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Press Continues; Are we Ready to go to the Wall?

Posted by Kevin on 1/17/2005 @ 11:33 am

Roy MacGregor, who actually went to the province and talked to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, writes in today’s Globe and Mail:

Newfoundland and Labrador is not looking for an unlimited exemption, Mr. Williams argues, but for ample time for the province to gain from its finite supplies of oil…with Ottawa clawing back 70 cents of every dollar earned in oil royalties to offset the millions in equalization payments poured into Newfoundland and Labrador, the federal government will take back $133-million this year, which is almost exactly the projected provincial deficit.
Full Article: ‘Keep-not’ province ready to go to the wall
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14 Comments

  1. Yes it time to go to the wall!!! Lets march on Parliment Hill to show the Feds we are damn serious and the table scraps they have given us since confederation is going to stop or else. Quebec has been trying to seperate for 30+ years and have not. Lets show them how it’s done. The threat seems to work for that province. Lets push the hot buttons. What would happen if Churchill Falls was to shut down for a day or two and the energy stopped flowing? Let them bring in the army to open it back up for all I care. What would happen if we prevented the iron ore from being shipped out of Labrador headed for Quebec and Ontario. How about a strike day for every Newfoundlander from Nova Scotia to BC. Do you think the country would notice if we all called in sick for one day. I bet Toronto alone would notice. There are lots of ways to protest my fellow brothers and sisters. Enough is Enough!!! There are enough Newfoundlanders in Ontario alone that could swarm that hill in Ottawa by the thousands. It is time to take a stand. We cannot back down now!!! Oh and by the way Mr. Efford: If you are not for us then shut your mouth and get out of our way you traitor. Many of us remember a train that was called the Newfoundland Bullet. Well I for one believe that Newfoundlanders have jumped on a train and it is full steam ahead. If Ottawa wanted a fight then they got one, and the passengers on this Newfoundland Bullet is ready for a fight.

    Comment by Roger — 1/17/2005 @ 1:08 pm

  2. A wickedly novel idea Roger! Every Newfoundlander and their supporters across the country call in sick… How about February 14, Valentines Day, so that we can have that long weekend in February that we’ve always wanted too!

    I’m a mainlander riding that “work to rule” Bullet. Also, a date after the meeting scheduled for January 28 will be on the Prime Ministers mind.

    I’ve heard it said before that everyone has to turn in their political red, blue or even orange to unite for this to work. Political colours afterall are only for the financially wealthy who are morally bankrupt. The rest of us vote for the person in our riding who will do the best job for our community. Why doesn’t Paul Martin run in John Efford’s riding in a by-election to see if that riding is still Liberal?

    That would be funny…

    Here’s some good e-mail addresses to the press across our country and of course the PM himself.

    pm@pm.gc.ca ; john_gushue@stjohns.cbc.ca ; pwells@macleans.ca ; locke@straylight.ca ; editorial@theindependent.ca ; kevin@kevinmccann.net

    Fred from CBS

    Comment by Fred Harris — 1/17/2005 @ 4:37 pm

  3. Great ideas from both Fred and Roger…..I’m a mainlander who loves this place called Newfoundland and Labrador and am happy to jump on Fred’s Bullet. It really is time for our Country (Canada) to know that they are in a battle with another Country that is within their Country. Paul Martin is, to say the least, a Sleeveen and worse than that a damned liar. It would be good if that National one day strike could be brought to fruition, I can sure tall you that Ft. McMurray and the tar sands would have a rough day of it, let alone Toronto, Cambridge, Kit/Waterloo,
    Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton and Vancouver. Even if all the Police Officers in Calgary, Edmonton and the RCMP all called in sick for one day, it would be felt. And all this doesn’t even talk about Federal employees in Newfoundland and Labrador all getting sick in Newfoundland for a day or even two….novel thought….HRDC, RCMP, IMMIGRATION AND PASSPORT and CUSTOMS to mention a few…would have an impact. What would happen even on Parliament Hill if the people working there that the Government doesn’t know are Newfoundlanders struck for a day or two….Why not some quick thinking company in Newfoundland start mentioning that they have manufactured green, white and pink armbands for all Newfoundlanders to buy and wear until the Accord is done right. I’m not an entrepreneur, but here is a good idea for somebody….go for it.

    Comment by Gerry OBrien — 1/17/2005 @ 6:14 pm

  4. What sticks in the craw, a lump causing one to almost choke in anger, is the insufferable hypocrisy, arrogance and ignorance of scoundrels like Paul Martin who hold with grim tenacity the leash to which we got tethered in 1949.

    In that piece of sophistic baffle-gab purported to be a reply to premier Williams but which in reality is designed as propaganda for the masses, Martin says: “The short-term gains are substantial, but the lasting and real reward for future generations is the opportunity for Newfoundland and Labrador to become a more prosperous province no longer dependent on Equalization". This is the same old devious twisting of the truth we’ve been listening to for so long and which he imagines we are stupid enough to believe and that the rest of the country will accept. We have never been “dependent on Equalization” only as a consequence of having had wrenched from us almost every means of self-reliance by that same regime he speciously contends to be our benefactor but which in reality is bent on holding us in its thrall. This is the weasel that commands the loyalty of our prodigal “fedewal minista” . What red-blooded Newfoundlander would not want to strangle them both!

    Comment by Lloyd — 1/17/2005 @ 7:43 pm

  5. “The maple leaf flag’s 40th anniversary on February 15, 2005 is cause for celebration - a celebration of our shared values, our common citizenship and our sense of belonging to this great, richly diverse land we all call home. Our flag belongs to each and every one of us and remains our most visible and cherished symbol that reminds us each day that we are all part of the Canadian family.”

    This is taken from the Canadian Heritage website. I find it funny that the flag represents “our common citizenship and our common sense of belonging", when most Newfoundlanders haven’t felt that way since Confederation.

    I agree with Roger on having a sick day for all Newfoundlanders across this vast land of ours, but not on February 14, but on February 15th, Flag Day! What irony that would be!!! Or maybe, as Gerry mentioned, we could all wear armbands and wear them proud. I know I speak for many Newfoundlanders when I say that we are absolutely fed up with the way we are treated by fellow Canadians who think we are second class citizens. It infuriates me to think there are so many “Margaret Wente’s” out there who are so ignorant and so downright racist. If it were any other group she targeted, she would have been FIRED!! And I ask, why hasn’t she been fired? The answer is because it’s just the Newfie’s.

    Who else is on this revolution train?

    Comment by Vicki — 1/17/2005 @ 8:01 pm

  6. You guys are a joke.
    How many of you are on EI milking the system.
    Better check you calendar, it’s the 21st century.

    But any time you want to separate, you just say the word; we’ll sign the release form.

    Comment by Rapheal Klein — 1/18/2005 @ 1:08 am

  7. Rapheal wrote
    You guys are a joke.
    How many of you are on EI milking the system.
    Better check you calendar, it’s the 21st century.

    But any time you want to separate, you just say the word; we’ll sign the release form.

    Rapheal, you wouldn’t by any chance be related to that other Klein that said “Let the bastards freeze” would you?
    I’m sure there are no more people on EI here in Newfoundland then there are in other provinces in Canada, AND if those people had a chance to work the year around I’m sure they would jump at the chance. I know there are thousands of people in Newfoundland that have never been on EI, can you say the same for yourself.
    Your right it is the 21th century so don’t you think that it is time for people with thoughts like yours to get out of the dark ages and start treating all Canadians with the same respect.
    It is so sad that bigotry as gotten the upper hand in your world!!!
    I hope that the rest of Canada looks at you with kinder eyes then you are looking at Newfoundland.

    Come on fellow Newfoundlanders lets stand together and let people like Rapheal know that we’re not afraid to fight for what we believe in and that we’re not the door mat for Ottawa to wipe its boots on.

    Comment by Dolores — 1/18/2005 @ 9:05 am

  8. Rapheal

    No wonder Newfoundlanders feel slighted by mainland Canada! It is attitudes like yours that make me ashamed to be Canadian. I now live in Newfoundland (originally from Toronto) and am proud of it. The Newfoundlanders I know are hard working,intelligent and honest people. But hey! I guess it’s easier to slug out the old insults and stereotypes than to actually step back and learn something!

    Comment by Andrea — 1/18/2005 @ 9:25 am

  9. I like the idea of tricolour armbands on Feb. 15, Flag Day. I’m going with it! Anyone else?

    As for Wente, I think she did us a favour. She woke up many people across the country to the existence of a predjudice (for some at subliminal level) that without her malinformed column, many people would have never acknowledged. Now it’s our duty not to let that predjudice fire up our own. Cool heads, balanced views, and education are the best tools to begin to correct the wrongthinking that abounds.

    But I have no problem with showing where I personally stand with my tricolour armband on FLAG DAY. As Richard Gwyn says in today’s Toronto Star, it’s all about the Upper Canada sinkhole - rural Canada, not just Newfoundland, is getting the screws.

    Comment by Deb — 1/18/2005 @ 2:15 pm

  10. I rolled with laughter when I discovered the link to the Accord now links to comments by Michael Fraser.

    It now produces a real Homer Simpson kinda moment: D’oh! Rather than finding the Express article that didn’t really do a good job of putting the Accord in any proper context, one now finds a Newfoundlander arguing strongly AGAINST the provincial government desire for 100% of its direct revenues (already received in full) plus another amount equal to it (that makes 200%) desire long after it reaches the same economic productivity of Ontario or any other province not receiving Equalization.

    Comment by Ed Hollett — 1/19/2005 @ 7:43 pm

  11. Put a sock in it Ed! You’re more of a shit disturber than a Public Relations person. A PR person for whom I might add?

    Comment by Martha Collier — 1/20/2005 @ 11:51 pm

  12. Thanks, Martha, you gave me my first laugh of the day. Maybe the sock should be a big Maple Leaf sock!!

    Comment by Anne Marie — 1/21/2005 @ 9:57 am

  13. You know, that Ed guy is almost as annoying at the Prime Minister and his cronies. Ok Mr. Ed, oops, that was a talking horse wasn’t it? We have read endlessly your opinions….now give it a rest already. It’s just the same rhetoric over and over again and quite frankly, I’ve begun to skip over all of your comments now as they sound far to much like a polititians.
    Debbie Anderson

    Comment by Debbie Anderson — 1/22/2005 @ 9:43 pm

  14. “It’s just the same rhetoric over and over again and quite frankly, I’ve begun to skip over all of your comments now as they sound far to much like a polititians.”

    Or a politician in waiting.

    You hit the nail on the head Debbie.

    Comment by Brenda S. , St. John’s — 1/23/2005 @ 8:20 pm

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