Cathy -They Don't Appoint Liberals

Cathy Bennett has two significant messages for us.

1. I am a Liberal - Always been a Liberal - Will always be a Liberal.

2. I am the leader who can bring the Liberal Party together.

Let's examine these:

Williams and Dunderdale do not appoint Liberals.

In fact many of the Liberal and NDP complaints revolve around the extreme partisanship of this government.

Our agencies and Crown Corporations are run and managed by well known Tories such as Len Simms and Glenn Tobin.

The halls of Confederation building are traversed by many lifelong Tories and their families.

So partisan is this government that serving a community breakfast - if you are not a Tory - is a no no.

So how then can we possibly believe that this Tory partisan government appointed to the top position of Nalcor - a lifelong Liberal? How can we reasonably believe that the top priority - massive spending - key Muskrat deal would be under the hand of a lifelong Liberal?

For me this is not possible. I must go with the balance of probabilities - that is Cathy Bennett did in fact through contribution and action demonstrate that she was a loyal PC.

As for the second claim of bringing the Liberals together - I can only say that with her unmovable stance on Muskrat Falls and her longstanding Tory connections - that she would have the most difficult time in bringing Liberals together. One only needs to watch and listen to Liberals after they have observed her in a debate to know that electing her leader would be more divisive than the Efford Grimes fight.

To accept this candidacy as anything more than special interests protecting special projects is too much of a stretch for me. I guess it's up to the other candidates to expose this for what it is. Kissy Kissy Lovey Lovey - we are all Liberals chant - will not cut it for this circumstance.

Petitions to go Archaic in the House of BlackBerry's

I thought it not possible to become worse - the behavior of our Members in the People's House - but worse it has become.

In order to comfort the growing anxiety of one Minister of Natural Resources - Speaker Ross is going to change the standards for petitions.

I will post the Hansard of his diatribe as soon as it's released. That may change too - and perhaps taping of the House will stop and all will have to be done in shorthand.

Wiseman decided that photocopies are not real tradition - originals are the way to go. He preached about copying machines not even available when petitions started in the 1920's-30's. Poor old James Watt - when he thought he had a great idea in 1770's.

In either case the nonsense of the petitions continues and now the Tories want to make it more difficult for people to be heard. More complicated and archaic unlike let's say this:

The Hansard in March of 1991

MR. TOBIN: Mr. Speaker, I have a petition I would like to present on behalf of approximately 400 parents of the Marystown Central High School. The petition is part of approximately 2,000 or 3,000 I have presented so far in the House, and I think I have something like ten or twelve more petitions I will be presenting over the coming days.

This petition says, `We are concerned about the serious damage which will be done to the education of our children in the community if there are any cutbacks in education funding. We are especially opposed to funding cutbacks which will affect the Marystown Central High School by reducing staff, making it impossible to increase staffing if required, creating class sizes so large that students cannot learn, reducing or eliminating remedial guidance and library services, making it impossible for the school board to fund new programs and facilities. Decreased funding for education at this time would undo the real progress of recent years and seriously harm the future of individual persons of our Province. We now ask our Government not to impose funding cutbacks on the education of our children.'

Mr. Speaker, I see the Minister of Education looking somewhat bewildered by the prayer of the petition. I do not know why.

That would have been Glenn Tobin who's petitions eventually landed him as boss of the Liquor Corporation.

Now the Tories want a change. Tradition - authenticity- that's what they're after.

All this while they TWEET in the House of Assembly from a BlackBerry.

What an absolute embarrassment they are - these Tory puppets. On high we shall preach that which we do not follow.