Political Pandermonium #nlpoli
You can tell the election is already going on. You can tell because of what some of the political workers are doing. The Liberals are going door-to-door. They are meeting…
Ed Hollett
Owing it forward #nlpoli
The provincial government will balance its books this year by borrowing $2.1 billion. Lots of people don’t know that, as Michael Caine would say. The government included in its budget…
Never heard anyone say that before #nlpoli
“This may be our last shot at it,” said captain of industry Paul Antle this week as he set off to find other captains of industry to help him save…
And it’s only Wednesday #nlpoli
Imagine, if you can, what it must be like to be Sandy Collins. Sandy is a very young man who is - right now - living the first line of…
A Memorial at Gallipoli #nlpoli
The provincial government announced four years ago that a caribou memorial at Gallipoli would be part of the Honour 100 commemorations to make the 100th anniversary of the First World…
When is a cut not a cut? #nlpoli
A couple of years ago, the province’s auditor general noted that a Crown agency responsible for developing an integrated health information system was paying salaries to its employees that were…
Ethnic identity economics #nlpoli
Wade Locke and Don Mills are two of the faces most associated with the current Conservative administration in Newfoundland and Labrador, aside from the politicians, that is. Mills played a…
Trends: corpse kicking after a lost decade of delusion #nlpoli
Don Mills is the latest fan of the provincial Conservatives to turn on them savagely. The St. John’s Board of Trade had Don back to deliver a luncheon speech this…
The Fourth Party #nlpoli
A Telegram editorial on Wednesday contained a curious comment. The subject was news that broke this week about the provincial government;s energy corporation. Two senior corporate officials are refusing to…
Austerity #nlpoli
All this talk of austerity, gutting the public service…. Then you look at the salary costs, from the provincial budget. There’s something that just doesn’t add up. -srbp-
The Red and the Black: budgets and politics #nlpoli
The annual budget is probably the most political document of any government in a Westminster style parliament like ours. At its simplest and most obvious level the budget is the…
Fearful Symmetry #nlpoli
There’s a couple of constables in an office over in the basement of the old Memorial College building at Fort Townshend, right next to where the USO building used to…
Conservatives stay the debt-building course #nlpoli
Budget 2015 offered absolutely no surprises. On major areas the Conservatives continued their policy of spending more than the provincial treasury can afford. That’s been their trade-mark since 2003 and…
The little things will get you #nlpoli
Maybe someone can point to this information somewhere please. Maybe your humble e-scribbler missed it. But in the past couple of days, there’s been a simple number missing from the…
Yes. The government has big financial problems #nlpoli
Yet another academic paper emerged on Tuesday that pointed out that the provincial government has a big financial problem caused by following the flawed policy of spending all the money…
Contending Political Strategies #nlpoli
Starting last Friday, the ironically-named Conservatives currently running the place started holding a series of “pre-budget” announcements. They started with news that to deal with the massive financial crisis they…
Hysteriana #nlpoli
The response to the proposed boundaries for districts in the House of Assembly has been…what’s the word for it? … oh yes, totally off-the-wall, batshit crazy. On the Burin peninsula…
You know things are going badly when… #nlpoli
… you launch your election campaign at at huge fundraiser and your signature policy announce gets slaughtered on Twitter within seconds of the words leaving your lips. Yes, friends, Paul…
Another little thing that stood out #nlpoli
From Tuesday’s throne speech, here’s another little passage buried away, that could prove to be one of the most significant parts of any throne speech in a long time: Our…
The little things that stand out #nlpoli
Throne Speech 2015 was the kind of document you’d expect from a group of politicians who are out of new ideas. People are making a big deal out of the…