SEAL it with a Kiss!

I predict one day seals will save the world's "hide" - pardon the pun.

Those mammals are multiplying like the devil, while the rest of the fish stocks appear to be struggling.

The latest population estimate of the Harp Seal alone is 9 Billion!  

And last year, we  harvested only 70,000 seals - not even a  noticeable dent in the herd. 

Despite the misinformation that seals are dwindling, the Canadian government is ensuring our seals are more than well-managed  (unlike the cod) - they are exploding and taking over the ocean real-estate, i.e. the ecosystem.

Even the grey seals are so plentiful on the Scotian Shelf, a cull has been recommended by the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat.  
 
Misinformation is another reason Seals are destined to one day feed the burgeoning world population. 

The propaganda out there on seals is destined to be fully exposed because that's the way the world and karma works - those that lie, cheat and steal eventually get caught and punished. (Ask Lanse)

Citizens across the globe will one day realise they have been duped by groups looking to self-finance themselves and they will start to get the true story of the sealing industry.

And as the world's people producers keep popping out more people, the seals will one day be seen for the legitimate and valuable food and clothing source that they are.

Further, the trend is that more consumers are demanding that more of our food products  are created from organic conditions. The seal hunt provides food and clothing that does not involve antibiotics, presticides, fungicides and all the rest of the toxic mess that taints our food supply these days.

I am confident that one day our Governments will get it right and stand strong in supporting a sustainable harvest that is strategically and PROUDLY marketed to the world. 

In the meantime, they have a lot of work to do on that carcasss,
because right now they have been too soft and blubbery to counter the myths about our industry that continue to ensure countries like Taiwan ban our sealing products.

Come on Government, seal it with a kiss that you will put up a better fight for our sealers and their industry!
 

Shocking! Shocking! Shocking!

There's nothing like a bomb to wake you up.

This week's bombing by government was particularly eye-opening.

It truly shows a bunch of cohorts out of control and not a single string of decency or compassion left.

Now, this Government is famous for bombing on numerous issues and on numerous times;
but this wild pack dropped not 1, not 2, but 3 bombs on us - all in one week.

I call them the "C" Bombs.

And they go something like this ...

CENTRE for Health Information
This week, the Auditor General (AG) found that Government pays outrageous salaries to those working at the Centre for Health Information. That Agency manages our electronic health information - and now it is clear they have been managing (with Government's permission) their own pay raises.

The AG revealed that there were instances where people over a relatively short time frame received raises of about 119 per cent!

So, wasn't good enough making more money than other government staff (upwards of $16,000 more), they padded their pockets with even more taxpayer's mullah.

They then had the audacity to hide behind the fact that these salaries were reflective of industry - forgetting they are Government employees.

The role of the AG is to poke his nose deeply into the business of Government to hold them accountable - on this one alone he well earned his keep.

And no wonder, with this sort of wastefulness, our public finances are not sustainable.


COD-NL
At the same time as this information bomb was hitting, along comes another one.

Seems a non-profit group out there in the trenches (doing the work that government neglects to do) is facing having to close their operations.

Why?

Because Government couldn't/wouldn’t ante up a mere $14,000 to the COD-NL (Coalition of Disabilities) -a provincial organization that advocates, educates and assists people with all disabilities.

The lack of compassion by Government and the Premier on this is appalling.

And the juxtaposition of this loss of funding  for our social justice warriors

against excessive wages paid to government staff takes the word SHAMEFUL to a whole new level.

And the minister's comments that "it is unfortunate that they may close their doors," smacks of the lowest form of governance ….

C-NLOPB
The last bomb was the appointment of a political kin (Danny William's brother no less) to the Canadian-Newfoundland and Labrador offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB). This Board is responsible for ensuring the offshore and gas industry is well regulated.

As you guessed, it's a job where lots of technical knowledge is needed - so that’s why you appoint political friends right?

Government is basically telling us that it doesn’t matter if the industry is overseen by one that is not well-versed - as long as it is staffed by those who will advance it's partisanship agenda. The second appointment to the Board by government comes the oil industry- ensuring their interest  will also be well represented at the Board.

One bomb is enough to leave you shell-shocked;
but when you have three government bombardments in one week,

it's a shocking, shocking, shocking state of affairs.

 

It's enough to make you wonder if there is any “soul”  left in government;

Or even worst,that government thinks we are so soul-less we will not notice their bomb-drops.

Let's Aim Higher!

There's a new kid on the Award block in this province.

Ovations.

It applauds the many accomplishments of women in our communities (which are often overlooked).

Kudos to the first recipient Hilda Whalen - who for 15 years fought an injustice, never imagining perhaps a success; or many years later being publicly recognised for her strength and convictions.

A worthy recipient indeed.

Another deserving recipient back in the 1980s would have been Premier KD - who as a Council member in Burin successfully fought back against a company trying to shape the future of her town.

It is disheartening then years later, in a more influential position - that this is the same person who 

• promised the people that a full and meaningful debate would take place on the biggest expenditure of their money and failed to keep that commitment;
• promised plant workers in Marystown fighting to save their livelihood and their community that she would help find a solution - and months later the plant was shuttered with not a finger lifted;
• promised a grieving grandmother a meeting would take place to talk person to person only to back down on that promise. ..
• ignores the plea of a native woman elder fighting to expose the ills of a megaproject that will destroy her land and compromise the health of her people;
• ignores the pleas for fairness and justice of a family with a disabled child;
• fails to fight with the people against the feds stripping us of search & rescue services meant to safeguard the lives of many of our people on the water;
• ignores the pleas of parents fighting the closure of their schools which they know will mean the eventual demise of their community;
• does not open her mouth on the closure of the Burin plant that she so compassionately fought for 30 years ago
• etc...

None of these people were at the OVATIONS Awards ceremony, but they deserve our applause and our support.

Interestingly, the Premier says she wont be satisfied until women hold at least half of the leadership positions in this province.

Perhaps that should NOT be the goal.

The more laudable one should be that whoever is in leadership shows 100 percent compassion, respect and dignity all the time - not when it is politically convenient.

People understand that  government cannot solve all their problems;
BUT they gave their most precious democratic treasure - their VOTE - to  be listened to, to be acknowledged and to have their vote carrier at least attempt a practical working solution of their problems.

The real test of female leadership is not to occupy half of the democratic slots,
but to help shatter the glass ceiling holding back POLITICAL COMPASSION.

Because in the end politics is all about aiding REAL PEOPLE to overcome their struggles.

And all people really want is to be shown kindness, respect, comfort and compassion even when their problems ultimately cannot be fixed on the public treasury.

So, congrats to the Ovation Awards;
but as women we need to aim higher than occupying political space.

We have seen in this province that when we do there is a real risk that we can become Compassion Complacent.

As the Ovation award recognizes, the simple fact is that
destroying Complacency and stirring Compassion WINS no matter what your job is ... 

Stormy Thoughts

Snow days are good for the soul…

Except when it gives you time to think about missed chances and lost opportunities…

 Like the fishery!

As the storm swirled outside, a dark storm whirled within,  triggered by the Premier’s comments at a year-end interview that “We have a fishery that is in trouble”

Does it get any more pathetic than that?    It is like a pregnant woman pointing at her swollen belly and admonishing the unborn for the mess the child has gotten itself  into!

A terrible metaphor perhaps, but you get the point?

Not a sense, nor an admission of, responsibility …

One could perhaps overlook the gall if this had been uttered a year or 2 after taking government; but this crew has been occupying space in the Confederation Building for not 1, not 5, but 10 years!

A decade is a boatload of time to turn around any industry including the fishery -Iceland and Norway have both proven so.

But 10 years into Tory Territory, we are still without a vision, a strategy, an action plan (other the Reactive one) … or even an imagination regarding our most  important industry in our province.

It`s also the lack of optimism about the fishery that is ingrained in the premier’s remarks  that makes the storm even darker in my head.

This is a Government that was warned for years of their inattention to the fishery; so not even a First-grader would be surprised  by the outcome.

This is a Government that promised a rural strategy which included fishery – and did not deliver.

This is a Government that promised joint management and custodial management  of our fisheries & did not deliver.

This is a Government that in 2007  allowed corporate interests to take over FPI, dismantle it and then sold off the one ace up our sleeve in the fishery – our brilliant marketing division. (The fall-out from this non genius decision has been seen recently in the closure of the plants in Marystown, Burin and Port Union - not to mention the other plants that have closed under their watch)

This is a Government`s whose leader's claim to fame in the fishery was to host a 1 day Premier`s Summit.

This is a Government that spent $850,000 on a MOU Fisheries Report  that was dissed at its birth like an ugly sculpin - the ask was too much the minister muttered.

This was a Government that promised during the last election that the Marystown plant had a future …and walked away without assisting … with not even a shred of guilt.

This was a Government that has allowed Corporate interests to dictate public policy – because that`s what happens when a vacuum  exits in policy, imagination and leadership.

This is a Government currently on the verge of  giving up public safeguards for our fishery in an international treaty with the EU – an agreement that could in only a few short decades see foreigners fishing inside the 200-mile limit and corporations dictating the rest of fisheries public policy.

Finally, this is a Government singularly obsessed with protecting Nalcor and then setting up the  grand coronation of  Muskrat Falls so that this entity and this project never ever ever get into trouble and go into overdraft! 

Imagine if the fishery had the massive amount of money invested in Muskrat Falls by a Government with imagination- how  progressive our industry would be and how alive our rural regions would feel!

This government bombed on the fishery – that is their undisputed legacy.

And no "mother of all storms"  can white-out the fact that there is blood on this government`s hands, up to its elbow, for a fishery neglected and set adrift without a real captain for over 10 years.

There's something about red blood (and missed chances) that tend to glare more starkly in the belly of a snow storm …