Free Tampons #nlpoli
Jessica Valenti, a columnist at the Guardian newspaper argued in her column in early August, that women should get free feminine hygiene products. Consider these points from Valenti’s column: “UNICEF…
Ed Hollett
Mystery Meat #nlpoli
The Telegram’s exceedingly generous headline said that Conservative leadership candidate Paul Davis put meat to the bones of his campaign on Friday by announcing details of his policies. In reality, …
Summer reading: Command and Control
From the blurb: “Written with the vibrancy of a first-rate thriller, Command and Control interweaves the minute-by-minute story of an accident at a nuclear missile silo in rural Arkansas with…
Identity Crisis #nlpoli
Newfoundland is changing, Michael Crummey writes in the Newfoundland nationalists’ newspaper, the Globe and Mail. House prices are climbing in St. John’s. There are plenty of expensive restaurants around and…
Information Underload #nlpoli
Poor Sandy Collins. The Minister (of the Moment) of Public Engagement and a gaggle of senior public servants went to meet the access to information review committee on Tuesday. Supposed…
Conservative Misinformation and the Public Sector Debt Problem #nlpoli
There is no limit to how selectively provincial Conservatives will read a document in order to find some microscopic filament that might possibly confirm that they have really been running…
Politics for 200, Alex #nlpoli
Who was the first Newfoundlander elected to the Canadian House of Commons? What party did he represent? What year was he elected? What riding did he represent? -srbp-
Politicians and Cars #nlpoli
The Liberals are touting their latest campaign-style television spot featuring Dwight Ball talking about accountability and connecting with voters. In the spot, he’s driving somewhere in the driving province and…
Truth and Consequences #nlpoli
Wednesday morning started with an intriguing but hardly surprising story. CBC’s David Cochrane tweeted that sources in the John Ottenheimer camp believed that Conservative leadership candidates Steve Kent and Paul…
Perks #nlpoli
A story in last weekend’s Telegram documented all the perks that former Premiers get. Aside from a severance package, a couple of extra months pay, and a government car allowance…
The Shared Delusion #nlpoli
Tom Marshall is a typical politician. He got into politics to make things better. And, as he reaches the end of his political career, Tom feels a little frustrated or…
Oculus #nlpoli
Justin Simms makes films. His latest project is a documentary about Danny Williams. Funded by the National Film Board, the movie, imaginatively titled “Danny”, will premiere in Halifax next month…
The Stark Numbers #nlpoli
Anyone who wants to get insight into the political landscape in Newfoundland and Labrador need look no further than the Abacus poll commissioned by VOCM, the first bit of which…
Cost Driver #nlpoli
Companies large and small in the province are under considerable stress as a result of Nalcor’s Muskrat Falls project. The cause? This CBC story from Labrador mentions “steep wages” as…
August is polling month #nlpoli
The provincial government headquarters offices in St. John’s will be closed on Wednesday for the annual St. John’s regatta. There won’t be any news releases most likely. But so far, …
Paging Dr. Freud #nlpoli
Reluctant Premier Tom Marshall said some interesting things in what appears to be his retirement interview with the Western Star. Like running for office in 2011 wasn’t what he planned.…
The 2018-2019 Offshore Review #nlpoli
In 2003, the new Conservative administration set as its first task to renegotiate the Atlantic Accord. They hadn’t campaigned on that issue. The campaign election platform included a pledged to…
Another tired dog and sway-backed pony show #nlpoli
Temporary premier Tom Marshall and natural resources minister Derrick Dalley released a 40-odd page document on Thursday. It’s was supposed to be a report of a committee of senior public…
STI rates in Newfoundland and Labrador #nlpoli
Saskatoon Health Region released a report on July 18 on the rates of sexually transmitted infections in the city in 2013. A CBC report earlier this week quoted the deputy…
Mullet Policy #nlpoli
Government is like a lot of things in life: it’s about finding solutions to problems. Okay. If that upsets your cynical sensibilities, think about it as about finding answers to…