Dinner with PM a waste of time: Williams

[Nfld Sapper]

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Dinner with PM a waste of time: Williams 

Canadian Press

The Canadian Press—Ottawa
Premier Danny Williams barely arrived in the nation’s capital before dismissing Friday’s first ministers’ dinner with Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a political charade.
Premiers are planning to use the meeting to pressure Harper to pour massive financial aid into helping export-driven industries battered by the strong dollar, soaring fuel prices and the slumping U.S. economy.
But the colourful premier of Newfoundland and Labrador said an informal four-hour chat over a meal at 24 Sussex Drive is no way to make serious progress on a serious matter.
“I have to go with an open mind, but I don’t like the way that the premiers are being corralled into this situation,” Williams said on arriving at a pre-dinner meeting with his fellow provincial and territorial leaders.
“To have to come here to be told it’s a certain time, it’s going to be over supper, officials aren’t allowed in, there’s no preparation going on between the governments and the bureaucracies and we’re gonna be out by the Friday night movie.
“How can you get anything done? I think maybe a weekend at Bernie’s might be more productive,” an apparent reference to a 1989 movie in which the title character is a corpse.
In an earlier interview with The Canadian Press, Williams said the dinner format benefits Harper because it limits the time for any meaningful discussion. And he chided Harper for failing to hold a formal first ministers’ summit since becoming prime minister two years ago.
Shortly after he took office, Harper did meet informally over dinner with premiers.
“There hasn’t been a first ministers’ meeting with this prime minister in two years and to reduce that to a very short meeting on a Friday night is not appropriate,” he said.
Privately, some officials from other provinces have echoed Williams’ sentiments. But his fellow premiers refrained from publicly criticizing the format.
The meeting is being held at the behest of the premiers of Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s manufacturing heartland. Dalton McGuinty and Jean Charest, backed by most other premiers, plan to pressure Harper to provide massive federal financial aid for struggling industries.
In a pre-emptive strike, Harper unveiled a $1-billion aid package Thursday aimed at bolstering one-industry communities that have been devastated by layoffs and factory and mill closures.
While some premiers welcomed the package as a good start, McGuinty and Charest said it’s too little, too late.
They said the $1 billion is a fraction of what’s needed. And they continued Friday to criticize Harper for saying the money won’t start flowing unless opposition parties agree to pass the next federal budget weeks from now.
“The problem is today,” said Charest.
“We don’t want it to become an election stake and we don’t want the forestry workers to become victims of the election campaign.”
McGuinty said premiers “have to make sure that the federal government understands that it is urgent to act as early as possible.”

 

[X-mo-1979]

Danny williams for PM.
Newife in charge of the country
Newfie in charge of the army.
Maybe we could get this country sorted out for good.!

Having said that Harper is by far my favoite PM to date.

 

[ModlrMike]

If Danny were a true Newfie, he'd have sorted this out over a beer long ago.  ;D ;D

 

[Fishbone Jones]

A grandstanding showboat. He should be real careful all his bellyaching doesn't come back an bite him in the ass.

 

[sgf]

after the results of the last election in Nfld, it looks as if Danny is doing a lot of things right. Hes a pretty smart guy.

 

[Gunner]

after the results of the last election in Nfld, it looks as if Danny is doing a lot of things right. Hes a pretty smart guy.

Or the electorate is swayed by a politician using the Ottawa (insert US for national politics) "boogeyman". 

 

[Reccesoldier]

after the results of the last election in Nfld, it looks as if Danny is doing a lot of things right. Hes a pretty smart guy.

Playing at being the tough guy with Ottawa always works.  Too bad such infantile outbursts dont result in a proportionate decrease in transfer (welfare) payments from the federal government.

 

[newfin]

My family is from Newfoundland and my parents are living there now.  So, I try to keep on top of what's going on with Newfoundland politics as much as I can.  Newfoundlanders love a vocal, straight forward style from their politicians.  It makes it appear that they are being sincere and can be trusted.  But this Williams character is something else.  If my children behave like he does (and they sometimes do, more often than I like) they get told to stow their attitude pretty quickly.  He comes across as the kind of guy who is always pissed off because things are not going "his" way.  It would be interesting to know if he runs his cabinet the same way.  I hope Harper does not give in to him.  Because as one poster earlier noted when the Premiers whine loud enough and publicly enough the PM of the day usually gives them their way.  In this case I think that Harper might think that he is not going to win any seats in NL anyway so what political gain is there in giving in to Williams' demands and making him look good?  Not a whole lot as far as I can tell.  I think Harper intends to let Williams stew in his own juice for a while and see what happens.  The PM seems to have a good head for political tactics (as did Chretien) and he might just decide to be patient with this Williams problem.

 

[Bigrex]

So, what is Williams supposed to do? Bend over and take it from behind while smiling  like the NS premiere did? Harper and the Tories "equalization" payments will cost Nfld billions in revenue so he and every Newf deserves to be upset. It's like being a little kid and having your big brother come up and hand you a Loonie, then saying that because he gave you that dollar, he is going to take your $5 allowance that week except that little boy can go to his parents and complain, Williams can only complain to the person ripping him off. And it isn't only Williams, the Sask premiere started legal action for breach of contract, and Ontario and Quebec Premieres are now upset over the inadequate money for industries. In fact, the only premier who I haven't seen say anything bad is the one from Alberta, go figure, booming financially and still getting money from Ottawa hand over fist. And if Harper won't even let the majority of his own caucus have a voice, who would think that he even gave a crap about what provincial politicians have to say, as he probably will flush anything they said down the toilet along with the remnants of their supper they ate.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

In fact, the only premier who I haven't seen say anything bad is the one from Alberta, go figure, booming financially and still getting money from Ottawa hand over fist.

Bullshit.......

And if Harper won't even let the majority of his own caucus have a voice,.

Do you sit in at these meetings??...if not than once again your hatred is making a fool of you.

 

[newfin]

Look, here's my position.  If Newfoundland or any other province is making extra cash to add to their bottom line then that is great, the less money they get handed to them from Ottawa the better.  But what Williams wants is to make extra cash from the oil AND have more cash from Ottawa.  That's sort of like collecting EI and having a job.  Newfoundlanders need to be able to stand on their own two feet financially, and it looks like it is finally happening. 

My point about Danny Williams is that he comes across in the media, in the public's eye, as a child who is prone to temper tantrums.  No, I don't think he should bend over and ask for it harder but he should have a little tact, politically.  This is not private business, it's politics.  So, if he goes out of his way to make the PM look like an ass every chance he gets then I hope he gets a good lesson "You made your bed, now lie in it."

 

[sgf]

the only thing that williams wants, is for harper to honor a deal that harper had all ready agreed too, in other words to keep his promise. not a lot to expect from a PM.

 

[Flip]

Oh boy!

BigRex has a weird idea of what Alberta gets from Ottawa.
And yes, I think Harper is being perfectly fair with Nfld.

As I understand it Newfoundland loses nothing in the transfer payments
until their provincial income excedes what is average in the country.

It would be like the Clampets collecting welfare.

Until the oil starts to make big changes - there is NOTHING to
get amped up about.

Oh, and BigRex, those tranfer payments you're getting?
You're welcome. ( from Alberta )

 

[Cronicbny]

So, what is Williams supposed to do? Bend over and take it from behind while smiling  like the NS premiere did? Harper and the Tories "equalization" payments will cost Nfld billions in revenue so he and every Newf deserves to be upset. It's like being a little kid and having your big brother come up and hand you a Loonie, then saying that because he gave you that dollar, he is going to take your $5 allowance that week except that little boy can go to his parents and complain, Williams can only complain to the person ripping him off. And it isn't only Williams, the Sask premiere started legal action for breach of contract, and Ontario and Quebec Premieres are now upset over the inadequate money for industries. In fact, the only premier who I haven't seen say anything bad is the one from Alberta, go figure, booming financially and still getting money from Ottawa hand over fist. And if Harper won't even let the majority of his own caucus have a voice, who would think that he even gave a crap about what provincial politicians have to say, as he probably will flush anything they said down the toilet along with the remnants of their supper they ate.

Williams is doing what any politician would do in his position... blame someone else for his problems. He's good at it and I would never fault the man for doing what he does best. He can pull down the maple leaf all he wants, complain all he wants and cry like the lone 5 year old of confederation as much as it pleases him. Fact of the matter is, pretty soon his province will join the ranks of the "have" provinces, and suddenly the cash will start to dry up from O-Town. What will really test Mr. Williams is how he governs an economy that can't blame it's state on Ottawa. Though I am sure he will be the first to claim that federal money didn't help NL get back into a successful position.

As for pointing fingers at Alberta... it's all good. People in Alberta flatly don't care that so many billions of dollars are being siphoned out of their province to support anti-government hacks like Williams. Why? Because Alberta, unlike Newfoundland (it seems) understands it's position in this Federation. Regardless of circumstance, Peter Lougheed, Don Getty and Ralph Klein were always avid supporters of other provinces. Getty and Lougheed in particular were widely respected by their counterparts in other provinces for the work they put into "team building" during constitutional negotiations. Alberta, in fact, has a long history of strongly supporting the Federation. Newfoundland, on the other hand, has a long history of whining about the makeup of the Federation, at one point even refusing to bring a constitutional amendment forward for a vote which other provinces had already ratified. Couple that with the VERY close vote to even join Canada in the first place makes me less than sympathetic towards whiny premiers who look upon the rest of the country with disdain and stare into the media's camera with puppy dog eyes.

The sad part about this is that Newfoundlanders are great people, who have (sadly) been historically led by whiny hammerheads. The good news? Most of them are actually being led by economically competent governments in other provinces.

 

[George Wallace]

the only thing that williams wants, is for harper to honor a deal that harper had all ready agreed too, in other words to keep his promise. not a lot to expect from a PM.

On the "promise" bit in your spiele; have you known any PM, especially a Liberal, keep any of their promises?  How about Chretien's "I'll kill the GST"?  I am sure I don't have to go any further, as it seems to me that Harper is the first PM that I can honestly remember "KEEPING a campaign promise".  He promised a 1% drop in the GST in one year and a 1% drop in the next.  He did that.  He has pumped more money into the CF than any previous PM in the last 50 years.  He may have the personality of a door knob, but he still has done more for the country than any other PM since Pearson. 

 

[IN HOC SIGNO]

On the "promise" bit in your spiele; have you known any PM, especially a Liberal, keep any of their promises?   How about Chretien's "I'll kill the GST"?  I am sure I don't have to go any further, as it seems to me that Harper is the first PM that I can honestly remember "KEEPING a campaign promise".  He promised a 1% drop in the GST in one year and a 1% drop in the next.  He did that.   He has pumped more money into the CF than any previous PM in the last 50 years.  He may have the personality of a door knob, but he still has done more for the country than any other PM since Pearson. 

Williams is a pompous windbag who plays well to the home town crowd cause they think he's "sticking it to the man."  Talk to the business men and women of NF and they will tell you this guy is not good for the province. I had the opportunity to visit a friend of mine in St John's this past summer who is a very successful bussinessman and he and his colleague's are not amused by this guy's "hold his breath till he turns blue" politics at all!

 

[sgf]

you are completely right about Chretian and many of his promises and yes Harper did manage to keep the GST promise, but sadly he broke a lot more. The Atlantic Accord for one, and income trust for another, having only elected members in his Cabinet.  Its a good thing that he is pumping so much money into DND, and lets hope he continues to do so, because if this war continues much longer its going to be needed.
You have probably guessed by now, that I do not think hes the best PM since sliced bread... I like a PM that allows his Cabinet Ministers to do their job without checking first with the PMO.

 

[George Wallace]

Having been, more or less, "Out of Power" for a good twenty plus years, that leaves him more or less with nothing but "rookies" to fill Cabinet.  That is some steep "Learning Curve" to meet.

 

[sgf]

A steep learning curve? Sure, I buy that but these ministers arent that inexperienced, and they have a deputy minister and staff that have been there for many years to guide and advise them. It makes me wonder if Harper does not trust his own Cabinet not to make a gaffe or not to tow the party line

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Chretien was just as stringent with his cabinet and caucus. No one made a move without the little thug from Shawinigan's say so. He told them what to say and when to say it. Almost every vote was whipped. Harper is a gem compared to the corrupt dictatorships that have been lording over us for the 20 years.