This evening Liberals will elect a new leader. And about two weeks from now – likely Friday, February 14 – the new leader will take the oath of office and become the 38thfirst minister of Newfoundland and Labrador since it became self-governing (May 5, 1855) and the 14th Premier since
Continue readingTag: political trends
The Sir Robert Bond Papers: The challenge of change #nlpoli
Change is hard. It’s even harder when no one wants to change. Our Former Dear Premier Some people outside the Liberal Party have been obsessed lately with the leadership contest currently going on. They seem to think that one person can make all the difference in how the provincial government
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Trends #nlpoli
How do you keep in place the very necessary and successful restrictions on public life needed to combat the spread of CVD19 when the success of those measures reduces the local daily number of active cases either to zero or to a handful and hence the threat appears to have
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The indelicate art of cabin-making #nlpoli
If Ross Wiseman is the new Speaker because Tom Osborne withdrew, that’s because Osborne knows he’s going back into cabinet. Tom should send a thank you note to Gerry Rogers, the Skinner-skinner. Steve Kent will get a cabinet post, m…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Why should anyone care? #nlpoli
We can often see things more clearly when we compare one item to something that is supposed to be similar to it. It’s one of the simplest ways we can learn. Babies learn to do it at an early age and comparing is at the heart of the old Sesa…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The NDP Rise #nlpoli
On Sunday, the always provocative labradore dissected the NDP performance in the last general election. The NDP gains in votes, and seats, came almost entirely at the expense of the Tories. The Liberals stubbornly refused to believe their own obitu…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Whither the Liberals #nlpoli
The tale is not told in the view of columnists – Stephen Maher, Chantal Hebert and Susan Delacourt – who try to link a series of different events into one explanation. The tale is told in the comment of one long-time Liberal who bumped into anot…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Townies and Baymen #nlpoli #nlvotes
Some people were surprised the other night when Danny Dumaresque told the very small audience at a Board of Trade economic forum that: I would have to say to the mayor of this great city that there are a hell of a lot more priorities outside the ov…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Welcome to the Echo Chamber #nlpoli #nlvotes
Pretty simple idea, really. Opinions, beliefs and ideas move around among like minded people in what is an essentially closed space. The effect can be amazingly powerful just as it can be amazingly deceptive and distorting. President Barack O…
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 reading