White Knight #nlpoli
The Alberta Conservatives are looking for a new leader. The old one quit last month amid a caucus revolt and a loss of popularity in polls. Former federal cabinet minister…
Edward Hollett
Decisive Leadership in Action #nlpoli
How hard can it be for someone to figure out when they want to start a job? Seriously. A job you want, mind you, not one you have been forced…
Kremlinology 46: Premier Peek-a-Boo and the Dog Whistle #nlpoli
In a scrum with reporters after a public meeting about the Corner Brook hospital last Thursday, Frank Coleman showed he has picked up the tendency of some politicians to talk…
Cognitive Dissonance #nlpoli
People like things in life to fit together. When things don;t fit together, people get upset. They get fidgety. They try to make things fit together. It’s an idea regular…
Prepared Statements and Unprepared Politicians #nlpoli
CBC Radio’s St. John’s Morning Show is so off-put by politicians who issue prepared statements that they’ve found a former journalist turned journalism professor to discuss the growing trend not…
Plan 9 from Columbus Drive #nlpoli
Some enterprising political science graduate student will be able to write a brilliant doctoral dissertation a few years from now on the parallel ideas in provincial politics and popular situation…
Strategically Unwise and other political own-goals #nlpoli
Depending on which interview you listened to on Tuesday, Tom Marshall would be hanging around as Premier until the end of the summer. At least. That’s the VOCM story. Marshall…
Four days late and a few dollars short #nlpoli
Premier-in-waiting Frank Coleman did speak to the Telegram on Monday evening about the controversy that has been raging all weekend over his views on abortion and what that might mean…
Crazy Train Wreck #nlpoli
Premier-in-waiting Frank Coleman was off in Toronto on Monday – reputedly undergoing intensive media training - and so he wasn’t willing to talk to reporters about anything, least of all…
Budget basics: Dealing with the Debt #nlpoli
Public sector pensions in Newfoundland and Labrador are underfunded. There’s not enough money in the fund account to cover all the likely money they’d have to pay out to people…
Legitimacy and Credibility #nlpoli
In the crude, modern way of putting things, shit got real for Premier-in-waiting Frank Coleman on Friday. The Telegram’s James McLeod tweeted Coleman’s response to a question about whether Coleman…
The Further Adventures of Premier Peek-a-boo #nlpoli
Frank Coleman didn’t speak to reporters about the Conservative Party by-election loss in Virginia Waters. Someone wrote up a prepared statement and sent it to reporters later on. The Western…
The Fix Was In #nlpoli
Bill Barry, in the Western Star, on the Conservative leadership show he quit on Thursday: “I just chose to recognize that the leader has been selected by the party insiders.”…
Experience still counts #nlpoli
Now that Frank Coleman is the de facto leader of the provincial Conservative party, there’s no reason why Coleman can’t be in the Premier’s Office with his new cabinet in…
Pearl Necklace #nlpoli
Mount Pearl is alive with rumours this week that Steve Kent is trying to cross the floor (back) to the Liberals. Kent’s open dispute with the education minister Clyde Jackman…
How not to bolster public confidence: the umpteenth Nalcor edition #nlpoli
The folks at Nalcor held a media briefing at 11:00 AM on Tuesday. it was supposed to be about the release of the independent engineer’s review of Muskrat Falls done…
The Virginia Waters Come-Back Myth #nlpoli
Danny Williams said it. Tom Marshall said it. In the Virginia Waters by-election the Conservatives were trailing by 15 percentage points and managed to come back and tie it up…
Budget Basics: Unfunded Pension and Benefits Liabilities #nlpoli
While the provincial budget for 2014 was all about spending government money, the budget speech did raise one issue that the provincial government appears intent on cutting dramatically. A key…
Premier Peek-a-boo #nlpoli
Pretty well every Conservative who is anyone in the province turned up on Wednesday night at Danny Breen’s by-election headquarters. Every Conservative, that is, except the fellow who is the…
Ripples #nlpoli
The provincial Conservatives lost a crucial by-election in Virginia Waters on Wednesday, but not for lack of effort. The could not possible have pulled out any more stops to try…