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Newfoundland and Labrador premier Danny Williams- a Progressive Conservative- is at it again.
Danny's not about pulling the Maple Leaf down from provincial government buildings this time. Yet.
Instead, he's going after Harper in the press, and not just back home in Newfoundland, engaging in a $250,000 advertising blitz across thecountry.
It's not just The Globe and Mail.
Never one short on words, Danny's unleashing a torrent of them. Like this gem: "The quicker this government could be out of office would make me very happy, so if that's the case, this afternoon. I don't like what Mr. Harper represents, I don't like what Conservatives are representing right now in this country."
It all boils down to what Canada's New Government promised in order toget elected- in this case, a promise to the voters of Newfoundland and Labrador not to include non-renewable resources in the equalization equations.
Where it stands to get tricksy are after the terms of the 2005 Atlantic Accords expire, where the province stands to lose half of the amount covered under the current equalization algorithm, and where unemployment rates are still nearly triple the national average.
Going farther still, Premier Williams is also exhorting the province's voters not to support Conservative candidates- currently three of Newfoundland and Labrador's seven MPs wear Conservative blue- Fabian Manning in the Avalon riding, Norman Doyle in St. John's East (who has announced he's not running for re-election) and Loyola Hearn in St. John's South-Mount Pearl.
The St. John's Telegram is getting into the act on its own as well. From the 'Cheers and Jeers' column on its editorial page, we have this nugget of satire:
Cheers: to promises. Thanks to the New Government(TM) New Promises Program, we promise to take you to a party (after the election, we'll keep our promise by not punching you in the face). We promise not to tax income trusts (after the election, we'll clarify that by explaining we meant we won't tax income trusts yet). We promise to support education (after the election, that means we'll carry our kids' books to school). And we promise to shorten hospital wait times (once again,after the election, we mean that we'll make everyone standing in hospital lines stand closer together). Canada's New Government(TM).Canada's New Promises. Canada's New Weasel-Words.
If the signs do point to a summer or autumn campaign, the Tories may find it hard going with trends across the nation breaking against them, and should the popular Williams successfully convince Newfoundlanders to break from the Tory ranks, it is not out of the question for all three of those seats to change hands, since of the three, only Manning won a majority in the last election.
Factor in the possibility of similar treatment in Nova Scotia (three Tories among 11 seats) and Sasketchewan (12 of 14, in a traditionally left-leaning province), which are similarly betrayed by the present government's new budget, recently tabled by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty- which, in essence, says with regard to the non-renewable resources capital, "What's yours is [half] ours, and what's ours [Alberta's] is still ours" and it gets hard to see even another Conservative minority government, much less a majority. Add in the Tories needing to defend six of the seven most closely contested ridings from the last election, and that Vancouver-Kingsway MP David Emerson, elected as a Liberal, but currently sitting as a Conservative will likely see a challenge from his left backed by constituents who feel betrayed
And while you're at it, just think of what would happen if you were to mix Danny Williams' temperament with Rick Hillier's army!
Danny's not about pulling the Maple Leaf down from provincial government buildings this time. Yet.
Instead, he's going after Harper in the press, and not just back home in Newfoundland, engaging in a $250,000 advertising blitz across thecountry.
It's not just The Globe and Mail.
Never one short on words, Danny's unleashing a torrent of them. Like this gem: "The quicker this government could be out of office would make me very happy, so if that's the case, this afternoon. I don't like what Mr. Harper represents, I don't like what Conservatives are representing right now in this country."
It all boils down to what Canada's New Government promised in order toget elected- in this case, a promise to the voters of Newfoundland and Labrador not to include non-renewable resources in the equalization equations.
Where it stands to get tricksy are after the terms of the 2005 Atlantic Accords expire, where the province stands to lose half of the amount covered under the current equalization algorithm, and where unemployment rates are still nearly triple the national average.
Going farther still, Premier Williams is also exhorting the province's voters not to support Conservative candidates- currently three of Newfoundland and Labrador's seven MPs wear Conservative blue- Fabian Manning in the Avalon riding, Norman Doyle in St. John's East (who has announced he's not running for re-election) and Loyola Hearn in St. John's South-Mount Pearl.
The St. John's Telegram is getting into the act on its own as well. From the 'Cheers and Jeers' column on its editorial page, we have this nugget of satire:
Cheers: to promises. Thanks to the New Government(TM) New Promises Program, we promise to take you to a party (after the election, we'll keep our promise by not punching you in the face). We promise not to tax income trusts (after the election, we'll clarify that by explaining we meant we won't tax income trusts yet). We promise to support education (after the election, that means we'll carry our kids' books to school). And we promise to shorten hospital wait times (once again,after the election, we mean that we'll make everyone standing in hospital lines stand closer together). Canada's New Government(TM).Canada's New Promises. Canada's New Weasel-Words.
If the signs do point to a summer or autumn campaign, the Tories may find it hard going with trends across the nation breaking against them, and should the popular Williams successfully convince Newfoundlanders to break from the Tory ranks, it is not out of the question for all three of those seats to change hands, since of the three, only Manning won a majority in the last election.
Factor in the possibility of similar treatment in Nova Scotia (three Tories among 11 seats) and Sasketchewan (12 of 14, in a traditionally left-leaning province), which are similarly betrayed by the present government's new budget, recently tabled by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty- which, in essence, says with regard to the non-renewable resources capital, "What's yours is [half] ours, and what's ours [Alberta's] is still ours" and it gets hard to see even another Conservative minority government, much less a majority. Add in the Tories needing to defend six of the seven most closely contested ridings from the last election, and that Vancouver-Kingsway MP David Emerson, elected as a Liberal, but currently sitting as a Conservative will likely see a challenge from his left backed by constituents who feel betrayed
And while you're at it, just think of what would happen if you were to mix Danny Williams' temperament with Rick Hillier's army!
