For those of you who have not been in the House of Assembly for awhile - now might be the time to check on your employees.
I know many of you watch on television and see bits and pieces on the news but you need to sit in the public gallery.
When the House is televised you generally get a view of a person asking or answering a question. When you are in the House you get the full scope of the behavior.
The government members - who are your employees - would not last a day in any other workplace. They would be summarily dismissed and would soon not be hired by any employer.
The rancor of debate is normal and you might see that in a particularly feisty case in court but you would never see the rest of the behavior in any workplace.
As the government members stood on their feet last night you seen their face in the camera and you heard the words they were told to say. You would have listened to protestations of "we are only here to serve the people and do what's best for the people".
The people who were not on camera were laughing and giggling, making faces, showing pictures on their iPads, texting, reading the paper, moving from seat to seat, whispering and pointing to their employers in the gallery and generally attempting to bully anybody they could.
The job they were doing - passing legislation - was the furthest thing from their minds - in fact most - based on their commentary - knew nothing about the legislation they were passing, and less than that about the subject area and potential impacts.
Joan Burke's job apparently - apart from distributing candy for their late night party - is to constantly say kirby.com giggle giggle kirby.com hehehehe. Then when she had a spare moment she became Darin King's BFF and the two delighted in sliding their fingers across the iPad. At one point the Premier, Joan, Darin, and Charlene were holding their bellies with laughter. What were they laughing at? Well - just like bullies - they were whispering and pointing - using hand gestures - and trying their hardest to make somebody feel unwelcome or unimportant.
Tom Marshall's job appears to require a better chair - perhaps a La-Z-Boy - where he can really stretch out and disengage.
Kevin O'Brien was the man of the hour last night - sitting stoically next to the Minister of Health - as the two displayed ignorance I have never witnessed in my life time. The Opposition members both NDP and Liberal would say something and then Susan would lean her ear into Kevin and await the hasty explanations put forth from the guru of pharmacy. He kept looking into the gallery - to watch the responses from actual pharmacy owners as he mislead the camera and caucus colleagues.
Squeaking from the back bench was this obscure person - who seems desperate to want to make the starting line-up and acts like he would do anything to get there. He went so far as to put his own prescription requirements out for the public to assess - so be it.
Practically all of them felt comfortable in attacking people in the public gallery - knowing they were not allowed to respond. They pointed to the people in the gallery and called them names, attacked their character, belittled their accomplishments, and generally attempted to intimidate them. This was all under the protection of the rules of the House of Assembly.
Finally there are the muted head-bobbers - who as if they understood a pecking order - contributed nothing more than literally nodding their head up and down in approval for 10 hours.
Terry French and Clyde Jackman are an unfortunate duo - who have reduced themselves to making personal attacks on people who cannot respond; both are also competant campaigners who know how to praise enough people to keep them elected.
It is safe to say that Dale Kirby and Yvonne Jones are the MHA's who are targeted most on the floor - by government members who behave like bullies. You see the bullies cannot stand on brain power - they stand on intimidation by numbers.
These MHA's in the House of Assembly looked up to the public gallery and advised their employers what they should or should not do and what they are allowed and not allowed to do - as if they had the power to control them.
Make no mistake about the following conclusion. Democracy in Newfoundland and Labrador means that you elected the Dunderdale government and as such they believe you gave them absolute power to do as they wish - when they wish. The government will dictate what public discourse is appropriate - when and how many times - on all issues.
Their one line of debate is; they are elected. They were elected - in their view - to proceed unimpeded by any opposition - legislative or public and any interference to that by anybody will be met with the full force of their governmental power.
They feel free to advise legitimate corporate entities on who they should employ and who they should not. They feel free to instruct the number of times one might appear on a talk-show - before they determine it is unacceptable. They have no problem advising experts in one field or another that despite their expertise - it is the government that has the power and really facts or knowledge don't enter into it. They feel they have a right to dictate what a group can or cannot do to express their position to government. They feel free to tell business owners in Newfoundland and Labrador that the owners have no right to speak but they will negotiate with the companies employees. (more on this in a separate post)
Simply put - these are people who do not understand or do not care about a democratic process which is open and accountable. The people report to them - they do not answer to the people. The only time this government and its members will answer to the people is 12 hours every 4 years. The Ross Reid led strategic political plan - can be and should be likened to strategies employed in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosova, and the Ukraine. Ross spent much time moving these regions along - is it possible he learned more from them than he taught about political systems and the power of a government?
I add that many of the people I sat with in the public gallery until 1 o'clock last night and over the past two days - left - shaking their heads, disgusted, disappointed, and with a resolve to share what they experienced. Were they disappointed with a decision that impacted their business, their communities, and most importantly the people they serve? Yes - but that they can deal with that. What they will not accept are insults, mistreatment, disrespect, innuendo, and lies. In this the government made it's largest mistake.
P.S has MQO put out any "gratis" polls of late?
Over the next week or two I will be posting on the events in the House, the fallout, how you will be impacted, and the erroneous and/or false statements made by government members and Ministers.
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