Part of the problem the folks at Nalcor have had in trying to build support for on Muskrat Falls is that they never explain things completely, in plain English. The result is that they look like they are hiding something .That is, they look like they are not being candid
Continue readingAuthor: Edward Hollett
The Sir Robert Bond Papers: Keep the momentum going #nlpoli
Frank Coleman’s idea for change in Newfoundland and Labrador is to keep everything the way it is. As CBC reported in March, “Coleman said one of his priorities if he assumed the role of premier would be to maintain the economic momentum created by the Tories.” He might even want
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Weak Questions get Weak Answers #nlpoli
Nalcor’s effort to have local taxpayers subsidize electricity exports to Massachusetts came up in the House of Assembly on Thursday. Well, sort of came up. New Democratic Party leader Lorraine Michael asked a couple of lame questions and got – not surprisingly – a few equally lame answers. Here they
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: And no birds sang #nlpoli
Farley Mowat passed away on May 7, 2014, aged 92. The prolific Canadian writer and environmentalist was just shy of his 93rd birthday on May 12. Mowat was also a veteran of the Second World War. In Canada, we mark the end of the war on May 8. He served
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Nalcor promising Boston cheap electricity courtesy of NL taxpayers #nlpoli
Muskrat Falls is over budget, big time. The latest estimate is $7.4 billion and climbing on a project stat was forecast at $5.0 billion just four years ago. The project will wind up behind schedule, most likely. There’s a good chance Nalcor won’t have enough control over water flows on
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Power and Influence #nlpoli
If nothing else, the controversy over the sweet heart deal the provincial Conservatives cut with Frank Coleman’s son at Humber Valley Paving should dispel the fairy tale that Coleman and his family are political outsiders. They are very much the quintessential political insiders. Transportation minister Nick McGrath admitted to reporters
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: HVP controversy deepens #nlpoli
[In a hole with a jack-hammer update at bottom] The controversy around Humber Valley Paving got worse for the provincial Conservatives on Monday as transportation minister Nick McGrath confirmed that he actually released $19 million in performance and goods bond’s supplied by the paving company despite the fact they failed
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The House comes back… what’s on the menu? #nlpoli
As far as when Frank Coleman might find the time to get around to taking over the Premier’s job, not much as it seems. It’s till vague, undefined, and potentially will happen quite some time from now. He appeared on VOCM Open Line on Friday and still talked about wanting
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Cabinet Shuffle Bored #nlpoli
The provincial Conservative Party is in the midst of such an intense revival of interest only about a dozen people turned out on Wednesday night for the annual general meeting of the district association in Mount Pearl South. They were there to elect delegates to the party convention in July.
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Muskrat costs at $7.4 billion … and climbing #nlpoli
After 13 days, Nalcor boss Ed martin finally responded to a simple request from the Telegram’s James McLeod for an explanation of what impact a delay in construction might have on project interest costs. Read McLeod’s original article from Wednesday Telly. it’s a tidy summary of what Martin told him
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: White Knight #nlpoli
The Alberta Conservatives are looking for a new leader. The old one quit last month amid a caucus revolt and a loss of popularity in polls. Former federal cabinet minister Jim Prentice is interested in the job, as are a few provincial cabinet ministers. A source close to the campaign
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Decisive Leadership in Action #nlpoli
How hard can it be for someone to figure out when they want to start a job? Seriously. A job you want, mind you, not one you have been forced to take a gunpoint. Apparently, Frank Coleman has finally figured out when he wants to start being Premier. He has
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Kremlinology 46: Premier Peek-a-Boo and the Dog Whistle #nlpoli
In a scrum with reporters after a public meeting about the Corner Brook hospital last Thursday, Frank Coleman showed he has picked up the tendency of some politicians to talk about themselves in the plural. The reporters asked about Coleman’s tendency to shun media interviews and to pop up here
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Cognitive Dissonance #nlpoli
People like things in life to fit together. When things don;t fit together, people get upset. They get fidgety. They try to make things fit together. It’s an idea regular readers know from other posts. Take this bit from a post from 2012 as a good example of how some
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Prepared Statements and Unprepared Politicians #nlpoli
CBC Radio’s St. John’s Morning Show is so off-put by politicians who issue prepared statements that they’ve found a former journalist turned journalism professor to discuss the growing trend not only in this province, but elsewhere. Interviews are important, said professor, because then journalists can ask questions and get more
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Plan 9 from Columbus Drive #nlpoli
Some enterprising political science graduate student will be able to write a brilliant doctoral dissertation a few years from now on the parallel ideas in provincial politics and popular situation comedy. She will find fertile ground in the Big Bang Theory, especially the episode the in which Sheldon explains a
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Strategically Unwise and other political own-goals #nlpoli
Depending on which interview you listened to on Tuesday, Tom Marshall would be hanging around as Premier until the end of the summer. At least. That’s the VOCM story. Marshall will run the place for two full months after the Conservative convention in early July while Coleman runs around the
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Four days late and a few dollars short #nlpoli
Premier-in-waiting Frank Coleman did speak to the Telegram on Monday evening about the controversy that has been raging all weekend over his views on abortion and what that might mean for public policy in the province. Coleman chose to issue a statement on Friday that didn’t address the central issues.
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Crazy Train Wreck #nlpoli
Premier-in-waiting Frank Coleman was off in Toronto on Monday – reputedly undergoing intensive media training - and so he wasn’t willing to talk to reporters about anything, least of all the controversy about his views on abortion. When Bill Barry dropped out of the Conservative leadership on Thursday, Coleman became
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Budget basics: Dealing with the Debt #nlpoli
Public sector pensions in Newfoundland and Labrador are underfunded. There’s not enough money in the fund account to cover all the likely money they’d have to pay out to people when they retire. But make no mistake, the province’s public sector pensioners are not in any real danger of losing
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