Kathy Dunderdale is not the Premier Newfoundland and Labrador needs at this time in our history. With a new Conservative majority in Ottawa announcing major cuts to program spending - we need strength and determination to hold on to the little bit of the Ottawa pie we have.
This is just one reason for Dunderdale to step aside or be ousted by the electorate. From a provincial perspective the important files are the Muskrat Falls proposed deal, the fishery, pensions, loss of resource related industries, rural development, health, small business, and transportation.
Dunderdale receives a failing grade on the following:
Muskrat Falls - The deal is not good for the province and particularly bad for Labrador. While power prices will soar on the Island portion to pay for Nova Scotians and others to achieve lower or stable power rates - it is once again being exported out of the Big Land without any industrial usage and without achieving renewable hydro power for many areas of Labrador. This coupled with the fact that Dunderdale will not debate this deal despite the fact that she is an unelected Premier. When in Opposition she along with her colleagues stated that unelected Premiers must not make significant resource deals and that every detail of negotiations and the deal must be made public. If Dunderdale is permitted - by the electorate - to carry on - this deal will be the worst in our history and will destroy the future of several generations.
The Fishery - Dunderdale is doing nothing to protect this essential renewable resource and less to ensure that rural communities and their people are able to continue the employment associated with it. This is a critical resource that has been continuously neglected by the Government of Canada and the provincial government has done nothing to hold the feds feet to the fire. The losses to our economy are close to a billion a year. Further it has placed more pressure on shellfish stocks as fishermen try to hang on to some employment. The Premier and her Cabinet are absolutely ignoring the injustice and resulting economic catastrophe - this mismanagement has caused. Dunderdale is ignoring past commitments of Harper, Hearn and unelected Senator Manning - to take custodial control of the nose and tail of the Grand Banks. They are also ignoring the current goings on regarding the Comprehensive European Trade Agreement - once again turning OUR fishery over to foreigners.
Dunderdale and Cabinet continue to ignore the plight of public service pensioners in our province. Sue's Blog has stated in the past the policy of the PC government on this issue amounts to waiting for people to die. These MHA's with lucrative and in many cases unearned (quality of work and results) salaries - also enjoy the benefit of a pension after very few years of employment. Simply put - they don't give a damn that seniors who spent a career in public service are living below the poverty line and really do have to make choices between heat and food. If allowed the Dunderdale government will cause electrical bills to simply become unaffordable period.
Industrial development is simply non-existent under Dunderdale's term as Cabinet Minister and now Premier. Newfoundland and Labrador has suffered the loss of two paper mills and the jobs that went with them. The continued losses in the processing sector of the fishery continues to destroy rural communities and continues to drive population to other provinces to find work. If Dunderdale continues her obsession to export all the clean renewable hydro out of Labrador - our people will follow the power to industry in Nova Scotia and other maritime jurisdictions.
Rural development unfortunately is an oxymoron under the Dunderdale administration. Our Premier and her caucus continue to hide from the obvious - our rural communities are suffering death by a thousand cuts. The creeping normalcy; the way a major negative change, which happens slowly in many unnoticed increments, is not perceived as objectionable. One loss at a time - in a manner that suits the social experiment being conducted by Dr. Doug House - since the Wells administration. The underfunded tourism initiatives which sees Newfoundland and Labrador come second to Anne of Green Gables in PEI. The erosion of our transportation assets - the highways and roads, the airline service particularly between Newfoundland and Labrador. The Marine Atlantic service - always a deterrent to cross over from Nova Scotia - and yet another failure by our provincial government as they "take on" the feds. The cosy picture of Harper and Dunderdale highlighted again on the Fighting Newfoundlander blog.
Sue's Blog will continue with the list in the next week or so - as we crawl toward October. The BBQ's have started and the hand-shaking, back-slapping, reconnection with the voters has returned. This Premier and her government must go - it's a choice between them or us (the people of Newfoundland and Labrador). I choose the latter. What's your take?
1 comment:
I agree with you Sue, this current regime has to be defeated in the next election. I was a Tory supporter since I was a kid when I went to a Frank Moores rally in Clarenville before he was elected. Not supporting them anymore. They crow like roosters about all the things they have done since coming into government but it was just a stroke of luck that the revenue poured into treasury after their first year. A few outbursts by Danny with the feds hardly makes up for what was lost and what was ignored by them. If I had my way we'd all march with torches in hand and drive them from the Confederation Building, down to the beaches and cast them off unto the seas on rafts.
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