Success Stories

Last week the Community Linkages Concept Committee (CLCC) asked "What is the plan for rural Newfoundland and Labrador?" The CLCC is interested in the stories from across the province. What is happening that is good? What needs to be done further? What does government need to do? What do we as the people of Newfoundland and Labrador need to do?

The rarely heard part of the story is the "good news" piece of the puzzle. Part of the answer was sent to me by NL Regional Economic Development Association member in Exploits Rod French: "100 Success Stories" from across the province.

As a member of the NLDL and secretary of the CLCC I live for the success stories in this province. I think it is a valuable read - what's happening in your part of the province?

Remember Rural Newfoundland and Labrador?

The Community Linkages Concept Committee (CLCC) chaired by Ray Johnson of Buddy Wasisname today issued a statement asking the leaders to state their plan for rural Newfoundland and Labrador...

(read the press release and backgrounder)

Revisiting “The Republic”: Snuffy’s Gold

(A little break from all the talk about oil from newfoundland-labrador.net)

The mark of a great marketing campaign is one that so entrenches itself into our society that we assume it into the local vernacular. Such is the case with our colloquial use of the term Ski-Doo to mean anything that rides across the snow, or a Coke is anything that is carbonated. And such is true for the concept of the Republic of Newfoundland; was there ever a time that we did not refer to the republic? As a matter of fact there was…

In 1980 a Texan had made St. John’s his home. Pursuing the love of a local girl he very quickly found his place in Newfoundland and Labrador. The gentleman’s name is David Jackson, but he is known widely as “Snuffy”. Some may remember a man with a Texas accent and cowboy hat who worked at CKIX-FM (KIXX) Country, who hung out and played with local bands like “The Living Room Band” in the downtown pubs. Mr. Jackson describes a fond memory of descending the narrow stairs leading between Duckworth and Water near the Courthouse to find the reclusive little spot for his gig. It was among these narrow side streets in downtown St. John’s that Mr. Jackson opened a small apparel shop to showcase his particular brand of graphics arts style.

From Kerrville, Texas just outside San Antonio he says his connection to Newfoundland and Labrador is very strong. From the time he first landed at the St. John’s airport and was greeted with a sign reading “It’s about time you got your TexAss up here” and was presented with a promised bottle of “Tucker’s Gold Cap” homebrew, presented to him by Wayne Tucker and the boys, he had an instant connection to the people.

The Harbour City General Store was a showcase of love for his adopted home, and it was here the first “Republic of Newfoundland” concept was born. Printed on shirts and caps it quietly became a staple of the youth and artsy set and may have inadvertently spawned a renewed sense of pride of place on this peninsula that reaches for Europe while maintaining the Canadian name. The “Republic of Newfoundland” would bring him both fame and controversy.

The inspiration for his creation came from the stories that sparked his interest as a youth. He became a great student of Texas history…with stories of Davy Crocket and the Alamo. The fact that Texas was for a short time a country – a republic – and was for the years between 1836- 1845. In fact he says Texas was the only country to ever join the United States, "Isn't it ironic that Newfoundland and Labrador almost was to?" When Newfoundland and Labrador became his new home he saw so many comparisons with the province and the history of his home state. With great modesty he says “I’m not a brilliant man, the concept of the Newfoundland Republic came from this recognition of the similarities in the history of Texas with the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. Mr. Jackson says that the brief history that Texans were a Republic, that was a defining moment for Texas, and that strength and recognition of who they are was what he saw in Newfoundland and Labradorians. The Newfoundland Republic concept just seemed to make perfect sense. “It didn’t take me long to figure out that Newfoundland has always been its own place.” He emphasizes “its own place” with a quiver of pride in his voice. He adds “No matter what’s written on a piece of paper somewhere as to its status – it doesn’t make a difference – the Newfoundland that I saw was, in and of itself, its own entity.”

When he researched the old Newfoundland Tri-Colour it seemed the perfect addition to the Republic graphic... and so the Republic of Newfoundland and accompanying Pink White and Green quietly entered the Newfoundland and Labrador psyche.

Mr. Jackson thinks that it was his unique perspective of seeing Newfoundland and Labrador with fresh eyes that inspires his Newfoundland and Labrador concept art. He also alludes to the fact that because he was American he did not carry any of the preconceived biases about Newfoundland and Labrador that a mainland Canadian might have.

He recalls the reaction to his logo first when it was introduced, “The newspaper headline read Pro-Separatist T-Shirt but they were just trying to sell papers with sensational headlines. I was celebrating basically what I was seeing which was just a wonderful independent, self-reliance that I saw in my Newfoundland and Labrador friends, not separatism.”

“The other thing they got wrong in that article was that the logo was created because of so many requests – there were never any requests – that didn’t happen. It was only after I created the T-Shirt that a certain element seemed to have embraced it and taken it into their own agenda. Whatever that agenda was, I couldn't help, but, my intension, with my heart on my sleeve, was producing a product that explained the Newfoundland spirit; a wonderfully independent spirit. The whole attitude, Newfoundlanders are wonderful, they just take absolutely take my breath away, the whole atmosphere and self-reliance.”

The Harbour City General Store exists now only in the virtual world at harbourcitygeneralstore.com where the original Republic of Newfoundland concept has been given new life. About the web store Mr. Jackson exclaims proudly that the Harbour City General Store has the “real deal” with it comes to the Republic of Newfoundland.

Mr. Jackson was quite surprised when a friend from St. John’s told him of the enormous success of the Newfoundland Republic in recent years. “They told me Snuffy by’ you really blew it – you could have been a millionaire by now!” He laughs adding that he was told “that history professors are upset because people are calling the old tri-colour the ‘Republic Flag’!”

“Newfoundland and Labrador has more on the go than even they give themselves credit for. I’m seeing a new generation, the young ones who hear the newfie jokes and they are saying – you know this is Bull Shit... I read an article online the other day which described the word Newfie as Canada’s “N” word [I recall being on the mainland and] the things they were saying there and the things I was experiencing as a non-Canadian on the rock were completely different. Newfoundland and Labrador for Canada is like a family taking in a step child in... and the worst of all is not that they regard Newfoundland and Labrador badly but that they don’t regard it at all!”

When suggested that he is a great ambassador for Newfoundland and Labrador and should be on the provincial payroll he laughs saying “I even wrote a song I call I Miss the Rock. Two of my three kids were born in St. Clares. My son James and my daughter Nichole are genuine Newfoundlanders with a Texas accent, my Newfoundtexlanders! My love affair with Newfoundland and Labrador will never die, and when I look back on it – probably one of my biggest regrets is that [I left].”

He hints that he is not finished with Newfoundland and Labrador and hopes to continue to build on the designs that have given him a place in the history of our province. Reflecting on his feelings for Newfoundland and Labrador he sighs over the phone: “Newfoundland had me from, Whadda-ya-at, b'y - from the moment I got off the airplane and drank that “Tucker’s Gold Cap” homebrew.”

Almost Canadian

...and have-not will be no more - won't that be sweet. The sad irony will be contributing to the equalization payments to the "have-not" Quebec. ...I mean as a part of the federation across the top of the table instead of underneath via Churchill Falls...

Enjoy the moment - ahhhhhh nice!

Rage Against The Machine (or Swallowing the Red Pill)

(The following is not a paid endorsement of anything - whatsoever)

Neo was offered a choice between a blue pill and a red pill. The question offered by The Matrix is essentially this: If given the choice between status quo or exploring the true reality of your environment with all of its deception revealed, what would you choose? Status quo is comfortable, reality is the food of cynics. Sometimes I sincerely regret having swallowed the red pill.

I’ve had visions of Newfoundland and Labradorians of all stripes and colours being lead to the Promised Land, the North Atlantic parts as we are packing our salt fish and toutons. The further I dive into these waters though I fully expect to one day drown. This blue funk comes from the realization of the strength and scope of the media machine. Blame it on Ryan Cleary who asked the question as to who pays who to do what? From what motive are bloggers, newspaper journalist, and open line haunters driven? When I suck in the information from these media outlets am I hearing an ad or an opinion?

nlpost.blogspot.com has provided a piece of this puzzle. It appears one brand of coercive hired hand is the Lobbyist. For this particular breed of paid "consultant" there is reasonable disclosure as the feds require that Lobbyist are registered. However - all that the lobbyist registry tells me is that there is an elite brand of political whore that is well paid indeed. The lobbyist registry is a museum of ghosts of politicians past. Those who do not yet have a senate seat, waiting in the lobby. I wonder if that is where "Lobbyist" gets its name?! Old politicians never die they just lose the use of their caucas.

Fair enough, we know who the lobbyists are. Who then are the "communications consultants" and those other breeds of opinions for hire. From what wallet are they paid and are they paid for their open line appearances, blogging, and articles in the newspapers? The piece in The Independent has persisted for weeks and calls into question the credability of the free speakers of the web.

To my knowledge only the author nlpost.blogspot.com has said she is not paid by any interests she writes about, or discusses on open line. So here is my question: When I read offalnews.blogspot.com, or bondpapers.blogspot.com and the likes that were listed in The Independent am I reading an opinion, or an advertisement. If an advertisement appearing in my news magazine resembles an article it is disclosed at the top as an "advertising supplement". When I see an infomercial on TV it is prefaced with "The following is a paid broadcast." Not so for alternative media like blogs and open line shows.

Then Ryan Cleary of the Independent himself posts a "story" for Astraeus which appears to have been little more than an ad. The great hope for Independent Journalism bought by an airline? Is there no one who is untainted by the dark spew that is the waste product of the Media Machine? Does anyone even care? What difference does it make if a person is paid for their public opinion? It matters in the same way that trans fats matter in our fried chicken; we don't want to feed ourselves processed news. It's just not healthy.

No wonder it takes so damn long for anything good to happen around here. Our communities are turned into a courthouse - week after week we deal with argument and counter-argument trying to win favour of the elusive public opinion. Most of it BS. The Media Machine produces information fast-food. The Liberals have one, the Conservatives have one, big oil has one, Hydro has one... Shouldn't we know when our information has been produced by an algorithm which determines what information it spews out and when. Shouldn't we know when the machine has chopped up the meaty facts and is feeding us the sausage? Bologna factories run by the powerful and elite.

I have wrench and I'm prepared to use it. Brace yourself for the squeal of grinding gears. I've tried like a bastard to spit that red pill out, but it’s already half digested. God help me.

--

My Disclosure:
The preceding was not a paid announcement on behalf of anyone. I have had a coffee with writers in the Independent. I have worked through a friend for Siobhan Coady's campaign run, I have sat with the NL First executive and voiced my advice and opinions to Loyola Hearn, Peter McKay, and Peg Norman and others. I am a founding member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Defense League, a multi-partisan, all inclusive group that aims to serve the people of this province including the author of offalnews.blogspot.com who has publicly criticized the NLDL - but remains a member. I am also a member of the Community Linkages Concept Committee (clccnl.ca in progress), which serves to work for a sustainable rural Newfoundland and Labrador with an emphasis on education, innovation and youth initiatives.

I did all of this without a single copper entering my pocket... and I will continue to do so. Like a damn fool.

UPDATE: Apparently the author of offalnews which was one of those noted in The Independent article has publically made a statement as to his blogging motives and the issue of having a paid opinion. I apologize for to that blogger if I was making an unfounded insinuation. I will venture to find the statement he made and clarify.

His Response is here

Cuba-Sugar (A Little Side Bar for a Monday Morning)

This story is not the usual ramblings from Our Place in Canada but it's an interesting read. This lady is 107, living in poverty in Cuba but has a fortune in Boston. Guess where she was born?

On the Rags - News in Canada

(Let me apologise for the title right off, but I'm feeling up to my nostrils in dung and the weight of the federation is an anvil on my head)

Main stream newspapers, bah! Pressed pulp collections, the poorest use for a tree. Then again with so many bloggers in the arse pocket of some lobby group or political interest who do you trust? Makes me wonder two things. First, to what extent have these political whores discredited the Blogosphere and news rags? Secondly I must be a bit of a fool for not dipping into that purse. Taking the moral high road is both lonely and poor.

Anyway here’s a bit of mainstream tripe for your feeding. The basic jest of this is, with respect to Harper’s Government, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador are hostile and irrational, Quebec wallows in petty protectionism, and Albertans are Yosemite Sam incarnate.

Only mother Ottawa is holding this country together. The ideal situation according to this editorial is disagreement and squabbling among the premiers so that we can be rescued once again by Steve and the Harpies. Not sure what sort of “equality” Steve is ready to dish out this time. Pretty much all we have left down here is a damn fine Sunday dinner. Although without the turnip that Steve took at the last go round it’s hardly a complete meal. Maybe we’ll get the turnip back when Steve has squeezed the last bit of blood from them.

---
From August 8 National Post p.18 Editorial

No fed-bashing – but no deal, either

“There will be plenty of talk about worthwhile initiatives ... and the like, but the real issues are intractable.”

Premiers gather in Moncton today for their annual meeting and they are promising, remarkably enough, not to bash Ottawa. How refreshing.

Specifically, the premiers assembling for the Council of the Federation conference are saying they will stay away from the subject of equalization payments. This is in large part because they’re hopelessly split on it. Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Saskatchewan are all still somehow bitter about the new arrangement worked out by Stephen Harper’s federal government, even though the arrangement, greased by extra federal money, has won reasonable levels of support in the other seven provinces and the territories. The two Atlantic grumblers, in particular, come off as merely truculent and unreasonable.

And out-numbered. The three malcontent governments are in three small provinces, and they’ll be unable to stop the equalization express. That’s just as well, because the new deal has lots going for it besides generosity: consistency, predictability and logic.

The fact that the premiers will focus elsewhere this week is, then, a sign of success for Harper. Even the showman Danny Williams of Newfoundland and Labrador, who has been chewing the scenery in his denunciations of Harper, has calmed down enough to say “there's a mood ... to move to a higher level and not to be seen as a group of premiers that come together to bash the federal government.”

Without Ottawa as a unanimous target, the premiers might fall to pious generalities, or to squabbling among themselves on the three subjects that dominate their agenda.

Two of the three topics, energy and climate change, are closely related. There will be plenty of talk about worthwhile initiatives about mapping energy resources and the like, but the real issues are intractable: Most provinces favour tougher measures on greenhouse-gas emissions, but Alberta adopts its gunslinger pose as soon as it hears the phrase “carbon tax” or even a reference to emissions trading. Last week, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach gave the back of his hand to a proposal, from Ontario’s Dalton McGuinty, for a national cap-and-trade emissions plan. Global climate change, Alberta seems to be saying, is not our problem.

Oh well, at least Stelmach will go along with the meeting’s cheap symbolism: The premiers will eat local food, their vehicles won’t idle and they’ll drink local water out of reusable bottles.

The third issue is interprovincial trade, and here the prototype is the Alberta British Columbia deal signed last winter, which lowers labour-market barriers and makes it easier for companies to do business across the border the two provinces share.

It’s a disgrace that other provinces – Quebec not least – still wallow so deeply in petty protectionism, imposing barriers and burdens on the growth of prosperity. But they do, and while the federal government has talked a good game on encouraging a true free market within Canada, its jawboning has accomplished little so far.

The meeting will also have its share of street theatre: Nurses from across the country will be picketing to demand more money for health care. Business groups want improved dispute-settlement mechanism under the current Agreement on Internal Trade. Saskatchewan, which grows lots of corn, will be tub-thumping for ethanol. And so on.

The meeting promises to be a treat for the country’s story starved media. We just wish we could believe it will accomplish anything.

MUN II - With a Vengence

The upper echelon of academia at Memorial University is a bastion of self-preservation.

Let me start again, give me a second to get off my high-horse that I got at MUN and rephrase that...

That University Crowd is some big-in-theirself. When the province decides that it is time for MUN to take an internal look at itself the Board of Regents dumps a brick. Why? Not because they think that improving the status of the Grenfell Campus is a bad idea - but that it comes from government and not "The Board". The Board is diametrically opposed to any outside force dropping a suggestion in the box. (The suggestion box itself is up on the top shelf with the cookies and mouse droppings.)

As a struggling student I presented a letter to a board representative so they would except a course credit towards my degree. As an extra incentive I included a letter of reference from a high-ranking government official of which I knew from my summer employment at his provincial department. When I presented the reference letter to the board of regents rep his words to me were: "this is a bad idea, I'm not going to include the reference letter with your application." Seeing the expression of naivety on my face he continued, "The Board of Regents would see a letter from a political figure as government interference and that would be a hindrance to the application." I was shocked, but I did learn a little about the university governance from that conversation.

Consider what would happen if they wanted to grow the University to be representative of this province. If they wished to seriously improve rural relations, to build a university that is responsive to Cartwright as well as St. John's, it would be done. In this era of technology it would not need to break the bank. If these great learned individuals put their heads together, MUN could be the University that this province deserves. A university that has relevance to rural Newfoundland and coastal Labrador, all regions given consideration. Distance education? From experience, teleconference, correspondence courses and the like are sub-par. Preliminary university classroom courses in other parts of the province are not up to snuff. I can also tell you that there are a great number of potential students in other parts of Newfoundland and Labrador off the Avalon who would rather attend a maritime university or go to Ontario instead of traveling to St. John's.

So why can't we speak of improving the University for rural Newfoundland and Labrador? Because it is being represented by people like John Crosbie. Sharp, articulate, head-strong, proud and entirely rooted in the rocky soils of old St. John's. That is not being critical - it is simply the reality of his perspective. He is fully entitled to it and there should never be the suggestion that he is not. But lets hear from rural Newfoundlanders and Labradorians!

60,000 MUN alumni, how many of those were not born in St. John's? That's the seldom heard perspective we should be interested in, because it is these people who graduated MUN in spite of itself. Those who made the leap to the halls of academia of the biggest little University in Canada overcoming the obstacles to a higher education in this province.

I can only tell you that the travel costs, the culture loss, rural population loss, the sub-par distance education, classrooms in condemned buildings - all of this is my own experience at MUN. And it's not good enough. I suggest the Board of Regents at MUN take its head out of its collective backside and consider "How can we make this work" instead of throwing up barriers as to why it won't. Can't-do is not an attitude that belongs in academic philosophy.

If they feel so strongly that the Grenfell Concept is wrong for the University, take the reigns. Let's see where we can take higher education in this province. Only a dictatorship is afraid of change.

The Globe and Mail - Quote of the Day August 1 2007

Finally something worth repeating from Canadian Largest waste of pulp.

From a story on page A4:

Harper Heads East to Win Back Atlantic Support

From a Senior Atlantic Canadian Conservative:

"In Nova Scotia you can try to stop the bleeding, but the leg is cut off in Newfoundland"

The story references a visit by Steve to PEI, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. I guess ol' NL is already written off.

Quick note to the Globe - Harper is not visiting Atlantic Canada - he is visiting the Maritimes. Perfectly acceptable to use this term when Newfoundland and Labrador is excluded.

... and an even quicker note to Harper. If you want more blood from Newfoundland and Labrador, start growing Turnip.

Newfoundland and Labrador BC (Before Canada)

In the twenty-four years between the birth of my father and the birth of his son, this land we call home was reborn into a new history. In the year of my birth Canada was already celebrating its centennial.

In the year of the Centennial Newfoundland in Canada, Labrador in Canada, less than two decades. My country’s last leader, my country’s first Premier was still the current Premier and would be for another five years. This allowed me the unique opportunity in the history of a province to be alive during the leadership of every Premier that has ever governed. And I am not an old man. When we sit with our grandparents and elders and discuss the old times we speak of growing up in a foreign country. We speak of arriving in – a foreign country. Such is the history of my Newfoundland and Labrador.

It is perhaps difficult for a Toronto-centric middle Canada to comprehend, let alone empathize with this perspective. When my elders speak confederation with Canada they are not recounting stories from generations ago that were passed to them through a spoken heritage, they are recounting a history that they in fact lived. Our history in Canada is but a grain in the sands of time.

What of that history ending in 1949? The lost races, Maritime Archaic, Dorset Eskimo, and Beothuck. The Inuit, Innu, Métis, and Mi’kmaq. The arrival of the Scandinavian Vikings, and later the Europeans. The first permanent settlement by Europeans in Cupids in 1610. The generations of loggers, farmers, fishermen, that struggled to survive those first winters.

So what’s the deal with Newfoundlanders? What’s the deal with Labradorians? We are grounded by our history. We are at once marred by and grounded by the lives of those before us. Our hearts are wounded by the story of the Beothuck. We carry with us the loss of those countless men and women who are lost to eternity in the icy depths of the Atlantic on the Ocean Ranger, the fishermen, the merchant marines.

Our relationship with mother Ottawa is brand new. Just fifty-eight years. A relationship that has seen Resettlement and Centralization. A relationship that has seen the collapse of our cod fishery. Fifty-eight years that has seen inequitable contracts like the Upper Churchill deal with enormously unbalanced profit division. Fifty-eight years that saw the once proud and strong people of Newfoundland and Labrador reduced to its perceived welfare state. Fifty-eight years that has seen constant debt. Unemployment unequalled in the federation. Out-migration unequalled in the federation.

And if Newfoundland dears to question the Terms of Union it is seen as treason, conspiracy to separation. If Labrador looks for equity it is dismissed as a sparse population of complainers.

The history of Newfoundland and Labrador since 1949 has seen an unparalleled evolution of character in Canada. It has turned Newfoundland and Labradorians into Canadians. Through the looking glass of Central Canadian imperialism the Newfoundlander and the Labradorian wears rags like Dickens’ lost boys, with their hand-out for another cup of gruel. It has seen the emergence of a new class in Canadian society – the Newfie, Canada’s Jigger Nigger. Although in this province we are intensely aware of the rock and salt water that has brought us into being there are far more looking through that looking glass than those of us standing behind it.

The message to the mainland media rags and political spin doctors. Write whatever you wish, we are not defined by your words. We know who we are.

Blame Canada (at least Harper's version of it)

Equality is a funny animal isn’t it? It’s truly a noble concept of democratic society, but it’s such an elusive beast. Look at Canada’s Equalization Formula. Has this fundamental Canadian policy leveled the playing field across the federation? Is the health and education of Nain equal to that of Toronto? Could it ever be? Should it ever be? Can we expect resource rich Alberta to prop the rest of the country? Should we expect population rich Ontario to pander to the whims of Rural Newfoundland and Labrador?

It’s a double-edged sword this whole equalization thing. On the one hand you have the argument that says “why should Newfoundland and Labrador be allowed to achieve "have" status while still receiving funds from equalization? (I hate that term "have" because it necessitates the term "have-not" which is horse shit, anyway...) It’s a hard nut to crack and a difficult one for us to ask for. The fact remains though that two of the more recent Prime Ministers of this country agreed to it. Why?

Therein is the other edge of the equalization sword. Given that a region with significant resource potential can be allowed to grow, be invested in, with a minimal investment it can become a strong and contributing member of the federation. On equal terms with its sister provinces. Equal – there’s that elusive concept again.

Where inequality exists we go back to the principals of the great philosophers who have argued these points hundreds of years before we were ever conceived of being conceived. Kantian ethics tells us to be charitable, that the more well to do among us should contribute to the less fortunate. It is this type manner of thinking which separates the third-world dictatorships from a modern country such as Canada. Much of the third-world is stained with the inequality that sees people living in tent cities across the water from mansions and towers. The true test of a great society is how its less fortunate citizens live.

The unfortunate thing about Newfoundland and Labrador is that we have always been perceived as the tent city to the North and East. At this point in our history and so many times in the past opportunity has come in the form of a handout. At least that is the perception in the land of the Towers on the coast of the Great Lakes. Money for a Rolling Stones concert in Toronto is a boost to a city that had taken a slap to its tourism from SARS. Money for Bombardier or Quebec Ad agencies is an investment in the country's future, in Newfoundland and Labrador it’s a hand-out – C’est la vie.

When our sister province of Alberta is cited as an example the Ottawa-Communications Machine (OCM) is quick to tell you that Alberta was not build on hand-outs from Ottawa. It’s a mute point. The fact is this province was allowed to grow into its present state as a financial powerhouse of Canada through people who believed in it’s potential. The fact in Newfoundland and Labrador is that we are historically similar to the pre-oil days of Alberta. This goes to the heart of why “Equalization” is such a big deal to us in this province. The fact is that the promise made by Harper, and Martin before him would have allowed Newfoundland and Labrador to realize some of its enormous potential. To push it up to the ranks of our older sisters Ontario and Alberta and at long last given us a seat at the table of the big guys.

And that was within our sights... it was promised to us... we banked on it!

But this is a country of equality after all. We can’t allow that poor adapted bastard child Newfoundland and Labrador to reach the status of Ontario, it’s just not right. It goes against equality, it flies in the face of the principles of equalization. To allow an unequal opportunity for a province is unheard of in the 140 years of this big country.... Except of course that the Auto-Pact was negotiated with The States that allowed a tremendous industry for Ontario. And the national capital is in the province of Ontario. And Bombardier has received countless millions in Quebec, not to mention the generous support to Quebec Ad agencies. And there is the fact that there are provisions which allow for seven extra MPs for Quebec beyond what they would get from population alone. The other Atlantic Provinces get three extra MPs. Newfoundland and Labrador gets only two. That’s fair right? Of course Alberta, BC and Ontario get zero, so at least we aren’t on the bottom of the scale there. There may be a few more in-equalities in the federation... like three Supreme Court Justices from Ontario and Quebec as a requirement while Newfoundland and Labrador has never had a justice sit on the Supreme Court of Canada. All fair - all equal right?

But I digress – other than these and a couple hundred more inequalities among the people of Canada this country is built on Equality. An equality that ensures that Canadians from coast to coast to coast feel the opportunity and sense of belonging that this greatest country in the world allows its citizens. It is great to know that in this country a young Inuk growing up in a community with a perpetual boil order and the highest suicide rates in the country has the same opportunity to meet their true potential as a the Torontonian who receives a Jag as a graduation gift. All things being equal.

Memorial University - Newfoundland and Labrador's Exporter of the Year

In the Company of Sleveens

It is a scoundrel indeed who incites a racket to cover his own ass. Harper's Conservative government is pitting province against province to take the heat off their own inept governance. On equalization reform they brought all provincial governments together and told them to form a unanimous consenus on how to reform the equalization formula. In what cartoon world would ten provinces in a country as diverse as Canada agree to anything. I would suggest it would be easier to get a Vegan and a Texan to decide on what to get on their pizza. It's just not going to happen... but that's OK! This is failure by design. The addendum to the meeting of premiers is quite simply "if you can't come to a consensus the federal government will decide." Brilliant. Harper has set the stage; his standard reply to any criticism of equalization reform. "Well we tryed to let the premiers decide on equalization reform but they failed and we were forced to make the tough decisions".

Not such a tough decision though is it? For the federal government decisions that cater to the population dense Southern Ontario and Quebec regions buys the most votes, and for a minority government that is where the rubber hits the road.

So what can the Atlantic do to fight for regional rights and descrepancies in the federation? Provinces can form their own consenus - scare the feds into paying attention because in the end all they really heed are population numbers. But Harper is safe enough in that regard too isn't he... because as long as their are sleveens like Nova Scotian Premier Ronald MacDonald, Harper doesn't have a worry. MacDonald's strategy for his province goes like this. Side with Premier Williams in negotiating with Harper. Plan fails, go to plan B. Backroom negotiations with Harper trying to cut a side deal - throwing the Rodney-Danny alliance to the wind. Flaherty tells MacDonald to 'bugger off - he's not cutting any side deals'. MacDonald cries foul.

Oh if only MacDonald can rekindle some of that warmth he had with Newfoundland and Labrador's Danny Williams in the early days of the Equalization talks. I suspect though that Danny may take a page from Flaherty's book and tell MacDonald that what they had is over. Find some other Sleveen for your side-deal negotiations. Lucky for MacDonald the country has more than it's share of 'em.

Stevey Wonder

Secrets of the Canadian Spy Coin Revealed

WASHINGTON - An odd-looking Canadian coin with a bright red flower was the culprit behind a U.S. Defense Department false espionage warning earlier this year about mysterious coin-like objects with radio frequency transmitters, The Associated Press has learned.

The harmless "poppy coin" was so unfamiliar to suspicious U.S. Army contractors traveling in Canada that they filed confidential espionage accounts about them. The worried contractors described the coins as "anomalous" and "filled with something man-made that looked like nano-technology,"... (full story)

A Trust and Confidance Rally!

Stand up for Newfoundland and Labrador
A Trust and Confidance Rally!
Friday May 11th, 2007 Time: 12:00 PM
Location: Front Lot, Confederation Building
More information coming soon!

Write: info@according2.ca
www.according2.ca

Also the Newfoundland and Labrador Defense League are planning to attend. If you have further questions about the NLDL or the Rally feel free to contact Us at nldl_nl@yahoo.ca www.nldl.org

The Face of Outmigration

Subliminal Advertising

How many boobs are in this Picture.

(Bit of fun for the kids)

Dinner with the Canadians

Sitting at the table of confederation with Canada is like Christmas at Nan's. Nan has a big ol' table - but also a big ol' family to fit around that table - So the overrun of course have to sit at "the kids table". (The kids table being a colloquial for coffee table with a plastic cover.)

It was quaint when I was a young gaffer of eight. As I get older and heavier though it is becoming harder to sit on the floor and fashion a table out of my kneecaps. Unfortunately given the size of my maternal family there will never be a seat for me at the "Big" table.

For some reason I was reminded of dining at the kid's table after the budget last night. Newfoundland and Labrador sitting with its knees up into its chest next to cousin Sasketchewan. Happy to be invited but knowing that no matter how many dinners we sit down to, we'll always be sitting at the kid's table - eating our mustard pickles and kam while our older siblings carve the turkey.

Throw us a giblet - please - Sasketchwan just ate my pickled beets.

Canada's National Spewspaper - The Mop and Pail

Again the Ontario rag affectionately known as the Mop and Pail has poked it's little stick in the sides of Newfoundland and Labradorians.

From the rag that brought us Maggie "I like Newfoundlanders I really do" Wente comes the little gem above.

Ironically (perhaps) the cartoon displays on the Globe and Mail website with rotating Newfoundland Labrador Logo Ads... Ya the ad with the Super Mario Mushrooms that our government invested so heavily in.

Let's think about this a little bit. What do you think would happen if these were Coca-Cola ads and the Cartoon Read "Coke is shIT". Or perhaps the ads could be for Tommy Hilfiger and the Cartoon could have labour from Third World Countries making those overpriced Jeans?

I'll tell you what would happen. Coca-Cola would shake that bottle and ram it up their collective arses. Tommy would hire a posse of third-world lawyers to take the Globe down brick by brick. I'm being facious - I can assure you though as sure as there are monkey's on typewriters at the Globe and Mail that Coke or Tommy Hillfiger would not pay a red copper for the ads. At the very least...

So to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador - what are we going to do with the money returned from the free Globe and Mail ads? Perhaps a strip of asphalt for the Trans-Labrador Highway? Perhaps an investment in our rural communities to stem outmigration?? Ah hell - I'll leave it up to you guys -I can trust you to be fiscally responsible I'm sure.

DJ

From CBC cartoonist defends...

From NLDL - Marg Like Newfoundlanders (pdf)

Seal Friendly Pork Products

From seashepherd.blogspot.com

MP Scott Simms takes a stand against Hypocrisy

The Newfoundland and Labrador Defense League (NLDL) Public Meeting

Wondering about the NLDL? Do you want to have a voice in Newfoundland and Labrador? Are you going to be in the St. John's Area on Feb 4? Check out the Newfoundland and Labrador Defense League...

Weather or Not

Ya the weather has been pretty tough in St. John's in recent days. This is my barometer from this morning.

The Canadian Spy Coin

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/national/070113/n011317A.html

The Ecology of the Newfoundland and Labrador Culture

I always get a little deflated when there are articles about the defeatist Newfoundland and Labradorian. This is the opposite notion of what we have come to believe about ourselves. We were ready to lynch Margaret Wente when she said (in her maternalistic pseudo-sympathetic way) "I like Newfoundlanders, I really do - but their sense of victimhood is unmatched". As Newfoundlanders and Labradorians we know this is not the case, but at the same time we can not deny that there is something that holds us back. Is it just in our nature to be cynical? Have we put our fingers into the fires of deals-gone-bad one too many times. Are we afraid of getting burned again?

When the group the Newfoundland and Labrador Defense League (NLDL) was formed it's inception was in response to that alleged "can't do" attitude. It's goal quite simply being the "empowerment of the Newfoundland and Labrador People". To consider the potential, the "what ifs", given the resources and dedication we are known to have. What if we were not tied to the ideals of a political party? What if we remove the incentive of money and greed? What if we could tap into the enthusiasm that all but shut the doors at Costco? What if we could tap into the enthusiasm that blocks the phone lines when a Newfoundland and Labradorian is on Canadian Idol? This shows me the power is there, often beneath the surface but it is there, and it is strong. So we go back to the victimized Newfoundland and Labradorian who knows the failures of the fishery, Churchill Falls, the Sprung greenhouse - the chronic failure of industry to push Newfoundland and Labrador beyond the corner and finally take hold of the Golden Arrow of the Pratt Flag.

The victimized Newfoundland and Labradorian is not the true face of Newfoundland and Labrador . Although some may say "it will never work" there is an inner voice that says "please make it work!" and the less vocal majority who are saying "Hell yes we're going to make it work."

That's why the NLDL, FINALY, CLCC, Young Farmers and others have joined forces. That's the reason for the Dec 22 press conference with Ray Johnson and Rex Goudie. There is a lesson in the ecology of the George River caribou. It lives among the craggy barrens of Labrador in winter and its population thrives. It is in fact the largest population of caribou on the planet. It doesn't flourish on blatant abundance. It lives on lichens and small alpine plants. On closer inspection we can see that there is more than enough life and hope among the rocks to sustain this place. Find the fighting Newfoundland and Labradorian who are anchored to the rocks and get your own footing. They are out there. There are no give-aways on the rock or the big land. For the fighter though the wealth is here. It is persistence in this often-formidable landscape that lets us live because in the end this is where we flourish. As those before us have fought and flourished - this is home.

Fish and Ships

Everyone wants a piece.

For the Love of Cod

Atlantic Cod, from Highliner in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, purchased at Costco in St. John's, Product of China. These little cod fillets have more miles on them than a dancer at the Piccadilly Pub.

Were once they stood - WE STAND (.CA)

Making the Choice to Stay, Live and Work in Newfoundland and Labrador

Today the NLDL stood together with groups like the Futures in Newfoundland and Labrador's Youth (FINALY), The Community Linkages Concept Committee (CLCC) and the Newfoundland and Labrador Young Farmer's Forum (NLYFF). We stood with bright and talented Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, artists and entrepreneurs like Shelly Broomfield, Jill Curran, Jamie Baker, Rhonda Tulk-Lane, Chan Wiseman, our very own Steve Penney, Ray Johnson and Rex Goudie.

Panelists: Jill Curran, Steve Penney, Rhonda Tulk-Lane, Rex Goudie, Ray Johnson, Chan Wiseman, Shelley Broomfield and Jamie Baker

We stood together as a group with a simple but very powerful message: that the will and passion of the Newfoundland and Labrador people will be the strength that drives this province into future prosperity. The message is directed at the teachers and parents of our youth to instill in them the positive spirit of Newfoundland and Labrador. To encourage them to believe that the choice work in Newfoundland and Labrador, that the choice to be innovative and create new industry and ideas is attainable right here. The message was also directed at those who would challenge the idea of revitalizing rural Newfoundland and Labrador, and would discourage our youth from their dreams. The message for the nay-sayers is that a fundamental shift in thinking is necessary to drive the positive force that is our youth and rural communities.
The conference opened with the inspirational words of Ray Johnson of Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers. Ray is Chairperson of the Flambro Head Heritage Society and Acting Chair of the Community Linkages Concept Committee. He shared his passion for the province and spoke of the choices our youth make “some of us must make the choice to leave, others wonder if they have a choice to stay.” The message he wanted everyone to take away from the conference is that we do have a choice. When questioned on how we can resolve the choice of our youth to stay. Ray responded “With inventiveness” He spoke of the hard-work and ingenuity that has built this great land. The never-say-die attitude of past generations who made it work because they had to; because the bond with their home strengthened their resolve. We as Newfoundland and Labradorians have to recapture some of that attitude and ingenuity and with it we will prosper.

The conference was also highlighted by some of the examples of the ingenuity and drive of our youth who have managed to build successes in rural Newfoundland and Labrador:
Jill Curran returned to N&L and built a business in Ferryland offers a unique tourism experience. Her venture called Lighthouse Picnics has grown from a makeshift roadside stand to a business which employs a seven people. She spoke about Increasing Rural Economic Development.

Jamie Baker is a columnist originally from Dildo who spoke passionately about the need for regionalization.

On Youth issues Steve Penney of the NLDL spoke about education and the obstacles of student debt.

Shelley Broomfield is Inuit with a brilliant mind and is a well-spoken Labradorian who told the conference about Aboriginal Youth Issues.

Rhonda Tulk-Lane of FINALY spoke about the out-migration and her own experience in taking the leap of faith to return to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Chan Wiseman of the Newfoundland and Labrador Young Farmers Forum used his experience growing up in a farming family to speak about diversifying rural Newfoundland and Labrador economies beyond the one-industry towns.

To close the list of guest speakers Rex Goudie, who went through hell and high-water to make sure he was able to make it to the conference, spoke about valuing where we come from and what we have. Without any notes Rex spoke from the heart, describing seeing so many of his classmates and friends working in Fort MacMurray. He told us of the simple pleasures that he grew up with and still looks forward to when he returns to Newfoundland and Labrador. Playing a game of shinny and snowmobiling. The joy of the outdoors, the freedom we have in this province to enjoy the environment. With a message directly for the young people in the audience he reminded them that it is these simply pleasures that are worth preserving.
The conference closed with a final thought from Ray Johnson. He pointed to the six students of Mary Queen of Peace who had left during the speeches. "These" he said "represent the youth who will be lost due to out-migration" and reminded us of the impact of this trend. He asked “Who will speak for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador?”. His answer: “I Will. You Will. We Will.”

To follow up on the message of: “Making the Choice to Stay, Live and Work in Newfoundland and Labrador”, the launch of a new website was announced. Building on the phrase from The Ode to Newfoundland – “where once they stood we stand”. "westand.ca" will build on the momentum of this Christmas Press Conference and bring our message into the new year.
Congratulations to all organizers and participants. The emotion and passion in the room was evidence that this was a press conference like no other.

What's on the go December the 20th?

Is Rural Newfoundland and Labrador Alive? Is there a choice for our youth growing up in rural Newfoundland and Labrador? Are there success stories among all the doom and gloom?

The Newfoundland and Labrador Defense League says there is!
Futures in Newfoundland and Labrador Youth (FINALY) says there is!
The Community Linkages Concept Committee says there is!
So do young entrepreneurs like Newfoundland and Labrador Young Farmers Forum!

Watch your news on Wednesday Dec 20 for a news conference that is sure to be the talk around the water cooler. With guest speeches from some of the brilliant minds and artists from this province including Ray Johnson of Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellows, young entrepeneurs and a special surprise celebrity guest.

Got your attention? Stay tuned ...

If I had a Pink Car - Could I Have a Pink Car-Nation?

Apparently the government of Canada is finally giving out free Nationhood status to anyone with a bone to pick about the constitution. The criterion is not distinction, because Newfoundland and Labrador would certainly be on the short-list for mini-nationhood if that were the deciding factor. It also isn’t history, because again – we have the least history in the federation and are the only people in the Canadian family who can still remember what it was like to have our own place (pink white and green flags for curtains, and what an ocean view!) No - the experience with being a separate nation and the issue of distinction are not the criteria for subletting the country with your own small “n” nation. The deciding factor is language!

This will be welcome news to my Uncle Jason who has been living for years “off the grid” on Carnation Rock in the Bay of Exploits. No one except his wife from Haiti has been able to understand Jason since they married in 1976, so he certainly fits the criteria for establishing his own nation:

So it gives me great elation to declare The Rock of Carnation its own federation, a nation within a nation where uncle Jason and the Haitian have been on permanent vacation, now I’ve lost my concentration… What in tarnation?!

Ah hell now I’m all confused. All I really wanted to know is if Quebec is a nation within a nation do I still have to go through Montreal to visit my brother-in-law in Whitby?

Blame Canada - Greenpeace and...South Park?!

You have to hand it to Greenpeace for this one...

Bottom Dragging

Newfound-brand and La-brand-or

"Florida" is as much a brand of Orange as it is an American State. American restaurants like to sell "Maine Lobster" even though they are likely to be Atlantic Canadian lobster. New Zealand has it's lamb and the Swiss have their watches. These places have successfully attached a brand to their geography. If you want the best chocolates you go to Belgium, sports cars Germany or Italy.

So this is it. The brand that will come to symbolize Newfoundland and Labrador to the whole world. Does it work? We haven't been particularly good at branding ourselves in the past. Not that we don't take well to branding. The seal hunt protesters have pinned the words "barbarian" to us quite successfully. It has no element in truth but such is the way with branding - only the perception has to be maintained. The Japanese for example have started making some great watches after the Swiss failed to monopolize on the technology of Quartz time movement. The Swiss maintain their stronghold on the quality clock industry though, in spite of the popularity of Seiko or Casio.

So how will these stylistic pitcher plants work for us. Only time will tell I guess. The branding of Newfoundland and Labrador is definately a step in the right direction. Perhaps this little graphic can do for us what a couple of young American campers did for the Canadian identity and clothing industry when they started the company ROOTS. The raw material is there. Newfoundland and Labrador is an easy sell, with its untamed beauty and friendly folk.

The fact that the flowers are a little like the Magic Mushrooms of Woodstock fame (or Super Mario Brothers for the youngsters) is really besides the point. If this simple graphic can succeed as a logo then more power to 'em.

God Speed little fly-eating bog plant - God Speed!

Wag the Dog - Revisited

An article in June called "Wag the Dog" argued that a story by CBC used poor methodology in a story on MLS prices in Canada. The story compared The Province of Newfoundland and Labrador with cities (not provinces) in the rest of Canada. The article asserts that MLS prices in Newfoundland and Labrador are very low relative to the other numbers. This indicates poor economic growth. In fact if that article had properly compared The city of St. John's with other cities, Newfoundland and Labrador would not have appeared in such a negative light.

I offer this most recent story from CBC to illustrate my point:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2006/09/13/assessments-city.html

As it turns out there is an average assessment increase of 22% over three years in 'ol Sin John's. Since growth has been steady over those three years it is fair to say that there has been a growth of over 7% each year. Now when we go back to the stats from the "Wag the Dog" article we see that the city of St. John's is very much in keeping with Halifax-Dartmouth.

That's a spin you are not likely to see in any national CBC story on MLS prices.

Air (Some of) Canada

After 60 Years Air Canada abandon's Newfoundland and Labrador flight to Britain

Air Canada's Map of the Country

Download Air Canada Map Here

I Love You...You Love Me - But Who The Hell Asked Margaret Wente?

Apparently Marg was not happy enough with the "welfare ghetto" comments. She has stuck her face back in the window long enough to shout "and another thing - you're fat too!" Sticks and Stones Marg.

I find her phrasing particularly humourous: "I like Newfoundlanders, I really do, but St. John's weighs in with more fat people per capita than anywhere else in the country (36 per cent, versus Toronto's slender 16)".

Where I have heard that before? 'I like Newfoundlanders I Really Do'?!

Was it when she said: "I like Newfoundlanders. I really do. But their sense of victimhood is unmatched"... or perhaps when she said "I like Newfoundlanders, I really do. Where would we be without Rex Murphy and Mary Walsh and Rick Mercer? On the other hand, they left" ... or this recent one "I like Newfoundlanders, I really do, but St. John's weighs in with more fat people per capita than anywhere else in the country."

So we can draw a couple of conclusions from Margaret: 1. She likes Newfoundland, no really she does! and 2. Toronto is not only the centre of the universe but boasts only 16% fat people. Send them the Medal - the contest is over! Margaret, may I introduce you to Mr. Toronto (below). He has something in his coffee cup you will be particularly interested in. Me thinks I have a reason why T'rontonians are so damn trim... but it wouldn't be polite to tell you about it here.

... and give me back my bloody hat - I said you could try it on, not adopt it...

___
http://www.pcparty.nf.net/200501061.htm
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/.../BNStory/National
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinions/columnists/

"Stuff" from T'rono

A lunch time walk downtown is never dull. This gentleman appeared on the corner last week proclaiming himself to be Mr. Toronto and holding a banner with the words Toronto Appreciation Day.

What-up dawg?! He is gallivanting around the country with a banner, a camera and a insulated coffee mug full of ... ah... well ... Poop actually. He calls it "Toronto Sludge" and he offered it as a gift to Newfoundland and Labrador because as "everyone knows we don't have a lot of arable land and this stuff is a "rich multicultural stew"." He didn't get any takers on his gift oddly enough. Maybe it was because anything offered up from Toronto can't be good news; or perhaps it was the fact that the smell from his "stew" was enough to overpower even the infamous funk of "the bubble". Given that "the bubble" is being stirred fresh by bulldozers, the fact that the Toronto version could, not only do battle with our local brew, but in fact overpower it... no small feat for a coffe-mug of treated poo.

The real stink from Mr. Toronto though comes from the fact that he is sponsered by the CBC. Our CBC. With a grant, a bottle of poo and a camera there he goes spending the bucks of Canada's broadcaster.

Of course this is all meant to be a tongue in cheek look at Canada's hatred for our Quasi-New York. The intention appears to be to show how great Toronto is by filming the fall-out of Canada's other cities to make T.O look good in comparison. With a small assortment of professionals and tourists out for their lunch time stroll he finds the one poor unfortunate who has stumbled upon the scene on his way from the booze laden bars of George Street. "and you sir - what do you think of Toronto sludge!"

I'm sure it will be a quality piece of work worthy of the quality of the CBC. If it doesn't work out he can stuff the film into a Horton cup and offer it around the Country as new and improved sludge from Toronto.

Garbage Day in St. John's

Update: For some reason Google has chosen to place this article high on a search for "St. John's Garbage Day" If you are looking for the schedule:
http://www.stjohns.ca/cityservices/garbage/index.jsp Otherwise if you are looking for general sarcasm and sauce, stay where yer at :)


A city by-law to cover garbage with netting starts on the same day as the opening of the food fishery... coincidence?

I think there is a net-makers mafia at work...

Newfoundlander in Canada

My father was born a Newfoundlander. His first child was born a Canadian. Growing up a Newfoundlander in Canada is an ambiguous journey. In school, the textbooks were largely American, TV and entertainment was largely American. I'm not sure I understood that Canada was a separate country from the US. With an adult eye, I'm still not sure there is a great distinction. When the realization of the geopolitical relationship of Canada and the US was finally resolved in my mind I remember feeling disappointed. With the realization that Newfoundland was not a part of The States and that in fact Newfoundland was the adopted child of the Canadian Dominion - disappointment was the closest feeling that could be conjured up.

For the young Newfoundlander in Canada the fact that we had no affiliation with the US and that in fact we had only been with our present country for a couple of decades... It reflected on my own sense of identity. It meant that the childhood heroes; the writers, artists, movie stars, rock singers... were all part of a culture that was not your own. It made the dreams of becoming rich and famous like them suddenly unattainable. Who from Newfoundland was known in Canada, let alone the US? The greater dreams of fame and fortune were suddenly like catching moonlight in a box. It was perhaps the first time that the reality of my future was chiseled in the foundation of my psyche.

So given that I wasn't an American, I wasn't even in my country’s eyes a true and equal Canadian. I was a Newfoundlander, we did not become rich and famous. I was unlikely to become a Walt Disney or Elvis Presley. We came from labourers and fishermen, farmers and loggers. We worked on the sea, in the mines and in The Mill. My father, his brothers and their father worked in The Mill. My future was a flat-topped wooden lunch basket with a sandwich, a tea bag, a Gerber bottle of sugar and a spice bottle of milk. That was my reality. Falling asleep from shear physical exhaustion after supper, thick woolen socks covered with tiny pellets of wool. In steel toed shoes for ten hours of confinement. I don’t know of a ten year old who dreams of that. My pride in my father, my uncles and grandfather now is from a very different perspective than it was then.

Canada was 100 years old when I was born; The province of Newfoundland in Canada a mere fledgling at 18 years. My baby picture has grey centennial coins inside the frame, a goose, a rabbit, a dove. A boy of ten can perhaps be forgiven for not knowing the place of Newfoundland in Canada. Not only did we read American and Canadian books but Canada itself was celebrating its 110 birthday. But Newfoundland only joined in 1949? Canada has had a long history without us; our joining is a footnote.

That is the context of growing up a Newfoundlander in Canada. When Arthur Scammel wrote “The Squid Jiggin’ Ground” as a school project he received a poor grade. Not because it wasn’t a marvelous ditty, a fun reflection of the time and place – but because it was a reflection of his time and place. Newfoundlanders did not write about Newfoundland. Children should write about going to buy candy at the corner market or painting picket fences – not about getting ink in the eye from a Cephalopod. But he did and the song became one of the most recognizable ditty’s of Newfoundland and Labrador culture.

Without a lot of heroes and role-models, without learning our history, our place, despite all of the formal schooling to the contrary I am proud of this place. I am proud of the people who worked hard with smelly wool socks, flat topped lunch boxes and calloused hands. I am proud of the people who fought and died. I am proud of the Rhodes scholars, the artists, and writers who live in Newfoundland and Labrador. Although much of the true context of being a Newfoundland and Labradorian had to be discovered on my own; I am none-the-less grateful for it. Walt Disney never had it so good.

Danny and The White Moose

(This is a bit in the style of Rex Murphy)

The stuff of legends; the genetic anomaly that is the white moose. This albino was once thought to be a fallacy. A mis-identified caribou or the resulting exaggeration of an inebriated outdoorsman. In these days of technology when cell phones have cameras and the world is connected via streaming bits of information from a variety of media, there is not much that can remain concealed. The Giant Squid - the Kraken, The coelacanth and the white moose have all been brought out of incognito. Beware 'Nessy' and the 'Sasquatch', it's just a matter of time.

So there it is, a gosh darn larger-than-life white moose, grandiose and unforgiving of itself. You have to wonder about this living embodiment of Nature's satire. It has none of the stealth of its brethren, unable to disappear into the road-side brush like the stealth bomber of the Central Newfoundland interior. Old 'Whitey' is more in-your-face, he need not cower into the cover of foliage, he may as well just stand in plain view proclaiming "Here I am, I'm not going anywhere, yes I am a Friggin' White Moose and I couldn't give a rat's ass what you think of that."

There is certainly a great risk in being so highly visible in a place where everyone wants to take a shot at you. The parallel can be made between Whitey and our Premier Danny Williams. Danny has gotten more media attention in his short term in office than any premier in the last few decades. Not since Joey Smallwood's telling recitation of a night after eating bad lobster in the song "Like 'e Would" has a premier captured the minds of the public psyche. Like Newfoundland and Labrador's Trudeau, Danny has been seen doing his pirouette all over hell's half acre. He has been on Larry King Live, the New York Times and has been quoted in every two-bit rag from Too-Good Arm to Tumbler Ridge. When Danny dares knock on the granite doors of Big Oil the mainlanders really start to take notice. Aaaah yes Oil, Black Gold, Texas Tea. Everyone uses it, everyone wants it, and Newfoundland and Labrador has it. Apparently taking on big oil is something akin to trying to get an audience with the Pope. Big, powerful and lots of people who will stand up for it, with few daring to stand against it. Danny "the white moose" Williams has dared poke his foot into the door of big oil's boardroom and announce to all "Hey buddy, what's the deal with Hebron?"

He has been compared to Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chevez as if he is a one man show in a province of subversives. Perhaps though if you were to look past Danny you just might catch a glimpse of a herd of half a million. You might be more surprised to see how many white moose there are in that herd. Necks out coaxing him on. "Give-er Danny", we will not hide in the shadows any longer. The white moose is here to stay.

Quality of Character

Apparently there is a high level of financial retribution that is necessary to entice a certain "quality" of person to public life. At least that is what we are told whenever a person in public life needs to justify their pay and perks. There is something about the term "quality" though that I find uncomfortable. If a person has a quality above and beyond another there is an implication that there are people of lesser quality. Similarly the word "intelligence" doesn't sit well in my arse pocket of terms. If quality and intelligence are indeed qualities of a person that can be quantified we become something in the way of cattle, don't we? Pressing through a job interview with a B.Sc. or B.Ed branded on our hip or wearing our income level on a badge that reads "Hello MY NAME IS __ I MAKE __ A YEAR". Of course there are many who would welcome it, but they'll have to be content with having an initial after their name or by wearing their peacock display of bling. Not to devalue anyone's pursuits, acedemic and career goals are noble quests indeed; but success, experience, and education are contexts of your character; not your quality.

We do pay for quality in a person's work though; we choose our dentist, our restaurants, our contractor based on a price and an expected quality based on that price. If we accept the idea that there is a price paid for quality, can we expect that $100 000 - $150 000 for an MHA's salary (along with all the magnets and pins one can load into their Escalades) would produce for us some nice prime government officials? What we get instead are a selection of thieves and rogues who cry out of the left side of their mouth when hospital beds close in their riding but puff Cuban cigars out of the right.

These, hopefully rare few, do so with the kahunas to say they represent us. Paid by each of us. Paid well with incentives and perks because that is what this quality of person deserves. What sort of guarantee I wonder comes with a Grade-A rogue? So What do we do about it? A public inquiry? What do we get for our cash from a public inquiry? What did we get from Gomery? Some well paid lawyers, perhaps an extra Jag or two in Ottawa. Some months of repetitive news distracting from the more important issues of the day. Who really gives a rat's ass where the finger points at the end of the day! The finger should be pointing to the cash! The hands should be holding someone by the feet shaking the change from their pockets.

I want my money back... and at least a fridge magnet for my troubles.

Pins Magnets and Limited Edition Rings - Everything Must Go

Act of Remembrance

I had wanted to write a piece about the 90th Anniversary of Beaumont Hamel and the dichotomy of the July 1 Holiday... but I find it difficult to put to words. With July 1 vast approaching I will offer this simple act of remembrance:

"On July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme in World War I, 800 soldiers of the 1st Newfoundland Regiment rose from the British trenches and went into battle at Beaumont-Hamel, nine kilometres north of Albert in France. The next day, only 68 men answered the regimental role call. 255 were dead, 386 were wounded, and 91 were listed as missing."

On Saturday July 1 at 8:50am in Ottawa there will be a rare acknowledgement of Newfoundland and Labrador's exceptional role in the battle of the Somme. "Canada Day" overshadows this darker day in this province. On this, the 90th Anniversary of Beaumont Hamel - Remember...

Rebranding Memorial University

It is puzzling sometimes how the pillars of acedemia can come up with some pretty stunned and useless ideas. The print shops that produce letterheads must be grinning all the way to the bank. I guess a pain in the arse for some people is the bread and butter of others.

Don't feel bad for Betsy there, the CONA/Trades and Tech/Cabot Institute cow looks like Dennis Rodman.

Reflections from the Waterfront

The lady that passes me has the soft round small featured face that tells of her Irish heritage. She has light freckles on her cheeks and as she nears she smells like the cinnamon and vanilla of the downtown shop. A scent of rose perfume lingers as she passes.

By the harbour, the fishing boats are tied up. Short gentlemen with red cheeks share a joke as they busy themselves with metal and rope that appears abstract and featureless but their care for it suggests importance. The shops behind are playing Dick Nolan which drifts on the wind like time. The sounds growing faint as they are stolen by the breeze. A shop that has sculptures, painting and crafts has the doors wide open and the smell of a kiln is in the air. A group of young people sits with their legs folded and exchange sketchbooks of drawings. The art has themes of the ocean, sails, love and lust.

A man in a black suit with a conference badge hanging on a string drops a looney into the open guitar case of a tired looking gentleman who is channeling Johnny Cash through his guitar strings. An older couple wearing Old Navy shirts are asking a guy in front of the coffee shop when they can expect to see icebergs. The conversation shifts to capelin and he tells how the silvery fish will soon begin their annual ritual along these rocky shores. He tells of standing in the ocean having your ankles messaged by thousands of silvery bellies as the ocean tides turn into a living wave for a brief moment before tossing its cargo onto the shores to die. The elderly couple smiles discreetly wondering if the man might be having a bit of fun at their expense.

A shop full of books tells of this place; of history, politics, love and war, art and nature, the Beothuck and Innuit. “The Woman who Mapped Labrador”, “Newfoundland at the Crossroads”, “The Way of the Sea”, “The Labradorians”, “This Marvellous Terrible Place”. The door is held open by smiling faces for tourists who often appear uncomfortable with the instant familiarity. Seasoned visitors return the smile and talk openly and freely about the weather, politics, the war. There is an inherent safety in being open in these parts. An unguarded familiarity among strangers that is at first uncomfortable but then embraced.

Returning from lunch past small corner pubs that smell of lobster and scallops. A green envelope in my hand on which is scribbled “Why I love this place?” It is rhetorical.

Wag the Dog

The news media is a funny animal. In its claims of journalistic integrity it is non-the-less influenced by agenda and bias. The weeds of opinion propagate from it and are nurtured at the womb of public opinion where it grows. In the public eye truth is elusive. Media broadcasts to its audience blindly, not knowing who is listening or how they will respond. Like coins thrown on a sidewalk we cannot tell who will pick it up or how it will be used.

This is why it has become increasingly important to view with a critical eye. To take pause and look at the stuff under a microscope. A great deal of it is fast-food for the mind, quick and immediately gratifying but in the long run not altogether healthy.

Consider a relatively benign article that has just cropped up on the CBC website. It lists housing prices changes from May 2005 to May 2006.

Here is a sampling of average MLS home prices in May (with year-over-year changes in brackets):
* Calgary: $358,214 (+43.6%)
* Edmonton: $242,936 (+22.9%)
* Halifax-Dartmouth: $210,225 (+7.6%)
* Montreal: $219,433 (+8.2%)
* Ottawa: $260,219 (+4.7%)
* Quebec City: $150,324 (+6.9%)
* Regina: $142,147 (+10.3%)
* Saint John, N.B.: $129,844 (+12.3%)
* Saskatoon: $162,279 (+11.5%)
* Nfld. & Lab.: $133,541 (-1.2%)
* Thunder Bay, Ont.: $118,804 (-9.0%)
* Toronto: $365,537 (+5.5%)
* Vancouver: $518,176 (+23.7%)
* Winnipeg: $159,801 (+12.5%)
* Canada: $303,836 (+12.9%)

A quick look at these numbers will tell you one thing. Newfoundland and Labrador was
only one of two places with a decline in housing prices. The overall story tells how the average house in major markets has topped $300K. In this context Newfoundland and Labrador may be implied to have poor economic growth when we this as an economic indicator. But let's put it under the microscope of scrutiny. The province of Newfoundland and Labrador is compared against urban centres in the rest of Canada. Newfoundland and Labrador is the only listing that has provincial stats against urban areas. The unfiltered picture of this economic indicator would have included the City's of St. John's in this comparison and the provincial stats with other provincial stats. Of course this unbiased table would have to throw the -9% from Thunder Bay back into the mix and give us a lower figure for Ontario.

So what's on the go? Is the CBC guilty of a conspiracy against this province to put some sort of negative spin on things that relate back to us, or are they simply very poor analysts; comparing apples to bakeapples? And does it really matter? This is little more than a whining complaint of this beleaguered province unless you are inclined to take the media and public opinion seriously.

Does it matter that organizations have used the face of a whitecoat seal in contrast to the furrowed brow of a fisherman with a club?

Does it matter that The Globe and Mail is sprinkled liberally with stories of down-east handouts in contrast with stories of success for money to fund Bombardier in Quebec?

Is it important that touching stories of textile factories closing are not written with the same pen as the story about handouts for fishermen?

I guess it mostly depends on whose hand is on the tail that is wagging the dog. Perhaps equally as important, what the dog had to eat before all the wagging was started to begin with. Sooner or latter someone’s bound to be dumped on. My hopes are that on occasion it will happen to the hand that wags the tail.

Our Connection is Down

It's not always easy staying connected. The enjoyment of grabbing a book and finding a comfortable place to lay your buns does wonders for the brain fog that accumulates over the long winter months.

Here's a quick list of some underappreciated Newfoundland and Labrador literature for your summer reading material.

1. Norman Duncan's "The Way of the Sea". First Published in 1903
2. "Them Days" Magazine out of Labrador http://www.themdays.com
3. The "Newfoundland Quarterly"
4. "Wild on the Crest" One of the best collections of Newfoundland and Labrador Poetry ever assembled. Look for E.J. Pratt, Micheal Crummey, Otto Kelland and many others.
5. "Newfoundland at the Crossroads - Documents on Confederation with Canada" Edited by Dr. J. Fitzgerald.
6. "The Woman who mapped Labrador" the latest incarnation of this remarkable story of the exploration of interior Labrador that started with "Lure of the Labrador Wild"

Spottin' Mainlanders

There's something a little odd about some of the visitors we have from our sister provinces. Around this time of the year We'll be at a gas pump throwing our wallet into the gas tank, or perhaps at a Horton's feeding the addiction - and then we hear it... "Lard tunderin' Geeze ol Man". It is distinctive and immediately identifiable: Tourists from the Mainland.

Considering the great deal of natural beauty and uniqueness of this province it is unfortunate that most tourists do not get that experience. We speak about how areas of the province get neglected in tourism promotional material but sadly more tourists visit George Street than Gros Morne. Perhaps there is a little bit of appeal to the lowest common denominator when it comes to marketing the province. A visitor can travel coastal Labrador, or fish The Big Land for the best Lake Trout and Char in the world. They can do battle with the great Atlantic Salmon on the Exploits, Gander and Humber Rivers. They can visit fiords, and follow the footsteps of Maritime Archaic, Beothuk Indians, and Dorset Eskimo. They can surround their boots with living waters of capelin. Icebirds, whales, and seabirds, roughed coasts and friendly people raising their voices in song. They can do all of this and more; but most do not.

I'm speaking of that particular breed of tourist who treat the experience like they were sent here on a dare. They only hope to take from the experience a story of how inferior the Newfoundland and Labradorian is. Fortunately they represent a small few but when you find one you'll know it. He will be the one teasing the waitress by ordering cod lips, or squid burgers. He'll be speaking in a very poorly executed Newfoundland and Labrador dialect and possibly accompanied by a Beavis and Butthead counterpart chuckling like an old Evinrude outboard.

Still not sure if you've meet one? They are commonly seen taking each others photos in front of the sign pointing the way to Dildo, or having their photo taken dry-humping the silver ladies in front of the St. John's convention Centre. They are the ones who undergo the now infamous Screech-in and actually belief it entitles them to the claim of being an honorary Newfoundland and Labradorian; entitled to use the term Newfie, if only in jest.


From my own experience this particular brand of visitor comes from other parts of the dominion. I have spoken to Europeans and Americans who have none of these preconceptions and biases. Ah well, all in good fun I guess. For the record "Dildo" is the wooden pegs used to keep the oars of a dory in place, and the ladies hunched over in front of the Convention Centre is a statue of respect to the women who helped to build this land. And just between you and I... the dialect is entirely fabricated, we only speak like that when mainlanders are around. It's all part of the master plan, "Confuse and Conquer", our version of "Shock and Awe".

So welcome fellow Canadians to Newfoundland and Labrador! Lard Tunterin' Geeze Cocky I'll see ya on Garge Street, we'll have a Swally of Screech.

Disappearing Newfoun..... and Labrad..

I was sipping an afternoon coffee, battling the 2:30 dragon, when a heavy thud brought me abruptly back to time and place. My co-worker holds a thick stack; "New phone book", he says, then continues his delivery of what two months ago must have been a small forest. ...but that's a blog for another time.

Looking at the sparkly new cover absent of dog ears and coffee stains I had a passing glance at the photo mosaic that has the new Aliant symbol emblazened across it. I remember a time when the new phone book would have a calendar-esque photo of some beautiful part of the island or Labrador. Whatever happened to those great Newfoundland and Labrador photos? It occurred to me that they disappeared around the same time as the tagline "The Home Team" was dropped... Which was also around the same time that Newfoundland Telephone became NewTel and then Aliant. No sign of Newfoundland and Labrador to be found.

WalMart stores are popping up like piss-the-beds. We have Home Depot, McDonald's, Pier 1, Old Navy... all the stores we have looked at with wide-eyed wonder for years on our diet of American media. One day on the way home from picking up the latest Dan Brown, Steven King or JK Rowlings book we pass a little store where we used to buy The Independent, Them Days and The Newfoundland Quarterly and wonder to ourselves "Gee when did that close?"

I know that our little phone company has spread it's wings and left the nest, picking up companies, making new friends. I guess it's not fair to expect it to retain it's Newfoundland and Labrador identity. But I still can't help but lament the loss of another little piece of our culture. I'm picking on Aliant a bit, I'll blame the thud of the phone book and the resulting coffee drool on my shirt for that. Truthfully though the phone company represents a greater trend. The degrading of a way of life. Years ago when I saw fences being made with railroad ties and sheds being made from fishing boats I knew there was something amise. A change in the air of the kind that makes Bob Dylan take pen to paper.

In our desire to fit into the Canadian family have we lost something of ourselves? I lament the loss as I finish my remaining Starbuck's Guatemala Antigua.

Air Canada's Map of Canada

Faces of Race/Racist

The dichotomy of views about Newfoundland and Labradorians has always surprised me. The amount of brave, artistic, creative, and inspirational people in this province is incredible. Yet the perception, especially from our Canadian Sister provinces is nothing short of hateful in all too many instances.

The article below on seashepherd.blogspot.com illustrated this duality of thought very well. A couple of other links on the topic are thrown in for good measure:


Face of a Racist and Faces of a Race - "The Good Shepherd"
http://seashepherd.blogspot.com/2006/05/face-of-racist-and-faces-of-race.html


Canada's "N" Word - previous post on Newfoundlandincanada
http://newfoundlandincanada.blogspot.com/2006/03/canadas-n-word-with-readings-from-book.html

Terms of Endearment - Myles Higgins
http://freenewfoundlandlabrador.blogspot.com/2006/03/from-newfies-to-niggers-and-other.html

Newfoundland Heros - Averill Baker
http://www.ganderbeacon.ca/index.cfm?iid=1232&sid=8712