Five years after your humble e-scribbler first wrote about it, the world pretty much accepts the notion that the governing Conservatives time their communications to coincide with polling done by their contract pollster. A couple of university professo…
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The Sir Robert Bond Papers: Triumph of the Brand Will
From one of the most successful political brands of modern times comes the secret of branding. Forget what you learned in school. Brand is not about qualities, values or indeed even anything real or tangible. The secret for us now is the same wit…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Traffic: 25–29 July 2011
Turd buffing Politicians and illness Nalcor ignores natural gas, local studies back cheaper alternative to Muskrat Falls An endorsement that rings a little hollow Follow the money Paternalism in pictures Nutbar Factor 6 and The Pol…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Politicians and illness
A day or so after Jack Layton told the country about his latest health crisis, CBC Radio’s noon-time show opened their phone lines so people could call in to talk about Jack Layton and his struggle with cancer. Regular host Ramona Dearing chatted wi…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Where isn’t the democracy in that?
Robert Doyle spoke to reporters recently on behalf of some independent drug store owners in the province. Doyle complained about a change to regulations for the provincial government’s prescription drug program that required a drug store owner to gi…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Follow the money
Anyone who wants to understand the current racket between the provincial government and some drug store owners need only follow the money. It is the local version of something that started in Ontario in 2010. CBC has a decent background note that expl…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Turd Buffing
Russell Wangersky’s column on Tuesday discussed some of Nalcor’s efforts to deal with criticism of the Muskrat Falls project. He notes the company letters to the editor and interviews efforts are respectful and low key but… The problem is, th…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Paternalism in Pictures
People are talking about fire trucks, paving and other forms of patronage doled out by the provincial Conservatives for Election 2011. The always acidic labradore has it in pictures, over time. – srbp –
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Plastic, packaged and preaching to the choir
While some people may be excited about the fact that all three party leaders in the province are on Da Twitter, a close look at how political parties in newfoundland and Labrador are using, or not using social media, shows that there is a lot less here…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: An endorsement that rings a little hollow
It is always funny listening to Cynthia Downy endorsing anyone for political office. Not so long ago she was running for Stephen Harper and saying all the things about Stephen Harper she now says about Kathy Dunderdale.
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Politics of Perpetual Panic
Danny Williams’ legacy in Newfoundland and Labrador will be one thing: the politics of panic. The old drama queen was always in a panic over something or other that was the gravest threat to something or other since the time of the last great u…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Nalcor ignores natural gas, local studies back cheaper alternative to Muskrat Falls project
The provincial government’s energy corporation didn’t study natural gas as an alternative to using Muskrat Falls to replace the Holyrood generating plant according to the company’s final written submission to the environmental panel reviewing the…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Rumpole and Food for Thought
The Mighty Ceeb is at it again with another story that distorts the information they started with. “Severe crime soaring in N.L.” scrams the website headline. The second paragraph: Statistics Canada reported that while reports of crime across …
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Politics of Public Spending
Check the local media for the past week and you’ll see a sudden bunch of stories about the series of fire truck announcements provincial politicians of the Tory persuasion are making across the province. Voice of the Cabinet Minister’s got one. C…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Traffic in the heat of the Summer of Love 2011
Fire trucks, Twitter and a 60 year old who dropped a hundred pounds in six months wanting a job today she didn’t want six months ago. Must be the Summer of Love 2011. All that is fodder for another post. For now let’s just check out the 10 …
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Containing Ottawa’s Skyrocketing Power Bill
by Tom Adams and Brian Lee Crowley [Note: the authors prepared the following commentary to coincide with the recent energy ministers meeting. It has appeared in other publications across the country.] Federal taxpayers are exposed to an ex…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Bullshit then or now? Nalcor boss changes story on natural gas and Muskrat megadebt project
Ed Martin dismisses the idea that natural gas might be a sensible replacement for burning Bunker C at Holyrood. Here’s the whole story from VOCM in the event they disappear it: Nalcor has considered – and rejected – the use of liquefied natural…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Former Tory fin min not giving up in fight against Muskrat
Former Conservative finance minister John Collins is fighting the Muskrat Falls project as fervently as ever. The 80-something has a new letter in the Telegram taking issue with recent comments by Nalcor boss Ed Martin and natural resources min…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Nurturing a democratic revolution
Public life in Newfoundland and Labrador remains as fundamentally undemocratic as it ever was. Paternalism remains the order of the day. As three sitting members of the House revealed, they they are the face of government in their districts.…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: From the Earth to the moon
Forty two years later, the American manned space program is about to die. For the first time in half a century the United States will not have the ability to send humans into space and bring them home again. How truly sad that is. – srbp –
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