East Coast News

Newfoundland and Labrador's Jobless Rate
By Myles Higgins
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Every time a new development comes on stream in this province jobs are created. People are put to work, but more often than not those people come from Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta or even Iceland. Why is that?

Harper Supports Farmers but Forgets Fishers
By Myles Higgins
Monday, April 10, 2006

During the recent throne speech Stephen Harper’s government outlined their top priorities for the upcoming session including recognizing the value of those who work "On the land and on the sea". Wonderful words to hear, but unfortunately in the text following that statement the poor folks who work "on the sea" were completely omitted.

After decades of suffering the misguided and sometimes corrupt anti-sealing protests that reach Atlantic Canada every March and April, it finally looks like progress is being made in getting the truth out there. Looking back on the 2006 harvest some might even say that this season (which is only about half over) has been a turning point in that effort.

Oil Companies and Williams Get Tough on Hebron Development
By Myles Higgins
Tuesday, April 4, 2006

Monday, Chevron Canada, on behalf of itself and its project partners, announced that talks had broken off with the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador regarding development of the Hebron Ben-Nevis oil field off the provinces coast.

As has been speculated for weeks, Costco has decided to pull seal oil capsules from its shelves across Canada. When approached for comment by media outlets yesterday and today Costco officials refused to comment, however the Barry Group of Companies, a producer of the product, has confirmed the retailers move.

It may be a long way from the icy shores of Newfoundland to the sunny shores of Southern California but that hasnt stopped 67 year old Sonny Trawl, a local fisherman, from taking tinsel town by storm.

The end of March will soon be upon us. It's a time of year that means different things to different people. For some folks, primarily sealers and animal rights activists, March brings with it an annual opportunity to reap some sorely needed dollars, no matter which side of the debate you may be on. For others March marks the end of a long cold winter and the beginning of spring rebirth. For many people in Newfoundland and Labrador March 31 also marks the end of a cold, dreary period that was replaced 57 years ago by an even colder shoulder and a poor cousins welcome.

When will Ottawa finally stand up for Atlantic Canada and simply stop allowing activist groups to use the seal hunt as their annual fund raiser?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has publicly responded to what some are saying is an attempt to gag government members and limit what the public gets to hear. Harper was quoted as saying that his desire to have all public comments (speeches, public addresses, press releases etc.), cleared by his office is nothing unusual and is aimed at ensuring that his ministers don't contradict each other.

When it comes to the Atlantic Seal hunt, I have to wonder when enough is enough, as far as public opinion polls go. In the battle between the anti and pro hunt sides, opinion polls are used like an AK47 is to spray the general public, in the hope that some of the bullets will find a vulnerable target.

As a proud Newfoundlander it makes my skin to crawl and my blood pressure spike whenever I hear people use the word "Newfie" in a derogatory way. Ive come to see this word in the same way I see words like "Nigger", "Kyke" or "Polack". Each of those words are extremely disturbing to hear, just as disturbing to commit to paper and I hope even more disturbing for you to read.

What is it about the new Conservative government that makes it so dysfunctional? We all know the previous Liberal government was little more than a corrupt old boy network but at least they had the excuse of too many years in office and the resulting attitude of entitlement. What excuse can the Conservative government possibly have, after only two months in office, for displaying the combined mental capacity and communication skills of a bunch of dyslexic chimpanzees?

We all know an ant can't move a rubber tree plant, but can a Beatle save the seals?

The answer is probably not.

Late last week ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and his wife Heather visited the gulf region near PEI (although they thought they were in Newfoundland and Labrador). The photo op played itself out as those things usually do with doe eyed baby seals in the foreground being fawned over by even more doe eyed celebrities in the background.

On Friday February 24^th, history was made when the Newfoundland and Labrador mens rink captured curling gold for Canada. Many in the province and throughout the country watched with pride as Brad Gushue and the team from the St. Johns curling club captured Canadas first-ever gold medal in curling and the first gold medal of any kind for Canadas newest province.

With the new Conservative government having been in power for a few weeks already, I thought we should take a quick look back at some of their election promises to Atlantic Canada in general and Newfoundland and Labrador in particular. During any election campaign I take all promises offered by those seeking gainful employment with the same skepticism as I do the resume padding of a university graduate pounding the pavement. Having said that, it doesn’t mean I’m willing to forget what was promised and simply move on.

Ever since Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams won a 2 billion dollar test of wills with former Prime Minister Paul Martin over offshore oil revenues last year, many in the province and in the halls of Parliament Hill have been wondering exactly how the province would use those revenues. Would the province, as the Premier initially said, be used to pay down debt and balance the provincial budget or would the province squander the proceeds as governments the world over have done in the past when faced with a large influx of cash?

Below is a snippet from the Government of Ontarios Energy Plan released about a month ago. To most people in Ontario the following may look like a fairly mundane set of announcements and numbers but they arent. In fact, one statement in the plan is an out and out lie and an obvious one to the people of Newfoundlander and Labrador.

Newly minted Fisheries Minister Lloyola Hearn is in Newfoundland this week for meetings with DFO staffers and Provincial Fisheries Minister Tom Rideout, among others. Of course these meetings are largely intended to give the new minister the lay of the land and provide an opportunity for him to meet the players. That reality hasnt stopped local interests from already trying to promote change in several areas of fisheries, nor should it.

It's long been said by people in Newfoundland and Labrador that, "everyone else thinks they know better than we how things should be done." "Outsiders" have given us reams and reams of unsolicited advice for decades, since long before joining Confederation in fact.

For many of those who contribute to the Sea Shepherd Society, Paul Watson is recognized as a man who cares about nature and has dedicated his life to protecting it. I dont doubt that there is some truth to that perception, but many others outside his sphere of influence also recognize him as nothing more than a home grown terrorist.

On Monday newly elected Prime Minister Stephen Harper unveiled his choices for cabinet. During the day there were more than a few surprises including the defection of a high profile Liberal member who will now sit in the Conservative cabinet and slightly improve the governments hold on power in the House.

As a precursor to the development of a Provincial Energy Plan the government is currently involved in province wide public consultations. I was fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to attend the third of these sessions last night at the Holiday Inn in St. Johns, the first two took place in Labrador, and I have to admit the well attended session was very enlightening.

Should Canadas youngest province help the Country take its first baby steps into the world of Senate reform?

The ballots have been counted, the campaign signs are being stowed away and many Liberal candidates are either settling down with their plump pension checks or looking for new employment elsewhere.  The results are in and although yesterdays election couldnt exactly be termed a blue wave, more of a ripple really, it never the less sent a clear message to Ottawa that Canada is ready for a change. 

Just prior to the Federal election campaign, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams sent a letter to the leaders of the Liberal, Conservative and NDP parties outlining 17 key priorities for the province and requesting each leader to identify their level of support for each.

With under one week left until we head to the polls it might be a good time to review the current status of the parties, to take a look at some key promises theyve made and review their stance on Atlantic Canadian issues.

This article was researched and suggested to me by one of our readers, Cyril Miller from Newfoundland, who has expended a great deal of time and effort studying Canadas Constitution and the lack of provincial control that has been exhibited in managing our taxation processes. I would like to thank him very much for his efforts and for bringing a very serious issue to the forefront of our collective consiousness.

Paul Martin and the Liberal Party of Canada have pulled a lot of fast ones over the past decade or two. Theyve quietly made back room deals equivalent to selling your own mother. Theyve employed kick back schemes, exhibited cronyism like it was an art form and openly lied to the people of this country time and time again. For all of this and more, they have gone unpunished by the voters in election after election. In fact we as a nation have practically rewarded them for their efforts. Now, in the middle of a closely contested election campaign where the central issue is the very integrity of their party, they have reached a new high in lows by all but spitting in the faces of every military man and woman in this Country.

On Friday of last week, federal Conservative leader Stephen Harper was first off the mark to respond to a letter sent by Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams just prior to the start of the election campaign. In the letter, sent to the leaders of all three major federal parties, Williams outlined multiple issues that he considers of major importance to the province. He also requested that each leader send him a response (in writing) to let the province know how or if they would address each of those issues.

Happy New Year everyone, I trust youve enjoyed a happy and fun filled Christmas season with your family and friends. With a new year upon us I thought this might be a good time look back over the previous year, before we hurl ourselves too far into the new one.

As if it werent bad enough that many Canadians receive their news and political insight through the CBC, a crown corporation beholden to the government for the bread on its table, now were beginning to see ever more blatant manipulation of supposedly independent news agencies by the federal Liberal government.

I recently wrote a commentary in which I speculated on whether Ottawa viewed Newfoundland and Labrador as an occupied colony rather than as a true province. The idea was mentioned in reference to the fact that the federal presence in the province has dropped by around 30% in the past couple of decades, resulting in very few federal employees or services existing here. The comments were also spurred on by the fact that even though nearly all of Canada's eastern coastline, 17,500 kms of it anyway, is contained in the province yet there is no military presence to speak of.

Bob "Welcome back to election fans across the Country. Well its been an odd game to this point. The Liberals are leading but theyre looking a little tired out there and I have to say theyre definately being a out skated so far in the contest. Weve got a stoppage underway at the moment as the officials have gone upstairs for a ruling on the last play. Its difficult to tell from this angle if the last shot made it through so this might take a while."

For those of you who may not be aware of the situation currently playing itself out in Newfoundland and Labrador and similar ones across this country, let me fill you in. There are, as I write this, any number of families and individuals who are heading into the Christmas season under the specter of a deportation order from Canadian Border Services. Deportation orders that were issued by a single bureaucrat who is part of a system that has no appeal process for those who are affected by the decision.

Paul Martin was on the campaign trail in Newfoundland and Labrador this week and took some time to speak with Randy Simms on the VOCM radio open line program. Anyone who may have heard his comments and responses to the hosts questions were witness to political side stepping and spin at its best.

The talk on the streets leading up to the latest federal election circus seems to be more about who people dont want to vote for rather than who they like. Not surprising after 17 months of exposure to political corruption, wife swapping (read Belinda Stronach), broken promises, smear campaigns, inaction and infighting.

A study conducted by Memorial University, which was released this week identifies the fact that the government of Canada has reduced its presence in Newfoundland and Labrador significantly since the early 1990s. In fact, the study shows that while federal activity in other provinces is currently on the rise, in Newfoundland and Labrador it has been all but eroded.

Well folks the buzz these days seems to all be about the pending non-confidence vote in the House of Commons on November 28 and by extension the general election to follow early in the New Year. The big question is what will the political landscape look like after the polls close?

With open discussion just beginning across Newfoundland and Labrador on the potential development of the Lower Churchill river in Labrador, now seems to be as good a time as any to re-open the debate on the status of the Upper Churchill generating plant.

I dont believe Im telling anyone something they dont already know when I say that there has been nothing but problems with the fishing industry in Newfoundland and Labrador since the province joined confederation.

Last week, Newfoundland and Labrador Natural Resources Minister Ed Byrne and Premier Danny Williams presented a discussion paper and announced that the process of public consultation was beginning on the developing of a comprehensive energy plan for the Province.

Well now Ive heard it all. Pseudo-Natural Resources Minister John Efford is ticked at the media over comments related to his absence from cabinet due to his illness. Give me a break.

Well folks, it looks like the secret is out. At the second annual Premiers dinner in St. Johns this week Danny Williams finally unveiled the master plan of the Nation of Newfoundland and Labrador. After 60 years of planning and decades of untold sacrifice by thousands of our people, the time is finally at hand.

With Remembrance Day once again upon us, it seems appropriate today to reflect on the exploits of the so called "Fighting Newfoundlander" and remember those from the Province who fought or died in conflicts half way around the world.

Well folks, this should be an interesting week in the city of St. Johns. Canadas easternmost city will be playing host this week to a conference on the future of the Atlantic seal hunt. Meetings are scheduled to take place between members of the federal government, harvesters, fisheries union representatives and conservation groups. Oddly enough, one of the most obviously absent groups is the Anti-Sealing / Animal Rights activists who make so much money from the hunt year after year and who continue to plague sealers on the ice during their fund raising drives each March.

On November 7, 2005, is the day the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial government kicks off its pre-budget consultations with a meeting in Labrador City. Between now and the end of the year, Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan intends to hold hearings in 10 communities across the Province in an effort to gather suggestions from the public for the 2006 provincial budget.

Recently Newfoundland and Labrador Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan made a statement to the effect that the province should be treated more like a territory in respect to federal transfer payments from Ottawa. This comment apparently landed him in a little hot water with Newfoundland and Labradors only federal cabinet minister, Mr. John No-Effort, who immediately scoffed at the idea and all but laughed at the comment rather than listening and perhaps taking some time to understand it.

Recently there have been those who have called me a separatist an agitator and even a barbarian. Some say my Conservative colors reveal themselves all too often and still others make me out to be a closet NDPer. Who knows, tomorrow I may be a big "L" Liberal in someone's eyes, though I doubt that very much.

Tendrils of bone chilling fog creep through the streets in the City of Legends. The grey menace quietly tightens its vice like grip among the shadows and gingerly explores the doorways of one and all.

Recently I heard of a situation where some parents in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador were upset that a group of Gideons had visited schools and handed out copies of the New Testament to the children there.

I recently heard a local talk show host use the term "last refuge of a scoundrel" and it got me to thinking. What exactly is the last refuge of a scoundrel? Where do they turn when facts elude them and the truth they don't want to hear is closing in from all sides?

How can we all tell a federal election is in the offing?

Some might say its because there are a couple of non-confidence votes coming up in the house next month.

Just over one month ago, on September 12 to be exact, the fishing vessel Melina and Keith II capsized off the coast of Newfoundland. The eight crew members were tossed into the unforgiving Atlantic Ocean. After hours in the water, four of those poor men succumbed to the cold waters and perished.

In an interview with Montreal's La Presse, Prime Minister Paul Martin says he is exasperated at the increasingly acrimonious relationship between the federal government and the provinces.

What is the primary function of the federal government?

Simply put, the job of government is to manage the day to day operations of the Country and resolve any national problems that might arise.

As you calmly drive your daily commute from work to home you notice a police checkpoint in the distance and begin to slow. Rolling to a stop you lower the driver’s window, nod to the officer approaching your vehicle, and reach for your license. Nothing to worry about, after all it's just a routine stop and these are the good guys right?

For years the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, through provincial leaders of every political stripe, have lobbied Ottawa to enact custodial management of ground fish stocks. Doing so would enable Canada to deny foreign fishing fleets access to stocks on the nose and tail of the Grand Banks and on the Flemish Cap off the coast of the province.

Nobody listened.

Recently a grassroots movement has been underway in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to replace the existing provincial flag, adopted in 1980, with one that has been unofficially flown in the province since the 1800s.

In an effort to stop Atlantic Canada's annual seal hunt, sealing protest groups are using the tactic of pressuring restaraunts in the U.S. into boycotting Canadian seafood products. We all hear sporadic news reports on the efforts of seal protests but how much do we really understand about what these groups doing, and what is the truth behind the hunt itself?

Manipulation of the public, rather than running the nation, has been the main job of politicians in Canada throughout history. Canada's Richest Poor Province
By Myles Higgins
Saturday, September 17, 2005

While Newfoundland and Labrador is often thought of by the rest of Canada as the Country’s newest and poorest province, it is also the oldest settlement in Canada and may just be its richest.

You know, it’s funny sometimes how you can be heading in one direction and suddenly you end up going somewhere altogether different. Such is the case today.

A public gathering of citizens who are concerned with Newfoundland and Labrador’s status in Confederation was held at the Capital Hotel in St. John’s last evening.

A poll conducted in 2004 shows that the public’s trust in the federal government to do a good job has declined sharply in the past two years. This is true for most of the Country, however the most dramatic case is in Atlantic Canada where this trust has slipped from 66% in 2002 to 34% in 2004 – a decrease of 32 points in 2 years.

Boy, its a great judicial system we have in this country. Even though the current bench doesnt reflect the diversity of Canada, it does reflect the Federal Governments narrow view of what Canada really is, Ontario, Quebec and the other guys.

Lately its been all over the television news broadcasts, papers are screaming it in banner headlines and pundits are discussing the implications ad-nauseum. The world is ending,

Recently Newfoundland and Labrador Premier, Danny Williams, announced plans to encourage economic and business growth in the province through reduction of government red tape by 25% in the next 3 years.

Two Canadian navel vessels, the HMCS Shawinigan and Glace Bay are currently heading into Eastern Arctic waters and will be joined shortly by a third vessel, the frigate HMCS Fredericton in what can only be described as an attempt by the Canadian government to ward off perceived threats to its sovereignty in the North.

The Combined Councils of Labrador are appalled by the recent decision made by Voisey Bay Nickel Company to pay for 80% of travel costs for workers living outside of Labrador to the Voiseys Bay Mine Site.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the current popularity of Premier Danny Williams is staggering. During the time he has been in office Mr. Williams has actually managed to increase his popularity from where it was during his "honeymoon" period, just after election. Obviously there are those who have not been happy with some of his decisions, but just as obviously there are many more who like his brand of leadership.

How often do any of us take the time to sit down and really think about how we plan to vote in a public election? How many of us actually weigh the pros and cons of our choices, look at the broad view rather than the immediate impact and actually make an informed decision? My opinion is purely antidotal, but I bet very few, if any of us, really do.

It seems that lately everyone in Newfoundland and Labrador has an axe to grind and all sorts of valid causes to take on. Every day we hear more and more about incidences of civil disobedience, organized protests, letter writing campaigns and online (or paper) petitions circulating in the province.

Over the past couple of days I've had an opportunity to reflect on the issue of who should develop the Lower Churchill hydro project in Labrador. I've listened to the open line programs, chatted with friends and aquaintences and tossed the idea around the old noggin for a while. After all of this, I have come to one and only one conclusion.

Integration is one word for it. Other words include naturalization, incorporation and assimilation. Whatever the choice of word, the concept is the same. Its all about fitting into a new environment.

There are times in the life cycle of any civilization when a major shift takes place, a fork in the road that moves everything in a different direction. These are recognizable in history by certain sign posts along the way. Markers of a clear transition from one way of life to another.

Since the Lower Churchill development short list was announced by Premier Danny Williams yesterday, the topic of who should actually develop the mega hydro project has moved front and center in the minds of many Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans.

On Wednesday, August 3rd the 187th officially recognized running of the Royal St. Johns Regatta took place. Not that anyone would know it. If you were not in Newfoundland at the time you probably missed it. If you are not from Newfoundland and Labrador, you probably never even heard of it. So let me fill you in.

Danny Williams, the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, announced today that a short list of four development options for the Lower Churchill River hydro-electric mega project has been determined. 

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