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Newfoundland and Labrador Declares War on Canadian Government

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Newfoundland and Labrador Premier, Danny Williams, launched an ad campaign today in newspapers across Canada. The campaign is intended to depict Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a fraud.

The full page and half page ads will appear in publications such as the Globe and Mail and depict a white maple leaf on a red background containing the words, “Is this what Canada stands for now?” The ads also identify the lies told by Harper along with the words, “There is no bigger fraud than a promise broken”. Words similar to those used by Harper over and over again during his campaign for Prime Minister.

The words, used so successfully by Harper to convince Canadians to elect him over Paul Martin in the last federal election, now provide ammunition for what will surely be a long and hard fought battle. A battle that is expected to ratchet up as speculation of a federal election continues to permeate the halls of Parliament Hill.

In brochures distributed to households during his campaign, Harper promised that a conservative government would keep all non-renewable resource revenues out of the equalization formula and that he would not implement a fiscal cap. Something the governments of several provinces see as a necessity to ensure survival and their ability to finally move toward becoming sustainable and self sufficient provinces.

As one observer recently put it, “Non-renewable resources should not be factored into equalization because they are not a product than can be manufactured or renewed to support an economy in the long term. They are not like a salary from a permanent job.”

“It’s the equivelent of someone losing their employment and resorting to selling the furniture in the house in order to survive until the next job comes along. If that money is taken away from them, denying them the ability to use it while working to find other employment, that’s a real problem because once the furniture is gone it’s gone with nothing to keep them alive.”

The ad campaign asks, “If we can’t accept at face value the promise of our Prime Minister, then who can? A promise made should be a promise kept and as Mr. Harper pointed out, there is no greater fraud than a promise not kept.”

Harper meanwhile continues to tell anyone who will listen that the recent budget meets his obligations to all Canadians. While Mr. Harper denies the claims of several premiers, including Williams, it’s clear from the public record that he has indeed not kept the promises he made. Promises delivered both verbally and in writing to the premiers and citizens of at least 3 provinces.

Harper’s contention is that the budget does not affect the Atlantic Accord contracts signed with Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador by the former Liberal government, however his promise in reality was to remove all non-renewable resources from the equalization formula for all provinces and this was not done.

The battle is clearly heating up as Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador take a strong stand. While the latter two provinces are governed by conservative leaders they are clearly not toeing the party line on this issue and appear ready for an all out battle.

Many people in Newfoundland and Labrador have thrown their support fully behind Premier Williams, who prior to this event sat at about 75% in public opinion polls. Many have demanded the resignations of the province’s 3 conservative members of Parliament.

On Tuesday conservative MPs Norman Doyle, Fabian Manning and Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn all voted in favour of their party’s budget and against the wishes of the people of their province. An act many may view as an act of treason during a time of virtual war.

Instead of standing with the people who elected them Doyle, Manning and Hearn have opted to back Stephen Harper and the conservative party of Canada. Manning and Hearn went so far as to say that any attacks by the province could make things difficult in dealing with Ottawa in the future. This veiled threat, real or imagined, doesn’t seem to be carrying much weight with most voters in the province however because many people in Newfoundland and Labrador seem to believe that the Parliament of Canada is so out of touch with the province that they are missing one key point entirely.

Perhaps the comments of a local political insider, who spoke with this writer earlier today put it best, “Nobody cares. The people here are sick and tired of decades of indifference. All the so called “good relations” we’ve had with Ottawa over the years haven’t done one damn bit of good for us so if they want to play hard ball they can bring it on.”

By Myles Higgins

@ March 28, 2007