Bond Raters and other things to wonders about #nlpoli
Cast your mind back a couple of years and you will probably remember finance minister Jerome Kennedy told us a couple of things. One was that he expected the government…
Ed Hollett
The Unsustainability Problem #nlpoli
The annual budget consultation farce started on Monday with a couple of sessions. This year the provincial government has turned out a budget simulator that is supposed “to illustrate the…
The theory of everything #nlpoli
People are talking about the budget. People are talking about Bill 42, the politicians’ decision to cut public representation in the House. People are talking about the recent polls. People…
A cunning plan it ain’t #nlpoli
The whole “Paul-Davis-Decisive-Leader” thing doesn’t seem to be working for the provincial Conservatives. The latest NTV/MQO poll puts the Liberals at 42, the Conservatives at 20 and the NDP at…
Stragedy and Polls: Chop House version #nlpoli
Public opinion polls are a really useful thing in politics. The Liberals did a poll the weekend before the Liberals and Conservatives voted to slash public representation in the legislature. …
St. Pierre shifting health care to Moncton, Halifax #nlpoli
Rising costs are forcing the government of St. Pierre to look at shifting health care for its residents to Moncton New Brunswick from St. John’s, according to Radio Canada. The…
Lighter and Lighter #nlpoli
Three separate stories over the past three days highlight changes to the local media world. On Saturday, Telegram editor Russell Wangersky slammed the publicly funded CBC Radio for turning its…
Money and Politics – the Chronic Enforcement Problem #nlpoli
We can have all the rules in the world about how political parties and political candidates receive and spend money in Newfoundland and Labrador, but they are useless without meaningful…
Money and Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador #nlpoli
Some people are making a big deal over the fact that the judge heading the boundaries commission made political donations to both the Liberal and Conservative parties in the province…
The Boundary Commission Fun is closer #nlpoli
The Chief Justice has named Justice Robert Stack as the chair of the boundary commission appointed under the Electoral Boundaries Act. We now have to get four other members of…
The Other DarkNL #nlpoli
For as long as anyone can remember, some people in Newfoundland and Labrador have had a love of conformity. They loathe discussion and debate. They dislike democracy. (Read more…)
Reforming the budget process #nlpoli
We already know that the provincial government won’t unveil its budget for the new year until late April or early May. That’s not as unusual as it might seem. In…
Government by Committee #nlpoli
Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador (2015) – Part 5 In the fifth and final instalment in this series on politics in Newfoundland and Labrador, SRBP looks at the latest…
Elections and Voting #nlpoli
Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador (2015) – Part 4 The politicians in the province share a lot of common views and tend to agree on most things despite being…
The Dysfunctional House of Assembly #nlpoli
Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador (2015) – Part 3 In the third instalment in the series, SRBP looks at the way the House of Assembly operates. _____________________________________________ Liberal finance critic…
One Big Party #nlpoli
Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador – Part 2 The plan to cut public representation in the House of Assembly has drawn public attention to more than just the plan to…
Making the rich richer #nlpoli
Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador – Part 1 The plan to cut public representation in the House of Assembly has drawn public attention to more than just the plan…
Gil Bennett: fact checker #nlpoli
Gil Bennett, Nalcor vice-president in charge of the Lower Churchill project, took some exceptions to comments in yesterdays posts on Muskrat Falls and electricity prices. Rather than go back and…
Nalcor: the power of hubris #nlpoli
On the last electricity bill to arrive Chez Scribbler, the price per kilowatt hour was a little over 11 cents, all in. On Wednesday, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro applied to…
Acting Like a Leader #nlpoli
In his first major public appearance since cutting public representation in the House of Assembly last week, Premier Paul Davis flatly rejected the objections of the province’s municipalities and a…