Sue's Blog

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

Bond (Ed) Bond hits the nail right on the head of Bennett

The Sir Robert Bond Papers seems to have best summed up what to expect from Cathy Bennett if she became leader of any political party.

In his "Politics of Fashion" post Mr. Hollett talks about pollster Don Mills and his chat with the Board of Trade. Please see the excerpt below or keep it all in context by reading the complete post HERE

"...The provincial government started focussing on things like the Lower Churchill,  squeezing more hand-outs from the federal government, and spending beyond what the public treasury could support.  One of the provincial Conservatives’ biggest supporters after was Don Mills. Right in line behind Mills was the St. John’s Board of Trade.  They cheered as the provincial government increased spending by incredible amounts.  As the government admitted starting in late 2009, what it was doing was what the public couldn’t afford.  Neither Mills nor the Board of Trade said a peep about it.
None of this is surprising.  The two go together.  CRA is the only pollster the local elite accepts and the Board of Trade reflects the views of the highly clique-ish local establishment.  Mills is on the Board of Trade’s agenda because he is fashionable, not because he is saying something provocative or even something the Board actually supports.  They don’t.  The Board actually supports unsustainable government spending because that’s what puts cash in its members pockets.." (emphasis added)

Mr. Hollett certainly does not hold anything back when talking about Mills or the Board of Trade and their support of unsustainable spending by government.

Mr. Hollett continues on by adding the following later in the post:

" The Board is like an arm of government. The Board is such a reflection of the official view of things that they won’t even give time at a luncheon for a representative of the Liberals or New Democrats to speak.  That sort of thing would be commonplace anywhere else but not in Newfoundland and Labrador since 2003." (emphasis added)

Well Mr. Hollett - I could not have said it better myself - however it was not only the Board of Trade and Don Mills who remained quiet while spending soared. You failed to mention one other; Cathy Bennett as the President of the Board of Trade in 2007.

This seems to differ greatly from Hollett's earlier post on Bennett's candidacy where he says:

"Bennett could prove to be the catalyst for a major change on the local political landscape.  She is a fresh face.  She offers potential."

Hard to match "fresh face" and "potential" with Hollett's earlier description of the Board of Trade and Don Mills since 2003. Hard to match "an arm of government" with catalyst for change. 

Many of us already believe that Ms. Bennett is an opportunist - but Mr. Hollett puts it so much more clearly.

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