In a speech last night to a group that included Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Peter Penashue, former Newfoundland premier Danny Williams held nothing back (as usual). Williams said the federal government spends “too much (time) worrying about how one thing will affect another, how will Quebec react or how will this impact a certain block of votes. “(This) centrist thinking does not bode well for the smaller regions of our great country. In fact, it can result in backwards thinking, ineffective decision-making and sometimes, downright unfairness and injustice,” the former premier said. Williams said he wasn’t attacking the Conservative government, which he actually praised for granting Newfoundland and Labrador a loan guarantee on the lower Churchill development, but he said Canada’s remote regions, especially the North, risk being short-changed.
