Political shakeups in the Big Land sent Lela Evans & Jordan Brown to the House of Assembly. Now they’re working across party lines to shine light on Labrador.
If Dwight Ball has learned anything amid all the turmoil and unrest of his first mandate, it’s that it can’t touch him. He just needs to ride it out.
Newfoundland’s Very Good Boy is having a few bad days in the House of Assembly this week.
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.”
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…
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…
Don’t let philanthropy, government or otherwise, work as a silencer, even if our media opts for cheerleading the charity game instead of asking the hard questions.
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.
An inquiry must include a forensic audit of Nalcor Energy, many argue.
An Inquiry is too important to be dragged into partisan bickering.
Elders, land protectors speak out from Her Majesty’s Penitentiary.
“We don’t understand why we’re being treated like terrorists,” says land protector.
And members of the public are understandably upset.
Former premier and natural resources minister Tom Marshall says Muskrat Falls report “would have rung all kinds of alarms.”
The people of Newfoundland and Labrador deserve immediate transparency, accountability, and evidence supporting the claim Muskrat Falls should not and cannot be stopped.
Inuk grandmother and land protector confronts premier as Nalcor delays plans to lower Muskrat Falls reservoir levels contrary to leaders’ agreement.
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.
“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.”
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.
Locals debate whether, and how, to stop Muskrat Falls before any further damage is done.