Time for the Premier to Go

Kathy Dunderdale is not the Premier Newfoundland and Labrador needs at this time in our history. With a new Conservative majority in Ottawa announcing major cuts to program spending - we need strength and determination to hold on to the little bit of the Ottawa pie we have.

This is just one reason for Dunderdale to step aside or be ousted by the electorate. From a provincial perspective the important files are the Muskrat Falls proposed deal, the fishery, pensions, loss of resource related industries, rural development, health, small business, and transportation.

Dunderdale receives a failing grade on the following:

Muskrat Falls - The deal is not good for the province and particularly bad for Labrador. While power prices will soar on the Island portion to pay for Nova Scotians and others to achieve lower or stable power rates - it is once again being exported out of the Big Land without any industrial usage and without achieving renewable hydro power for many areas of Labrador. This coupled with the fact that Dunderdale will not debate this deal despite the fact that she is an unelected Premier. When in Opposition she along with her colleagues stated that unelected Premiers must not make significant resource deals and that every detail of negotiations and the deal must be made public. If Dunderdale is permitted - by the electorate - to carry on - this deal will be the worst in our history and will destroy the future of several generations.

The Fishery - Dunderdale is doing nothing to protect this essential renewable resource and less to ensure that rural communities and their people are able to continue the employment associated with it. This is a critical resource that has been continuously neglected by the Government of Canada and the provincial government has done nothing to hold the feds feet to the fire. The losses to our economy are close to a billion a year. Further it has placed more pressure on shellfish stocks as fishermen try to hang on to some employment. The Premier and her Cabinet are absolutely ignoring the injustice and resulting economic catastrophe - this mismanagement has caused. Dunderdale is ignoring past commitments of Harper, Hearn and unelected Senator Manning - to take custodial control of the nose and tail of the Grand Banks. They are also ignoring the current goings on regarding the Comprehensive European Trade Agreement - once again turning OUR fishery over to foreigners.

Dunderdale and Cabinet continue to ignore the plight of public service pensioners in our province. Sue's Blog has stated in the past the policy of the PC government on this issue amounts to waiting for people to die. These MHA's with lucrative and in many cases unearned (quality of work and results) salaries - also enjoy the benefit of a pension after very few years of employment. Simply put - they don't give a damn that seniors who spent a career in public service are living below the poverty line and really do have to make choices between heat and food. If allowed the Dunderdale government will cause electrical bills to simply become unaffordable period.

Industrial development is simply non-existent under Dunderdale's term as Cabinet Minister and now Premier. Newfoundland and Labrador has suffered the loss of two paper mills and the jobs that went with them. The continued losses in the processing sector of the fishery continues to destroy rural communities and continues to drive population to other provinces to find work. If Dunderdale continues her obsession to export all the clean renewable hydro out of Labrador - our people will follow the power to industry in Nova Scotia and other maritime jurisdictions.

Rural development unfortunately is an oxymoron under the Dunderdale administration. Our Premier and her caucus continue to hide from the obvious - our rural communities are suffering death by a thousand cuts. The creeping normalcy; the way a major negative change, which happens slowly in many unnoticed increments, is not perceived as objectionable. One loss at a time - in a manner that suits the social experiment being conducted by Dr. Doug House - since the Wells administration. The underfunded tourism initiatives which sees Newfoundland and Labrador come second to Anne of Green Gables in PEI. The erosion of our transportation assets - the highways and roads, the airline service particularly between Newfoundland and Labrador. The Marine Atlantic service - always a deterrent to cross over from Nova Scotia - and yet another failure by our provincial government as they "take on" the feds. The cosy picture of Harper and Dunderdale  highlighted again on the Fighting Newfoundlander blog.

Sue's Blog will continue with the list in the next week or so - as we crawl toward October. The BBQ's have started and the hand-shaking, back-slapping, reconnection with the voters has returned. This Premier and her government must go - it's a choice between them or us (the people of Newfoundland and Labrador). I choose the latter. What's your take?

Ship Building may take big hit - if ship owners get their way!!!

Wake-up Politicians - Canada may kill our ship building sector before we launch...

Our important but still relatively small ship building sector may be in for a major setback if Canadian ship owners get their way.

Canada is currently in free trade talks with some European Nations and South Korea - proposals on the table include the elimination of the 25% tariff places on foreign vessels sold into our market.

Canadian flagged ship-owners are claiming that Canadian shipyards can't deliver the vessels they need - and even with the 25% tariff the foreign built vessels are still cheaper.

First - Canada's ship building policy has not been the greatest and in Newfoundland and Labrador anything we do have - has failed miserably. We get very little in the way of federal contracts - in fact it's hard to keep our own work here. For Marystown and other potentials in the province would be severely if not irreparably harmed if this tariff was removed.

We are just now thinking ships - and being where we are - geographically - the right investments could make this sector boom in the future.

If the Tories scrap the tariff for Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein - we will not have the opportunity to start let alone survive.

The Canadian Shipowners Association is willing to let the 25% remain on refit on foreign turf but they want the building out.

I wonder - with so much future potential at stake - are we "all over this". The bigger more established yards in Canada may survive the hit - Newfoundland and Labrador will be blown out of the water before we even launch.

Although military contracts are not included in the proposal - all civilian work would be.