Williams has Strengths but his Weaknesses...

...will destroy us.

Danny Williams comes to the table as a multi-millionaire. Regardless of what you think of him this financial success is part of what draws voters to him. In some respects people think some of that business acumen will rub off on them - or that he will bring the province financial success as he did with his personal projects.

Personal is the key word. Williams is used to being the boss - the only boss - Cable Atlantic was not publicly traded and his law firm was headed and essentially run by him - same with golf courses etc. He sees his success as a result of primarily his leadership. The Premier does acknowledge people like Dean MacDonald - Steve Marshall - and Ken Marshall - but only in the sense that he picked them - mentored them - and they worked out.

There is no doubt the people attracted to Williams want in on the action and they are willing to be lead. They are also willing to trade the openness of their opinion for approval from Danny.

Let me give you an example - Danny Williams has not been shy in condemning previous Liberal governments particularly the final 12 years of them. This included in large part the administration of Brian Tobin. The condemnation is aimed at fiscal mismanagement - the HOA scandal - and bad deals. He of course must include Brian Tobin in this. Tobin and Williams lieutenant Dean MacDonald have historically been very close. So MacDonald has to take the dump on his buddy to stay loyal to Williams - and so he does.

Back to the point - Williams weakness is profit versus society. Government is not a corporation it is leadership of the people for the people. Governments make choices that in the corporate world would not be made. That is because the government has a different mandate. The Corporate world does not have to focus on healthcare - transportation - unemployment - diversifying communities - social welfare - and education. They are the beneficiaries of these services that primarily are paid for by the people - not companies.

When Williams looks at developing a project he only sees profit - he does not factor in his societal obligations - or simply put - look at the big picture.

I will use 2 examples.

Fish

FPI has been the flagship company in our fishery and as taxpayers we were investors in that corporate experiment. The fishery is a common renewable resource of the people - not companies - we give them licence to harvest it. Sue's Blog just posted the latest financial results of FPI - and they are good - but they come at a high price - families and communities.

If we took the bottom line of FPI and said 2 million dollar profits a quarter are enough and the balance will come from working families and sustained or growing communities. This is good policy for society. There are corporations and business people who can survive and be happy with 2 million instead of 6 million a quarter - but they are not publicly traded and they are not headed up by owners who maximise profit despite the cost to people.

This is where government should have stepped in - used it's legislative ability and either found a buyer willing to live with reduced "profit" or until then buy it out for the people. The cost to this province of FPI being chopped and bartered will be far greater than the investment we could have and should have made. The lost population - destroyed communities - reduced transfers - reduced equalization - lost small business enterprises - will be extremely costly to all of us. It will however be great for former and present FPI shareholders.

The second example is that of the Lower Churchill development. Williams is on a path where maximum "dollars" not benefits will rule the project. This is where our Premier is weak and Ontario and Quebec Premiers are strong. They see the big picture - they know that using clean renewable cost effective hydro for industrial development is better than maximising dollars. They know that employment - retention of young graduates - community and population growth brings with it far greater benefits than a wholesale ridding of significant natural resources. They know that - on balance - choosing to use superior energy like hydro versus dumping it to other jurisdictions will guarantee the survival of their provinces.

Let's say we get maximum price for the wholesale of our power - we get money - where will that money go? We will lose thousands of jobs to Ontario or the Maritimes where the power will be used. We will continue to lose people following those jobs west. After the project is built - then what? What employment will have been created for the long-term? We will be left with an aging population - net outmigration - loss of educated youth - and basically a large retirement home. The money we make from the wholesale of our power won't keep up with the increase in healthcare requirements - or the aging infrastructure.

The policy of exporting wholesale hydro power - in a day of environmental changes - soaring fossil fuel prices - and industrial growth - is to say it mildly - stupid. It would be intelligent only if the the seller was a publicly traded corporation or entrepreneur who had minimal to no responsibility for society. If the bottom line was profits simply returned to shareholders without any responsibility to provide public healthcare - transportation - and education.

Williams can't see the big picture - and in that regard - you will not benefit from his strengths unless you are already a multi-millionaire with money to invest in wholesale power projects.

When you run a government not a corporation - personalities should not be the issue -societal vision should be. The way Williams tries to marginalize and shut-up critics is a hangover from being the boss - unfortunately this does not make a statesmen or a good Premier and it will not serve our people well.

If we export this power - we are condemning ourselves to stagnation - loss - and eventually death. The headline in 40 years - Newfoundland and Labrador dies as a result of self-inflicted wounds.

We are running out of time - Williams will win the next government - and that in large part will be because the NDP is proving itself irrelevant and the Liberals in their silence and lack of an original idea or vision are essentially saying vote for Danny. Walter Noel - John Efford - Roger Grimes - Norm Whelan - Danny Dumeresque - Judy Foote - Gerry Reid and others must let go and let the party rebuild - else the party gives Williams a pass to make the biggest mistake in our history.