Figure it out... once and for all folks... within Canada we have NO POWER to influence decisions. Dunderdale trying to be nice to Harper and build a relationship with him so she can have an influence over the federal decisions which affect our province, is like being kind and loving with the devil in the hopes he will convert to Catholicism.
While Danny Williams may be a bit of a hot head, he is not without some people skills in trying to get his way. Danny did try being fair with Harper in the hopes of future influence only to be screwed in the end!
Dunderdale, thinking that she can do better than her previous boss, was even kinder and more supportive of Harper, and this would result in fairer treatment from Harper.
When Harper was confirmed of his majority government in the recent election, his statement was "that he now needed to be a Prime Minister for all of Canada." To me it seems that he is either lying about his intent to do right by all of Canada's citizens or he does not see NL as a real part of Canada. I think we know Harper is a liar. He is a very disingenuous politician who could not care less about our province and our people.
With regard to this matter of closing of our Search and Rescue sub center, I reflect back to just a short while ago and the memorial service held immediately after the Cougar crash. Harper and Mackay, coming out of the Basilica with a solemn and mournful gait, was nothing more than window dressing. He could not care less about our people and the ability to keep them safe. The real proof is in how heartlessly he would shut down this vital piece of our search and rescue infrastructure.
In truth, our Search and Rescue capabilities need to be enhanced and added to, as per the investigations which were completed after the Ocean Ranger and Cougar disasters. In stead of this Harper has ruthlessly decided the best action is taking a major component of our functionality away. "When", not "if", this fateful decision causes the loss of more lives off our shores, will Harper and Mackay have the guts to come to the next memorial service? The answer: ABSOLUTELY YES they will show up, because, ultimately the initial ability to make this decision shows no conscience, and this same character trait, means that they certainly would have the "face" to show up here again and mimic the same crocodile tears that they did after the Cougar crash.
Very sad... how many more of our people need to be sacrificed before the recommended search and rescue infrastructure is put in place???
How much more of this blatant disrespect can we, as a people, tolerate?
Do we really need to learn this lesson again regarding the true character of Steve Harper?
Did our current premier actually believe that she could treat Harper differently and get better results?
Well, guess what? The people of NL did not buy in to it and they showed this in the way they voted in the last federal election. The people had Stephen Harper pegged and now Dunderdale and her colleagues are not looking very politically astute in unabashedly campaigning for Harper's candidates.
I guess, in fairness to Dunderdale and her government, this could be looked at as 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'. It was somewhat obvious from the polling in the last election that Harper was going to be the Primer Minister after the election, whether by minority, if not majority government. "You get more flies with honey" I suppose... but my real question is this: did Cathy Dunderdale and her government 'really' expect Harper to be a friend to NL as a result of their generous show of support to him?
Canada has the potential to be the greatest country on earth... however, this potential will never be realized as long as one part of the country is treated differently than another based on the number of electoral seats that it holds.
Our government is seeking a 'loan guarantee' for Muskrat Falls... they think we are all but assured of this favor, a favor which costs the federal government nothing, "ZERO DOLLARS". And yet, we still don't have this matter resolved. It was not mentioned in the budget which has since passed, and it seems to be a matter which requires more than just a signature of endorsement. Maybe there is no 'dragging of the heels' here, but it seems that matters which seem to be an enormous undertaking, ie 'senate reform' is already making its way through the channels necessary to potentially make it happen. I guess that is a priority and the loan guarantee and NL is not. Imagine that?
Showing posts with label Fishery commentary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fishery commentary. Show all posts
Friday, June 24, 2011
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Politics... putting a spin on the truth... our Fishery?
Recently our NL government decided to invest 14 million dollars into fisheries research... nobody can argue the sensibility of conducting research to properly manage our primary resource... the Fishery.
But... isn't that someone else's job, namely the federal government's responsibility? Didn't we forego the right to manage our fishery resource when we entered confederation?
I am far from being an expert on the fishery, or even the dictates of our entering confederation. As a matter of fact, I would say that for the most part I am very ignorant of the fishery, and why it has been, and is in so much trouble. However, I do consider myself to be a keen observer of human nature, and a thinker, with some ability to troubleshoot situations and get to the nub of what is going on.
So, our government is doing something good for the fishery and injecting a very large sum of money into research. Nothing but good can come from knowing the truth about our fishing stocks.
While this is important work it is not our responsibility to carry it out; it is the responsibility of the federal government. The money being used for this is not excess money as our NL government's budget shows we are running a deficit this year despite our oil revenues. This is, therefore, not 'found money' because of having a balanced budget, it is borrowed money, because it was not accounted for in any budget disclosure that I read.
I believe the case has been made for having a new longer term prison facility constructed in NL. However, this funding is supposed to come from the federal government as it would be their responsibility. Our government is not deciding to go it alone there... at least not yet??
I think it is very easy to make the case that more money is needed in many areas which is the responsibility of the NL government. So to beg the question, if the government of NL is willing to borrow money to carry out a needed service, why isn't it one that we have responsibility for like our highways for example, our highways need a lot of repair that will not get done this year, not to mention our ferry services? Has our government now decided to help subsidize Ottawa in it's responsibilities by spending money on fishery research?
Let me pose some reasons why this money is being invested into fishery research at this time.
1. Our fishery is in serious trouble, and this research is needed.
2. While the federal government has responsibility to be good stewards of this resource and provide the needed research, it has failed in living up to its responsibility to invest the necessary resources.
3. Research information that is gathered by federal government is not/has not been readily accessible by our people and our NL government, even though we have the right to 'Access Information'. In fact, the truth be known, I suspect we have extremely limitted access to federal fisheries research data.
4. Nobody has a bigger interest in the proper management of the fishing stocks off our shores than the people of NL, therefore, our NL government is saying that they are not willing to let our federal government add further to the demise of our NL fishery.
5. The actions of the NL government say, we don't trust you, the feds, to be good stewards of our resource and therefore we have to take steps which will give our fishing stocks a fighting chance of survival.
6. The actions of our government, in gathering hard independent research data, lead me to believe that the government of NL is 'making a case' against the federal government. The NL governments agenda may be to force the feds into doing what is right to manage this resource or it may be to take the management of this resource from the federal government altogether.
Our NL government has learned from recent scraps with the federal government that it is not wise to come out and verbally show the feds up as liars and decievers and not giving a damn about Atlantic Canada, especially NL. While those words may be very true, they then cause the feds to punish you for taking such a public position. I think it is safe to say that has happened, BUT... the feds would never say that they are putting the screws to you because you have been openly defiant and slammed them verbally at every chance. No, the feds put the screws to you and then come up with another rationale for why they are doing it.
Well, finally, our NL straight-shooter, Danny, is taking a page out of the federal play book. He is not saying with 'words' that Ottawa is incompetent, or uncaring but he is certainly saying it with his 'actions', especially as it pertains to the fishery research investment. Danny was once criticed/praised, I am not sure which, for not being a politician. Well, I don't think we can say that now. A previous blog on this site talked about how Danny gave a speech in Ottawa referring to PQ as being unfair and self-centered etc., without directly naming Ottawa... but we all know it is Ottawa who is supposed to be the over-seer and creator of fairness for all the provinces and ultimately is responsible for what PQ is allowed to perpetrate against NL.
Ottawa is not publically saying much, if anything, regarding the premier's slamming comments about PQ. Maybe they are OK as long as they aren't named directly? As for the fishery research to be done by NL, Harper's (bought and paid for) mouth-piece, Fabian Manning has voiced some approval for this move by NL, while other known Harper puppies, who ran, unsuccessfully as Conservatives last election, seem to operating from Harperish talking points which is trying to scold NL research as 'over-stepping' its legal rights into federal jurisdictions.
The bottom line... the badly needed, real and open fishery research, is about to be conducted. It does reflect badly on the feds that NL would have to do this. But Danny ain't sayin' a word!
Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks. Maybe it is for the bloggers, like it appears I am becoming, to pick the kernals of truth and logic out of it. Afterall, politics is not about truth... it is about taking actions and creating spin on the truth for taking that action afterwards.
It just occurred to me... I think that there is a possibility that if someone stays inside the inner circles of politics for long enough that they start to actually believe their own spin, and forever lose their capability for truly independent and honest judgement. O My!
But... isn't that someone else's job, namely the federal government's responsibility? Didn't we forego the right to manage our fishery resource when we entered confederation?
I am far from being an expert on the fishery, or even the dictates of our entering confederation. As a matter of fact, I would say that for the most part I am very ignorant of the fishery, and why it has been, and is in so much trouble. However, I do consider myself to be a keen observer of human nature, and a thinker, with some ability to troubleshoot situations and get to the nub of what is going on.
So, our government is doing something good for the fishery and injecting a very large sum of money into research. Nothing but good can come from knowing the truth about our fishing stocks.
While this is important work it is not our responsibility to carry it out; it is the responsibility of the federal government. The money being used for this is not excess money as our NL government's budget shows we are running a deficit this year despite our oil revenues. This is, therefore, not 'found money' because of having a balanced budget, it is borrowed money, because it was not accounted for in any budget disclosure that I read.
I believe the case has been made for having a new longer term prison facility constructed in NL. However, this funding is supposed to come from the federal government as it would be their responsibility. Our government is not deciding to go it alone there... at least not yet??
I think it is very easy to make the case that more money is needed in many areas which is the responsibility of the NL government. So to beg the question, if the government of NL is willing to borrow money to carry out a needed service, why isn't it one that we have responsibility for like our highways for example, our highways need a lot of repair that will not get done this year, not to mention our ferry services? Has our government now decided to help subsidize Ottawa in it's responsibilities by spending money on fishery research?
Let me pose some reasons why this money is being invested into fishery research at this time.
1. Our fishery is in serious trouble, and this research is needed.
2. While the federal government has responsibility to be good stewards of this resource and provide the needed research, it has failed in living up to its responsibility to invest the necessary resources.
3. Research information that is gathered by federal government is not/has not been readily accessible by our people and our NL government, even though we have the right to 'Access Information'. In fact, the truth be known, I suspect we have extremely limitted access to federal fisheries research data.
4. Nobody has a bigger interest in the proper management of the fishing stocks off our shores than the people of NL, therefore, our NL government is saying that they are not willing to let our federal government add further to the demise of our NL fishery.
5. The actions of the NL government say, we don't trust you, the feds, to be good stewards of our resource and therefore we have to take steps which will give our fishing stocks a fighting chance of survival.
6. The actions of our government, in gathering hard independent research data, lead me to believe that the government of NL is 'making a case' against the federal government. The NL governments agenda may be to force the feds into doing what is right to manage this resource or it may be to take the management of this resource from the federal government altogether.
Our NL government has learned from recent scraps with the federal government that it is not wise to come out and verbally show the feds up as liars and decievers and not giving a damn about Atlantic Canada, especially NL. While those words may be very true, they then cause the feds to punish you for taking such a public position. I think it is safe to say that has happened, BUT... the feds would never say that they are putting the screws to you because you have been openly defiant and slammed them verbally at every chance. No, the feds put the screws to you and then come up with another rationale for why they are doing it.
Well, finally, our NL straight-shooter, Danny, is taking a page out of the federal play book. He is not saying with 'words' that Ottawa is incompetent, or uncaring but he is certainly saying it with his 'actions', especially as it pertains to the fishery research investment. Danny was once criticed/praised, I am not sure which, for not being a politician. Well, I don't think we can say that now. A previous blog on this site talked about how Danny gave a speech in Ottawa referring to PQ as being unfair and self-centered etc., without directly naming Ottawa... but we all know it is Ottawa who is supposed to be the over-seer and creator of fairness for all the provinces and ultimately is responsible for what PQ is allowed to perpetrate against NL.
Ottawa is not publically saying much, if anything, regarding the premier's slamming comments about PQ. Maybe they are OK as long as they aren't named directly? As for the fishery research to be done by NL, Harper's (bought and paid for) mouth-piece, Fabian Manning has voiced some approval for this move by NL, while other known Harper puppies, who ran, unsuccessfully as Conservatives last election, seem to operating from Harperish talking points which is trying to scold NL research as 'over-stepping' its legal rights into federal jurisdictions.
The bottom line... the badly needed, real and open fishery research, is about to be conducted. It does reflect badly on the feds that NL would have to do this. But Danny ain't sayin' a word!
Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks. Maybe it is for the bloggers, like it appears I am becoming, to pick the kernals of truth and logic out of it. Afterall, politics is not about truth... it is about taking actions and creating spin on the truth for taking that action afterwards.
It just occurred to me... I think that there is a possibility that if someone stays inside the inner circles of politics for long enough that they start to actually believe their own spin, and forever lose their capability for truly independent and honest judgement. O My!
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