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rfmcdonaldAt least's he's consistent.
As the CBC noted in 2003 and National Post journalist Don Martin noted in 2009, while full-fledged separatism is rare regionalism is definitely strong. Dominion of Newfoundland, a polity that, while never quite achieving the sovereign status of Canada or Australia, was nonetheless internally self-governing, this only ending in the 1930s when economic collapse led the Newfoundland government to cede sovereignty to the United Kingdom, eventually to join Canada as the tenth province. Long the poorest province of Canada, a famously fisheries-dependent province notable for the emigration of its people, things began to change in the 1980s and 1990s as the cod fisheries have collapsed and the oil industry boomed. Newfoundlanders have increasingly felt themselves aggrieved with Ottawa and increasingly confident of its ability to manage its own affairs. The province's premier, Danny Williams, who has very actively fought the federal government and its perceived intrusions on the provincial government's authority, to the point of actively campaigning against the Conservative minority government in the most recent federal elections. Some of this prosperity has led people to say silly things.
Some non-Newfoundlander Canadians, like this commenter at Damian Penny's blog, might be happy enough to see Newfoundlanders go. Such a secession's unlikely to happen, the support of Québec sovereigntists notwithstanding, unless something catastrophic happens. What this catastrophe could be, I've no idea.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe says Newfoundland and Labrador was once its own country and it's up to that province whether it too wants to separate from Canada.
Duceppe was talking sovereignty in St. John's on Wednesday where opposition to the Meech Lake Accord - which would have recognized Quebec as a distinct society - helped kill the deal.
He spoke before a group of students at Memorial University, where one of them asked him whether Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta and other provinces would separate if Quebec left the country.
"Newfoundland was once a nation, even (had) a national anthem, so it's different from Alberta," Duceppe said. "But it's your decision. I don't want to talk about what you have to decide. It's your own decision."
Newfoundland was once a dominion that functioned much like its own country until 1934, when a British-appointed commission oversaw it.
It became part of Canada on March 31, 1949, after a referendum where only 52 per cent of voters supported joining the country.
After speaking to students, Duceppe told reporters Quebec could continue a fruitful relationship with Newfoundland if his province separated.
"We have more proximity with Newfoundland and Labrador, especially Labrador, than we do have with B.C.," he said.
"We have trade, we have some business disputes at certain times - that's part of life also - but I think that we could work as a sovereign state."
As the CBC noted in 2003 and National Post journalist Don Martin noted in 2009, while full-fledged separatism is rare regionalism is definitely strong. Dominion of Newfoundland, a polity that, while never quite achieving the sovereign status of Canada or Australia, was nonetheless internally self-governing, this only ending in the 1930s when economic collapse led the Newfoundland government to cede sovereignty to the United Kingdom, eventually to join Canada as the tenth province. Long the poorest province of Canada, a famously fisheries-dependent province notable for the emigration of its people, things began to change in the 1980s and 1990s as the cod fisheries have collapsed and the oil industry boomed. Newfoundlanders have increasingly felt themselves aggrieved with Ottawa and increasingly confident of its ability to manage its own affairs. The province's premier, Danny Williams, who has very actively fought the federal government and its perceived intrusions on the provincial government's authority, to the point of actively campaigning against the Conservative minority government in the most recent federal elections. Some of this prosperity has led people to say silly things.
After 60 years of have-not handouts, Newfoundland proudly declared itself master of its domain four months ago and cut its lifetime umbilical cord to federal equalization payments.
But that was supposed to represent the end to financial dependence on Ottawa, not launch a declaration of independence from Canada.
So what to make of Liberal Senator George Baker who, while chatting on a St. John’s radio talk show while strolling through an airport this week, declared The Rock ripe and ready to commit itself to again becoming a sovereign nation.
“People will soon be advocating, you know, that we can’t remain in the Confederation in which we’re discriminated against and not respected for the great contribution that we make,” he fumed. “I believe that day is coming for sure if this keeps up.”
This refers to a capped equalization formula that Premier Danny Williams insists will cost the province $1.5-billion worth of federal cash in the next three years. It was just the latest grievance, with figures disputed by the federal government, to prompt the premier to spend $81,000 campaigning for Anyone But Conservatives in the last federal election, which successfully culminated in the governing party being voted off the island.
Like Alberta, where there’s always idle chatter supporting separation, it’s hard to determine if a Newfoundland divorce from Confederation is an active option or mere advocacy from the fringe.
A hard-done-by streak thrives in Newfoundland’s unique force of personality, a sense they got a lousy deal by entering Confederation on April Fool’s Day, 1949 and should hoist the unofficial Tricolour on every flagpole flying the Maple Leaf now.
[. . .]
The Premier’s office said Danny Williams hadn’t read Mr. Baker’s comments, but the strangely helpful Prime Minister’s Office distributed the Liberal senator’s quotes in audio form and highlighted transcripts while ordering a pair of MPs to launch blusters in his direction just ahead of Question Period on Wednesday.
Like Prairie farmers rediscovering the benefits of a Canadian Wheat Board monopoly in hard times, Newfoundland may soon find Canadian taxpayer support will again be a useful safety-net with the precipitous $100 decline from $140 barrels of oil.
Senator Baker himself predicted last year’s $1.4-billion provincial surplus will turtle into a deficit again, although he conveniently blames it on the federal rip-off and not tumbling oil prices.
Some non-Newfoundlander Canadians, like this commenter at Damian Penny's blog, might be happy enough to see Newfoundlanders go. Such a secession's unlikely to happen, the support of Québec sovereigntists notwithstanding, unless something catastrophic happens. What this catastrophe could be, I've no idea.
