Question Period Summary

A brief summary of today's question period, with a small bit of unsolicited advice for the Opposition parties.

The House of Assembly returned today, at least for some members. The Premier was enjoying sunnier climes working far too hard for the people of the province to attend.

Question Period featured a dozen or more questions, almost all of which were identical, and two answers. I've removed any reference to names, but scroll through the following summary and guess which line of questioning actually worked today.

Opposition Member (LIB): Please tell us about how bad AbitibiBowater is, and take this opportunity to grandstand.

Government: AbitibiBowater is bad and evil and Danny Williams will stand up for Newfoundlanders. Hurrah!

Opposition Member (LIB): Please tell us about how bad AbitibiBowater is, and take this opportunity to grandstand.

Government: AbitibiBowater is bad and evil and Danny Williams will stand up for Newfoundlanders. Hurrah!

Opposition Member (LIB): Please tell us about how bad AbitibiBowater is, and take this opportunity to grandstand.

Government: AbitibiBowater is bad and evil and Danny Williams will stand up for Newfoundlanders. Hurrah!

Opposition Member (LIB): Please tell us about how bad AbitibiBowater is, and take this opportunity to grandstand.

Government: AbitibiBowater is bad and evil and Danny Williams will stand up for Newfoundlanders. Hurrah!

Opposition Member (LIB): Please tell us about how bad AbitibiBowater is, and take this opportunity to grandstand.

Government: AbitibiBowater is bad and evil and Danny Williams will stand up for Newfoundlanders. Hurrah!

Opposition Member (LIB): Crooked Ed Byrne broke the Electoral Act and the former PC party president Chief Electoral Officer won't investigate the breach. People of the province think this stinks of a partisan cover-up. Why won't you do something?

Government: Choke. Gasp. Blame the previous administration. Flail desperately.

Opposition Member (LIB): Crooked Ed Byrne broke the Electoral Act and the former PC party president Chief Electoral Officer won't investigate the breach. People of the province think this stinks of a partisan cover-up. Why won't you do something?

Government: We support the Chief Electoral Officer and he supports us.

Opposition Member (NDP) : Please tell us about how bad AbitibiBowater is, and take this opportunity to grandstand.

Government: AbitibiBowater is bad and evil and Danny Williams will stand up for Newfoundlanders. Hurrah!

There you have it. A summary of today's QP.

Which line of questioning do you think was more effective?

No longer tilting at windmills...

The Telegram takes up the Paul Reynolds fiasco, here.
And lookie - a CBC poll, here.
And more from the usual suspects, here, here, and here.

Something to think about (III)

Paul Reynolds, the Chief Electoral Officer of Newfoundland & Labrador released a rather bizarre statement at the end of the day. You can read it all, right here, but for purposes of our discussion, let's just focus on the following paragraph:

"...there is no evidence that anyone other than Mr. Byrne was involved in a deliberate attempt to manipulate funds or to otherwise fraudulently circumvent the provisions of elections finance requirements in the Elections Act, 1991.

On the basis of the above, I conclude that any impropriety involved in the 2001 St. Barbe by-election was related to the actions of Ed Byrne, actions for which he has been convicted, and are not attributed to other persons involved in that by-election."

Those are Paul Reynolds' words. Not mine.

Funny thing is, Ed Byrne has never been charged with any offences under the Elections Act. None. Nor have any of his lackeys. Not even this obvious one:

306. (1) No person other than the chief financial officer of a registered party or candidate shall authorize election expenses for that party or candidate and no election expenses shall be incurred except by a chief financial officer or a person designated in writing by a chief financial officer for that purpose.

So if Mr. Reynolds' assertion is correct, why are there no charges, and why is there no investigation?

But it gets better. Because Mr. Reynolds doesn't only have a case against Mr. Byrne (whom he has arbitrarily charged and convicted by way of phantom press release), he has a case against the Progressive Conservative Party. His Progressive Conservative Party.

326. (1) A prosecution for an offence under this Part may be instituted against a political party or trade union in the name of the political party or trade union. (2) For the purpose of a prosecution for an offence under this Part, a political party or trade union has the capacity of a natural person of full age and capacity.

327. (1) An act or thing done or omitted to be done by an officer, official or agent of a political party or trade union within the scope of his or her authority to act on behalf of the political party or trade union is an act or thing done or omitted by the political party or trade union.

Hmmm... wasn't Ed Byrne Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party?

Ah. Omissions. Vicarious liability. The list goes on.

And then, of course, there's dereliction of duty:

5. It is the duty of the Chief Electoral Officer
(a) to exercise general direction and supervision over the administrative conduct of elections and to enforce on the part of election officers fairness, impartiality and compliance with this Act;

Turns out that there very well may be someone "other that Mr. Byrne involved in a deliberate attempt to cricumvent" requirements of the Elections Act.

That someone is Paul Reynolds.

UPDATE - more, courtesy of Orwellian Spin,

Something to think about (II)

Paul Reynolds' logic, explained.

An investigation would prove absolutely nothing, because a non-investigation has proven everything.

Seriously.

Something to think about (I)

An excerpt from the Elections Act, 1991 S.N.L. 1992, c. E-3.1

191. (1) A person is guilty of an offence who
(d) directly or indirectly accepts or receives or agrees to accept or receive money, a valuable consideration, an office, employment, food or drink as payment for voting or for illegally agreeing to assist a candidate at an election;

Meanwhile, the CBC reports:

"Last week, CBC revealed how former cabinet minister Ed Byrne paid $3,000 in stolen money to pay long-time party organizer Wayne Clarke during the campaign. Clarke's payment came through Byrnes' constituency allowance, not the PC party. Tory Wally Young won the race by 23 votes."

It might be time for the Chief Electoral Officer to step aside

Some of us have been saying this for a long, long time. It's good to finally get some reinforcement from a few politicans, past and present.

Memo to the Parliamentary Press Gallery, and more particularly to those scribes in our national print and broadcast media - the ones who have nothing better to do each week than write about Laureen Harper's adopted cats and David Miller's windshield wiper fluid - if this were happening in Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Cuba or Afghanistan you'd be covering it, writing about it, or at least thinking about it.

As a recap, and as a public service, the following is happening, right here, in Canada.

A Chief Electoral Officer is publicly declaring an by-election valid despite Court findings to the contrary, including an admission from the Party Leader that he funneled illegal donations by way of government cash into the campaign.

The day before being named Chief Electoral Officer by the current Premier, the current Chief Electoral Officer held executive position with the Progressive Conservative Party, serving as the president of an electoral district association.

Previously, the Chief Electoral Officer was the President of the Premier's political party.

The Chief Electoral Officer did not oversee the by-election campaign in question, and hasn't even investigated the complaints or the facts which were presented in court, agreed to by all sides, and formed part of the evidence convicting a provincial cabinet minister to a two year prison sentence.

Instead, the Chief Electoral Officer has publicly concluded that the by election must be valid and upheld, by reason of the fact that the member who was the recipient of the illegal donations won subsequent re-election. The Chief Electoral Officer refuses to investigate.

In Newfoundland & Labrador, which is still part of Canada, this is what passes for democracy.

This just in

Danny Williams' predecessor, former PC Leader Ed Byrne is going to jail.

"In circumstances such as these, the need for denunciation is so pressing that incarceration in custody is the only suitable way to express society’s condemnation of the offender’s conduct. A message must be sent by the sentence imposed by this court that will help the public understand that this conduct was highly reprehensible and that it carries with it serious criminal consequences."

- Pike A.C.J., in today's sentencing decision

Getting Byrned.

Disgraced former Progressive Conservative Leader Ed Byrne appeared in court this week for a sentencing hearing stemming from his lead role in the Members Allowance scandal. He'll learn his fate in just over a week from now.

But the agreed statement of facts contained one juicy nugget which should mean at least one of Mr. Byrne's colleagues might be facing another raft of charges, this time for violating Newfoundland's Elections Act.

Check out this snippet from CBC Radio's David Cochrane, who summarized Ed Byrne's week on the Morning Show. (you can download the whole thing here)

"...Byrne used his constituency allowance to pay a guy three thousand dollars for working on a provincial byelection campaign, to cover salary and expenses. Now this person actually did the work. Actually got the money. Got the three thousand dollars..."
"...on top of all that constituency allowances aren't supposed to be used to pay for political expenses and campaign salaries."

Well, that last line may seem like a bit of an understatement - but it's not just the impropriety of spending taxpayer dollars or Members' allowances that's in issue here - it's the illegality of receiving such dollars (or the services they paid for) that's an even bigger problem.

If this contribution of $3,000 wasn't reported in the candidate's financial statements, and if that candidate is now sitting in the House of Assembly, then we now know that at least one of Mr. Byrne's colleagues and a member of Mr. Williams' caucus, not to mention Mr. Williams' Party, is in flagrant contravention of the Elections Act.

We'd be able to check those byelection returns on line, except for some reason, all the ones from before 2005 are conveniently unavailable.

Raise your hands, everyone who still thinks combining the responsibility for "members' interests" with responsibility for enforcing the Elections Act was a good idea.

Keep your hands raised if you think naming a Tory party president to the position was a similarly good idea.

And keep 'em straight up in the air if you honestly believe anyone will ever get investigated or reprimanded for compromising the letter and the spirit of our electoral laws.

I thought so.

Welcome to Dannystan.

Danimal Farm

Dear readers:

Back by popular demand! ...and in no small thanks to the provision of a whole chapter's worth of material, we're "wheeling" full chapters of Orwell, instead of simply selling small bits of it at the mercy of our neighbours.

Quebec's Minister of Natural Resources, Claude Béchard, explained that not much has changed in the new agreement. A power-purchase agreement with Hydro-Québec that expired Tuesday gave Newfoundland many of the same advantages, Mr. Béchard said.

What has changed, he added, was that the new five-year deal puts to rest fears that Ottawa would subsidize a transmission line for Newfoundland through Quebec without the province's consent.

Quebec has argued that if Newfoundland wants to develop the Lower Churchill project it will need to play by the rules and use Quebec's transmission lines to access the U.S market.

(Today's Globe and Mail)

Mr. Pilkington, of Foxwood, had stood up, his mug in his hand. In a moment, he said, he would ask the present company to drink a toast. But before doing so, there were a few words that he felt it incumbent upon him to say.

It was a source of great satisfaction to him, he said-and, he was sure, to all others present-to feel that a long period of mistrust and misunderstanding had now come to an end. There had been a time-not that he, or any of the present company, had shared such sentiments-but there had been a time when the respected proprietors of Animal Farm had been regarded, he would not say with hostility, but perhaps with a certain measure of misgiving, by their human neighbours. Unfortunate incidents had occurred, mistaken ideas had been current. It had been felt that the existence of a farm owned and operated by pigs was somehow abnormal and was liable to have an unsettling effect in the neighbourhood. Too many farmers had assumed, without due enquiry, that on such a farm a spirit of licence and indiscipline would prevail. They had been nervous about the effects upon their own animals, or even upon their human employees. But all such doubts were now dispelled…

…He would end his remarks, he said, by emphasising once again the friendly feelings that subsisted, and ought to subsist, between Animal Farm and its neighbours.

(Animal Farm, Chapter 10)

Premier Danny Williams says a new power agreement with Nova Scotia company Emera Energy Inc. is partly about building a partner in the Martimes for future power corridors around Quebec.

On Thursday, Williams announced the province was selling power directly into the North American market for the first time, a deal that could net $40-$80 million a year for the province.

The province has signed a five-year service agreement with Hydro Quebec under its Open Access Transmission Tariff to transfer power through that province, and a two-year deal with Emera to buy and market that power.

(The Telegram, yesterday)

There was enthusiastic cheering and stamping of feet. Napoleon was so gratified that he left his place and came round the table to clink his mug against Mr. Pilkington's before emptying it. When the cheering had died down, Napoleon, who had remained on his feet, intimated that he too had a few words to say.

Like all of Napoleon's speeches, it was short and to the point. He too, he said, was happy that the period of misunderstanding was at an end. For a long time there had been rumours-circulated, he had reason to think, by some malignant enemy-that there was something subversive and even revolutionary in the outlook of himself and his colleagues. They had been credited with attempting to stir up rebellion among the animals on neighbouring farms. Nothing could be further from the truth! Their sole wish, now and in the past, was to live at peace and in normal business relations with their neighbours. This farm which he had the honour to control, he added, was a co-operative enterprise. The title-deeds, which were in his own possession, were owned by the pigs jointly.

He did not believe, he said, that any of the old suspicions still lingered, but certain changes had been made recently in the routine of the farm which should have the effect of promoting confidence stiff further.

(Animal Farm, Chapter 10)

On Friday, Williams responded to comments out of Quebec that Newfoundland and Labrador needs to go through that province in order to sell power.

But Williams said Quebec is simply trying to put a stranglehold on the electricity market and get another cheap source of energy once the Lower Churchill project is developed.

"What Quebec would like to do is sort of think they have a monopoly on transmission," he said. "The last thing Quebec wants to see happen is for us to build our own transmission lines east and south and go into the market that way."

(The Telegram, today)

There was the same hearty cheering as before, and the mugs were emptied to the dregs. But as the animals outside gazed at the scene, it seemed to them that some strange thing was happening. What was it that had altered in the faces of the pigs? Clover's old dim eyes flitted from one face to another. Some of them had five chins, some had four, some had three. But what was it that seemed to be melting and changing? Then, the applause having come to an end, the company took up their cards and continued the game that had been interrupted, and the animals crept silently away.

But they had not gone twenty yards when they stopped short. An uproar of voices was coming from the farmhouse. They rushed back and looked through the window again. Yes, a violent quarrel was in progress. There were shoutings, bangings on the table, sharp suspicious glances, furious denials. The source of the trouble appeared to be that Napoleon and Mr. Pilkington had each played an ace of spades simultaneously.

(Animal Farm, Chapter 10)

More Orwell, albeit of the 1984 variety, here.
As well as the regular daily dosage, here.

A man of action

When he found out that the world economy was in the shitter, our Prime Minister went to rescue it.

On second thought...

The latest news out of Afghanistan is enough to turn one's stomach.

But given the mere possibility that this heinous law might see the light of day, does anyone still think negotiating with the Taliban is such a good idea?

Someone's gotta pay his buddies' salaries...

...it might as well be you.

Taxpayers are funnelling nearly $550 million to the provincial energy corporation over a two-year period, as part of the Williams administration's vision of becoming a bigger player in the sector. The total contribution to Nalcor Energy was $319.5 million in the just-ending 2008-09 fiscal year. The province will provide Nalcor with another $228 million this coming year, according to budget documents tabled Thursday. The money is given to Nalcor "in order to facilitate its participation in oil and gas activities and other energy projects," the budget estimates note.

- Rob Antle, reporting the Telegram March 28, 2009

But the gem in the article is at the very end:

Revenues generated through Nalcor's energy stake are in addition to royalties that flow to the provincial treasury.

Actually, that's only partly correct. Afterall, one could just as easily write:

Revenues generated through Nalcor's energy stake are instead of royalties that would have otherwise flowed to the provincial treasury.

Lest we forget, we didn't get it for free.

Jerome Kennedy, disrobed

Not only has Jerome Kennedy left the Justice portfolio, he's abandoned the principles of evidence as well. Who needs facts or reason when you've got rumour, innuendo and Open Line radio?

Do we have a new favourite target? Yessir, I think we do.