2004-11-07

Banking on itNewfoundlanders had $500 million in Canadian banks in 1949, money they may have lost if Newfoundland didn’t join Canada

By Stephanie PorterThe Independent

It may have been “galling” at thetime, but in the years leading up toConfederation, Newfoundlanders

deposited hundreds of millions of dol-lars in Canadian-owned banks.

Those bank branches, though locatedon Newfoundland soil, had Canadianemployees, and — of bigger impact tothe economy — sent most of their prof-its and investments straight back toCanada.

Canadian banks were first given theright to set up in Newfoundland afterthe local bank failure of the 1890s. Atleast four major Canadian banks movedinto St. John’s, including the Bank ofNova Scotia and the Bank of Montreal.They were, in short order, in charge of

most savings accounts held by New-foundlanders, to the tune of an estimat-ed $500 million.

Newfoundlanders of the time didnotice — but had little alternative.

G.S. Watts, an employee of the Bankof Canada in Ottawa, travelled to New-foundland in 1943 to investigate“exchange control.”

“The whole system of having theirfinances under Canadian control mustbe, and is, galling to (Newfoundlan-ders), yet the banks have been there solong that they have come to be accept-ed without much question,” Watts wrotein his final report.

“… every Newfoundlander whoretains hope of a political future shouldself-government be restored, seems tofeel obliged to harangue against theCanadian banks periodically … that

only a fraction of the Newfoundlan-ders’ deposits are invested at home andthat their assets have been drained offfor investment elsewhere.”

But, he continues, those who com-plain are “the first to admit privatelythat they could not get along without theCanadian banks.”

With such profits coming in, the Bankof Canada would have been reluctant toget along without Newfoundland.

“Particularly,” writes Watts, “aftersuch heavy sales of U.S. exchange tous” — the American money Newfound-landers earned, deposited, andexchanged, was quite profitable for theCanadian Banks, given the federal gov-ernment had loans from the U.S. to bepaid down.

‘Who is subsidizing who?’Economist estimates province gives Canada much more than it receives

By Jeff DucharmeThe Independent

AToronto economist with theCanadian Auto Workers’ unionsays Newfoundland and

Labrador subsidizes the rest of thecountry to the tune of billions of dollarsa year through out-migration andimports.

A 1998 report by economist Jim Stan-ford found that without Newfoundlandand Labrador, the rest of the countrywould suffer a trade loss of more than$3 billion. Those calculations are basedon 1996 statistics.

“So who is subsidizing who?” Stan-ford asks in the report.

The report found the province con-tributes $2 billion per year in total fed-eral tax revenues. On the world stage,the province imports $1 billion more ingoods than it exports, further contribut-ing to the national economic picture.

Stanford calls the loss of skilled,healthy workers to the rest of the coun-try the “most valuable,” but also themost “tragic” contribution to the rest ofCanada. He estimates the yearly subsidyin workers relocating to the mainlandstands at $11 billion, almost four timeshigher than annual transfer paymentsfrom the federal government. Stanfordbased his findings on an average salaryof $31,000.

“Outmigration has been a boon and asubsidy for the mainland economy, butthere’s no doubt it’s made things more

difficult for Newfoundlanders that areleft behind,” Stanford tells The Indepen-dent.

“The economic relationship betweenNewfoundland and the rest of the coun-try is not a one-way street,” says Stan-ford. “Newfoundland contributes a greatdeal to the national economy and it ben-efits a great deal by being part of thenational economy, but there are twosides in that relationship and that runsagainst the stereotype that is often

described in the national media.”According to Stanford, between 1994

and 1996, federal transfers fell by morethan $725 million. A similar cut toOntario would have equaled more than$23 billion.

“I know in some parts of the mainland there’s kind of a sense of supe-riority and maybe a sense that they’resubsidizing other poorer provinces too

VOL. 2 ISSUE 45 ST. JOHN’S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7-13, 2004 WWW.THEINDEPENDENT.CA $1.00 (INCLUDING HST)

BUSINESSStephen Harper would goto the polls over Accord

5

NEWSFormer premier FrankMoores opens up

Page 7

SPORTSThe bidding war over theQMJHL franchise

Page 26

QuoteOF THEWeek


Since Confederation, Newfoundland and Labrador haspaid $3.4 billion more to Ottawa in taxes than Ottawahas sent to this province in transfer payments and per-

sonal benefits, according to research conducted by The Inde-pendent.

Far from being an economic basket case, Cana-da’s so-called “poorest province” has contributedan estimated $67.1 billion to federal coffers since1949 by way of personal income, corporate, retailand excise taxes.

The Canadian government has, in those sameyears, allotted $63.9 billion to Newfoundland andLabrador in equalization, health and social transfers, cost-sharedprograms, pensions, family allowance and other transfers.

The Independent’s research was completed as part of its six-part series investigating the costs and benefits of Confederation,using information from research papers, newspapers, provincialbudgets, Statistics Canada and other government sources. Whereinformation was not available, conservative estimates weremade.

In the decade before joining Canada, Newfoundland enjoyedrecord prosperity, marking a surplus, year over year, throughoutthe 1940s. That all changed in 1949, with new taxes, benefits,and expenditures. In 1957, when the equalization program offi-cially began, Newfoundland was declared a recipient — ahave-not province.

There it has remained since — though, according to the num-bers above — the disparities are not what many have been ledto believe.

Along with the figures came observations that the relation-ship between the governments of Canada and Newfoundlandand Labrador, particularly when it comes to issues of economy,

has always been marked by frustration. Whenever this provincesaw opportunity, some feel it was resisted, or ignored, byOttawa.

“What I’m absolutely certain of is that we’re treated like anannoyance by the federal government,” says Conservative MPNorm Doyle.

“We’re treated like a pain to be tolerated. The federal gov-ernment and the prime minister seem to have no respect or sym-pathy for the difficulties that we have to deal with in Newfound-land and Labrador.”

John Collins, who was provincial Finance minister underBrian Peckford in the 1980s, had similar experiences.

“We never did get the support that we shouldhave for our case,” Collins tells The Independent.“The upper Churchill was a real blow to us. We did-n’t get any help. We should have developed thelower Churchill by this time, but there’s been verylittle attention paid to that. Out in Manitoba, they’vehad a lot of help in developing their hydro poten-

tial … we’re not getting the same type of assistance.“And fish, we could see they were under too much stress —

we struggled heavily with the federal government, who con-trolled the thing, but we never got to first base with it.

“We have very little clout upalong … it’s not that they’remalicious or anything. But we’re a small province, we havesmall representation up there, and we just don’t weigh in thebalance very much in Ottawa.”

Premier Danny Williams and the current provincial govern-ment may be discovering this all over again, as the debate overchanges to the Atlantic Accord continues to rage. The provincewants 100 per cent of offshore oil revenues, no conditionsattached; the federal government’s proposal includes a cap anda time limit.

What Williams sees as a chance for Newfoundland andLabrador to finally vault into have status is, he charges, beingsubjected to conditions that will, once again, cool off theprovince’s economic engines.

Continued on page 21

Paul Daly/The Independent

“There was neverenough money to dowhat had to be done,

and never anything onthe horizon that would

show us the way.”— Frank Moores

on his time as premier


Newfoundland and Labrador has lost an estimated 60,000 people over the past 10 years.The impact on equalization and transfer payments has been pegged at $1 billion.

Continued on page 6

FINDING THE

BALANCECost benefit analysis

of ConfederationForth in a six-part series

COST/ BENEFIT SUMMARY

SEGMENT

Oil & Gas $6.1B $1.12B

Transportation ($7.7B) $0

Fisheries $15.2B $3.3B

Fiscal Transfers $3.4B ($3.4B)

Running Total $17B $1B

Please see detailed breakdown, page 2

Next week’s topic: natural resources

As of Mar/10 As of Mar/10

The above bank notes are from pre-Confederation Newfoundland. The bills, especially the $10 note, are extremely rare andvaluable. The notes are kept at the Provincial Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador in St. John’s.

Money matters‘To be tolerated’Newfoundland and Labrador pays more to Ottawa in taxes

than feds give back; mainland attitude towards province unfounded

Disparities between province and feds not what many believe

Continued on page 2

NEWS The Independent, November 7, 2004

THIS WEEK

In Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Business & Commerce . . . 15

International News . . . . . 20

Life & Times . . . . . . . . . . 21

Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . 24

‘The more we make, the more we pay out’

Frustrating the situation evenmore, this particular debatecomes at a time when theprovince may be on the verge ofexceeding its own fiscal projec-tions.

Finance Minister Loyola Sulli-van’s first budget this past Marchbrought discouraging news withthe province’s sixth consecutivedeficit.

At the time, he said this year’sfiscal outlook improved onlyslightly over last year with asmall cut in the deficit to $361.6million — still the largest pro-jected shortfall in the province’shistory. The reported red ink onthe accrual basis remained largeat $839.6 million.

Things have improved over theeight months since then. A newdeal with Ottawa on health-carefunding will mean an extra $30million. The price of oil isthrough the roof, which willtranslate into more revenue forthe province — particularly ifthe provincial government nego-tiates the changes to the AtlanticAccord it’s fighting for.

Sullivan won’t give any hardnumbers, but he says theprovince is doing better, finan-cially, than expected. “There aresome positive bumps everyonewas aware of,” Sullivan tells TheIndependent. “We’re not justgoing to meet our target — we’llexceed it.”

He expects to release a revisedfinancial statement by month’send. An improved deficit posi-tion won’t mean a break when itcomes to the 4,000 job cutsexpected over the next fouryears.

“If every time you had a sav-ings you said ‘We’ll keep anoth-er job’ … you’ll never change.There has to be systemic changesmade.”

Provincial NDPleader Jack Harrissays, in terms of theprovince’s fiscalposition, “we’re notas desperate as theTories make us outto be, but we have asignificant structural deficit thatwe do have to address.”

Speaking from the experienceof more than a decade in federaland provincial politics, Harrissays the province has seen a “sig-nificant (fiscal) improvementover the past 10 years … we’re

getting less equalization than wewere 10 years ago, and equaliza-tion payments are a smaller per-centage (of revenue) than theywere.”

Equalization, Harris continues,is just one of many federal pro-grams through which funds areallocated to provinces — thoughone Newfoundland benefits sub-stantially from.

“There are lots of other feder-al programs that Newfoundlandgets very little benefit from —those that support the auto indus-try in Ontario, for example.”

He points out that while thepublic and politicians in Ontariomay have little interest in dis-cussing equalization reforms,they would be most excitedabout other funding programs —a mass transportation initiative,for example.

“Most money is spent in a cen-tralized fashion,” he says. “Forexample, we have the lowestnumber of federal governmentemployees per capita.”

According to numbers com-piled by The Independent, thereare 268,000 federal governmentemployees in the country today.About 4,400, or 1.5 per cent, ofthem are located in this province(146,142, or 55 per cent work inOntario and the nearby Gatineauregion of Quebec).

Of 50 Crown corporationsoperating in Canada today, noneare located in Newfoundland andLabrador (33 are inOntario/Gatineau).

Neil Windsor, who held sever-al cabinet positions through the’80s, including Finance, says oneof his biggest frustrations of histime in provincial politics was“so many programs are designedas national programs, and thefeds try to deliver those programsin a comparable way.

“They have to realize thatCanada is not thesame. What worksin downtownToronto does notwork in BaieVerte.”

He says theprovince was hav-ing a “very difficult

time financially. We faced a hugedebt, which we still have; it wasgetting worse and worse. We hadgone through a number of yearsof cutbacks … we made toughdecisions.”

Windsor now lives and worksin Alberta (“a very positive envi-

ronment to work and live in”)and sees, daily, what a healthy oileconomy can mean.

“Canadians are not going tobe all equal; it’s not going tohappen. If you have more richesin the province, there will bemore riches to pass around … theproblem in Newfoundland is themore we make, the more we payout.”

BETTER DEALWindsor says it is not just Pre-

mier Williams’ right, but hisresponsibility, to do everythinghe can to get a better deal for theprovince.

Fellow former minister offinance John Collins agrees. “I

hope the federal government willtake a more enlightened viewthan they have in the past.” Butwhile he admits “Newfoundlandhas great needs,” it also hasmuch strength.

“…I think many times theNewfoundland people them-selves forget that.”

On June 11, 1981, then-pre-mier Peckford stated, in a publicspeech: “Newfoundland makes asignificant contribution to therest of the country … and thereis absolutely no reason for us tofeel we are living off the rest ofCanada and hence, that we can-not assert our views on majorissues.

“There is no doubt we receive

significant benefits from being aprovince of Canada — in 1979we received about $1.6 billionfrom the federal government.But we did not receive it free.

“We paid about $600 milliondirectly back to the federal gov-ernment in taxes and the like. Wepaid another $800 million to theresidents of Quebec in econom-ic rent through the upperChurchill contract. We paidanother $200 million-plus toCanadian manufacturers produc-ing behind the tariff wall, few, ifany, of which are located inNewfoundland.

“… overall, we contributedjust as much, if not more, to therest of Canada as we received.”

From page 1

Paul Daly/The IndependentJohn Collins, former provincial finance minister.

“What works in downtown Toronto

does not work in Baie Verte.”

Sue Dyer is a researcher andanalyst collaborating with TheIndependent on Finding TheBalance, the paper’s six-partseries.

Chart by Sue Dyer for The Independent

The Independent, November 7, 2004 NEWS

“Go right ahead,” said PierreElliot Trudeau. “Runalong. And the best of

British luck to you.”PET was here on an election swing.

His visit coincided with one of thoseregular 10-year skin rashes about New-foundland separatism. Some localreporter had asked what he thought ofit.

His Eminence made a Newfie jokeof the idea that this province shouldpresume to practice Quebec-styleextortion on Ottawa.

Yet each decade or so the notion ofNewfoundland “independence” contin-ues to erupt.

Maybe “erupts” is much too strong aterm. It drones from barstools, nattersover university coffee cups and, if themoon is in the right quarter, it mayeven get quasi-official blessing fromConfederation Building.

SILLY MOUSEIt’s hard to know whether to pity or

laugh at Trudeau’s silly mouse thatoccasionally roars.

Especially if you’re in that mouse’sskin.

Suicide is generally considered to beimmoral. Newfoundland’s situation inthe Canadian federation sometimesseems like a form of self-destruction. Ifsomething is destroying you, yourfriends, family, community … shouldyou do less than squeak?

Here we are again in one of those10-year navel-gazing circles.

Danny Williams “storms out” of anOttawa meeting. Paul Martin sputtersand stutters. John Efford huffs andpuffs and pricks his finger for the CBCcameras.

Hey, Danny! Hi, Danny! Ho, Danny!

roars all the mob in glee.But let us not be too hasty.Surely we’ve learned by this time

that one of those great big “storm outs”has got to be rounded off by a prettyhefty “or else.”

And we must be ready to have ourbluff called. Otherwise, they’ll simplypee down our mousehole once more.

However, there hasbeen no “or else” putforward by Danny W.The only “threat”we’ve heard so far isthat Premier Millionsmay go across Canadatalking up our case.Well, gag me with acaplin … I can’t see theprairies or Ontarioaccepting Dan as theirpersonal saviour. Hali-fax, either, come tothat.

What’s really at thebottom of all this latesthoo ha?

No doubt about it, Newfoundlandhas been royally rooked once againover that offshore oil deal.

But what’s the plan, Dan?Where’s your “or else?” Should we

all fall to the floor, kick our legs andhold our breath until we’re blue in theface? It’s all been done before.

Perhaps this angle may be helpful: ifyou voted for Danny Williams you

voted for George W. Bush.Bushism snuck into Canada up

through the fundament of Albertawhere it has fomented and festered forlo these many years.

But it was confined to folk whodeserved it until Brian Mulroneydestroyed the Progressive Conserva-tive Party.

Yes, it was only a few short yearsago that Elsie Wayne and John Crosbiewere the only PCs left in captivity and,like the giant pandas, it proved devil-ishly hard to get them to breed.

So it was that Bushism burst like aboil from the confines of Alberta. Itwas called Reform. It was called The

Alliance. And, finally,this Canadian strain ofBushism absorbedwhat was left of theold Conservatives andbecame what it istoday.

It was honey-coatedfor the east. The fineold “values” of theoriginal PC partywould hold at bay thatgruesome sackful ofmedieval spite andavarice previouslyspouted by the likes ofStockwell Day. For the

sake of survival, even dear old stal-warts like John Crosbie scrinched uptheir eyes and went along.

But the infections of Bushism stillroil and divide and expand within the“Conservatives.” The holy terrors whocry death and destruction on abortion-ists, gays, pot smokers, USA-critics,labour unions, socialists, quiche-eatersand commie-lovers know they muststifle themselves until they can get

their hooks into real power. Bushism’sCanadian shadow grew longer thisweek.

So, like it or lump it, there we are.Last time to the well, a majority ofNewfoundlanders voted for DannyBush. Danny’s political bedfellow infederal politics is the shadow ministerof external affairs … Stockwell Day.

The Liberals … under Bushism, aterm hardly to be uttered without spit-ting … are now in a dingle-dangleminority in Ottawa.

CLOSER TO THE RIDDLEDoes all this bring us any closer to

the riddle of why Premier Williamsfeels that the Newfoundland mouse hasnow grown to the size at least of a pitbull or that it will profit us one fartfrom a baby’s backside to rant and roarand kick and bash?

Whatever slight grace and favour theLiberals (spitoo!) show us, would Pre-mier Williams’ own party, the shadowBushites, shower blessings on us ifthey come at last to power in Ottawa?

It is difficult to think so. It’ll be, takethe oil but let me live.

Because what Bushites want, theytake. What disagrees with them, theypunish. What obstructs them, theydestroy.

God and the Blessed St. Jude protectus, but if Premier Danny Williams putsa foot wrong here or bites off morethan he can chew or tries to blindfoldthe devil in the dark ... we may have toinvent some new nicknames for thepoor creature.

Like Saddam Williams, perhaps. OrDanny Hussein. Danny bin Liberal?

Ray Guy’s next column will appearDec. 5.

‘What’s the plan, Dan?’

Yes, it was only a few short years ago

that Elsie Wayne andJohn Crosbie were the only PCs left in

captivity and, like thegiant pandas, it proved

devilishly hard to get them to breed.

A Poke In The Eye

GUYRAY

Paul Daly/The IndependentPremier Danny Williams


Letters to the Editor

There was money in River-head, Harbour Grace in the1970s, at least for a few

hours on Sundays, when the richtownies made their wayaround the bay like theconquering heroes theywere.

“They’ve got money,”nodded the poor bay-men, out and about asthe fancy cars went by.Baymen heads followedthe townie cars over theroad, toward the churchand the school and Fishermen’sRoad in between.

New vehicles were a noveltythen, cars that weren’t sanded andprimed, at least in spots. Oldertrucks with homemade woodenflatbeds were the Chevettes of the’70s; if you didn’t own one, youknew someone who did.

New cars with new car smellsweren’t owned by the baymen whocrewed the boats or worked shifts atthe plant. Their cars were older andcheaper. They stank of fish, always,and grease from the toolbox,opened and at the ready on thebackseat floor.

Now and then a young buck bay-man, as they were called by moth-ers who weren’t theirs, would quitschool, get a job at the plant for somuch an hour (unlike the townies,who made so much a year), and buya new red or yellow Firebird or

Camero to park in front of St.Joseph’s.

If the young maids weren’timpressed with the ride and spin-

ning tires, they were usu-ally smitten with the snackpack from Mary Brown’s,dining on chicken andchips under a street lightas the outport world wentby.

The cars lasted until thepregnancy, when theywere parked at the end ofthe nearby causeway with

a for-sale sign on the dash (“magwheels included”), o.n.o. — ornearest offer … to what was stillowed to the Bank of Nova Scotia.

Townie kids always wore goodclothes out playing on Sundayswhen the salt meat and pease pud-ding boiled on the stove and theadults sat on the good couch in thefront room decorated with doiliesand pictures of the Sacred Heart.

The townie kids weren’t allowedto go far from the door of the hous-es they were dropping by. Theyweren’t allowed in the woods or bythe bog or on the beach in front ofthe Kyle, the once-famous steamergrounded off shore, because theymight get their good clothes dirtybefore Sunday dinner.

The baymen kids stuck by theirtownie cousins as the morningpassed; the fog (there was alwaysthat too) was shredded as the wind

picked up, and the smell of Sundaydinner wafted from all directions.

Mass was always held on Sundaymornings but most of the kids wenton Saturday evening, which satis-fied the parents in terms of spiritu-al fill-up. Townie and baymen kidsalike watched the men sneak out ofchurch just after communion tolight a smoke on the steps.

Soon enough the main flockwould depart and drive off in theirtrucks with homemade woodenflatbeds, staring at the townie kidsstanding, primmed and pressed,near the new cars with the new carsmells. “They thinks they’re some-thin’ special.”

Soon enough the calls would ringout to come home for dinner and thestreet would clear of kids for anhour or two. The only sound wouldbe the flap of clothes on the back-yard lines, the bark of a lonely dogand cars crossing the causeway.

Riverhead and outport towns likeit have changed since the 1970s.The smile that is main street is miss-ing teeth. The fish plant furtherdown the harbour closed years ago.Hundreds of jobs went with it sothat not so many cars stink of fish.(Looking back, it wasn’t so bad asmell.)

The lack of opportunity hasn’tchanged; the pace of out-migrationhas. Newfoundlanders have alwaysleft, but starting in the late 1980sthey left in droves. They were tired

of being poor, and who could blamethem.

But are Newfoundlanders poorso much as kept in poverty? Thedebate continues to this day as thefederal government and DannyWilliams battle over offshoremoney. The difference between thetwo sides is not philosophical somuch as dollars and cents. New-foundland and Labrador wantsmore than Ottawa is willing to give.The MPs against such a move arenot from the East or West, but fromthe Ontario caucus, mostly, andQuebec.

What’s not clear is why. Whywould central Canada not want thisprovince to rise to its feet?

We’re trying once again, as aprovince, to stand on our own.Nationalists are snickered at forconsidering themselves any morespecial than any other Canadian.Separatists are seen as a joke for notrealizing how good they’ve got itunder the Maple Leaf. Politics isseeping into the fight — the feder-al government is the bad guy andcompanies, as usual, are walkingaway, unscathed, with cash fromour resources falling from theirstuffed pockets.

Focus must remain on the out-ports or only the townies will beleft.

Ryan Cleary is managing editorof The Independent.

[email protected]

Sunday dinner

‘Blatantly incorrect’

The Independent welcomes letters to the editor.Letters must be 300 words inlength or less and include full

name, mailing address anddaytime contact numbers.Letters may be edited forlength, content and legal

considerations. Send your letters in care of The Indepen-dent, P.O. Box 5891, StationC, St. John’s, NL, A1C 5X4

or e-mail us [email protected]

LETTERSPOLICY

Dear editor,In her article $76 B loss in the Oct. 31-Nov. 6

edition of The Independent, Stephanie Porterwrites “Changes to the Terms of Union to awardjoint management, like custodial management ofthe nose and tail of the Grand Banks, (have)been asked for, voted on — and never received.”

This is blatantly incorrect.Assuming, for the sake of argument, that joint

management could be implemented by amend-ing the Terms of Union, then the “bilateral”amending formula — s. 43 of the ConstitutionAct, 1982 — would apply.

This would require a resolution of the legis-lature of the province concerned and the twochambers of parliament.

This formula has, in fact, been invoked, andsuch resolutions have, in fact, been passed toamend the Terms of Union. This has been doneon four occasions in respect of Newfoundlandand Labrador — three times to amend Term 17

concerning education, and once to change thename of the province to Newfoundland andLabrador. The bilateral formula has also beeninvoked to pass constitutional amendmentswhich only involved New Brunswick, PrinceEdward Island, and Quebec.

The line in Ms. Porter’s article gives theimpression that the provincial legislature passedsome kind of resolution to amend the Terms ofUnion to this effect, and that the resolution wassomehow nefariously rejected. However, nosuch resolution to amend the Terms of Unionhas ever been introduced in the House of Assem-bly, let alone passed, let alone “never received.”

Wallace McLean,Ottawa

Editor’s note: In terms of changes being votedon, The Independent was referring to a privatemembers’ bill passed earlier this year in theHouse of Commons.

CLEARYRYAN

An independent voice for Newfoundland & Labrador

P.O. Box 5891, Stn.CSt. John’s, Newfoundland

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people of Newfoundland & Labrador.

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© 2004 The Independent

PUBLISHER

Brian Dobbin

Dear editor,

I just wanted to send you a quick note tothank The Independent for its participation,through senior writer Jeff Ducharme, in our10th annual Telethon on Rogers Televisionin Corner Brook.

As a past host, Jeff was sensitive to ourneeds when discussing the wish childrenand their families, and on this first telethonsince the passing of Claudine Wall, whowas a wonderful resource for all of us. Weare very appreciative of his skills and hiswillingness to join us that day under thelights for what is a very long day.

Derek deLouche, Newfoundland and Labrador chapter,

Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada

The Independent’spleasure


There is a whole generationof bureaucrats who owetheir careers to the idea of

“downloading services.” This wasthe great fiscal movement in gov-ernment in the 1990s, both federal-ly and in this province.

One of the heroes of the move-ment was Paul Martin, who wasconsidered a financial whizbecause he discovered that youcould make the provinces respon-sible for stuff that had previouslybeen a federal government respon-sibility. Not that our own bureau-cratic class is the repository ofgreat intellectual ability, but theidea eventually trickled into theirheads. Shift the responsibility tosome other poor sucker, then passyourself off as a genius. Ourbureaucrats had it easy, because (toparaphrase the great Ray Guy)Newfoundlanders are more accus-tomed to the whip.

It was a win-win situation. Bal-ance the books without raisingtaxes by sticking others with theresponsibilities that were onceyours. But how? They mademunicipalities responsible for moreservices. They reduced the numberof police on the road to the pointwhere we are all — police officers

and citizens alike — now at themercy of the criminal elementamongst us. They cut back onsnow clearing. They managed tocram more youngsters into class-rooms. They stopped repairingschools. They stuck parents withextra school fees. I could go on.

FINDING A ‘PATSY’Part of this policy was finding a

“patsy.” That’s the second win inthe “win win.” Set up boards todeal with the horrible shortfallscaused by the lack of money. Takeschool boards, for example. Theyare responsible for allotting the pit-tance they’re given. Brilliant.Holding the school board responsi-ble for crumbling schools andcrowded classrooms is roughlyakin to giving you $20 bucks tocare for my kids for the weekend.All I have to do is come home Sun-day night to see how you’ve done.If they’re hungry, I can act annoyed

and disappointed because the kidsare pale and listless.

The concept was easilyexplained to even the dimmestpolitician. Who could resist?Quick — name a member of theschool board. Right. They’re thepatsies. The high-profile ministerjust has to look busy. And it savesmoney. Sweet.

Now we have the prospect of theopposite scenario. We may be fac-ing prosperity. Danny Williamswants to repeat Roger Grimes’“whatever tour” across Canada. Hewants “our money” for “us.” Hemight just get it. Maybe I have inthe past made a practice of takingthe piss out of our Danny. If I have,frankly, it’s mostly because I amlazy and it’s too easy. But like mostNewfoundlanders, I support him— 100 per cent. You go boy.

But what if he is successful?What if he gets the big dollars?What’s to be done? The same polit-ical culture that is so immature thatit races to the airport to “greet”Danny as a conquering hero isgoing to have some awfully bigexpectations. The same New-foundland nationalists who droneon about our lot in Confederationare going to look to Danny and his

crowd for a lot. And they are goingto think it’s “theirs.” That couldturn bad fast. We may be accus-tomed to the whip, but the cham-pagne might go to our heads.

I had the pleasure of meetingGlobe and Mail columnist JeffreySimpson a few weeks back. Whathe said found resonance in all thecolumns and op-ed pieces I havebeen reading. He said that havingcriss-crossed this country for thepast 20 years, the only thing hecould say with any assurance aboutCanada is that no region had any

use for any other part of Canada (orOttawa) and that each region wassure it was being screwed by therest of us.

Sound familiar? That’s not to saythat I don’t think that Ottawa isrooking us. I do. What I am sayingis that makes me a Canadian. New-foundland nationalists don’t wantto hear this, but they are uniquelyCanadian. That they think they —and we — are special and differentis what makes them so tediouslysimilar to Pequistes, AlbertanFirsts, Reformers and a host ofother malcontents. It isn’t unique.It’s Canadian.

What is unique about New-foundland politics is the passion,and it’s nasty underbelly, the vin-dictiveness. Just as they’ll pin alltheir hopes and dreams on you, sowill they pin their insecurities.Here’s a warning note to DannyWilliams in his struggle to better allour lots. Did you happen to notice,amidst all the flag waving andcheering , the stunned look on JohnEfford’s face? Take a careful lookat that expression. You’ll be wear-ing it yourself next week if youaren’t careful.

Ivan Morgan can be reached [email protected]

Newfoundland nationalists ‘uniquely Canadian’Rant &Reason

MORGANIVAN

I had the pleasure ofmeeting Globe and Mail

columnist Jeffrey Simpson a few weeksback. He said that ... no region had any use for any other part of

Canada (or Ottawa) andthat each region was sure

it was being screwed by the rest of us.

Letters to the Editor

Dear editor,

Referring to the editorial car-toon (The Independent’s Oct. 31-Nov. 6 edition), I have to wonder.The “endangered species” — isthis the fish, or the fishery work-er?

Both should be added to theCOSEWIC agenda. Until foreigncountries understand the wordsconservation and regulation, bothcodfish and industry people willbe endangered.

Further to the cartoon, on thetaste of cod, pending a point ofview, the package of fresh frozencod that I recently purchased,with packaging to suggest that itwas produced by a local or east-ern Canadian plant, was actuallyprocessed and packaged inChina.

Just imagine, the only freshfrozen cod that morning at themarket was a foreign product. I,and others, should watch theselabels closely, and refuse to pur-chase as such.

A whole new meaning toendangerment, when the onlyavailable product to purchase,bears foreign production!

Dan BrewerPortugal Cove-St. Philip’s

‘New meaning to

endangerment’

much and I think that view is quitewrong,” says Stanford.

He admits that even he was sur-prised by the findings.

“I found it surprising to stretchmy own mind, because like it ornot you’re always going to beinfluenced by the stereotypes thatyou read in the paper … I thinkthat’s an important lesson foreveryone in both Newfoundlandand the mainland to think about.”

According to Statistics Canada,more than 13,000 people left theprovince in 2004. Ontario saw thegreatest influx of Newfoundlan-ders and Labradorians — 5,200.An estimated 3,400 moved toAlberta.

“The social engineers who runour EI program and other socialprograms almost think it’s a goodthing for young Newfoundlandersto pack up and move elsewhere,but that, in fact, amounts to a sub-sidy measured in the tens of bil-lions to the mainland economy.”

VARIED COSTSStanford says that the loss of the

province’s workforce costs theprovince in a multitude of ways.

“These are skilled, able-bodiedworkers who’ve been born, bredand trained at the public’sexpense in Newfoundland whowill go off and devote the prime

productive years of their lives toAlberta and other provinces,”says Stanford.

The largest hit to the province’spopulation was in 1998 when16,882 left for the mainland.

“When the youngest and mostproductive members of your soci-ety start leaving, you really facean uphill battle to try and generateenough domestic momentum tokeep your economy moving for-ward.”

Ivan Emke, a sociologist withSir Wilfred Grenfell College inCorner Brook, says outmigrationisn’t so much the issue as the lackof immigration.

“Even Toronto, with all the lux-uries and the seductions, theyhave outmigration,” says Emke.“The majority of their young peo-ple leave, but the thing is theyhave huge numbers of peoplecoming in and taking their place.”

In 2003, 11,665 people movedinto the province, but outmigra-tion outpaced immigration leavingthe province on the minus side ofthe ledger by almost 2,000 people.

Stanford says there’s no easysolutions.

“… you need a well-roundedunderstanding of the problem andfor mainlanders getting a betterunderstanding means starting torecognize and appreciate whatNewfoundland gives us as well asthe other way around.”

Spelling — the anti-drug.In my Oct. 24 column, I

spelt Led Zeppelin wrong— the second e was left out.

The 1970s were a hard decadeon the old brain synapses. It’samazing that those of us wholived through that decade caneven remember to wake up. The’70s should have come with awarning label: you will foreverfeel drowsy and never again beable to safely operate heavymachinery.

The ’70s were the hangoverfrom the psychedelic ’60s, andthe disco ’80s were penance forboth.

They say if you remember the’60s then you weren’t there.“Don’t eat the brown acid,” theycried from the stage at Wood-stock. Damn, at least the acid wascolour-coded in the ’60s — men-tal note, brown is bad. In the ’70sthey put pictures of MickeyMouse on the little pieces of blot-ter paper. Acid — or so I’m told,officer — comes on pieces ofblotter paper. The chemical, calledLSD, is absorbed into the blotterpaper and then sold with variousimages on it.

Honestly, I always thought TheBeatles song Lucy in the Sky withDiamonds was about, well, jewel-ry.

To this day friends of minedon’t dare take their kids to see thefigure-skating extravaganza Dis-ney on Ice for fear of what mighthappen.

They’re not the least bit inter-ested in explaining to the authori-ties why they acted on an over-whelming urge to jump the boards,run onto the ice, attack MickeyMouse and begin licking his faceuncontrollably while screamingsomething about a white rabbit —not to mention explaining it totheir kids. “Daddy wasn’t trying to

hurt Mickey Mouse. He was justtrying to re-live part of his youth,hun.”

But none of the above com-ments are meant to support ordefend drug abuse even if it can bemarked on the stupidity side ofyouth’s balance sheet. We all havea friend who didn’t make it out ofthe 1960s or ’70s in one piece.You know the ones, they refuse toadmit vinyl albums are dead as amusic format and wear Birken-stock sandals every chance theyget.

My buddy was named Peter. Heonce spent a winter at his parents’remote cottage living on nothingbut tree bark and berries. By thetime we picked him up in thespring, he had named all the treesand regularly had spiritual con-versations with a number of thesquirrels. The last I heard, Peterwas driving an 18-wheeler inOntario — I now pull over when Isee a transport truck with Ontarioplates anywhere near me, just tobe safe.

By the sounds of some of theHalloween antics in Saskatoon,Sask., Peter may have movedthere.

TRICK OR TREATA parent in Saskatoon had to do

some fancy verbal dancing toexplain to his young son whysome people do what they dowhen out trick-or-treating. Withhis nine-year-old son and a coupleof friends in tow, the groupreceived an unexpected and

unwelcome treat — cans of beer. “I suppose a 16-year-old might

appreciate it, but my kid and hisbuddies just thought it was kind ofodd,” said the father of one of theboys.

The 53-year-old man whohanded out the cans of beer wascharged with distributing alcoholto minors.

In another part of the Prairietown, a 16-year-old girl decidedthat she’d had enough of walkingand decided to borrow a set ofwheels. Noticing an ambulanceidling outside a house, the teendecided to steal it and go for ajoyride. The wannabe ambulance

attendant was tracked down some30 minutes later using a globalpositioning device carried bymany ambulances in thatprovince.

One mature trick-or-treaterdecided that the age-old, tried andtrue practice of egging a housethat ran out of candy just wasn’tgood enough. The man bargedinto the house and tried to pick afight with the homeownersbecause they had run out of candy.Police believe the man was three-sheets-to-the-wind at the time ofthe indiscretion. The guy musthave been trick-or-treating on thestreet where they were handing

out the free beer.In Saskatoon there were also

seven candy muggings reported— two at the point of a knife.

It makes one pine for the dayswhen ticked off trick-or-treaterswould express their frustration bylovingly hanging rolls and rolls ofCottonelle in the branches of ahomeowner’s trees.

By the way, if, by chance, youdo run into a very large white rab-bit, tell ’em a hookah-smokingcaterpillar has given you the call.

Jeff Ducharme is The Indepen-dent’s senior [email protected]


Don’t eat the brown acidOpinions Are Like...

DUCHARMEJEFF

‘An important lesson for everyone’

From page 1

‘It’s time’


Former provincial Tory cabinet minister Tom Hickey is one of the founders of the new Newfoundland andLabrador First Party, which plans to run candidates in the next federal election. He says the party won’tbe officially registered until next year. The group held a news conference Nov. 5 in St. John’s.

By Ryan ClearyThe Independent

It’s only now, 24 years after walkingaway from the office of premier ofNewfoundland, that Frank Duff

Moores will freely answer the hard ques-tions.

His chief frustration with trying to turnthe province around for the seven years(1972-1979) he served as premier?

“Not knowing what to do about it,”Moores tells The Independent.

“The biggest frustration was the limita-tion on what you could do. People alwayswanted to hear how things were going to bebetter. That’s a very difficult thingto say when you can’t see yourselfhow they’re going to get much bet-ter,” he says.

“I’m admitting stuff now I neveradmitted when I was in politics, but it’sabsolutely true … I mean, you were stuck.There was never enough money to do whathad to be done, and there was never any-thing on the horizon that would show us theway.”

MOORES SEES HOPERetired for 15 years, Moores, 71, sees a

difference in Newfoundland and Labradortoday — hope. He agrees with the standPremier Danny Williams is taking regard-ing the Atlantic Accord and offshore rev-enues, stressing how the issue is “misun-derstood” by the mainland press.

“They say it’s going to be eight yearsuntil we get up to the level of Ontario. Well,Jesus, do they ever say to Ontario you’vegot to keep it down until you get to the levelof Newfoundland?” Moores asks.

“It’s an unfair yardstick. With the popu-lation of Newfoundland and with theresources we have we should be the mosthave province in Canada,” he says.“There’s more reason for hope in New-foundland today than there’s been anytimesince — forget Confederation — but any-time since it was discovered for that mat-ter.”

COSTLY MISTAKEMoores took over the reins of power in

the province from the late Joey Smallwood,who ruled the province with an iron handfor 22 years. Moores says the most costlymistake the province ever made was sign-

ing the upper Churchill contract,which sees Quebec walk away withan estimated $1 billion a year inprofit — compared to the province,which makes little or nothing.

“The upper Churchill is the equivalent of150,000 barrels of oil a day. They were soldto Quebec for less than $3 a barrel,” hesays. “If it wasn’t for that (deal) we wouldbe a have province.”

Moores says the worst idea he had as pre-mier was to buy Brinco’s interest in CFLco(Churchill Falls Labrador Corporation), thecompany that runs the upper Churchillhydro project, for $160 million in 1974.

“We thought we could pressure the fed-eral government to pressure Quebec intogiving us access or a straight line fromChurchill to New York or Ontario or wher-ever,” says Moores.

“We couldn’t get it because there were 75seats in Quebec and we had seven. Andthat’s why it didn’t happen.”

The province, today, is still pressuringOttawa — these days for a better deal on

provincial offshore resource revenues. Besides the fishery, the province’s “big

future” is tied to natural resource develop-ment and secondary processing. “You takeVoisey’s Bay. The smelter is one thing. Ifwe get that we’ll be fine. But Jesus, itwould be an awful lot better, we’d make anawful lot more money if we were shippingout pots and pans.”

And just why hasn’t that happened yet?“Because we’ve given it all away,” says

Moores, who gives Prime Minister PaulMartin credit for giving provinces moreautonomy than his predecessors. “If he(Martin) doesn’t give totally, he’ll give 90per cent.”

Equally as important as a better deal onoffshore resources, however, is theprovince’s success at attracting industry.

Moores says it’s the job of private indus-try to stoke the economy.

“What happens in Newfoundland, ofcourse, is we’re on the dole. Our way of lifedepends entirely on how much Ottawa isgoing to give us. That’s not a healthy way,”Moores says, adding dependence beganwith the resettlement program of the 1960s.

“What happened was you took a popula-tion of people who were totally indepen-dent. They built their own homes, they hadno mortgages, they had a way of life thatgave them a living … they were taken andwhacked up in the bottom of Placentia Bay… they were put in a house, they werepassed a mortgage. They were told therewas no jobs for them so all of a sudden theycouldn’t practice their own living,” Mooressays.

“So they sat at home with a mortgageover their heads waiting for social assis-tance. Now the problem with that was thatthe kids, they grew up under social assis-tance and never knew anything else. That


‘Reason for hope’Ex-premier Frank Moores on the Atlantic Accord, upper

Churchill, resettlement, separation, and the ‘Mary Walshes’

Stu Moores/photo

Continued on page 9

“The upper Churchill is the equivalent of 150,000 barrels

of oil a day. They were sold toQuebec for less than $3 a barrel.

If it wasn’t for that (deal) wewould be a have province.”

— Former Premier Frank Moores

FINDING THE


of Confederation

Frank Moores



The federal government direct-ly employs almost half asmany people as the popula-

tion of Newfoundland and Labrador.As of 2003, thetotal number ofcivil servants onthe federal payrollwas 268,372.

The total number of federal jobs inthis province is 5,528 or 2.1 per cent.St. John’s had the lion’s share with4,405 of the jobs. The Department ofFisheries and Oceans, and Customsand Revenue Canada are the mainfederal employers in this province.Of the 50 federal Crown corpora-tions, none have head offices in thisprovince — including MarineAtlantic and the Hibernia HoldingCorporation.

Liberal Humber-St.Barbe-BaieVerte MP Gerry Byrne says thingshave to change.

“Ottawa tends to look at theAtlantic as one big region when it’sreally four very unique, separateprovinces,” Byrne tells The Indepen-dent.

He points to the federal govern-ment’s relocation of the Departmentof Veteran’s Affairs to Charlottetown,PEI, as an example of how jobs canmake a huge impact in a provincewith a small population. In 1976, thefederal government moved thedepartment to PEI, creating almost850 jobs. In 1999, the departmentalone contributed more than $70 mil-lion to Charlottetown’s economy.

“The place is booming,” saysByrne. The economic spin offs thatthat’s created and the economicengine that has created in PEI is phe-nomenal.”

‘DISGRACEFUL’LACK OF JOBS

Reg Anstey, president of the New-foundland and Labrador Federationof Labour, calls the lack of federaljobs in this province “disgraceful.

“Again, we lead the nation in thewrong categories,” says Anstey. “Wehave the lowest number of federaljobs per capita in Canada.”

St. John’s South MP ConservativeMP Loyola Hearn says this provinceisn’t even a blip on the federal gov-

ernment’s radar screen when it comesto lucrative civil service jobs.

“This is our government. We’re allsupposed to be part of it.”

Natural Resources Minister JohnEfford is also taking heat for the lackof federal jobs — with his depart-ment specifically — in the province.

St. John’s Mayor Andy Wells hasbeen trying for the better part of ayear to get an answer from Efford.

“I thought that under the AtlanticAccord that the federal offices havingto do with the administration or thedevelopment of our offshore wouldbe located in Newfoundland andLabrador,” Wells says.

The text of the Accord reads: “TheGovernment of Canada shall estab-lish in this province, where possible,regional offices with appropriate lev-els of decision making for all depart-ments directly involved in activitiesrelating to the offshore area”

Efford, who has been taking heatfor his unwavering support of PrimeMinister Paul Martin over changes tothe Atlantic Accord, didn’t respond toa request for an interview.

According to Natural ResourcesCanada, the department has 4,638employees in Canada. As of presstime, officials couldn’t provide thenumbers of employees in Newfound-land and Labrador. The CanadianForest Service, a branch of Efford’sdepartment, employs 1,042 acrossthe country, with 24 employees in

this province.“We pay into a pot that pays all

these federal jobs and they don’t putany of these federal jobs here and itreally is terrible,” says Anstey.

Provincial and federal politicianshave long tried to convince the fed-eral government that the headquartersfor Department of Fisheries andOceans (DFO) should be located inthe province it serves the most —Newfoundland and Labrador.

Two years ago, Byrne presented aproposal to move DFO out ofOttawa and into the regions it serves.Had the proposal been accepted, 350jobs would have come to thisprovince.

But those jobs still wouldn’t havemade up for the cuts between 1992and 2002 when 5,000 federal jobswere axed in this province alone —more than one third. Much of thosejob losses came as part of the feder-al government’s program review ofthe 1990s. Over the same 10-yearperiod, Ontario saw a 12 per centreduction, and Manitoba was hitwith a 30 per cent drop. During thatdecade, the civil service across thecountry was slashed by an averageof almost 20 per cent.

“It was a mistake,” says Byrne.“There should have been better co-ordination.”

Most of the jobs were centralizedin Halifax, N.S., Moncton, N.B.,Fredericton, N.B., and Ottawa.

‘This is our government’But few federal jobs here; critics say that must change

Premier’s grandstanding has

little credibility; Williams’ sight

set on wrong target: economist


An economist with the Canadian Auto Workers’ unionsays Premier Danny Williams is pointing his gun atthe wrong crowd.

Jim Stanford says the real issue the province should be deal-ing with is corporate profit — specifically when it comes to theoffshore oil industry. He contends that Newfoundland andLabrador is currently losing on equalization payments — notso much because of federal government clawbacks — butbecause of the royalty regime that was negotiated with the oilcompanies.

As oil production rises and profits from the offshore driveup the province’s gross domestic product (GDP), the federalgovernment reduces equalization. Standford contends thatmuch of the GDP growth never makes it to this province, end-ing up in the pockets of corporations in Alberta and Texas.

“When they negotiated those royalty contracts, which werevery sweet, no one was thinking about $55-a-barrel oil,” Stan-ford tells The Independent. “So the oil companies are makinga fortune on Hibernia and the other offshore developments.”

Stanford says he has “no sympathy” for Williams or his“political grandstanding.

“He (Williams) is the one who wants to give it all away tocorporations in a futile effort to catch some trickle-down ben-efits and the proof’s already in the pudding with the oil prob-lem, that you can get great boosts in GDP and a tiny, tiny frac-tion of that trickling down to Newfoundlanders’ pockets,” saysStanford.

Former premier Brian Peckford’s Tory government didmuch of the negotiations with the oil companies — notWilliams.

But those royalty regimes remain in place.From 1998 to 2003, overall corporate profits went up by 400

per cent in the province while salaries only grew by 29 per cent.“This is the most lopsided business-oriented pattern of eco-

nomic growth I have ever seen in Canadian history.”Since 1997, says Stanford, half of all GDP growth in the

province has gone to corporations and their shareholders. Theprovince’s increase in GDP was 6.5 per cent in 2003, but it hassteadily declined and is forecasted to be 1.2 per cent by 2005.

The federal government, says Stanford, should be taken totask, but he says Williams will have to do some “hard bar-gaining” if he wants to go after the largest drain on theprovince’s offshore profits — corporations.

“… the federal equalization payments to Newfoundland arebeing reduced as a result of income that ends up in Alberta —not Newfoundland,” says Stanford. “That is an incrediblyunfair and painful problem and it reflects both the dependenceof Newfoundland’s economy on those offshore resources andthe mainland control of those resources.”

FINDING THE


of Confederation


Federal workers picket outside federal office in early fall. They have sincereturned to work.



Newfoundlanders andLabradorians have alwaysshown a huge commit-

ment to the Canadian ArmedForces, butsome politi-cians contendthe forces aren’tmaking enoughof a commitment to the province.

DOESN’T ADD UPSt. John’s South Conservative

MP Norm Doyle says it just does-n’t add up.

“… the infrastructure thatshould be put in place in New-foundland should reflect the kindof contribution that we’re makingto the overall military,” Doyle tellsThe Independent.

The Department of NationalDefence has 604 regular forcespersonnel spread across theprovince, plus 128 civilian per-sonnel and 1,072 part-timereservists. The annual payroll isapproximately $5.4 million.

“On a per capita basis, we havemore people in the military thananywhere else in Canada.”

The forces spend 1.1 per cent($256 per resident) of its total bud-get of $12.4 billion in Newfound-land and Labrador, compared to7.2 per cent ($1,752 per resident)in Nova Scotia. Nunavut, theNorthwest Territories and Yukonbring up the rear, each barely evenregistering.

PEI and Saskatchewan alsoplace behind Newfoundland and

Labrador in total spending. Thisprovince, however, rests on theedge of the North Atlantic, closestto the action in terms of the navy.

In 2002, the forces spent a totalof $131 million in the province,plus another $812,000 on rangersand cadets.

“I think it’s time the federalgovernment to put some soberthought into recognizing that con-tribution and putting more infra-structure in the province of New-foundland and Labrador.”

Doyle says considering theprovince’s port infrastructure andlocation, the navy would be wiseto locate a number of frigates here.

The main naval base is locatedin Halifax.

“It’s been there since about1750 and the fact is that in today’scurrent environment to establish alarger presence in St. John’s forthe east coast fleet, the cost wouldbe exorbitant and unfortunately itis cost prohibitive,” says Lieu-tenant Commander Kent Penney,spokesman for the Department ofNational Defence.

Each year DND pumps a totalof $1.25 billion into AtlanticCanada.

REGULAR VISITSPenney says while there may

be no ships based in Newfound-land and Labrador, ships regular-ly visit St. John’s after coastalpatrols or when returning frommissions abroad such asAfghanistan. Depending on cir-cumstances, navy ships often buysupplies such as fuel and provi-sions when in St. John’s

“When they are there for restand recreation, you know they arein the community, tourist shops,Gorge Street, movies, all thesethings have a residual effect,” saysPenney.

In Labrador, total expendituresfor 5 Wing Goose Bay in 2002were $93.5 million — spiltbetween Britain, Italy, Nether-lands, Germany and Canada.Those countries use the base as alow-level training site. TheNetherlands pulled out in 2003.Germany and Britain haveannounced they will be no longerbe operating permanent detach-ments out of 5 Wing Goose Bayby the end of 2005, leaving thefuture of the base unclear. GooseBay is home to the 444 Squadron,one of five combat supportsquadrons fulfilling a variety ofroles within the air force. Thesquadron is the only DND opera-tional presence at the base.

Federal Defense MinisterWilliam Graham declined requestsfor an interview.

The forces also have a numberof reserve units across theprovince including St. John’s,Corner Brook, Grand Falls-Wind-sor, and Gander.

While the Canadian govern-ment doesn’t pay taxes, it doesmake a total yearly payment of$4.7 million to various communi-ties in the province where theymaintain infrastructure.

Doyle says a larger CanadianArmed Forces presence herewould do more than just recognizeNewfoundlanders and Labradori-ans commitment to the armed

forces.“It would certainly help the

province’s overall fiscal situationtoo,” says Doyle.

Penney, whose wife is from St.John’s, says he knows first-handhow important Newfoundlandersand Labradorians are to the forces.

“… and you know the navy hasa long-standing love affair withthe people of Newfoundland, andSt. John’s in particular … the fact

that a segment of the populationwould like to see a larger presenceis only seen as being supportiveand I don’t know of anybody inthe forces that wouldn’t see that aswelcome,” says Penney.

“You know, my mother-in-lawwould very much like to see alarge naval base established in St.John’s and in my six-year mar-riage I have had to hear that argu-ment quite a bit.”

Out of step Armed forces spending in province isn’t what it should be: Doyle

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‘I’m a Newfoundlanderbefore I am a Canadian’


The HMCS Toronto is welcomed back to St John’s after a tour of duty inthe Persian Gulf.

group of Newfoundlanders, thatset them back 100 years.”

Moores says resettlement was-n’t only the province’s biggestsocial mistake, “it was the cru-ellest thing we ever did.”

As premier, Moores advocatedrural development and provincialcontrol of natural resources, aswell as economic development.

CLEARED OF SCANDALHe left politics in 1979 to re-

enter business and become a lob-byist. In 1983, he helped organizeBrian Mulroney’s successful fed-eral Progressive Conservativeleadership campaign. He servedas an advisor to Mulroney whilehe was prime minister. In 1987,Moores became chairman of Gov-ernment Consultants Internation-al, a powerful international lobbygroup. In the 1990s he was caughtup in the Airbus scandal but wasultimately cleared.

Today, Moores lives about 40kilometres north of Kingston onthe Rideau Lake system. “I haveto have water to look at,” he says.“I feel like getting a couple ofdump truck loads of salt to fill inthe bay here.”

He’s currently in the process ofpreparing his biography (“You’llread a lot about home”). Mooresmaintains close ties to theprovince, returning about fourtimes a year. When Moores was a

boy he went to a private schoolnorth of Toronto at St. Andrew’sCollege. On March 31, 1949, withthe entire student body assembledin the dining hall, Moores —along with John and AndrewCrosbie — stood on a table andsang the Ode to Newfoundland.

“You’re damn right I did,” saysMoores, who, along with his fam-ily, was pro-Confederation. “(But)I’m a Newfoundlander first. I’m aNewfoundlander before I am aCanadian.

“We got lots of boos but wegave lots of fingers, too.”

Moores brings up the subject ofseparation. He says if the upperChurchill contract had worked outin the province’s favour, andNewfoundland and Labrador wasstill being given a hard time aboutoffshore revenues, “I would sayNewfoundland’s attitude towardsseparation would be stronger thanQuebec’s.”

Moores says it doesn’t takemuch to get a “Newfoundlander’sindependence up” because “weare independent.

“I don’t think we’re ready for ityet, but I sure as hell wouldn’t putit on the backburner either. JesusChrist, here I am living inOntario, I may not be allowedoutside the gate if that gets pub-lished.

“As long as we can keep ourculture, as long as we can keepthe Mary Walshes alive, we’reOK.”

From page 7

FINDING THE


of Confederation

Keeping an eye on the comingsand goings of the ships in St.John’s harbour. Information pro-vided by the coast guard trafficcentre.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1

Vessels arrived: ASL Sanderling,Canada, from Halifax; AtlanticEagle, Canada, from Terra Nova;Teleost, Canada, from Sea.Vessels departed: Maersk Chignec-to, Canada, to Glomar GrandBanks;Algoscotia, Canada, to Hal-ifax; Atlantic Eagle, Canada, toTerra Nova Oil Field.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2

Vessels arrived: Burin Sea, Cana-da, from Terra Nova Oil FieldVessels departed: None

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3

Vessels arrived: Maersk Placentia,Canada, from Hibernia; MaerskChancellor, Canada, from WhiteRose Field.Vessels departed: Maersk Chal-lenger, Canada, to White RoseField; Maersk Norseman, Canada,to Hibernia.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4

Vessels arrived: NoneVessels departed: Burin Sea, Cana-da, to Terra Nova Oil Field;Teleost, Canada, to Sea.

FRIDAY,NOVEMBER 5

Vessels arrived: Planeta, Russiafrom sea.Vessels departed: Cicero, Canada,to Montreal; Sir Wilfred Grenfell,Canada to sea.


When has Corner Brookever cheered for St.John’s?

Hardly ever, you say. Maybethere are a few die-hard MapleLeaf fans out here on the westcoast who supported the BabyBuds when they were still con-sidered “Newfoundland’s team.”

But have you ever heard ofCorner Brook fans cheering on aSt. John’s team that doesn’t evenexist yet?

That’s exactly what’s happen-ing these days. Now that theBaby Buds are gone (in spirit, ifnot in body), St. John’s hasturned its affection to the QuebecMajor Junior Hockey League.The league will expand to thecapital city next year, and CornerBrook is fully behind the bid.

Corner Brook itself has lustedafter the Q for many years. WhenSt. John’s gets a team, then thatwould improve Corner Brook’schances of landing one. Or sosome people on the west coasthope.

The Q might look seriously atCorner Brook if it wants to makeit more economically viable forother teams to travel to New-foundland. If your team is travel-ling all the way from Rimouski,the argument goes, wouldn’t itmake more sense to play twoteams here instead of one?

Also, since there is already abuilt-in rivalry between St.John’s and Corner Brook, a westcoast team might make the St.John’s team more viable by gen-erating more interest throughoutthe province.

Corner Brook first began eye-ing the Q when it was buildingthe Canada Games Centre, nowknown as the Pepsi Centre.

The project was controversial.While federal transfers andprovincial operating grants werebeing cut, the city seemed to betightening its purse strings inevery respect but one — theCanada Games and its promisedlegacy.

WHITE ELEPHANTThe Canada Games Centre was

a big part of that legacy. Yet,many people in Corner Brookbelieved it would be a white ele-phant, an albatross or whateverclichéd animal metaphor you pre-fer.

In a certain sense, their fearshave been confirmed. This year

alone, city taxpayers were pro-jected to subsidize the civic cen-tre to the tune of $640,000. Thecity slowed the bleeding a littleby striking a 10-year, $500,000deal with Pepsi. But that wouldstill put this year’s projecteddeficit — and I stress projected— at around $590,000.

BEYOND THE BOTTOM LINEIt’s important to look at more

than the bottom line. The City ofCorner Brook is getting some-thing out of its investment — aquality recreational facility forthe city’s citizens, especially itschildren. But those $600,000deficits add up after a while.

So, it’s easy to understand whysome people in Corner Brook areso excited about the QuebecMajor Junior Hockey League.

For the uninitiated, the Q isone of a handful of elite juniorhockey leagues across the coun-try. The players, many of themdestined for the National HockeyLeague, do not make big bucks.Many of them board in the townswhere they play and some takecourses at local colleges.

Since the Q teams are not bur-dened with high player salaries,the games tend to be more afford-able for the average hockey fan.And that makes the league moreaccessible — and profitable —

for towns and small cities such asCorner Brook.

The Q has a much better trackrecord in Atlantic Canada thanthe American Hockey Leagueever did. With higher playersalaries, the AHL was too costly

for casual fans. And it seems thatonce an AHL team gets sight of agreener pasture, it bolts at thefirst opportunity. Ask any heart-broken fan in Halifax, Sydney,Fredericton, Saint John or St.John’s.

Actually, fans in Halifax andCape Breton aren’t heartbrokenat all. The Q has been a better fit

than the AHL in both places.With the Mooseheads andScreaming Eagles drawing goodcrowds, I don’t think the Citadelsor the Oilers are missed at all.

Smaller communities thanCorner Brook have landed Qteams. At last count, Bathurst,New Brunswick, had a popula-tion of about 13,000 while Cor-ner Brook had around 20,000 cit-izens. The Acadie-BathurstTitans have been a huge hit sincemoving to the town in 1998.

But the Titans’ success under-scores one of Corner Brook’schallenges. Notice the hyphenat-ed name: Acadie-Bathurst. TheTitans’ fan base is regional, draw-ing from the Acadian Peninsulaas well as from Bathurst and itsneighbouring communities.

In order to be successful, aCorner Brook-based team wouldhave to draw on regional support.That means Corner Brook mighthave to swallow its pride and set-tle for a regional name — some-thing like the West Coast Wind.

After all, when haveStephenville or Deer Lake everrooted for Corner Brook?

Frank Carroll is a journalisminstructor at the Stephenville-campus of the College of theNorth Atlantic.

frank_carroll_nf.yahoo.ca

Townie ‘Q’ tip for Corner Brook

For the uninitiated, the Qis one of a handful of

elite junior hockeyleagues across the coun-try. The players, many of

them destined for theNational Hockey League,do not make big bucks.Many of them board inthe towns where theyplay and some take

courses at local colleges.

WestWords

CARROLLFRANK

The Shipping News

Paul Daly/The IndependentAlex Gordon in St. John’s Harbour.

November 7, 2004 IN CAMERA

By Clare-Marie GosseThe Independent

Writers Sandy Mackay andJohn Meir used researchand material from hun-

dreds of real-life love letters writtenduring the First World War to buildthe script for Two Minutes of Silence— A Pittance of Time, inspired byNewfoundland singer/songwriterTerry Kelly’s song, A Pittance ofTime.

The musical drama, soon to tour theprovince, features local actors BradHodder and Sara Tilley in the twoprincipal roles. The script unravelsaround the emotional inadequacy ofletters — all John and Elsie have tospan their separation — and privatemonologues revealing the newly-weds’ true frustrations and pain.

The First World War saga featuresoriginal live music, as well as somewell-known war songs. Kelly per-forms centre stage with musicians

Floyd King and Trevor Mills. They’reflanked by Tilley and Hodder in emo-tional time capsules.

The unique and moving productionexplores the unspoken pain behind somany written words. Elsie, the lonelysender of socks and chocolate, pri-vately rages and sobs at the insignifi-cance of her gestures, and John real-izes the impossibility of ever describ-ing to her the suicide of fighting at thefront, the friends dead, the rats, thelice, the stench.

“They never really told one anoth-er what was actually going on becausethey were being protective of oneanother and in the letters we get toread between the lines,” Kelly tellsThe Independent. “We figured the let-ters would have an emotional hold —everybody knows what that feels likeon some level … everybody knowswhat it’s like to be away from some-one.”

‘Between the lines’Musical drama based on First World War letters sent from soldiers to women they left behind

Photos by Paul Daly / Story by Clare-Marie Gosse


IN CAMERA The Independent, November 7, 2004

Kelly is a well-loved Canadian celebrity,known for his award-winning singing and song-writing, his athletic achievements, professionaland motivational speaking, and perhaps, mostnotably, his energy for life. Kelly contracted eyecancer as an infant, and his family in St. John’smade the difficult but ultimately rewarding deci-sion to send him at the age of seven to the Hal-ifax School for the Blind, which nurtured a lovefor music and his love for a challenge.

Last year he was awarded the Order of Cana-da.

The inspiration for his song, which, in turn,inspired the performance, Two Minutes ofSilence — A Pittance of Time, came four yearsago when he witnessed a rowdy customer inShoppers Drug Mart.

Out of respect for Remembrance Day, arequest was made over the public address sys-tem for customers to join staff in two minutes ofsilence. One customer refused.

Angered by the experience, Kelly went homeand started to compose.

“I have a venting mechanism by writingsongs so I wrote a song in response to that. Fromthat we put a music video together and thenfrom that we got the idea to maybe put a showtogether.”

The tour kicked off with a special media pre-view at the St. John’s Arts and Culture CentreNov. 3. From there, the musical drama will beperformed in Nova Scotia and New Brunswickbefore returning to Newfoundland and Labradorwith multiple dates across the province, wrap-ping up back in St. John’s on Nov 21.

“This is a musical drama about remem-brance,” says Kelly. “… and we chose to setthis in the First World War because it was sup-posed to have been the war to end all wars butit was really a war that was the beginning ofmodern warfare as it were … airplanes werebeing used and explosives and bombs, so eventhough it was different from today, much is thesame.”

Oct. 1, 1914, Canadian soldier at homeMy dearest Elsie,We have missed each other by just a few precious moments, but I can delay no longer. Orders came for usto report to Ottawa and from there to England … there is no time for me to properly put into words whatyou mean to me, Elsie. Suffice it to say, I love you and will miss you terribly. Please try not to worry…

Oct. 15, 1914, a pub in England… they certainly are a friendly lot over here. Within a couple of days we were on a first-name basis withall the barmaids … Albert made sure of that.And is the beer here ever strong.We have begun our training and will be leaving in a few days for a camp in the south of England. Some-time soon we will leave for France…

Nov. 8, 1914, home in CanadaMy dearest John,Received your letter this day. Glad to hear things have been going so … swimmingly. Happy to hear youand Albert are in high spirits … I won’t be able to rest easy until you are back in my arms. I think of youalways and pray that you will return home safely …

April, 1916My dearest John,… the news we are hearing is disturbing for everyone who has family overseas. I know that it must behard for you my dearest to read some of my letters — but I have to be honest. It seems much you write tome has been censored, either that or you feel unable to put into words what you are feeling …

Nov. 3, 1916, Givenchy, FranceMy darling Elsie,I am presently in a hospital unit many miles from the front following a near miss in the trenches … mywounds are not serious enough to get me sent home. The doctors think I will be fully recovered in amonth or so. … as we have been in service for more than a year, we are now considered veterans. I am not looking for-ward to a return to the trenches and have requested a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps, as an observer …

Dec. 9, 1916, CanadaMy dearest John,With everything happening here it gets more and more difficult to write. I am sending some extra socksand chocolate for you to share with your friends. Another Christmas and no end in sight …

Feb. 27, 1917, Vimy Ridge, FranceMy dearest Elsie,I received the latest parcel you sent. The socks will be most useful and the chocolate was particularly fine.I was disappointed to find that most of your letter had been heavily censored. I know how upset you musthave been by my last correspondence. It is impossible for me to know what you were trying to tell me,but I can imagine how you must feel.… it is an awful day here today with a heavy wind and the rain turning everything into mud. I go up tothe front tonight for a short spell and I am hoping it will be my last turn up there.Our boys have been training for months and something big will be taking place soon. There is a greatfeeling among the men here that we need to finish what we have started. Other wise … all that has takenplace will have been for nothing … I need you to know that I love you … more than life itself.

April. 15, 1917, CanadaMy dearest John,I realize that we have been lying to one another. Our letters do not intend to deceive, however it seemsmore important that we speak of what we have in common, socks and chocolate, and not about the thingswe may never understand, life and death.… I have never doubted your love. Mine has grown immeasurably despite the fact that you are so faraway. I know now that I have always loved you and always will.Someday, I hope this world will be a better, happier and peaceful place. Until then, I will always keep mylove for you close to my heart …

From page 11

Remembrance

The Independent, November 7, 2004 IN CAMERA

IN CAMERA The Independent, November 7, 2004

The Gallery is a regular feature in The Independent. For further information, or to submit proposals, please call (709) 726-4639, or e-mail [email protected]

Audrey Feltham

Audrey Feltham says a person hasa certain responsibility whenlooking at art, but in a world of

instant satisfaction the obligation to learnsomething and take away a message isoften lost in the schmooze and glitz of anart show.

“You want people to take away thevery fragile nature of existence,” Felthamsays. “You want people to really questionwhat it is they’re doing with their life,where they’re going and what theyvalue.”

Feltham says she’s found a wayto stimulate an appreciationand contemplation of her art— the written word.

When Felthamcompletes a pieceshe searches forthe most appropri-ate quote by an estab-lished writer — EmilyDickinson, Margaret Atwoodand Philip Larkin, to name afew — and uses a small type sizeand an intricate font to impose thequote on each piece of art.

The tiny print forces the viewer topeer into the piece, as if to catch aglimpse of some deeper mean-ing.

“If you choose thequote first you tend toillustrate the quote,whereas if you dothe image firstand then you go tolook for the quoteyou’re not book endedquite so much — you’remore open to choosing some-thing that’s more evocative,”Feltham says.

A voracious reader with a degree inEnglish literature, along with one in finearts, Feltham says it’s easy for her to findan appropriate quote that fits with the toneof the print.

Her work has been labeled as feminist,a brand she’s not comfortable with.

Feltham says words like feminismcarry “baggage.

“You don’t have a choice whetheryou’re born male or born female, but Ithink it does, in the long run, say some-thing about how you approach the work

you do.”Born in Lethbridge, Atla. Feltham,who was once a teacher, now

lives and works in Deer Lake.After 12 years of workingon her craft, Feltham, 57,

says she’s just nowgaining notorietyand beginning to

sell some of her work— which never would

have happened if not for hersupportive husband, Jim.

“You go eight (to) 10 years with-out getting much positive feedback …

you sort of say to yourself ‘Am I doingthe right thing?’ and Jim has always felt

that it was never a matter of makingwork for commercial sale — it was a

matter of making work because itwas work that I felt that I need-

ed to do.”Feltham originally wentto Sir Wilfred Grenfell

College in CornerBrook to study fine

art and thought shewould declare her major in

painting, but after her secondyear she says she fell in love with

printmaking. Now she’s delving intoher past and has once again picked up

oil painting.She says many of the images will be

similar to those in her prints, but the tex-ture and colour will be vastly different.

Her show Initmations is currently ondisplay at the Christina Parker Gallery inSt. John’s.

— Alisha Morrissey

Printmaker

Gallery

‘Vote against the government’Conservative leader Stephen Harper ‘happy’for government to call election over Accord

By Sue DyerFor The Independent

Conservative leader StephenHarper says his partywould be prepared to go to

the polls over the dispute on theAtlantic Accord.

“I’m certainly prepared to voteagainst the government on thisregardless of the consequences. Ifit’s non-confidence, it’s non-con-fidence,” Harper tells The Inde-pendent from Ottawa. “If govern-ment wants to hold an election onthis issue I’d be happy to haveone.

“The government is obliged tofulfill its commitment here. Idon’t believe a government thatblatantly lies to people on impor-tant issues should be retainingoffice.”

MOTION IN THE HOUSEThe Conservatives put forward

a motion in the House of Com-mons last week calling on the Lib-eral government to fulfill a com-mitment made prior to the June28th election promising New-foundland and Labrador retentionof 100 per cent of provincial off-shore revenues.

In recent weeks Martin and hisgovernment have put strings onthe original offer, including a capon overall revenues and a timelimit of eight years.

A vote on the Conservativemotion has been deferred.

In an exclusive interview, Harp-er says the Newfoundland andLabrador MPs have to make achoice between their party andtheir province. He says Conserv-ative MPs, along with the New

Democrats, are behind PremierDanny Williams in his demandthat Martin live up to his originalcommitment.

Liberal and Bloc QuébécoisMPs are rumoured to be joiningforces to defeat the motion.

“Shamefully, the government is

trying to line up the Bloc to saveits bacon on this. But the question,I think, is really for Liberal mem-bers: are they going to let the BlocQuébécois vote down commit-ments to their own region of thecountry?”

Harper and Williams are in

agreement that Newfoundlandand Labrador should be able tokeep 100 per cent of provincialoffshore resource revenues. Theydiffer, however, on exactly howthat should be done.

Williams wants 100 per cent ofprovincial oil and gas revenues.Harper takes the stand that allnon-renewable resources — onland and under the sea — shouldbe removed from the equalizationformula.

“The hope is if you leave theresource royalties there, they willgenerate over time much largerpermanent revenue flows in otherareas, which is what the experi-ence in Alberta has been,” Harpersays.

FISCAL CAPACITYThe question has been raised

why Newfoundland and Labradorshould exceed the fiscal capacityof Ontario and still retain itsequalization. The federal govern-ment takes the stand that equaliza-tion and offshore revenues shouldnot exceed the fiscal capacity ofOntario.

Harper disagrees, saying that inorder to get ahead, all revenuesshould be used to generate eco-nomic growth.

“Clawing back the revenuetoday is not going to accomplishthat. It will accomplish the oppo-site.”

November 7, 2004 BUSINESS & COMMERCE


Federal Conservative leader Stephen Harper on Signal hill during pre-election visit.

By Alisha MorrisseyThe Independent

When it comes to theEmployment Insurance(EI) fund, Newfoundlan-

ders and Labradorians take out a lotmore than theypay in — almostdouble.

The EI sys-tem isn’t fundedby the federal government. Rather,it’s paid for solely with contribu-tions by employees and employersacross Canada.

A conservative estimate of thetotal premiums paid in by employ-ees and employers in the provincein 2000 has been pegged at $340million. At the same time, $719million was paid out in benefits —mostly to seasonal workers.

The outstanding 50 per cent of EIbenefits are covered by contribu-tions from other provinces.

The calculations were made byThe Independent using figures pro-vided by Human Resources Cana-da, which runs the EI program.

The federal government tinkeredwith the EI system in 1997, makingit harder for seasonal workers toqualify for benefits. Those changes— which were highly unpopulargiven the province’s seasonal work-force — were later reversed.

Larry Welsh, spokesman for thePublic Service Alliance of Canada,says seasonal workers shouldn’t bepenalized.

“It (seasonal work) is a necessi-ty — you can only do minimal con-struction, road work, constructionlike that, anything on the water, inthe summer. You can’t do that in thewinter … or only do it minimally,”Welsh tells The Independent.

Conservative MP Loyola Hearnsays seasonal workers who draw EIevery year are “getting back waymore then they pay in,” and peoplein Alberta or Ontario may notunderstand the rationale.

Welsh says it’s unfair to assumethat workers in the province preferseasonal employment.

“I don’t think people really rec-ognize the fact that seasonal workis not just because people only wantto work for four or six or eightmonths a year. It’s because that’sthe only time you can do it.”As of August, 2004, approximately38,000 people in the province werereceiving income benefits — com-

pared to 182,000 in Quebec and137,000 in Ontario.

Newfoundland and Labrador hashad the highest unemployment rateevery year since 1997, averaging17 per cent.

On average, a Canadian receives$308 in benefits a week.

In Newfoundland and Labrador,the average weekly benefits total$298. Nova Scotians receive thelowest average weekly benefit at$287. The highest average weeklybenefit is recorded in the NorthwestTerritories — $386 per week.

EI STOCKPILEThrough premiums paid by

employees across the country, thefederal government has stockpileda massive EI surplus. Federal gov-ernment officials contacted by TheIndependent could not provide anexact amount, but it’s estimated tobe in the $40-billion to $50-billionrange.

Reg Anstey, president of theprovince’s federation of labour,accuses the federal government of“stealing” the EI surpluses.

Hearn says a small surplus isneeded in case there’s a downturnin the economy or a major failure inan industry.

“Whether it be the car industry inOntario, whether it be the fishery aswe’ve seen in Newfoundland,where you get excess of demandson the EI fund, you need a little bitof a blanket there, but you don’tneed $40 billion bucks,” saysHearn.

He estimates the account takes inup to $10 billion a year in EI sur-plus.

Hearn says EI contributions,made by both the employee andemployer (who pays 1.4 per centtimes that of the employee) are toohigh and he’d like to see lower pre-miums.

In the 2002/2003 fiscal year therewas a decrease in premiums paidby 10 cents. Benefits, meantime,were boosted by 2.5 per cent.

Anstey disagrees with Hearn,saying premiums don’t need to belowered. He argues EI needs to bereformed.

“Most unemployed Canadians

now don’t even qualify for thisfund. So they (the federal govern-ment) stole the money and nowthey want to talk about cutting backon the premiums to employers,”Anstey says.

UPGRADING AND TRAINING“What really should be done is to

move the plan back to what it wasintended to be, that if a Canadian isunemployed, they get a reasonableamount of money while they tryand sort their life out.” Hearn saysthe surplus should be used forupgrading and training.

Anstey couldn’t agree more, butpoints out there are no training pro-grams for those already employed.

“There’s not one single programfor someone who has a job toupgrade their skills. The only pro-grams are for people who don’thave jobs. And if they’re seriousabout this being an employmentprogram … if we’re going to be thebest we can be to compete, thenthere has to be programming toenable people to upgrade theirskills,” he says.

“… what we’re saying is lets goback to what this fund was intend-ed to do in the first place, provide adecent level of income for Canadi-ans who are out of work and notwhat it’s become, which is really aboondoggle for more money forthe government.”

BUSINESS The Independent, November 7, 2004

EI, EI, ohNewfoundlanders take a lot more from Employment Insurance fund than they pay in

Paul Daly/The IndependentThe Employment Insurance office in east end St. John’s.

FINDING THE


of Confederation


Since the equalization pro-gram was introduced in1957, the federal govern-

ment has transferred over $23 bil-lion to the prov-ince of New-foundland andLabrador.

The program,designed to ensure provincial gov-ernments offer Canadians relative-ly similar social services no matterwhere they live, with a relativelysimilar tax load, has always madeup a large portion — up to 25 percent or even more — of thisprovince’s annual revenue.

In that first year, 1957, New-foundland was allotted $11.8 mil-lion in equalization. The fundinglevel reached an all-time high ofover $1.2 billion in 1999. Sincethen, equalization has decreasedannually — due to a decliningpopulation and an improving eco-nomic situation — and currentlysits at about $800 million.

Equalization is one of four fed-eral programs that transfer fundsfor services to the provinces andterritories. The others are theCanadian Health Transfer, theCanadian Social Services Transfer,and Territorial Formula Financing.

Newfoundland’s share of thesetransfers, plus annual federal con-tributions to cost-shared programs,adds up to a grand total of $34 bil-lion in transferred funds, from1949 to 2004.

In 2004, eight of 10 Canadianprovinces qualify for equalization— Alberta and Ontario currentlyhave a per capita fiscal capacityhigh enough that they don’t quali-fy: they are have provinces. (Ithasn’t always been this way —Alberta received equalizationbetween 1957 and 1964. Ontario,though it came close several times,remains the only province to neverqualify for equalization.)

As a province’s ability to gener-ate revenue grows, it receives lessequalization — an adjustment

known as the “clawback.”The principle behind equaliza-

tion — to create a level playingfield between the provinces — issimple; the formula to calculatewhich province gets what, is not.

Each province’s ability to raiserevenue is measured by examining33 actual and potential sources ofincome, including personalincome tax, business income tax,gasoline tax, forestry revenues, oilrevenues, mineral resources,insurance premiums, lottery ticketrevenues and property taxes.

The result — calculated percapita — is compared to what iscalled the “five-province stan-dard,” a weighted average of theability of the five so-called middleprovinces (B.C, Manitoba,Saskatchewan, Ontario and Que-bec) to raise taxes. Provinces thatfall below this standard qualifyfor equalization. In recent years,Newfoundland and Labrador hasqualified for about $1,500 inequalization, per resident.

The equalization formula haschanged over the years. Original-ly, it was designed to bring allprovinces up to a comparable level(of per capita tax revenue) to theaverage of the two richestprovinces of the time, Ontario andB.C.

In 1962, the standard waschanged to a 10-province nationalaverage — thus lowering equal-ization payments. Other adjust-ments were made over the years,but the most notable changescame in 1982, when the 10-province standard was exchangedfor the current five-province one— done mostly to exclude the“volatility” of Alberta and its oiland tax revenues.

“Alberta is out because it wouldcost more (for the federal govern-ment) to keep it in,” says provin-cial NDP leader Jack Harris. “Itwould point out the greaterinequality that exists between theprovinces.”

Another change came that year.For the first time, equalization“was constitutionally mandated tomake sure governments across thecountry can deliver relativelyequal services at relatively equalcost,” says Harris. “‘Relatively’being a political term, not a legalone.”

Recently, there have been callsto return to a 10-province equal-ization standard. There are alsosuggestions, particularly from theless populous provinces, that dis-tributing equalization funds on aper capita basis is not the fairestway to do it.

Loyola Hearn, ConservativeMP for St. John’s South, speaks tothis point. While we’d be in “pret-ty hard shape” without the funds,he says it’s “a question mark”whether it’s working as it should.

Newfoundland and Labrador,with a declining population, isconsequently receiving lessmoney than it would if the popu-lation was growing. In addition,Hearn points out, “our averagepopulation, I believe, is the oldestin Canada. Consequently that pop-ulation requires greater expendi-ture than a younger, healthier pop-ulation.”

And besides, geographicallywe’re spread “over hell’s halfacre” — making services evenmore expensive to administer.

Ronald Martin, a former deputyminister of Finance for thisprovince, wrote Equalization:Milestone or Millstone for theAtlantic Institute of Market Stud-ies in 2001. In it, he calculatedthat, given Newfoundland’s popu-lation had decreased by about40,000 between 1992 and 2000,the province received $78 milliona year less in equalization — yetin the same period, public expen-ditures grew by nine per cent.

In a recent interview, FinanceMinister Loyola Sullivan tells TheIndependent the province has lost$1 billion over the past decade orso in equalization as a direct result

of population loss.As Sullivan stated in a 2001

press release, “our needs are pro-portionately greater than our pop-ulation.”

One of the other major concernsabout the equalization formula isthe inclusion of revenues fromnon-renewable resources like oiland gas. Particularly when itcomes to the East Coast, manybelieve those revenues should beexempt.

It’s one of the keys, writes Mar-tin to “the acceleration of the eco-nomic growth in the lagging andfiscally disparate provinces.

“As our fiscal capacity increas-es here in the province, at somepoint we’ll go beyond qualifyingfor equalization and there’s noth-ing wrong with that,” says RegAnstey, president of the New-foundland and Labrador Federa-tion of Labour.

“The problem with equalizationas it’s now structured is that in theshort haul a non-renewableresource is not exempt … it reallymeans that the money from a non-renewable resource, while we’rebelow the national average on fis-cal capacity, the profits all go toOttawa instead of here.”

In 1957, the provinces of Cana-da had comparable taxes and taxrates. Since then, the gap haswidened, the federal governmenthas become more decentralized —and the reliance on transfers, suchas equalization, has increased.

“The failure is, it hasn’t made usequal enough,” says Harris. “Wehave the lowest level of servicesand the highest level of taxes.

“How do you fix it? You putmore money into it and you use a10-province standard when calcu-lating the numbers and you makeus more equal.”

Liberal MP Gerry Byrne is lesscertain of an answer. “I don’t thinkwe’ll ever get a perfect equaliza-tion formula,” he says.

“Anyone who tries to suggestthey’re going to find a perfect wayto describe the fiscal balance andthe fiscal capability betweenprovinces has probably been eitheran economist too long or been inschool too long.”

The Independent, November 7, 2004 BUSINESS

‘Make us more equal’Transferred funds to the province from Ottawa since 1949 equal $34 billion; funding formulas need work

The late premier Joey Smallwood brought Newfoundland into Confederation in 1949.

FINDING THE


of Confederation

BUSINESS The Independent, November 7, 2004

Investing right hereProvince in need of venture capital; government to fill gap

By Alisha MorrisseyThe Independent

When it comes to Newfoundlandand Labrador as a place to dobusiness, investors say it’s not

about geography so muchas potential.

Still, the province isn’tknown for drawing hugeamounts of venture capital— money businesses need to get on their feetor expand.

That may soon change.Finance Minister Loyola Sullivan says the

province may have two venture capital fundsup and running by early next year.

“We’re looking at overall major economicinitiatives that would be able to improve thebusiness climate, to enhance the opportunitiesfor companies to get involved,” he tells TheIndependent.

Sullivan says government understands thechallenges faced by capital-starved business-es and is working toward removing obstaclesfor investors.

“So we realize there has to be improve-ments and we’ve been working hard at thatand we’re starting to roll out some of thesethings now and over the next several monthsyou’ll see significant others.”

Private investments in the province havegrown every year since 1991 when StatisticsCanada began recording the figures. Thehighest amount of investment — ringing in atalmost $4 billion — was recorded this year.

The lowest amount — $1.5 billion — wasinvested in 1992, the year the commercial codfishery first closed.

When it comes to public investments, thebest year was 1994 when an estimated $900million was spent by various levels of govern-ment. The lowest amount of investmenttotalled $350 million in 1996.

John Steele of Steele Communications —one of the largest broadcasting companies inthe province, owner of VOCM, among otherinterests — says investors face many chal-lenges in the province.

The fact that Newfoundland and Labradorhas never been looked at as a financiallysecure province is one of the major deterrentsto investment, he says.

“I think our national image, within Canada,

is generally very poor in an economic sense.I think people look upon us fairly favourablyas a people and all that type of thing, butwe’re not looked upon as an economichotbed. We’re always in a racket about something — whether it’s justified or not.”

Steele says strikes and other disputes por-tray a certain negative image to the Canadianbusiness community.

“This is the constant image that gets fedacross in the national media. You don’t hearof any success stories coming out of herebecause that doesn’t make the news.”

Steele says a “socialistic mindset” exists inthe province in which the creation of jobs ismore of a priority than profit. He also criti-cizes the amount of bureaucratic red tape inthe province.

“It takes forever for things to get movedalong and there doesn’t seem to be any view-point … that time is money, you know, ‘We’llget around to it later on,’” Steele says.

“It can be very, very frustrating. So I thinkif they could make that process quicker itwould be a good starting point.”

Tony Van Bommel, regional representativefor the Business Development Bank of Cana-da (BDC), says he has no doubt that potentialexists in the province. In fact, there are moreopportunities on his desk now than threeyears ago.

The problem, as he sees it, is that there areno venture capital providers in Newfoundlandand Labrador like in Ontario or Alberta.

“The BDC is currently the only active fundthat I’m aware of that is looking at invest-ments in Newfoundland. Other funds will beattracted on a business by business opportu-nity,” Van Bommel says. “You’re getting a lotof mixed signals in the marketplace becausea lot of people get turned down for venturecapital … in my opinion you (Newfoundlan-ders) do have a more difficult time becausethere are no local funds other than the BDC.”

He’s also careful to point out that in thebusiness world there are no handouts.

Investing in business is not part of a socialsupport system, but a fierce competition tofind and acquire capital.

“It’s not an economic development feature,venture capital, it’s the best opportunities willget funded and if it happens to be in St.John’s or Halifax, Toronto … that shouldn’tmake a difference.”


Lure of the baby bonusBy Alisha MorrisseyThe Independent

Marian Hann of CornerBrook says she remem-bers the referendum on

Confederation well. A Scottishwar bride in Newfoundland onlyfour years, she was pregnant at thetime, in 1948, with her first child,Linda.

Hann voted “yes” for Confeder-ation though not specifically forthe “baby bonus,” although hersister did.

“I don’t think I was really think-ing of anything like that at thetime,” she tells The Independent,adding she just wanted to deliverthe baby. “I remember some of thefamily boys, my brothers-in-law,were putting bets on it that shewould be a Newfoundlander, ‘Noshe won’t she’ll be a Canadian.’And she wasn’t born until the 24th

of April. She was born a Canadi-an.”

Hann says she voted for Con-federation to make the country abetter place for her daughter.

“I was very new here then — Ionly came in 1947 — and I didn’treally know too much about life inNewfoundland before that,” shesays. “What I learned from peoplewas that they were really havingstruggling times and I thought ifwe joined Canada well, perhapsit’ll help.”

WAR BRIDESHann and her sister Mary

moved to Newfoundland as Scot-tish war brides — marrying twobrothers. Mary, 84, voted for Con-federation.

“It was a great benefit — wesaved it (the baby bonus) to helpthem when they grew up — to goto university and that sort ofthing,” she says.

It’s been reported that manyfamilies, women particularly,voted for Confederation specifi-cally for the Canada Child Tax

Benefit — commonly known asthe baby bonus — as well as duty-free ordering from the Eaton’s cat-alogue.

Conservative MP Loyola Hearnsays because of a lack of masscommunication, he doesn’t believeConfederation was won because ofsuch promises as a baby bonus.

“I’m not sure whether or notthey fully understood the commit-ment by, I guess, Joey Smallwoodat that time, that there would besocial benefits from Ottawa,”Hearn says. “Maybe the promiseof more money may have helped,but I think we over simplify thingsby saying it was the promise of thebaby bonus.”

BABY BONUS SONGCritics of the benefit claimed

the baby bonus was an incentivefor poor families to have morechildren. Joan Morrissey, a promi-nent Newfoundland singer wroteThe Baby Bonus Song as a humor-ous poke at such ideas.

Hearn says with so many largefamilies in pre-Confederationyears he’s almost sure the moneywas appreciated.

At the time, the benefit was paidas relief for families suffering awar-time wage freeze.

Families received $5 per monthfor children under five, childrenages six to nine got $6 per monthand kids aged 10 to 12 got $7 permonth. Five dollars in 1945 isequivalent to $55 today.

In 2002, a married couple any-where in Canada making a com-bined income of $30,000 per year,with two children, receives $295 amonth in the form of Canada’sChild Tax Benefit.

The Canadian government paidout $6 billion in child tax benefitsin 1999, the most recent year forwhich stats were available. Offi-cials for the Canada RevenueAgency could not say how muchis been paid out to the province ina year, let alone since 1949.

FINDING THE


of Confederation

The Independent, November 7, 2004 BUSINESS

Model prefinishing hardwood

Canadian Made

8 Species4 Widths

3 Gloss Levels6 Stains

Official Supplier to Humber Valley Resort

Cottle’s Island Lumber Co.Cottlesville

‘Our battle will never be with Ottawa’Labrador party fighting with province over Big Land’s fair share

Happy Valley-Goose BayBy Bert PomeroyThe Independent

As debate over offshore oilrevenues continues be-tween the province and

Ottawa, Lloyd Pardy can’t helpbut wonder whether Labrador willever see the benefits of its ownnatural resources.

“If Labrador can’t get a fairshare from its own resources, thenhow can we expect to get anythingfrom Newfoundland’s resources?”asks the president of the LakeMelville wing of the LabradorParty. “That’s one of the main rea-sons why our party was formed —we’re sick and tired of watchingour resources leave right beforeour eyes and not seeing anythingcome back.”

The massive iron ore mines inLabrador City and Wabush, therich timber stands of central andsoutheastern Labrador, the fishery,low-level flying at 5 Wing GooseBay and the infamoushydro development atChurchill Falls have gen-erated billions of dollarsto provincial and federal cofferssince Confederation. Meantime,Pardy tells The Independent,Labrador still lacks basic infra-structure, adequate health care andeducational facilities.

“It costs twice as much for aperson from Labrador to get a uni-versity degree because they haveto travel outside of the region,highways are pretty much non-

existent and we have some of thehighest levels of unemploymentin the province.”

Barge loads of unprocessed tim-ber continue to leave the docks atHappy Valley-Goose Bay, des-tined for mills on the island, Pardy

adds, and there’s moretalk of further developingthe hydro potential of theChurchill (Grand) River.

“We have all of these hugeresources, like Voisey’s Bay, inour midst, and we continue towatch as they are taken away.”

Formed just months before lastfall’s provincial election, theLabrador Party’s ultimate goal isto send four representatives to thelegislature, Pardy says.

“We’re not a separatist partyand we haven’t promoted sepa-

ratism,” he says. “We just want towork for the betterment ofLabrador, to be a voice forLabrador and to hopefully changethings.”

While the premier has over-whelming support for his positionin the dispute with Canada overoffshore revenues, not much of itis coming from Labrador, Pardycontends.

“There hasn’t been a huge out-cry from Labradorians,” he says.“Our battle will never be withOttawa, as far as I’m concerned —it will always be with theprovince”

Labrador City Mayor GrahamLetto is less critical of the provin-cial government, and is confidentLabrador will start getting its fairshare if the province is allowed to

keep all royalties generated fromits resources without any federalclawbacks.

“While the province is fightingfor offshore revenues it should goa step further and demand that weget 100 per cent from all of ournon-renewable resources,” saysLetto, the Labrador West vice-president of the Combined Coun-cils of Labrador.

“There’s a lot of potential fromVoisey’s Bay and the developmentof natural gas off the Labradorcoast, as well as new miningopportunities. We feel thatchanges to the Atlantic Accordwill set a precedent … to removeall natural resources from theequalization formula.”

Letto says Labrador has con-tributed significantly to the coun-try as a whole, and it’s time someof that wealth came back to theregion.

“It’s unbelievable what iron orehas contributed alone, not only toNewfoundland and Labrador, butto Ontario and Quebec,” he says.“It’s mined in Labrador, moved byrail to Quebec and shipped up theSt. Lawrence to the Great Lakes— just imagine the jobs andwealth that’s created.”

Add that to the “inequities” ofthe Churchill Falls hydro develop-ment, which generates hundredsof millions in profits each year forHydro Quebec, and you have arecipe for discontent from a regionof the country that expects morefrom its federal and provincialgovernments, Letto says.

“As far as I’m concerned, andI’ve always believed this,Labrador is the economic enginethat’s driving the provincial econ-omy, and I think it will continue tobe that engine as projects like thelower Churchill come on streamand the forest industry is devel-oped,” he says.

“From Labrador’s perspective,when you look at what we’re get-ting back in terms of what we’regenerating to the provincial andfederal economies, it’s peanuts,”Letto adds. “Now is the time forus to really put the pressure onOttawa to allow us to reap thebenefits from our resources. If wedon’t do it now, we may neverhave another opportunity.”

“It’s high time thatLabradorians — insteadof feeling like someoneelse’s treasure trove —started feeling like anintegral part of ourprovince. We cannotexpect fair treatment

from Ottawa if we don’tpractice what we preach.”

— Premier Danny Williams’inaugural address as leaderof the Progressive Conserv-ative Party, April 7, 2001.

FINDING THE


of Confederation


Ern Condon is president of the Labrador Party, which ran candidates inall three Labrador districts in the 2003 election. None were successful.

Marystown takes ManhattanMike Ryan set out to be Newfoundland’s version of Indiana Jones; he didn’t quite make it, but his life in the Big Apple is an adventure


Marystown-native Mike Ryandiscovered his first taste offreedom on a six-week French

program when he was 17. He spent thetime with over 30 other like-minded,Newfoundlanders — “raging, unsuper-vised through the streets of Montreal.”Ryan didn’t learn much French, but hedid discover a “wanderlust” that senthim on a travel quest, eventually settinghim down in his current home, New YorkCity.

HIGHS AND LOWSNow 27, Ryan’s been through the

highs and lows of navigating the big cityas a newcomer from a small place —from his first experiences riding the sub-way and driving the streets alone, to wit-nessing the skyline from the World TradeCenter, and, later, watching the two tow-ers as they collapsed.

“I completed a degree in archaeologyand physical anthropology at Memorialhoping to become a Newfie IndianaJones,” Ryan tells The Independent. “Butthe closest I got to a dig or adventuretravel was taking the tunnels from resi-dence and risking freezing from exposurewhile sprinting to the archaeology build-ing.”

While at MUN, Ryan used his experi-ence as a lifeguard in Marystown whenhe was a teenager to land work at sum-mer camps in the United States.

“I fell in love with the experience, andmet people from all over the world.”

As it happens, during his second summer Ryan also “fell in love” with agirl from the Big Apple and as soon ashe finished his undergrad in 2001, he

joined her there.He managed to find work in an afflu-

ent area in New Jersey as an athletic co-ordinator for a Jewish community centre,travelling the daily 30-minute commutefrom the apartment he shared with hisgirlfriend, Shara, in Manhattan.

“As you might bethinking, what qualifiesa guy with a degree inarchaeology and physi-cal anthropology to bean athletic co-ordinatorat a community centrein one of the most afflu-ent areas in the UnitedStates?” asks Ryan.

Immigration askedthe same question, andafter eight monthsdenied his application for a work visa.

Not to be outdone, with continued sup-port from the centre, Ryan started givingprivate and group sports lessons to chil-dren, and as word of mouth spread, hefound himself coaching kids with devel-opmental and learning disabilities.

Now he’s studying occupational ther-apy at New York University, and practic-ing as a certified health and fitnessinstructor, specializing in adapted sportsand aquatic fitness for overweight chil-dren and children with developmentaldisabilities.

Ryan says immigration has been par-ticularly tough since Sept. 11.

“Even with my student visa I’m con-tinually hassled every time I go throughcustoms. Most times I’m detained for noreason for periods of up to three hours,just so they can confirm that I am indeeda student at NYU.”

Ryan recalls 9/11 as “one of the mostsurreal experiences” he’s ever had. At

first he thought a huge movie with majorspecial effects was being made as he“watched the scene that was unfolding inthe sky.” He was driving out of thedowntown area towards Jersey at thetime, and as he saw emergency vehiclesspeed by, realization sank in.

“My next thought wasfor my girlfriend whotook the subway toBrooklyn every morningto work, and passedthrough the World TradeCenter subway station inher commute. I wasunable to confirm hersafety for a period ofabout six to seven hoursfollowing the collapse ofthe towers, due to all

communication in the city crashing.”Trapped in New Jersey, he and his

girlfriend were unable to return to theirEast Village apartment — only a mileand a half away from ground zero — fortwo days.

He says his most vivid memory ofthat time was walking around silentstreets and down Broadway without hav-ing to move for cars.

“On every corner, lamp post, bus stop,there were pictures of the missing andtheir loved ones who were searching forthem,” Ryan says. “I broke down onceafter going to get food one day, all Ireturned with were posters of the deadand missing. I forgot all about my food.”

He says the smell in the city, as the car-nage continued to burn, was “indescrib-able.

“You couldn’t open a window, thesmell was in your clothes and your apart-ment … the smell; it just made you feelsick to your stomach.”

Ryan still lives in the East Village, andthe big topic of discussion these days isthe election.

“Well I must say that bearing witness,first hand, to the democratic process inthis country was a treat. It was an endlesssource of entertainment and amusement.It’s scary to think that these people arethe leaders of the free world and I usethat phrase loosely.”

CITY OF OPPORTUNITYBut Ryan’s happy to be there. He says

his favourite thing about New York is theunlimited, around-the-clock entertain-ment, and the opportunities to get ahead.

“If you can make it here you can makeit anywhere. That’s what this city’s allabout.”

Ryan says he’s enjoying everythingNew York has to offer, and although hecan’t imagine returning to Newfoundlandon a permanent basis, he calls himself“an islander at heart.”

He’s found friends in the area throughNewfoundlandersabroad.com, and fornow he’s content with his Screech andthe occasional Great Big Sea concert —which he says, always sell out.

If anyone’s looking for “an excellenttour,” Ryan says he’s available “at a rea-sonable price.

“Now don’t be fooled, this is a hardand expensive city to live in, and somedays are more challenging than othersespecially when you aren’t American,”he says. “The thing is that being from aplace such as Newfoundland — whichoffers its youth such limited possibilities— even the bad moments I’ve had in thiscity stand out as good ones, just for thepure fact that I would never know thedifference if I had never left theprovince.”

November 7, 2004 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

“If you can make it here you can

make it anywhere. That’s what this city’s all about.”

— Mike Ryan

John Andrews/The IndependentTimes Square, Manhattan

The increases in savings accountsare just one example: the war yearswere good — economically — forNewfoundland.

In July 1940, Commissioner ofFinance J.H. Penson announced thatfor the remainder of the war, New-foundland would no longer ask Britainfor financial assistance. A year later, a$700,000 budgetary surplus wasannounced.

A report prepared by G.W. St. JohnChadwick of the Dominions Officeand E. Jones of the British Treasury in1946 stated: “The result of almost sixyears of wartime financing was toyield a cumulative surplus of about$26 million, to which must be added$6.5 million from public borrowing.Out of this total of $32.5 million, some$12.3 million was lent (interest-free) tothe United Kingdom.”

The late Walter Carter, in a columnin The Telegram of January, 1999,characterized the 1940s this way:“Newfoundland was not an economicbasket case when it entered Canada …it had a self-reliant population, a strongmanufacturing sector, easy access tothe most prolific fishing grounds in theworld and airports vital to transatlanticcommercial aviation.”

AMERICAN INFLUXThe war years brought an influx of

Americans, American money, andjobs. Water Street merchants recordeda 25 per cent increase in sales. Budgetswere in the black and it was, in today’sterms, a “have” situation.

That would come to an end in 1949.Retired St. John’s lawyer James Halley— a participant in the Confederationdebate — says a province had been

created “without adequate income tomeet our needs … we were locked intoinsolvency.”

In 1948, Corner Brook’s WesternStar commissioned McDonald, Currieand Co., chartered accountants basedin Montreal, to prepare areport on the effect of Con-federation on Newfoundland.They wanted “to assist theNewfoundland people tocome to an intelligent decision in theforthcoming referendum (on Confed-eration).”

The resulting report was publishedin the newspaper of May 4, 1948.

It showed that Newfoundland, in theyear ending March 1947, recorded asurplus of $3.2 million (the provinceof Nova Scotia, in virtually the sameperiod, had a $2.4million deficit).

The McDonald-Currie report com-pares actual num-bers of expenditureand revenues for theNewfoundland gov-ernment with esti-mates for same,should Newfound-land enter Confed-eration.

Given that theCanadian govern-ment was to takeover operations of anumber of services,expenditures andrevenues would beless for the provinceof Newfoundland, than for the Com-mission of Government.

But the accountants estimated theprovince would have a deficit of $4.5million (versus the $3.2 million sur-

plus for the commission) the first year. The annual “transitional grants” of

$3.5 million to be given by Canadawere not projected to be enough forthe loss of revenue from personalincome and customs and excise tax.

In other estimates byMcDonald and Currie, corpo-rate income taxes were lowerin Newfoundland, and basicpersonal income tax exemp-

tions were higher.On the other hand, it estimated the

people of Newfoundland would, as aprovince, save about $36.43 per capi-ta annually in savings of customs andexcise duties.

Three months after Newfoundlan-ders voted, narrowly, to join Canada, adelegation appointed by the Commis-

sion of Governmenttravelled to Ottawa tonegotiate and sign thefinal terms.

All members of thedelegation wereapparently amenableto the agreement, withone exception.

On Dec. 9, 1948,Chesley Crosbiewalked away. As hewrote in a letter thatday to the chair of theNewfoundland dele-gation, he could notsign the agreement:

“(1) because I con-sider deficit financingout of surplus,unsound and imprac-

tical. Further, it does not give New-foundland the chance to adjust itself,smoothly, to the status of a province.

“(2) I can see no relief for our peo-ple from the present load of taxation,

and there is a possibility that it willhave to be substantially increased.

“I cannot accept the financial assis-tance offered as being adequate …furthermore, I can see very littleprospect of improvement after the firsteight-year period, when our deficitwill be very large.”

Prior to April 1, 1949, nearly two-thirds of Newfoundland’s revenuecame from customs and excise taxeson goods and services. That, plusincome tax, was virtually enough tomeet the expenditure needs of the gov-ernment.

DAWN OF CONFEDERATION

With the dawn of Confederation,the tariff wall, which protected New-foundland’s small manufacturers,came down. “Cheaper Canadian goodsflooded into Newfoundland,” writeshistorian John Fitzgerald in The diffi-cult little island (Newfoundland Quar-terly, Spring 2001). “It has been con-servatively estimated that 4,000 jobswere instantly lost.

“The Newfoundland per capita debt,which was about $160 the day beforeconfederation, jumped to about $1,300the day after … but … the newprovince received no debt equalizationcompensation which it should havebeen due, which could have greatlyassisted in the transition to province-hood.”

He later concludes: “The historicalmyth about Newfoundland during thewar has been the myth about pre-con-federation Newfoundland: that itwould be eternally impoverished, thatit didn’t have a hope of making it onits own …

“But these myths are simply notsupported by the evidence.”

November 7, 2004 LIFE &TIMES

‘Locked into insolvency’

“Newfoundland was notan economic basket casewhen it entered Canada… it had a self-reliantpopulation, a strong

manufacturing sector,easy access to the mostprolific fishing grounds

in the world and airportsvital to transatlantic

commercial aviation.”— The late

Walter Carter

From page 1

FINDING THE


of Confederation

The National Convention, a debate about Newfoundland’s future, was held in the Colonial Building in St. John’s in 1946.

Editor’s note: The following storyappeared in the Nov. 1 edition ofThe Toronto Star. Reprinted withpermission of Torstar SyndicationServices.

HalifaxKelly ToughillAtlantic Canada BureauThe Toronto Star

In the outports of rural New-foundland, Premier DannyWilliams’ high-profile fight

with Prime Minister Paul Martinisn’t about arcane funding formulasand offshore oil royalties.

It isn’t even about jobs.It is about keeping your kids

nearby, about the small, outsidechance of getting to see yourgrandchildren come into the worldand grow.

That has been the dream for gen-erations in a province that leakspeople like a rusty boat leaks waterin a heavy sea. When oil was dis-covered under the ice fields of theNorth Atlantic, many Newfound-landers thought the exodus wouldend, that their dream would finallycome true.

It didn’t, and now they want toknow why.

The answer, suggested Williams,is Ontario greed.

Williams called Martin a liar anda cheat last week. Then he said itagain.

There is a long tradition of polit-ical theatre in Newfoundland thatcasts the premier as valiant defend-er against resource-sucking busi-ness-ghouls-from-away intent onstealing the Rock’s pristine wealth.But even by the standards of thattradition, Williams’ rhetoric wasextreme. And Martin’s crime?

Offering Newfoundland an extra$233 million a year in oil royalties— and another $228 million forbasic services. The royalty packagealone was worth $1.4 billion overeight years.

Williams didn’t even attend lastweek’s first ministers’ meeting,storming out before it began.

No other issue better illustratesthe divide between Atlantic Cana-da and the rest of Canada than thefight over the federal equalizationprogram.

It is hard for an outsider to imag-ine how much equalization countsin a place like Newfoundland, orhow a $2 billion top-up to Cana-da’s poorest province could be con-sidered an insult.

For most Canadians, the federaltransfer program is a mind-numb-ingly boring jumble of numbersthat is worth thinking about only tothe extent that it affects personalincome taxes. But in Newfound-land, the equalization program isthe lifeline for schools, roads, hos-pitals and other vital services. It isthe topic of coffee-shop chatter,and any deckhand can knowledge-ably discuss the elements thatdetermine fiscal capacity under thefederal formula.

When Williams arrived homefrom the battle, he was met bycheering crowds at the airport. Oldfoes from the Liberal and NewDemocratic parties have lined upbehind him, as have union officialsand business pundits.

The $861 million that New-foundland will get in equalizationpayments this year is the province’ssingle largest source of income,worth more than provincial incometaxes, or sales tax or anything else.In fact, 35 cents of every $1 col-lected by the government of New-foundland comes from Ottawa.Compare that to just 14 cents from

Ottawa collected by the Ontariogovernment.

The equalization program is sup-posed to ensure that Canadians inall parts of the country have accessto roughly the same public servicesat roughly the same rate of taxa-tion. It is calculated with a complexformula that considers differenteconomic factors in five provinces.(The standard excludes Albertabecause it is too rich and theAtlantic provinces because they aretoo poor.)

MAGIC FIGUREThe magic figure for the current

fiscal year is $6,126. Provinces thatcan raise less than that per personget equalization money. Albertaand Ontario, which can raise morethan that, don’t receive equaliza-tion payments, although they do,like all provinces, get federal fundsthrough other programs.

Last year, Ottawa figured New-foundland had the ability to raisejust over $4,900 per person in taxesof all kinds, so the province wasallotted $1,230 per person in equal-ization payments to bring it up tothe national standard.

Despite the formula, Newfound-landers pay higher taxes and getfewer services than most Canadi-ans. For instance, a Newfoundlan-der with a taxable income of

$40,000 a year pays almost twiceas much provincial income tax asan Ontario resident with a similarincome: $4,788 compared to just$2,654 in Ontario.

A Newfoundlander with a tax-able income of $100,000 pays$15,398 in provincial income tax— almost 50 per cent higher thanthe $10,815 due in Ontario.

Yet many don’t even get themost basic public services. Morethan 200 villages are under boil-water orders in Newfoundland.That means 40,000 people in theprovince are supposed to boil theirwater before brushing their teeth,mixing up juice or sometimes evenshowering — and that doesn’tcount people on private wells.More than 70 villages have nowater treatment system at all, andhave been under a boil-water orderfor years.

When the province’s first oilplatform began to suck black goldout of the ocean floor in 1998,many thought the province’s for-tunes had finally turned around.

Newfoundland’s gross domesticproduct led the nation, and oil roy-alties poured in. But the economicimpact was less than many hoped.The revenues earned by Hiberniadidn’t stay in Newfoundland long.Provincial incomes didn’t risemuch, and unemployment didn’t

plummet. In the last 10 years, theprovince lost another 10 per cent ofits population. The unemploymentrate is still 17 per cent — morethan twice the national average.

Most disappointing was watch-ing the oil royalties flow rightthrough the province to Ottawa.

Under the equalization program,when a poor province’s coffers getfatter, the province gets less moneyfrom Ottawa. The theory is that asprovinces get better off, they needless help. But those on the receiv-ing end say the system means theycan never get ahead, because everytime they generate $1 to spend onservices or cut the deficit, $1 istaken back by Ottawa.

Forty years ago, when Albertawas rural and poor and just devel-oping its petrochemical industry,oil revenues were exempt from theequalization formula. Newfound-land and Nova Scotia, which alsohas offshore energy resources,asked for the same deal.

Martin refused until last Junewhen, just before the election, hefinally agreed to rebate energy roy-alties to the two provinces withoutreducing equalization payments.But when it came time to sign thedeal last week, there were two newconditions. The deal was only goodfor eight years, and Newfoundlandwould only get the rebate as longas the combination of its fiscalcapacity and its equalization pay-ments stayed below Ontario’s fiscalcapacity.

In short, Ottawa was only will-ing to give Newfoundland another$500 per person per year — nomatter how much oil flowed out ofthe sea. By Newfoundland calcula-tions, the offer was more than $1billion short of fair.

In Ottawa, the argument madesense: why should Newfoundlandcontinue to get reimbursed for oilroyalties if its tax base and equal-ization payments bring it up to thelevel of Ontario?

In Newfoundland, it was aninsult, confirmation of a long-heldsuspicion that central Canadawould never let Newfoundlandprosper.

East Coast pundits on both ends

LIFE & TIMES The Independent, November 7, 2004

Why so angry on the Rock?Funding formula, oil stirs passion; hard for outsiders to grasp import


Paul Daly/The IndependentPigeon Cove, Labrador

By Connie BolandFor The Independent

The aging, black and whitephotographs are striking intheir simplicity. Young

men, some barely old enough toshave, smile into the camera. Theywere too young to die.

Sgt. Archibald Ash, a Blue Put-tee from Red Bay, was part of thefirst contingent of the First New-foundland Regiment to serve over-seas. Killed in the line of duty morethan eight decades ago, he hasn’tbeen forgotten. Someone caredenough to ensure this soldier’s cre-dentials were immortalized on avirtual war memorial.

So many other names and facesare absent. Michael Martin scansthe on-line tribute and sighs. Themissing photos of the dead send astrong message to the living.

“Some of these men gave every-thing they had to give,” theCartwright native tells The Inde-pendent. “There’s an old sayingthat ‘If we forget our past we arecondemned to repeat it in thefuture.’”

Every morning, the former UNpeacekeeper checks a website ded-icated to the Labradorians whoserved in the First World War, Sec-ond World War and Korean con-flict, hoping other people share hisinterest in the servicemen, boys forthe most part, who gave their livesin battles fought far from home.

He usually clicks off bitterly dis-appointed.

Martin’s father and unclesfought in the First World War; hiscousins enlisted in the Second.“We were on holidays compared towhat those guys went through,” hesays, referring to his peacekeepingmissions to Egypt in 1958-59 andCongo in 1960-61. “They lived inmud up to their waist for months

and months. Some of them diedfrom being eaten by rats.

“The Newfoundland regimenthad more causalities from illhealth, accidents and exposure thanfrom bullets and bombs, and Godknows there was enough of them.”

With the exception of the gener-ic cenotaphs erected by the RoyalCanadian Legion, no monumenthas been built in Labrador to payhomage to its brave soldiers. In anattempt to change that,Labradorheritage.ca — in co-oper-ation with Branch 51 of the RoyalCanadian Legion in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Them Days Maga-zine — created a virtual warmemorial.

The general public is asked to

help acquire photos and informa-tion for addition to the website.The ultimate goal is to erect a per-manent memorial in Cartwright in

2005, as part of the Sandwich BayReunion celebrations.

The project was a perfect fit for

Martin, an admitted history buffand former member of the NewLabrador Party. Martin was thefirst Labradorian elected to theHouse of Assembly and designedthe Labrador Flag. Now living inOntario, the former journalistremains intensely interested in allthings Labrador. The project beingsupervised by Cartwright residentRev. Graham Hill is a perfect fit.

“It needs to be done,” says Mar-tin, an active Legionnaire. “Theydid so much for us and we havedone so little for them. The Legionhas a motto — We RememberThem — and we haven’t. That’swhat this monument is all about.”

The list of First World War sol-diers posted to the virtual museum

is nearing completion. The SecondWorld War and Korea conflict sec-tions are under construction. Mar-tin is looking for information onsoldiers born in Labrador, as wellas those who gave their homeaddress as Labrador upon enlist-ment. Personal pages have beenset up for many of the fallen com-rades. Anecdotal information com-bined with service records anddetails on where a soldier is buriedmake for compelling reading.

Martin acknowledges the infor-mation isn’t easy to get. “Commu-nities were small and scattered.Some of the places the men camefrom simply no longer exist,” hesays. “In some cases, the familyname has died out. If there everwere pictures of some of these sol-diers they are probably long sincedestroyed.”

Men weren’t willing to discusstheir experiences, he adds. “Theysimply went to war. If you look atthe website you will see blankspaces that represent a wholebunch of people that we’ve simplyforgotten. That’s not acceptable.We must remember and we mustpass on the information so that ourchildren will remember.”

The implications of letting thepast slip away are tremendous,Martin points out. “If we don’t takeit upon ourselves to be constantlyreminded then we are going to bestupid enough to send our childrenover there, or somewhere else,again. It’s human nature and thereason is that we simply don’t payattention to what it means to sendour children into action.”

The Labrador War Memorial islocated at www.labradorher-itage.ca

Information pertaining toLabrador soldiers can be sent [email protected]

The Independent, November 7, 2004 LIFE & TIMES

I recently caught a show withtwo bands I hadn’t seen insome time, Victory Ciga-

rettes and The Eddy StevensBand.

Victory Cigarettes was first toplay and whoever wasn’t therewon’t know how good it was. Myintake of Victory Cigs is admitted-ly low, so getting a drag of somedamn fine modern rock wasrefreshing. Jonny Harris and PhilChurchill had a twin guitar-and-vocals vibe happening, trading offon lead mic duties and solos.

There were soulful harmonieson these original tunes, with Har-ris’ gritty vocal style rising to thetop. The songs had colourful odd-timed sections and ambient guitardelay, but believe me, it was still arock show. And the late-arriving

crowd that appeared out of thenight to swoop in on the bar wereinto it, too.

After their short set, it was EddyStevens’ turn. Both bands agreedthey’d split the night into two setsapiece. The Eddy Stevens Bandhad been fluctuating in lineup fora while, but has now settled inwith a comfortable trio includingthe ex-Margaritas Calling rhythmduo of Mike Dowding and BradWheeler behind bass and drums,respectively. It totally works for

Stevens’ danceable blend of funk-pop.

The thing I’ve always noticedabout his style of band is the abil-ity to fuse addictive original mate-rial and covers they take owner-ship of. Whether it’s a jazzedDancing Days by Led Zeppelin ora version of I Will Survive, theymelt together with such Stevens’favourites as Storm, The Band,Honey Pie and a few new rock-flavoured numbers that rightfullybring the guitar to the front. It’soften hard to tell when a cover isactually played, which should bethe idea, right?

SIGN OF THE TIMESIn the past, his tunes got every-

one within a two-kilometre radiusup on the dance floor, but thisnight most people seemed to treatit as background to chatting andboozing. It’s a sign of the times —crowds crave rock now more thanever. When Victory Cigs returnedto rock the stage, those around mewere loose enough to flail aroundwith the heavy sound. Lessdancin’, more fist-pumpin’ is whatit’s about when I decide to call it anight.

On another night, I followedmore new rock with a show by TheAntics at Roxxy’s. As a first timelistener, I must say, these guyswere very entertaining. The bandname fits with the spirited energyof Brad the vocalist, Ian’s guitar

melody, Peter’s bass and Benkeeping time on the kit. The Anticschurned through a set of originaltunes like a driving Montreal,interspersed with their raw take oncovers, including Radiohead’sKarma Police, The Cult’s SheSells Sanctuary, and a rockin’ ver-

sion of Elton John’s Rocket Man.I was eager to hear their mean

version of the theme from TV’sThe Littlest Hobo, and thought itwas pretty cool to inject a littlepop culture into their live show. Itwas another slow night for thecrowds, but on a busier occasionthey could’ve had a decent partyfor feel-good rock. It’s alwaysgreat to witness a new bunch ofrockers in action, and there aremany more yet to be heard from.

I returned to Roxxy’s on Hal-loween Sunday to frolic withfriendly spooks. There were some

spirited costumes in the room,especially from the stage asEndearing Perversion broughtsome ghoulish flash. Funny thatthe first time I caught their showwas last Halloween.

This year’s treats looked andsounded better, with evil Sabbath-inspired riffing under lyrics inCara Winsor-Hehir’s low, gloomybrogue. Original songs like BigNewfie Man, Where The F—-’sThe Caribou? and Little MetalMistress were devilishly fun andlocalized. I think “bog metal” isthe style they were tagged withbefore, and it sounded right tome.

Local punk rock legends DogMeat BBQ followed up with amash of corrosive, stomping dit-ties of debauch and doom. Theserowdy middle-aged rock ruffianswill never die, which is what allzombies wanted to hear. WallaceHammond’s squealing guitar workis eerie to behold, and on a tunecalled Bomb Dog, lead growlerMike O’Brien emerged with a dogmask to bark out words that getburied in groovy sludge.

I guess it really is true that rockhas been rekindled, forever chang-ing and surprising, in St. John’s.Long may it live in the heart ofthe city for someone to hear.

Rick Bailey is a radio DJ andmusician. His next columnappears November 21.GARY PERRY 753-3030

‘We must remember’Virtual war memorial dedicated to Labrador servicemen who died far from home

Rock lives on, as long as you want to see itLocal Spins

BAILEYRICK

“Some of these men gave everything they

had to give. There’s anold saying that ‘If we

forget our past we are condemned to

repeat it in the future.”

Local punk rock legendsDog Meat BBQ followed-up with a mash of corro-sive, stomping ditties of

debauch and doom.These rowdy middle-agedrock ruffians will never

die, which is what allzombies wanted to hear.


The family of a fallen soldier in the First World War would receive a grim souvenir known, unofficially, as the‘Death Penny’.


Two years ago the provincialMusic Industry Associationreleased a report, which

concluded their industry con-tributes $37 million annually to thegross domestic product — the totalvalue of all goods and services —of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Executive director Denis Parker,busily gearing up for the associa-tion’s annual conference andawards — running Nov. 12-14 —says the industry is no doubt gen-erating much more money today.

“For the size of our population,we have a very vibrant and won-derful music scene. A lot of peoplein the province are into music, ifthey’re not into it professionallythey’re into it as a hobby.”

Parker tells The Independent theMusic Industry Association ofNewfoundland and Labrador(MIANL) hired a consultant espe-cially for the purpose of investi-gating the figures. They discov-ered the music industry was gener-ating more than agriculture — and

took those findings to the provin-cial government.

“The government was a little bitunbelieving,” says Parker. “So theytook it to their finance people.”

He says it turned out theMIANL’s numbers were on theconservative side.

Parker was one of the foundingmembers of the MIANL, a non-profit association created in 1992to represent, develop, and promoteall aspects of the music industry inthe province.Among its 600 to 700members are names like Great BigSea, Crush, and Shaye.

‘WONDERFULINDUSTRY’

“People come here to see ourmusic, to hear it. So for the size ofthe place we have this wonderfulindustry happening,” says Parker,“… the challenge for us these daysis to export that talent so we haveto see it going to market placesaround the world. We’ve got worldclass talent that deserves to beheard and seen and we have towork on that.”

Next weekend’s MIANL Con-

ference and Awards will be held atthe St. John’s Convention Centre.The association is presentingawards in 23 categories, and theweekend will also include semi-nars and showcases featuring localartists.

‘LEARN ANDNETWORK’

“We’re bringing in a lot of peo-ple from around North America tonetwork and sit on panels, so ourmembers can learn and network,”says Parker. “It’s one big network-ing party, you might say.”

One of the groups performingthis year who are hoping to net-work and promote itself is LoveHijacker, made up of singer/gui-tarist Steve Edwards, bassist MikeDowding and drummer BradWheeler.

Frontman Edwards — from for-mer band The Eddy Stevens Quar-tet — Love Hijacker is using theupcoming conference to introduceits new name and new CD into thecommunity.

“No one would know us as LoveHijacker,” Edwards says. “That’s

why we’re trying to release it at ahigh point; at the music awards …this is just getting out the newmusic and using it to get the biggerball rolling.”

Love Hijacker’s CD includes sixoriginal tracks, which Edwardsdescribes simply as rock and roll,compared to his previous musicwith the Eddy Stevens Quartet,which was more “funk and bluesoriented.”

“It’s really short, three and a half

minute songs with harmonies — Ilike to make melodies as interest-ing as I can.”

Edwards says, as well as lookingforward to playing the MIA con-ference and awards, the band areplanning their CD release party atCBTG’s on George Street, Nov.26.

Love Hijacker performs Fridaynight at the St. John’s ConventionCentre Ballroom, along with sixother acts.

LIFE & TIMES The Independent, November 7, 2004

‘One big networking party’Steve Edwards — and his new band, Love Hijacker — is just one ofmany local acts showcasing at next weekend’s MIANL conference

ACROSS1 Napping7 With: prefix

10 Private eye16 Author Watson (The

Double Hook)17 Streetcar sound19 Capital of Albania20 Transgressor21 Cow’s largest stomach22 Bias against the old23 Bank payment: abbr.24 Loving touch26 Apiece28 Test site29 Be frugal31 No (slang)32 Lyme disease carrier33 Author of O Canada

in English: Robert Stanley ___34 Lacquered metalware35 German article36 Least’s opposite37 Term of familiar

address38 System start?40 U.S. inventor Howe42 Relieved (of)43 Big Ben’s city46 Besides47 Painter/author of A

Prairie Boy’s Winter51 Black wood52 Author of Green Grass,

Running Water54 Bathroom fixture55 Buffet container56 Something owed57 Stopper for a cask58 Dispatched59 Yukon tourist slogan:

Canada’s ___ North

60 Take advantage of61 Fiddlehead, e.g.62 Like the dodo63 Dessert pancake64 Ofra Harnoy, e.g.66 Whose maiden name

was67 Promotes68 Brewer’s vessel69 Accumulate71 Authority on dia-

monds?72 Deck with swords and

cups75 Fossil fuel76 The law’s is long78 Feeler82 Norway’s patron saint83 Author Carrier (The

Hockey Sweater)84 Triangular sail85 Kind of bear86 Einstein’s birthplace87 Vancouver artist Gath-

ie ___88 First French-Canadian

governor general90 Him in Paris91 B.C./Yukon lake93 Decree95 Canadian folksinger

(Barrett’s Privateers)97 Tinting98 Disgusting99 Likenesses

100 Ancient Palestiniansect101 These (Fr.)102 Pleasing to the eye

DOWN1 Help2 Religion of Japan

3 Small legume4 Wittenberg one5 Send to Ottawa6 Prefix with trooper7 Snow in the city8 Thanksgiving tubers9 Wind dir.

10 Pile11 Lofty12 Exist13 Entrusted to

Canada Post14 Not stated15 Oldest working light-

house in N. America: ___Island (near Halifax)17 Area in front

of hockey net18 Metamorphic rock25 Cellular letters27 Play the part30 Doesn’t have to32 Tailless amphibian33 From far and ___35 Cherry with opinions36 Chinese dynasty37 Church (Scot.)39 Affectedly shy41 Kathy Dawn ___42 Smallest of the litter43 Site of 1947 oil strike

in Alta.44 Like Henry VIII45 Prize-giver Alfred ___47 Compassionate48 Angler’s aids49 Burst forth50 Proposal joints52 Skater Browning53 Traveller’s stopover54 The Sargasso and the

Adriatic57 “It was the ___ of

times ...”58 Prophet59 In moderation

(mus.): non ___61 Italian car62 Good buy63 Dot follower65 City in W Ukraine66 Biblical ark-itect67 Cadge69 Canadian sport

70 Of delicate beauty72 At once: ___ suite (2

wds.)73 Bowling locations74 Name of some Egypt-

ian kings75 Econ. indicator77 Baseball stat.79 Assert80 ___ and Hardy81 Prim

83 The Rockies, e.g.84 He invented the sport

of Ringette: Sam ___85 Ad campaign87 Scandinavian88 Immoral habit89 Actor Peterson(“Corner Gas”)92 ___ down for a nap94 French duke96 Attractive leg

INDEPENDENT CROSSWORD Solutions on page 26

of the political spectrum have takenWilliams’ side.

Brian Crawley is the director ofthe Atlantic Institute of MarketStudies, a right-wing think-tank inHalifax that has denounced theequalization program for creating a“long-term dependency” onOttawa and wants it traded for debtrelief. Despite his opposition to theprogram, he thinks natural

resources should be exempt, asthey were when Alberta was devel-oping its energy industry. So doesDonald Savoie, an economist atthe University of Moncton and afrequent adviser to federal Liberalgovernments.

The thing that seemed to stick inthe craw the most was the expecta-tion of gratitude, the belief thatOntario wants Atlantic Canada tonot only take less than it is due, butsay thank you on the way out the

door.You could hear it in the voice of

Newfoundland Finance MinisterLoyola Sullivan, a thoughtful, nor-mally soft-spoken man who all butspat as he tried to explain his rage.“It isn’t a matter of generosity, it’sa matter of rights,” he said. “We’rejust trying to get up off our kneesand have a chance.”

You could hear it in Savoie’svoice. “Maritimers are convincedthey have been had, and that’s the

part that Ontario doesn’t under-stand.”

You could hear it on the call-inshows of St. John’s.

“Ontario thinks that it becamewealthy because it is better than theother regions, but Maritimers don’tbelieve that,” explained Savoie.

“How did Ontario become Cana-da’s engine? How did it becomethe golden goose?

“For Maritimers, the answer isvery simple: federal government

policies favoured Ontario. For thepast hundred and some years,(Ontario) has been in a privilegedposition, whether it is in researchand development, the location ofthe public service, the location ofgovernment, tariffs and trade, loca-tion of crown corporations and onand on and on.

“The golden goose was built notso much by the wisdom of theprovince of Ontario, but byfavourable federal policies.”

Paul Daly/The IndependentSteve Edwards

How did Ontario ‘become the golden goose’From page 22

‘She’s so fun to watch’Memorial looks to Jenine Browne to lead rookies down winning path

By Darcy MacRaeThe Independent

Jenine Brown has a lot on hershoulders this year. The St. Bride’snative is being asked to lead a

young and inexperienced MemorialSea-Hawks women’s basketball team tonational contention, a job that couldprove difficult given only four playersreturned this season from last year’ssquad.

Together with fellow returnees AmyDalton, Leslie Stewart and Krista Sin-gleton, Browne hopes to gel quicklywith the new crop of players and onceagain make Memorial a national pow-erhouse.

“A lot of people think we’re youngand this is a rebuilding year, but by Feb-ruary I think we‘ll be ready to go. Idon‘t see why we can‘t make it tonationals again,” Browne tells TheIndependent.

Memorial head coach Doug Partridgeknows as well as anyone that this year’sversion of the Sea-Hawks will have tosuffer some growing pains beforethey’re ready to challenge for theAtlantic University Sport (AUS) con-ference title later this winter. But hesays his squad has one advantage thatmost rebuilding programs don’t —Jenine Browne, a two-time All-Canadi-an who’s led the entire nation in scoringthe past three seasons.

“She doesn’t get too high or too low.She just stays calm and plays,” Par-tridge says. “Her work ethic is a greatexample to the kids on the team thisyear. It should drive them to be betterthan they are.”

Browne’s impact on the team goesfurther than scoring and solid defence.The 5’11 forwardappears to have acalming influence onher teammates.

The club’s rookiesare drawn to Browneduring water breaksand stoppages in play.They seek advice onoffensive and defen-sive schemes theyhave just begun tolearn, taking in everyword offered by thefifth-year star. Her shy,yet inviting personality— combined with heron-court intensity — seems to reassureher new teammates during those timeswhen they have no experience to drawon.

“They’re great players, they just haveto overcome some nervousness,”Browne says of the Sea-Hawks’ rook-ies.

After averaging 23.1 points-per-gameduring the 2003-04 campaign, Browneis qualified to lead the young team by

example. Her quickness, ball controland ability to find open space are sec-ond to none and have helped make herone of the nation’s top university play-ers. She passes the ball with authorityand senses which way the play willturn, but her most celebrated trait maybe her ability to hit shots from all over

the court.When the 22-year-

old shoots, the ballleaves her hand withgrace. You’d neverimagine it could hitanything but net.

“She’s so fun towatch,” Partridge says.“It’s helped take ourprogram — fan-interestwise — to anotherlevel. People reallywant to watch JenineBrowne play.”

While she has alwaysbeen an offensive force,

Browne has had to overcome somedefensive shortages since arriving atMemorial in the fall of 2000. She hasworked hard to improve her foot workand now has better awareness of wherethe player she’s shadowing is movingand where the ball is headed. Overall,she has become one of the Sea-Hawks’more reliable defenders, a talent theteam will rely on heavily this season.

“Five years ago she couldn’t stop a

fly. She really had no knowledgedefensively. She’s worked so hard tobecome a strong defender,” says hercoach. “She’s going to have to be oneof our leading scorers and top defend-ers this season. That’s the biggestadjustment she’s going to have tomake.”

Browne acknowledges she wasn’t adefensive wizard in her early days atMemorial, and is proud of the fact thather team can now trust her at both endsof the court.

“Everyone can score, so the impor-tant thing is often stopping people fromscoring,” says Browne. “You’ve got toplay tough defence and make youropponents miss their shots.”

Whether the Sea-Hawks can reclaimthe Atlantic Conference title later thisseason (they won the AUS banner inboth 2002 and 2003 before falling toCape Breton in last year’s champi-onship game) remains to be seen, butit’ s a given that Browne will be thecenter piece of any such run at glory.

At the conclusion of the season,Browne plans to pursue a pro career inEurope. Just the mention of it brings asmile to her face.

“Doing something you love and get-ting paid for it would be great,” saysBrowne. “Just getting to travel and seethe world would be something.”

[email protected]

November 7, 2004 SPORTS

“Everyone can score, so the important thing

is often stopping peoplefrom scoring,” says

Browne. “You’ve got toplay tough defence andmake your opponents

miss their shots.”

— Jenine Brown


Jenine Browne


Businessman Derm Dobbinhas a definite shot at land-ing a Quebec Major Junior

Hockey League franchise for St.John’s.

If only he had a stadium for theteam to play in.

St. John’s Sports and Entertain-ment Ltd. — the company respon-sible for operating Mile One Sta-dium for the City of St. Johns —has denied Dobbin the use of MileOne should he win the bid.

Dobbin is one of three biddersfor the franchise. The other twobidders include St. John’s Sportsand Entertainment and JCT Enter-prises. The league has alreadyapproved the franchise for St.John’s with the understanding theteam will use Mile One.

In a Nov. 4 letter, Keith Coombs,chair of St. John’s Sports andEntertainment, turned down Dob-bin’s request to use Mile One.

“…the board has decided not toenter into negotiations with you orany other potential franchise hold-er,” Coombs wrote.

“Our treasurer has reviewedyour offer and the effect would beto significantly increase the deficitof St. John’s Sports and Entertain-

ment Ltd. because you wouldreceive 95 per cent of the hockeyrevenues and the building wouldonly receive five per cent.”

Dobbin had offered to pay off St.John’s Sport and Entertainment’s$4.5 million debt should the com-pany withdraw its bid. Dobbin hasalso offered to pay the operator ofMile One $5,000 per hockey game.

In a Sept. 22 letter to Dobbin,Coombs stated: “If you choose toapply for a franchise we will have

to advise the league that you do nothave the right to use Mile One sta-dium.”

The St. John’s Maple Leafs —the current American HockeyLeague franchise overseen by thecity for the past 14 years — will berelocating to Toronto at the end ofthe 2004-05 season.

Dobbin told the local media latelast week he received inside infor-mation that he will be awarded thefranchise by month’s end.

SPORTS The Independent, November 7, 2004

Raking the Leafs from memoryWhile it has yet to be determined

who will run the franchise, St.John’s will almost assuredly have

a Quebec Major Junior Hockey League fran-chise next season at Mile One Stadium.

Three interested parties (St. John’s Sportsand Entertainment, JCT Enterprises and localdeveloper Derm Dobbin) await word onwhich entity will be granted the franchise.Undoubtedly, there will be much controver-sy over who wins the battle.

I believe the team should be operated byprivate enterprise, although I’d be surprisedif St. John’s Sports doesn’t come out on top.Things just seem to happen that way in thecapital city.

Regardless, there are three competent bid-ders for the franchise, and that has to be agood thing — if the power struggle doesn’tscare off the Q.

As for the team and what name and logothe players will be wearing on the ice, I justhope it won’t be the Leafs. That name hashad its day, which has passed. While it wouldprobably be a cheaper route to take (becauseof existing logo, promotional materials, etc.),the team needs a fresh, new approach. Per-haps management (whoever that will be)will dip into our rich history to honour ourpast.

But please, stay away from Cabot. No dis-respect to such an intrepid explorer, but hisname and likeness has been used enough.

Other Q teams have historically-themednames specific to the respective city orregion, while others have gone with namesof local animals. Some, like the HalifaxMooseheads, honour both animals and beer.Now that’s a nice combination.

How about the St. John’s Black Horses? Whatever the moniker, I look forward to

watching the games. AHL hockey had itsmoments, but I’ll bet local fans will getmore excited with Q-caliber junior hockey.

TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF

What is it with Tracy McGrady? Acquiredby the Houston Rockets from the OrlandoMagic this summer, he is without questionone of the most talented individuals in theNBA. But the focus always seems to be onthe word “individual” when discussingMcGrady’s greatness.

Take, for example, a recent quote in aToronto newspaper after the Houston Rock-ets lost their second consecutive game to

start the season to the Raptors.“I think with the pieces that I have, the

team that I have, the coaching staff, I thinkthis year will be the year, but it’s really allup to us.”

I know it’s only a quote, but his use of theword I is telling.

He’s the type of modern-day athlete whowill take all the praise when his team is play-

ing well, but blame everyone else whenlosses pile up. It happened in Orlando, whotraded away the two-time defending leaguescoring champ and were happy to be rid ofhim.

He also couldn’t stand playing secondfiddle to Vince Carter in Toronto, and bolt-ed at the first opportunity to Orlando. Itwould be a shame if McGrady can’t co-exist

with Rockets star Yao Ming. The 7’6” Chi-nese big man has the skills and size to dom-inate, but he needs to be given the ball to doso. McGrady likes to have the ball in hishands and it will be up to him to feed Yao.

If McGrady can’t raise the level of Yao’sgame (and, with him, the Rockets), he willbe exposed as a selfish stat-stuffer.

BELEAF IT OR NOTYao Ming is a national hero in his native

country and one of the most recognizableathletes in the world. Yet, even one somighty as Ming would be hard-pressed todefeat the villain that threatens the greatestmoment in China’s sports history — Beijinghosting the 2008 Olympics SummerGames.

Air pollution in big cities is a global con-cern, and Beijing has struggled tremen-dously with the problem. The city and theinternational Olympic committee are wellaware of the crisis, and officials are active-ly trying to find a solution. Recent infor-mation has some wondering whether the airwill be clean enough in four years.

Chinese children in big cities like Beijinglive in an atmosphere equivalent to smokingtwo packs of cigarette’s a day.

Can you imagine steroids and perfor-mance-enhancing drugs being upstaged atthe Olympics by the air athletes breathe?What are the Games coming to?

Will athletes competing in outdoor eventshave to wear special masks? Will they beable to blame positive drug tests on chemi-cals they ingested while simply breathing?

In many respects, from economics tosports, China has shown tremendous growthin recent years, which is how the IOC cameto award Beijing the 2008 Games. China isa huge, largely untapped market that hasbecome a prime target for every exportingcompany in Western civilization.

Maybe we can sell them clean air. I won-der what kind of royalties Ottawa wouldclaim from oxygen? (And will Newfound-land and Labrador get a cut?)

Sol

utio

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rom

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Shut out at Mile One


Bob theBayman

WHITEBOB

The Independent, November 7, 2004 SPORTS

NOVEMBER 7Deck The Halls craft fair, Fair-mont Newfoundland Hotel, 722-8855.The Ultimate Bridal Show,approximately 40 exhibitors,11a.m.-5 p.m., Holiday Inn, tickets$3 single, $5 per couple, 364-7277. Wish for Daniel Primmer atClub One. Entertainment by PeteSoucy, Jim Payne and FergusO’Byrne, The Punters, Denis Park-er, Boyd Chubbs,Bart and theBreadpicks, $10, 722-6674. Resource Centre for the Arts theatreartist forum On the Verge: a gen-eral meeting for artists in the com-munity is discuss how to exhibit thetalents of emerging artists, LSPUHall, St. John’s, 753-4531.

NOVEMBER 8Fiddler on the Roof, Nov. 8-13,St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre,8 p.m.

Writers’Alliance of Newfoundlandand Labrador presents a readingby Edward Riche. LSPU HallGallery, St. John’s, 8 p.m.P4 Youth Centre, Placentia, 10th

anniversary celebration begins,3:30 p.m. at the centre. Events con-tinue through Nov. 14, 227-2050.

NOVEMBER 9Cafes in the Cove — A Salute toBluegrass, The Kirk (St.Andrew’s church), St. John’s, 7:30p.m., $5/$3, 753-0484.

NOVEMBER 10Ceremony of Remembrance,honouring the war dead in the uni-versity’s annual Ceremony ofRemembrance on the St. John’scampus. Reid Theatre, Arts andAdministration Building. 11 a.m.The Curse of the Wild Rover, apanel discussion on commercial-ism and folk music featuring Ray

Walsh, Fergus O’Byrne, andChristina Smith, 7-9 p.m., ShipPub regular folk night will followat 9:30 p.m. featuring the guests.Choices for Youth Inc. annualgeneral meeting (12:30 p.m.) andopen house (1:30-4:30 p.m.), 12-16 Carter’s Hill Place, St. John’s,754-3047.

NOVEMBER 11The Heidi Chronicles: TheBeothuck Street Players, Nov. 11-13, (www.beothuckstreetplayers.org),LSPU Hall, St. John’s, 8 pm.A Night of Tales, an informalgathering of storytellers and loversof a good story. Crow’s Nest Offi-cer’s Club, St. John’s, 7:30-9:30p.m., 685-3444.Cantus Vocum Chamber Choirpresents For the Fallen, a concertfor remembrance, 8 p.m., St.James Church, St. John’s.

NOVEMBER 12Wreckhouse Winds, chambermusic., D. F. Cook Recital Hall,MUN, 8 p.m. Tickets availablethe evening of the performance,$10/$5, 737-4455.Paddy McGuinty’s Wake dinnertheatre at the Majestic, 7 p.m.,579-3023, reservations required.Nov. 12-13.Back to Basics wine tasting din-ner. Reservations required. Locat-ed at Chef-to-Go, 2, Barnes Rd., 7p.m., cost $95 members/$105 non-members, 579-2342 for wine andmenu details.

NOVEMBER 13Two Minutes of Silence – A Pit-tance of Time, musical drama fea-turing Terry Kelly, Corner BrookArts and Culture Centre, 8 p.m.The Scruncheons, chambermusic. D. F. Cook Recital Hall,MUN, 8 p.m. Tickets available

the evening of the performance,$10/$5, 737-4455.Books for Babies 10th year cele-bration party, with puppet shows,stories, face-painting and cake, 10am-3 pm, Chapters Bookstore,Kenmount Road, St. John’s, 634-4888

IN THE GALLERIES• Segments by Anita Singh, Bon-nie Leyton Gallery of Fine Art, St.John’s.• Intimations by Audrey Feltham,Christina Parker Gallery, St.John’s.Contemplating Re-Tox, new oilsby Ron Andrews, until Nov. 11,Christians Pub.La Vie en Bleu, exhibit of cyan-otypes by Barbara Burnaby, untilNov. 14, Pollyanna Gallery.Exhibit of 19 Quebec artists,James Baird Gallery, until Nov.17, call 726-4502.

Events

2004-11-07

Documents

Transcript of 2004-11-07