Kathy and Steve had a nice chat on the phone, but Stephen Harper’s biggest Newfoundland and Labrador fan couldn’t persuade her guy to change his mind about shifting a search and rescue call centre from St. John’s to the Joint Rescue Co-ordination…
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The Sir Robert Bond Papers: Population drops in NL again
Recent population figures from Statistics Canada suggest the recession is over and things are getting back to normal. Population in Newfoundland and Labrador dropped in the last quarter primarily due to out-migration. Regular readers of these e-scrib…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Cross Putin off your list
Add the Pavement Putin of the Permafrost to the list of provincial Conservatives who won’t be seeking re-election come the fall. John Hickey won’t be running again, since apparently two terms are enough. Did someone leave off the “to be pe…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Expectations
Having jacked expectations through the ceiling, Kathy Dunderdale better convince Stephen Harper to commit to halt the transfer of the jobs at the coast guard search and rescue co-ordination office in St. John’s to Halifax. If she gets nothing, then …
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Belize dannys Fortis
Almost three years after Danny Williams’s Conservative administration in Newfoundland and Labrador expropriated Fortis’ electricity assets in the province, the government of Belize has taken a leaf from Williams’ playbook and seized Fortis’ int…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Well did she know in advance?
The shipyard that supposedly had so much work it didn’t know what to do just laid off 250 workers. Makes you wonder why the company dropped out of a lucrative shipbuilding contract and – equally – why Kathy Dunderdale took the news without batti…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Penis Envy
I’ll share a quote with you now from Canadian marathon runner Peter Maher that I found interesting: "Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks you, ‘Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Kremlinology 36: Thinking with your ass
We’d all like to think that political ideas come out of politicians’ heads after careful thought and lots of research. In Newfoundland and Labrador, government ideas tend to spring from the ass. A whole bunch of people in the province are not hap…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: US has surplus electricity
A conference in Halifax last week heard a tale of electricity demand in the United States that you certainly aren’t hearing from proponents of mega-debt projects north of the border. Massachusetts-based consultant Danielle Powers said that the New E…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: This week has 22 e-mails
The controversy over the provincial government’s bungling of the emergency response to Hurricane Igor got a bit more curious on Monday when labradore released a series of e-mails he obtained from the provincial government under access to information …
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Minister Chickenshit
Municipal affairs minister Kevin “Fairity” O’Brien continues to defend bungled decision-making at the topmost levels of the province’s emergency response system by citing the work done by the hard-working men and women who actually did the heav…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Will one of them change parties?
Good to his word from last February, former Conservative member of parliament Rex Barnes is challenging Ray Hunter for the Tory nomination Grand Falls-Windsor-Green Bay South. Notice in a piece from NTV News that Barnes is rattling off a bunch of prob…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Making the Most of Our Energy Resources (Part I – Electricity Reform)
In slightly more than a decade, fundamentally bad policy decisions by Liberal and Conservative administrations have turned the provincial government’s electricity corporation has turned into an unregulated, unaccountable monster. Such is the power …
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Weekly Traffic Report, June 13 to 17, 2011
Nalcor negotiating Muskrat transmission with Hydro-Quebec Cross Sheila off your list Titanic records available from UK National Archives 24 French Belize wants to buy out Fortis interest in Belize power company 15 ideas (and more) for…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Local pols to s**t bricks
Tom Hedderson, Fairity O’Brien and other lame local politicians will likely be re-thinking their political futures soon. CBC announced Friday that Anthony Germain will be hosting the CBC’s flagship morning show in Newfoundland and Labrador later …
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: “Letter perfect”? Guess again.
Municipal affairs minister Kevin “Fairity” O’Brien thinks that his government’s response to last year’s Hurricane Igor disaster was absolutely correct in every respect. In fact, he is so convinced of the rightness of what he and his colleagu…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Politics and Disasters
Even to people not desperately in need of help in the wake of last year’s Hurricane Igor, it was pretty obvious – at the time – the provincial government was more geared to stoking and stroking political egos than anything else. By the second or …
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: PEI to study electricity supply
The Government of Prince Edward Island has appointed a five member commission to examine the province’s energy supply and pricing. The commission — which includes Mike O’Brien, David Arsenault, Roger King, Gerald Morneau and Richard Hassard —…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Strengthening the Treasury
Consider the simple reality. The current provincial administration has more money – without considering federal transfers – than any other government in the province’s history. Most of the government’s money comes from oil. Oil prices are at…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The looming debt problem: update
Canadian household debt is at at record levels according to report by the Certified General Accountants Association. The latest report adds a new twist to a discussion of the potential risks for consumer debt in this province discussed in a post last …
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