Letter to the Editor

Liberal Convention a new Hope for Newfoundland and Labrador?
Our Dreams will not be Fulfilled by Dion

Sue, you are certainly quick on the draw! I listened very closely to
every moment of the Liberal Convention extravaganza, and while I agree
generally with your assessment, there was something about the whole
spectacle that leaves me deeply disturbed. The theme throughout was ,
"inclusion": the reaching out to embrace the disillusioned Liberal flock,
the disenfranchised poor, the Quebecois, women, immigrants, the Native
Peoples............ This noble vision of a just and all embracing Canada was
expressed with a great deal of passion ( Ken Dryden) and rhetorical
eloquence, but in terms of Newfoundland's inclusion, the reality is an ugly
aberration.

I doubt very much if Mr. Dion has any concept of the terrible, terrible
injustice that confederation wreaked upon the old "nation" of
Newfoundland. Every grim prophecy of the naysayers to that fatal decision of
1948 has been fulfilled in spades. While there has been a more or less
passive acceptance of our unenviable lot, fifty odd years have not
succeeded in extinguishing the anger and resentment seething just beneath
the surface; thus keeping alive the option of separation. No joke, this
sentiment, thank God, remains alive and strong in the hopes of many
thoughtful Newfoundlanders. The bitter irony here is that while many,
like myself , wish to break away, the fact is that we have never been
accepted in. Those amongst us who call themselves, Canadians, know in
their hearts and souls that they are no such thing: not in terms of equality
of citizenship. Their plea is only to be accepted. My pride does not
permit me to beg.

In the superficialities of the confederation arrangement, we have, for the
past fifty seven years been electing and sending representatives to defend
our interests in the Ottawa chambers of power. In every instance, without
exception, those representatives have been quickly conditioned to embrace
the federal status quo: to participate in pacifying us with demeaning and
soul-destroying dole rather than concede to us the right to be the
reasonable beneficiaries of the enormous wealth of resources, both human
and material, that we brought to this union. In terms of disappointment
and failed hopes and promises, no one is more analogous than Loyola
Hearne, our present "Member of Parliament". His attempts to rationalize
his compromises, particularly with respect to fisheries management, is truly
pathetic.

Does Stephane Dion hold out new hope for a more acceptable understanding of
"Our Place in Canada"? I doubt that very much considering that he has no
concept - can have no concept - of the disappointment, the anger and the
shame eating at our guts. It is contrary to the nature of humanity to
continue in a state of subservience. However, nationalism, like religion, is
not only counterproductive but an impediment in the pursuit of life's
fulfillment,
the ultimate goal of which is the recognition of the dignity of each and
every individual. The questionable decision of 1949 , while it did not
succeed in destroying entirely our dignity as a people, it did leave us
seriously , if not mortally, wounded. Therein lies the source of my
disconcertion over the Liberal's "Leadership Convention". Therein lies the
essence of not only what is wrong with "confederation", but also the spark
awaiting to be rekindled into a truly better day for Newfoundland. I will
not live to see this happen, but I would like to die believing that our
children will. That dream will be fulfilled, not by Stephane Dion; not
upon the banks of the Rideau, but upon the shores of our own beautiful and
bountifully blessed land and in the hearts and minds and tenacity of
those dwellers here who call it, home..

Lloyd C.