LEADERSHIP WOES OF THE CONSTABLE PREMIER

Premier Paul
Davis knows the sting of political whiplash. Just four weeks ago he experienced
the euphoria of victory.  Minutes after his
investiture, he discovered no honeymoon awaited him with either the pundits or
the public.

It is not Davis’
fault the Auditor-General chose to dump the HVP Report on him, rather than on
Tom Marshall, who is as much deserving of blame as Nick McGrath. But Paul Davis
is entirely responsible for not ordering a deeper investigation into its odious
contents.

As to his other decisions, what does it
say about him that he would elevate an uncouth backbencher, Keith Russell,
and award him Ministerial status?

The public may
not understand the importance of political convention vis a vis the unelected Ms.
Manning, but the Premier should.  

Similarly, even a police constable should know that changing the Department of Justice to the Department of Public Safety is akin to replacing an ‘ideal’ with a ‘cop car’. 




If people are not ready to picket Confederation Building, having been stirred by the
utterances of commonly disengaged lawyers or the derisive roar of the pundits, they
must surely be saying: here we go again!   

How is it
possible that the Premier’s first days do not constitute, for him, the best of
times?
Given all
that has occurred under Dunderdale and since, does he have no empathy for a dispirited public? 

A skilful leader
will anticipate and assess, in advance of an action, the public’s likely
reaction. Decision-making, at that level, is a minefield. Every issue must be
carefully weighed. If they are important enough and are part of a larger plan, the
Premier will take the decisions even if they are unpopular, because they are in the public interest.  He will know that the political balance will
be returned as the full plan unfolds. 

But Mr.
Davis announced no plan, no course of leadership, no suggestion the past will
not be repeated.  The political hit he
took was both large and self-inflicted. We have seen it before.  There is no counterweight to amateur hour.

The Premier told
David Cochrane on his CBC On-Point Show he wants to look at “how we deliver
services”.  He said he wants to “do a
piece” around rural development, protection of children and youth, seniors and
the new profile of crime.  These issues possibly
need attention. But he is putting the cart before the horse.

Mr. Davis’
recent decisions appear to be an extension of two fundamentally wrong views.  One is that previous Tory Administrations
have done nothing wrong; they have erred only in the delivery of their
message.  Second, he believes the next
election can be won if Government just beefs up programs and services or adds
more of them.

That
thinking lacks insight. 

Does the
‘justice vs. public safety’ decision,
for example, exhibit a shift in a long held philosophy of the
administration of justice or is it a knee jerk reaction to a few recent highly publicized incidents? 

Is the
decision to override convention, in the case of Ms. Manning, part of an
accelerated and larger plan for gender equity in the P.C. Caucus or is it a ‘one of’?

All
Governments need to communicate with the public but at the start of any new
Administration, motives and ideas need to be explained.

Mr. Davis
should know the Province has had no capable political leadership for a long
time. 
The Province
is heading into its fourth ‘annus horribilis’ highlighted by the early
departure of our first female Premier, by the incompetence that gave rise to
DarkNL, by budget deficits in excess of half billion dollars in a time of the
high revenues, by the HVP saga, by Muskrat Falls, and by an absence of ‘oversight’ on that project, by Bill 29 and by meddling
in the choice of Leader.  The list could
easily be lengthened.

How is it
possible that the Premier is unable to see that his new start is overshadowed by
those issues and events?  



What would
motivate him to ignore such catastrophically failed leadership, to not place
that recent painful history in context with his own thoughts as to how he will use
the one year left in the Tory mandate? 



For whom would disassociation with
Dunderdale and Marshall not be a worthy and painless exercise?

The
Premier’s announcement, last Friday, partially reverses the name change to the
Department of Public Safety. The decision only proves Mr. Davis, compared with former Premier
Dunderdale, is less obstinate; but he remains on the wrong track.

We
await signs of a talent for serious leadership from this Premier, bold moves that reflect how he intends to help rebuild respect for and strengthen the role of Members of the House of Assembly, bring sanity to public spending, stop the erosion and pay deference to fundamental institutions like the PUB and the
Public Service Commission, and deal with the largest public
funded project in the history of the Province, Muskrat Falls.  

We need to know if he will install the ‘oversight’
his two predecessors refused to secure, if he has the will to reign in Nalcor CEO Ed Martin.

It is fine
for a Constable to become Captain; but Premier Davis must remember he is now judged
to a higher standard.  

He says he intends to lead by listening which, if not used to make any decisions, may have appeal for some. But soon or later, he will be expected to lead by taking charge.  The decisions taken in his first days do not suggest Davis is a man of big ideas.  If that is the case we are left to find encouragement in the fact that leadership has many manifestations.  


The Premier will need to show us one of those soon.  

  

Des Sullivan
Des Sullivan
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada Uncle Gnarley is hosted by Des Sullivan, of St. John's. He is a businessman engaged over three decades in real estate management and development companies and in retail. He is currently a Director of Dorset Investments Limited and Donovan Holdings Limited. During his early career he served as Executive Assistant to Premier's Frank D. Moores (1975-1979) and Brian Peckford (1979-1985). He also served as a Part-Time Board Member on the Canada-Newfoundland Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB). Uncle Gnarley appears on the masthead representing serious and unambiguous positions on NL politics and public policy. Uncle Gnarley is a fiscal conservative possessing distinctly liberal values and a non-partisan persusasion. Those values and opinions underlie this writer's views on NL's politics, economy and society. Uncle Gnarley publishes Monday mornings and more often when events warrant.

REMEMBERING BILL MARSHALL

Bill left public life shortly after the signing of the Atlantic Accord and became a member of the Court of Appeal until his retirement in 2003. During his time on the court he was involved in a number of successful appeals which overturned wrongful convictions, for which he was recognized by Innocence Canada. Bill had a special place in his heart for the underdog.

Churchill Falls Explainer (Coles Notes version)

If CFLCo is required to maximize its profit, then CFLCo should sell its electricity to the highest bidder(s) on the most advantageous terms available.

END OF THE UPPER CHURCHILL POWER CONTRACT: IMPROVING OUR BARGAINING POWER

This is the most important set of negotiations we have engaged in since the Atlantic Accord and Hibernia. Despite being a small jurisdiction we proved to be smart and nimble enough to negotiate good deals on both. They have stood the test of time and have resulted in billions of dollars in royalties and created an industry which represents over a quarter of our economy. Will we prove to be smart and nimble enough to do the same with the Upper Churchill?

4 COMMENTS

  1. The problem in Newfoundland and Labrador is that our politicians are incredibly insular and introspective. Danny Williams, Dunderdale, Grimes, and now Davis have spent their adult lives in the province. For them the world is the North East Avalon, and the hinterland extends to the provincial boundries. The result is that politics here is unbelievable small minded. Political discussions by default will quickly degrade to personalitiies instead of real issues.

    The reality right now is that the entire province should be focused on the looming financial crisis about to unfold due to low oil prices. Davis told us last week "not to panic". He was referring to the 2014 fiscal year.

    If our politicians could abandon their overly optimistic, local view, they would realise that oil will be in the 75-90 dollar range for the next several years. We will be running deficits neart 1 Billion dollars for the next 3 years if this holds.

    If our politicians were focusing on the real issues they would understand the severity of the structural issues in our provincial government. We can not afford the size of government that we have.

    The reason for this is that the little long term strategy we do have (The provincial energy plan) is premised on oil being avoce 120 $barrel. From our equity investments in offshore projects, to the white elephant of Muskrat Falls, Danny's plan required expensive oil to be successful. He built a government service to support that level of revenue.

    80 $ oil will be a global reality which we can not stick our head in the sand any longer and choose to ignore.

    It will also mark the end of Danny Williams tenure as being a Newfie Demigod as it will clearly expose the weakness of his economic record.

    There are many smart people in this province. To encourage them to run, we must first start by attacking ideas, and not personalities.

  2. I say the root of the whole governance issue is the lack of awareness by the constituents. We get what we deserve when we vote. If we vote out of ignorance, or just because we are expected to vote, then this is wrong. If we acquaint ourselves to the issues facing us in the future then vote, the blame is not on misjudging the future, anyone can miss that, we have done our best. On the other hand we decide someone is a demigod, then we have a problem. Trust only goes as far as the wisdom to trust on issues.