Danny Williams lowers the Canadian Flag

[kellywmj]

Having been been awarded my 119, I will take my leave, hat in hand, humbled, but not discouraged. 

 

[ex_coelis]

Having been been awarded my 119, I will take my leave, hat in hand, humbled, but not discouraged.  

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Seeya.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Having been been awarded my 119, I will take my leave, hat in hand, humbled, but not discouraged.  

Are those tears streaming down your face?

Are you going to cry, bro?  I like it when you cry.

 

[kellywmj]

I try to make a graceful exit, after contributing some insightful and though provoking commentary, and thats the send off I get? Disappointed, but not surprised.

 

[Infanteer]

Obviously, as Bograt pointed out, this is a thread that has invoked passionate responses from all involved (myself included).  It appears everything that needs to be said has been said and the only apparent prospect is more fighting and more administrative warnings, so I'm locking it for the everybody's sake.

If something new and groundbreaking happens, start a new thread and hopefully it'll unfold a little better.

 

[a_majoor]

Martin Should Blush over Flag Flap

By Licia Corbella

Prime Minister Paul Martin says he found it â Å“disappointingâ ? and â Å“disrespectfulâ ? the Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams would lower Canada's flag for political reasons.

Martin sure has a lot of cheek.

For what is a higher calling- using the flag to better the lot of an entire province, or using a flag to better the bottom line of the family bank account?

Martin himself has lowered Canada's flag and has defended doing so even though he did it only for crass profiteering at the expense of the country he supposedly leads and loves and to the benefit only of himself and his fabulously rich family.

By lowering the Canadian flag on seven Canada Steamship Lines tankers, Martin's family firm saved tens of millions of dollars in Canadian taxes. By hoisting up other so called flags of convenience, Martin also saved many more millions of dollars by allowing him to flout Canadian labour laws and pay his crews only a fraction of what Canadian crews would have had to be paid, and also to violate more stringent Canadian environmental laws.

That Martin didn't blush brightly last week as he condemned Williams for lowering Canada's flag surely tells us about Martin's conscious- or lack of one. His effrontery appears boundless.

Three weeks ago, Williams had ordered Maple Leaf flags to be lowered at all provincial government buildings to protest Martin reneging on a deal made during the federal election campaign that Newfoundland could keep 100 per cent of its provincial share of offshore oil revenues, without a clawback on its equalization payments.

On Monday, the flags went back up, although Williams remains unapologetic over his protest.

Essentially, Newfoundland wants to keep 47 per cent of the revenues and Ottawa would keep 53 per cent. Surely that's not asking too much?

Martin, who feared his lifelong dream of being PM was slipping away, agreed to Williams' plan during the election campaign, but reneged afterwards. It is the Martin and Liberal way.

While Williams is supported by the vast majority of Newfoundlanders, he has also been criticized by other Canadians who say it is wrong to use our flag as a political football.

Frankly, I neither condone or condemn it.
Had he lowered our flag and then trampled or burned it, that would be another story, but Williams merely put it away for a while to give a visible symbol to the level of frustration that exists in the province.

And in light of the fact that Williams was doing it for the right reasons- that being to improve the lives of his people and ultimately to strengthen our country by giving more power to the people rather than to a dictatorial prime minister elected by 39 per cent of the population and who serves the interests of only Ontario and Quebec- then sometimes the ends do justify the means.

The same can't be said for Martin, who is not alone in treating the Canadian flag as a money saver or maker.

His party has been using the Maple Leaf in a shameless way for years to fill up-if not their personal coffers- then certainly the bank accounts of friends and party supporters.

Let's look at an example:

Back in March, a former federal bureaucrat, Allan Cutler, revealed how he lost his job when he exposed false invoices and improper contracting in the $250 million Liberal government contract scandal.

Cutler, who worked directly under Chuck Guite- then the department of Public Work's director of advertising and public opinion- said he was asked to backdate contracts, give payment for work not performed and authorize deals outside the normal rules.

And perhaps the most interesting thing about Cutler's testimony before the Common's public accounts committee investigating the $100 million that went missing between 1997 and 2000, is this whole crooked scheme started in 1994, more than a year before the October 1995 Quebec referendum on sovereignty that came so close to destroying Canada.

The sponsorship program existed for nefarious reasons only- to funnel money into Liberal â “friendly advertising agencieswho then funnelled portions of it back into Liberal party coffers.

In short, the Liberals used the Maple Leaf flag â Å“as a leverâ ? to steal money for themselves

Licia Corbella is the editor of the Calgary Sun

Perhaps the only proper response to this would be for the Govenor General to dissolve parliament and either invite Steven Harper to become Prime Minister, or call new elections.

 

[Reccesoldier]

I'm with you a_.

The problem is I'm afraid that although the Gomery inquiry will generate a large and impressive body of work detailing the how's and where's of the spendership scandal I think it will be rather short on who's (except for those already named) as in Who ordered it, who knew about it. The top two on that list for me would be the former PM and his Finance minister.

Ahhhh, if it could only be proven, because a proof is a proof and you know it is a good proof because it's proven.  :

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I wonder how Mr. Williams feels about his "ABC" campaign now?..........hmm, not much representation for the next 4 years, you clown.

 

[GAP]

Harper may not punish Quebec for rejecting him, he set the stage for his own loss of seats with the Arts & Culture comments, and Duceppe was smart enough to use it against him, especially once it started, the CPC ignored the downturn rather than going in and  fighting back. Their numbers came up when Harper went in and fought back.

The ABC in NFL is a concoction by Danny Williams and Danny Williams only. He's riding high in his own province, represents very few federal seats, but can serve as valuable lesson to other premiers who are inclined to pull similar stunts.

A whole subtle shitload of hurt should come Danny William's way.......

 

[dapaterson]

Gander and Goose Bay immediately come to mind as military facilities of limited use which could be closed in the name of "right sizing" "rationalization" or "re-allocation" (or invent your own R word); closure of either one (or both!) would serve as a rather potent reminder of what Danny done did.

 

[Cloud Cover]

Totally agree. Close down both ASAP, and for added measure announce the base personnel will be moving to Ontario. 

 

[Mike Baker]

As much as I love my province, and my country, I think that Mr. Williams went a bit too far with this. He basically told us who we had to vote for. Now, I do like Williams, and I've even had the pleasure to meet with him, but I absolutely hated his idea of the ABC campaign. Other then that, and the Flag lowering, he is the best person we've ever had in power, in my opinion.


Beav

 

[Kirkhill]

.... I think that Mr. Williams went a bit too far with this. He basically told us who we had to vote for. ....

But I don't believe that qualifies as a lawful order.  Does it?

 

[Mike Baker]

But I don't believe that qualifies as a lawful order.   Does it?

No, but many Newfoundlanders are 'sheep', if you will. The head sheep goes one way, the rest follow.


Beav

 

[HCA123]

Sheep? I think you are way off base on that one and generalizing our whole province. I don't know you, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you misworded your generalization of a place that has quite a few excellent leaders/business people (Danny, Rick Hiller, etc) instead of getting on my soapbox with a rant. The reality of it is, people listen and trust strong leaders. I think what you really meant to say is that Danny is a strong leader and may have used his power in a way he probably shouldn't have.

I'm a huge Danny supporter but as mentioned above, I think he went too far on this one. He has done an excellent job so far in progressing the interests of the province and making sure we get our cut from both gov't and big business. There is a time and place to play hardball but in the situation I think he should have been a bit more careful in biting the hand that feeds.

 

[Good2Golf]

....other then that, and the Flag lowering, he is the best person we've ever had in power, in my opinion.

Beav

I though you guys loved Joey Smallwood?

 

[evil drunken-fool]

I though you guys loved Joey Smallwood?

Joey Smallwood?!?!?!
He set this province back so far, that only for the fact we have oil reserves are we on the path to getting out of this mess.

 

[Mike Baker]

Sheep? I think you are way off base on that one and generalizing our whole province. I don't know you, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you misworded your generalization of a place that has quite a few excellent leaders/business people (Danny, Rick Hiller, etc) instead of getting on my soapbox with a rant. The reality of it is, people listen and trust strong leaders. I think what you really meant to say is that Danny is a strong leader and may have used his power in a way he probably shouldn't have.

I'm a huge Danny supporter but as mentioned above, I think he went too far on this one. He has done an excellent job so far in progressing the interests of the province and making sure we get our cut from both gov't and big business. There is a time and place to play hardball but in the situation I think he should have been a bit more careful in biting the hand that feeds.

Thats what I was trying to get out. Sorry for the confusion.

I though you guys loved Joey Smallwood?

Joey Smallwood?!?!?!
He set this province back so far, that only for the fact we have oil reserves are we on the path to getting out of this mess.

Exactly!

Beav

 

[Stoker]

Gander and Goose Bay immediately come to mind as military facilities of limited use which could be closed in the name of "right sizing" "rationalization" or "re-allocation" (or invent your own R word); closure of either one (or both!) would serve as a rather potent reminder of what Danny done did.

So you would punish everyone in those areas because they made a bad choice? Some people did vote for Harper in the province . I don't like Danny Williams either but punishing decent hard working people is not the answer.

 

[GAP]

So you would punish everyone in those areas because they made a bad choice? Some people did vote for Harper in the province . I don't like Danny Williams either but punishing decent hard working people is not the answer.

That's a valid point, and so was mine. Williams escalated the row way beyond what it needed to be, and from the federal perspective the precedent cannot go unanswered.....what do you suggest? Remember Williams decided to play with the people's of NFL as the stake....