Oh Danny boy

Danny Williams, the long-standing Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, announced today that effective December 3rd, he would be stepping down as Premier of the province. To quote Premier Williams, "Today is one of those surreal days that you think about from time to time out of curiosity, but you never ever really allow your mind to go there fully because as you can see, the reality is just too overwhelming." While this may come as a surprise to some, it was speculated that once Premier Williams would step down shortly after settling the Lower Churchill project, which he did a couple weeks ago, WITHOUT Quebec.

*Side note: While I am a huge fans of the Montreal Canadiens, I am strictly a fan of the team, not their geographical location. Fuck Quebec. Quit your bitching and separate already. Vive Quebec? How about vive my ASS! There, I said it.

Anywho, one can't help but reflect on Premier Williams and the legacy he has left behind. I remember the election like it was yesterday. I was at a Fog Devils game with my brother, and after the game was over, while exiting Mile One, the election results were on all of the TVs in the lobby. I saw that Williams won and exclaimed, "Woohoo! Fuck Roger Grimes!" From that point on, it seemed as if the nature of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians had changed. It was if the good people of this province knew that positive change was on the horizon. Now, I am no political savant (see, one of those big words came to my head and I used it!), so I won't bother to praise up all of his accomplishments, nor will I chastise him for his failures. I will simply comment on what I know/think about his impact on our province.

I remember when he pulled down the Canadian flag at Confederation in protest of something-or-other. And that know-it-all at the Globe and Mail, Margaret Wente, had the nerve to write a column titled, "Oh Danny boy, pipe down." Good one, Margaret. It was nice of you to take the time to write such drab. HAVE you NOT anything better to do? We don't HAVE the time for such nonsense, as our unemployment rate is the lowest it's been in quite some time (like what I did there?)

Zing!

Back to Mr. Williams. As I previously stated, I don't know much about local politics, or any politics for that matter, so I can only reflect on what I feel about Danny's legacy. When I look back on his time as Premier, one word comes to mind: fighter. Because that's what he did. Love him or hate him, he fought tooth and nail for this province. His passion and commitment towards the success of this province embodies how all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians should feel about their home. When we had a problem, he went straight to Ottawa to fix it. And for the most part, he did. Almost immediately after he took the Premiership he announced that his goal was to ink a deal with Lower Churchill. Well, it took longer than expected, by by golly, he did it. And under his power, the province's economy has boomed. The revenue that has been generated through our oil industry has been tremendous since he took office. Granted, he did not put the resources there, but he has allowed this province to get a fair deal on the revenue sharing that has come with such huge projects, such as White Rose.

The only knock that I can see on the Premier's legacy are the many problems with the health care industry. He inherited the squabble between the nurses and the province, which in my opinion, will never be resolved. Yes, they are working now, but it's only a matter of time before they walk again. Can you blame them? But the issues that have arose since the start of Mr. Williams stint have been alarming, and have been left unresolved. The issue with the breast cancer screening was a huge debacle for this province. Mr. Williams called for an inquiry, the Cameron Inquiry, which after months and months, yielded little to no answers for the people of the province. And this latest issues with the doctors of this province, the scandal where those 14 doctors resigned at the same time, is a major, MAJOR stain on this province. It was noted during that resignation that a large number of doctors plan on resigning in February, citing that the offer from the government was too low and unfair. I won't delve into my opinion on this issue, because that's not the topic of my blog post. But for the record, GIVE THE DOCTORS WHAT IS FAIR.

Mr. Williams, all-in-all, you've done a pretty fantastic job of running this province. You've represented us well, you were a fearless leader and I speak for many, many Newfoundlander and Labradorians when I say "Danny, you will be missed."

I wonder who will be the next Premier of this province...? (Yeah, Kathy Dunderdale is the interim Premier as of Dec. 3, but we all know that will be very short-lived).

In closing, I leave you, my lovely readers, with this:

The verb 'cleave' is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.