no markets and no money for the project,
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: If only we were New Brunswick… #nlpoli
Premier Dwight Ball has talked about it. CBC’s Peter Cowan tweeted about it Sunday night. If only we were like all those lucky provinces that get Equalization, we’d be right as rain. We can allow that Peter may not understand federal-provincial finances at all, even if he does cover the
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Behaviour Patterns #nlpoli
January 2016. Dwight Ball tells reporters in year-end interviews that “everything is on the table” to deal with the government’s financial problem. Then, Ball took everything off the table. As SRBP put it last year: No cuts to spending as that would slow the economy. Ditto for tax increases. Even
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Rumpole and Justice Delayed (2009) #nlpoli
There is no question that our system provides a great method for adjudicating questions of fact and law, but given the expenditure of public funds we are obliged to the people of Newfoundlandand Labrador to provide the best possible system in terms of the efficiency of the process. Report of
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Oil downturn slams petro-provinces’ jobs #nlpoli
The four provinces heavily dependent on oil and gas resources took a major hit in jobs in 2016, according to seasonally-adjusted figures released on Friday by the Dominion’s statistics bureau. Alberta lost almost 35,000 full-time jobs. Nova Scotia lost more than 13,000 full-time jobs. Saskatchewan dropped 12,400 full-time jobs. Newfoundland
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Media Donations to NL Political Parties #nlpoli #cdnpoli
Steele Communications and its subsidiary VOCM made a combined total of $23,600 in contributions to political parties in Newfoundland and Labrador between 1996 and 2009, according to party finance information published by the province’s chief electoral officer. All but $900 of it went to the provincial Liberal party. Communications Ten,
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The poverty of "we so po’" rhetoric (2008) #nlpoli
“People need to understand government cannot write a cheque for everything,” said Williams. “We can’t be all things to all people.” “On the other hand, even in poor times, we have tried to do the best we could for people who were, for lack of a better term, in
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Putting the sunk in sunk cost #nlpoli #cdnpoli
Muskrat Falls is basically an $800 million tax on the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. That’s roughly the amount you get using numbers Nalcor chief executive Stan Marshall made public last summer. Muskrat Falls is a tax on the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. Always was that. Never was anything
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Williams concedes on royalties (2007) #nlpoli
As Bond Papers noted on Thursday, part of the Hebron deal will involve a change to the provincial royalty regime local media are characterising as a concession.The Telegram reported on Friday morning that the province will indeed lower the initial royalty to a flat 1% on gross from an escalating regime that maxed at 7.5% until
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Public Support for Muskrat Falls #nlpoli
Corporate Research Associates isn’t the only pollster in the universe, no matter what some people locally seem to believe. CRA released the results of a question the company asked during its omnibus last November. They found support for Muskrat Falls at 45%. That’s down from 54% in May 2016, 65%
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Danny Brand (2006) #nlpoli
The defining characteristic of Danny Williams’ term as a politician – and particularly his term as Premier thus far – has been his relentless use of specific marketing approaches to maintain a permanent campaign.The notion of a permanent political campaign is not new. The concept of a party continuing to
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Books, tents, fishing rods and such #nlpoli
Don’t ask why but Statistics Canada groups books in with sporting goods, hobbies, and music. The picture shows total sales in Newfoundland and Labrador each months from january 2014 to October 2016 for these items. The figures are in thousands of dollars. The average per month over the whole period
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Taxing our understanding #nlpoli
Over the past week, there’s been a flurry of comment about gasoline prices and the fact that, as of New Year’s Day, a provincial sales tax now applies to books. It’s 10%, on top of the federal sales tax of five per cent. All sorts of people are talking about
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