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

Harper and Coleman eerily similar

Continuing from my post yesterday - the Conservative edge of politics both here and in Ottawa has adopted an arrogant dictatorial sharpness that is cutting the electorate patience to the core.

Harper has amped his manliness up by intellectually going after our Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice - Beverly McLachlin; a frontal lobe competition our Prime Minister will soon regret.

But really the most concerning, revealing, and consistent trait of Harper is his refusal to communicate; at least in a way that is normal for a mature democracy.

At the basic core of this fellow is a stereo-typical troglodyte - a being so caught up in self-preservation that he appears paranoid. With his basic refusal to accept some science as real - he may easily believe that Mansbridge, Soloman, Martin or any Ottawa journalist are the dinosaurs waiting to pounce.

Sadly - as Canadians - we have failed by generally treating the PM's dismissal of unfettered scrums or appearances on national network political programs - as normal. Harper's protective communication goons have effectively removed their boss from open media access. The man has also annihilated the First Minister's conference. Why meet openly with Canada's real leaders - the Premiers of the federation.

The PMO has become a term that we have become too familiar with - as it's not Harper who is responsible for the bad deeds. The PMO said this and that. Media now reports regularly on what the PMO says - not what the PM says. In this regard the media is failing in its duty to the people of our country. The photo-ops carefully planned and executed are dutifully reported by the Hill's men and women - who have otherwise been trained to probe and ask questions in an open environment.

So what does all this have to do with Frank Coleman? You should seriously consider that question and look at what we've been handed by the chosen one to date. The training of our media here has already begun.

Harper and Mansbridge the Christmas Message

Can't Wait

Tuning up the old violin here today as I await the Christmas/New Year fireside chat between overpaid Mansbridge and unwanted Harper.

The two - civil - casual - well coiffed pair will sip some coffee - put on a serious but welcoming face - and quietly discuss all the abhorrent behavior and lies of the Prime Minister.

You'll smell shortbread and turkey from your television as they oh so quietly tip-toe around the ghastly details. Elite to elite they will hypnotize you; Peter with his voice and Stephen with his blue eyes.

As Stephen quietly dismantles any thought that Duffy and Wright are not the only ones involved - Peter will toughen up and say but - but and then let the Prime Minister repeat the speaking notes.

Both men like who they are - no they love themselves - and certainly we must love them too. Peter - after all is the only newsman in the land that Stephen will address - minus the media police. Peter will be "free" to ask the tough already agreed to questions - and the Prime Minister will not refuse to answer with the already prepared responses.

The CBC - having lost hockey will rebound in spades - as they and only they will get the holiday visit.

The Prime Minister has been surrounded by corruption, incompetence, lies, and crooks - and he appointed them all. Peter is the patriarch of our public broadcasting system - slightly less popular than Don Cherry - but filled with grace and finesse.

Yes I'm looking forward to another year where Stephen Harper controls the media - while we the public do not get the direct answers - out of his mouth.

I wonder whose suits they will be wearing - and what colour ties. Think about it - the PM interviewing the PM - matching  monogrammed Towelettes?

So this year - we will once again - get to feast on a turkey and a ham.

Next year who knows - perhaps Rogers will get a 10 year exclusivity contract for chats with the Prime Minister.

Sack of Shit! CBC's Mansbridge drops the real ball!

Sack of Shit - Sack of Shit - Sack of Shit.

Attention Peter Mansbridge - Sue has sunk to a new low on her blog.

What kind of tripe was CBC's anchor getting on with last night - when he read, repeated, or uttered that Justin Trudeau was responsible for the House of Commons reaching a "new low" because he called Canada's Minister of "Environment" a sack of Shit.

What a joke that was - how much do we pay for Peter Mansbridge - I want to know? How much are we paying for that ridiculous nonsense?

Peter - I could care less who calls any MP a sack of shit - I am concerned that we pulled out of Kyoto.

That is the story - the only story.

As for the HOC reaching a new low - Mansbridge should check his memory. Bev ODA - that is a new low, or how about Peter MacKay and his fishing trip to Gander - that is a new low. How about election financing or that our Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a bold-faced liar?

Whatever Mansbridge was on - heightened morality - or pretense of Mr. Diplomacy - I don't want to pay for it. Tell me Peter what will the future of CBC look like with a continued Harper? Do you give a damn or do your retirement plans match with that of Michael Duffy?

Fuddle Duddle!