Rex Murphy - 2 saviors - Williams and Alberta

Everybody needs to make a buck right? I guess we all decide at one point or another if the activity of making that buck just goes too far for our stomachs.

I am sick of Rex Murphy - the native "Newfoundlander" (as you all know he constantly leaves off Labrador in the name of our province) pontificating his views so vigorously so as to leave one believing it's fact.

As you likely know Rex Murphy and other CBC resplendent mouths have caused a bit of a stir lately regarding their speech junkets. Murphy has been called out for appearances in front of the oil and gas elite. 

Two things Rex wants you to know.

1. Alberta saved us, and
2. Danny corrected the wrongs of the Upper Churchill

Rex would have other Canadians believe that when our fish crisis hit in the early 1990's - it was Alberta that kept us from hundreds of divorces, thousands of bankruptcies, and a population headed for complete annihilation. He thanked Alberta on our behalf.

First of all Rex - you should concentrate on the Newfoundland and Labrador shaft - wherein the entity responsible for fisheries management failed and our people took a direct hit from that mismanagement. Ottawa - Rex - was the bankrupt, Ottawa - owes this province billions of dollars, and Ottawa - Rex should be raked over your coals for this colossal failure. Yes Rex - tens of thousands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians lost their livelihoods and dozens of communities failed outright. Yes Rex - it is comparable to Ontario losing 600,000 jobs overnight - however the federal response was so different.

Ontario was in peril - about to lose their bread and butter automotive sector - through no fault of the federal government and through great fault of the private sector - but Ottawa responded and continues to respond to any fart going sideways in Toronto.

The fishery - Rex was a direct responsibility of the federal government - and they failed. The consequence of that has been catastrophic to our province - yet Ottawa continues to deny its responsibility - a constitutional responsibility - and watch our province struggle to survive another confederate mess.

So - Rex - in speaking to the oil magnates of Alberta - first describes that the wonderful and professional conference environment is hardly what he found when he did his first speech in the Lion's Club of Joe Batt's Arm. Then he gets to the heartfelt - intellectually drooling - thanks to Alberta on behalf of all of us. Rex can't stop his adoration of Alberta for saving Newfoundland and Labrador, thousands of our people and thousand of our families. My God - Rex thinks divorces would have been so frequent as to shatter the idea of marriage if we were not saved from by Alberta.

The solution to our fisheries crisis should have been found in our province. The billions should have kept coming from Ottawa until the stocks recovered. Our fishermen/women and plant workers should never have had to leave home to seek gainful employment. The billions we lose every year - as a result of Ottawa's mismanagement should be replaced by Ottawa. Our fishermen/women and plant workers could have been employed using the compensation money that should still be flowing from the feds.

Rex - many of our families have been destroyed BECAUSE they had to leave this province to find work. Families were torn apart, communities devastated, and seniors left without a relative to enjoy.

Alberta certainly gained from our loss. They had access to thousands of skilled tradespeople and workers - that they needed at the time for their booming industry. They got our population - not our seniors - but young men and women and families to build their energy sector. They gained - we lost and continue to lose. Yes many of our people travel back and forth - but many others and their children (now adults) have stayed and increase the population of that province. They have now made Alberta home - generations of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians gone.

On another occasion - actually it was when Danny Williams resigned as Premier - Rex joined the CBC's national panel to give his two cents worth on the departure. He agreed with Mansbridge that Danny was a fighter. Rex went on to say - that Williams came in - "in the wake of the closure of the fisheries" and with the Emera term sheet "corrected a 50 year grievance that's gnawed at the hearts of Newfoundlanders since the day that Smallwood signed the Upper Churchill" and further described the Williams agenda as limited but large "the offshore - the revenues - fix all the bad deals".

This verbal nonsense leaves Canada with an impression that is not real. The 50 year grievance has not been resolved - and further the deal Williams cut makes Newfoundlanders and Labradorians pay billions of dollars to go around Quebec and this time benefit Nova Scotia. Meanwhile of course - discussions are always on with Quebec and Williams did not eliminate them from the equation. There is Gull Island.

And this question Rex - what did the great "fighter" Danny Williams do to right the wrongs of the fishery?

If Murphy wants to impress the oil elite in Calgary or share a studio with Mansbridge - he should do it talking about something he knows something about - like Toronto. All Murphy has done here is perpetuate the myth that Newfoundland and Labrador is a welfare state relegated to thanking others for survival. 

Please take the time and listen to Rex:

Talk about Alberta saving Newfoundland and Labrador - PRESS HERE
Talk about Danny Williams saving Newfoundland and Labrador - PRESS HERE

Why Chantal Hebert said of Harper "many voters...be wary of....promises..."

 From the CBC

Members of the Nova Scotia legislature voted unanimously Thursday in favor of a resolution condemning Stephen Harper, the leader of the Canadian Alliance.

The resolution was in response to Harper's comments that there is a "defeatist attitude" in Atlantic Canada.

"There is a dependence in the region that breeds a culture of defeatism," the Opposition leader said Wednesday following question period in the House. 

From the National Post

Williams, who has launched an “Anything-but-Conservative” campaign to defeat Harper’s MPs, warned Canadians of “dire consequences” if they give the Conservative leader a majority government.

“I beg you and plead with you today to stop and think and decide if that is what this country deserves,” Williams told a group of business leaders in a televised address in St. John’s, N.L. “If you believe this country deserves better, then you know what to do — it’s as easy as ABC.”

From the CBC

Harper promised compensation 'in error,' minister says
Prentice now says his party made a mistake and didn't have all the facts when it made the original commitment. That means the court-approved settlement deal that would pay some 80,000 former residential school students an average of about $25,000 each won't apply.

From The Star and Chantal Hebert

How much is Stephen Harper's word worth? In the wake of the Prime Minister's stunning reversal on income trusts this week, many voters will understandably be wary of taking anything he promises at face value in the future. After all, it is the second time in less than a year that Harper broke his word in a spectacular fashion.

From the CBC in 2008

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he won't be breaking his promise to Canadians if he calls an election this fall, a year ahead of the fixed date set by his own government.