There are No Captains at the Wheel
This election is a referendum on Newfoundland and Labrador’s political class, and the status quo is losing. All we’re missing is a way to vote “no.”
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The Phony War
Well, the provincial election is finally here. After months of rumours and weeks of high-volume spending announcements, Premier Dwight Ball this week called a snap election for 16 May 2019. If your democratic morale is low, fear not—this will all be mercifully over by May Two-Four, so we’ll be able to flee into the woods and get drunk to process what’s happening. Lord knows it will be necessary. To be honest, this barely even feels real. The whole campaign is already a giant fever dream. Twirling Towards the Future Even though everything is happening according to their schedule, it’s hard to avoid the impression that the Liberals are flying through this by the seat of their pants. They spent the last month making major funding announcements obviously meant to shock and awe the electorate into submission. We got the $2.5 billion Hibernia Dividend; we got the elimination of tax on…
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Confederation Chic
Every history, so they say, is a history of the present. The past is brutally unchanging, but what flares up through its wreckage to the observer hinges on the moment they turn to look back. (“The way to see,” according to one French mystic, “is to not always be looking.”) This is especially true in the case of historical ruptures that never quite get stitched up, or those regularly reopened under political strain. Newfoundland and Labrador’s Confederation with Canada in 1949 certainly fits this bill. Confederation was legendary in its own time, thanks to both the propagandist in the Premier’s chair and the romantic reaction he generated. As it recedes from living memory its mythic stature will only grow. You need only see Joe Smallwood, ‘Last Father of Confederation’, decked out in a Newfie Republican tricolour bowtie to realize we regard our past through a thickening stained-glass windowpane. It’s been…
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Charity is Not Enough
Two cheers for us. The instant we heard that fire had destroyed the Community Food Sharing Association (CFSA) warehouse and its stock of food last Wednesday, people in this province reacted with their usual generosity. Alongside the scores who donated quietly, a long list of local businesses, public figures and organizations sprang into action. By Saturday, donations to the CFSA had topped $300,000 in cash and 50,000 pounds of food for distribution to food banks across Newfoundland and Labrador. The Edge, the Growlers, the oil industry, vendors at the farmer’s market, the public library, municipal councils, labour organizations, politicians and media outlets including VOCM and CBC, are among the many who rallied. Topping the charts, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador donated $50,000 to food banks and, in a giffed-up exchange between the premier and Eg Walters, handed over keys to a replacement warehouse. Wait. What? Think about that for…
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“We feel powerless and terrible”: Inuit artist galvanized by Muskrat Falls
Heather Campbell’s “Methylmercury” is now part of the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s contemporary Inuit art collection. The Rigolet-born artist is also selling prints to raise money for the Labrador Land Protectors.
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Make Muskrat Inquiry right, say critics
An inquiry must include a forensic audit of Nalcor Energy, many argue.
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Muskrat Falls Inquiry doomed before it starts?
An Inquiry is too important to be dragged into partisan bickering.
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“We are not a bunch of criminals, we’re people trying to protect our land”
Elders, land protectors speak out from Her Majesty’s Penitentiary.
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Elders jailed after refusing to stay away from Muskrat Falls
“We don’t understand why we’re being treated like terrorists,” says land protector.
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Government and industry cash-for-access dates are wrong
And members of the public are understandably upset.
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Major questions on SNC-Lavalin report remain unanswered
Former premier and natural resources minister Tom Marshall says Muskrat Falls report “would have rung all kinds of alarms.”
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Muskrat inquiry, now!
The people of Newfoundland and Labrador deserve immediate transparency, accountability, and evidence supporting the claim Muskrat Falls should not and cannot be stopped.
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Hunter vows to continue fighting Muskrat Falls
Inuk grandmother and land protector confronts premier as Nalcor delays plans to lower Muskrat Falls reservoir levels contrary to leaders’ agreement.
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Colonialism in the justice system: Who’s to blame?
When it comes to Inuk land protector Beatrice Hunter’s shameful treatment, everyone is trying to pass the buck — including those who bear ultimate responsibility.
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Inuit grandmother jailed after refusing to stay away from Muskrat Falls
“I have to be brave for her,” says 23-year-old son of Beatrice Hunter, who is described as a “family-oriented” person who would “never hurt a fly.”
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Truth first, then reconciliation
Some say the premier must do more to understand the lived experiences of Indigenous people and communities in this province if he is sincere about reconciliation.
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“I have nothing else left to lose”: Mud Lake leader to Nalcor
Locals debate whether, and how, to stop Muskrat Falls before any further damage is done.
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The rise of nativism in NL politics
Our provincial and post-secondary leaders are playing with a dangerous idea.
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Enabling dependency
How can we explain the continued government inaction in the face of the worst recession since the cod moratorium?
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Budget 2017 poised to increase inequality in N.L., critics say
Are the Liberals trying to balance the books at the expense of the province’s most vulnerable?
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