The Pain and the Gain

I am sore. I mean physically sore to the point of having to hobble. Yesterday I scratched an item off my bucket list and today I continue to pay the small price of sore feet, legs and for some reason even my back has not escaped the wrath of the Tely 10. With the ecouragement of my girlfriend I registered early and even trained a little (very little LOL) and yesterday I had a chip time of 2:06:52. I had set a goal of 2hrs but I have to say I don't think I'd be much happier if I had picked up the extra 6 or 7 minutes. I had a great and punishing time and it has given me a tremendous appreciation for those who undertake full marathons!

It starts great and you're all full of energy and by the end you have an overwhelming need to stop moving, just for a little while. My asthma didn't hinder me any more then I was expecting but it was a struggle to keep motivated in the later stages of the race. Lukily there was some unexpected motivation along the way, but more on that in a bit. 

The race is a 10 mile foot race from The Paradise Communituy Center to Bannerman Park and this year there were 3501 regestered runners. Not all runners show up or finish but if you know someone who was in the race or just want to take a look at the results you can check them out here. You'll note there are 2 times listed for each competitor because there is the time from the starting pistol to the finish and the time from when you pass the starting line til you cross the finish line(chip time). This is necessary because with 3500 runners they can't all start the race at the same time. In fact some will be waiting 5 or 6 minutes after the pistol just to cross the start line. 

It is essential to thank all those who make the event possible including organisers and volunteers at the water stations. The officers at the intersections and the fire and paramedic staff who attend just in case they are needed are also greatly appreciated. Some of the traffic staff put up with some pretty silly complaining from motorists who were somehow unaware that sections of road are closed for the race. Afterall it only happens every year. 

I have to offer a very special thank you to one more group of people that I mentioned earlier as the unexpected motivation along the way. It is a challenging race and there are moments where you may feel its just easier to give it all up or to take it easy and walk it out to the finish. But thankfully there are people who line the streets to cheer on runners for close to 3 hours in various spots along the way. There are signs of encouragement, motivational things written in chaulk on the pavement, people with noisemakers and water hoses. But I have to say that the most impressive were those people who stood close to the course and motivated people with their words of support, even to the point of reading the names of the runners off their Bibs (number labels) so they could shout personalized encouragement. I can honestly say I had not expected to hear complete strangers say my name and tell me how great I was doing and that I could keep going til the end.    

It was a great experience. The pain will last a few days for sure, but the gain of crossing it off my bucket list and knowing that I had the determination to push myself even when I though I would pass out, as I almost did at about 5.5 miles, will stay with me forever.

The Fails Continue.

There was an opportunity to stop it. We missed it. If the people of the Province had become informed early enough we had a chance to really slow things down and ensure it was really what we needed and at a reasonable cost. Unfortunately we have passed the point of no return on Muskrat Falls and its now all about mitigation. The sad part is that as time goes on the situation seems to continue to get worse and our mitigation efforts will have to increase tenfold if we expect to have any hope of not having the rate payers of NL foot the bill. The newest issues to cause concern involve the ability to generate electricity and the ability to sell it. These two issues would seem to be important to a hydro project yet the current Government are content to say that both of these concerns are non issues by the usual rationale "trust us."

On the sales front the body responsible for monitoring utilities in Nova Scotia was allowed to do a complete review of their involvement in the project which is centered around the construction of the subsea transmission cable. It would have been nice for our very own PUB do the same we'll just have to "trust" in the decision making process that we have absolutely no input in. For their part the NS body decided that they support the project on the condition that a proper contract be signed that would include a possible guarantee for the purchase of power at rates that may be lower then what we could sell it to others for. Power sales would be good but we need the ability to sell that power at the highest rates possible to help remove so much of the burden from NL rate payers.

On the generation front there has been a court case filled by Quebec Hydro to clarify some of the details on the Upper Churchill details regarding the details around supply and management of water resources for generation. If the water resources at the Upper Churchill are managed in the best interests of Hydro Quebec it can significantly interfere with the reliable production capacity at Muskrat Falls. It has the potential of seriously limiting the reliable power available to NL. For the full translation of the details of what has been filed pop over to Labradore here.

The unfortunate truth is that these are only two of many concerns around this ill-conceived project and it is becoming painfully obvious that as the project continues this will be par for the course. Brace yourself.

And The Race is on!

Five contenders and only one crown. The Liberal leadership race has begun and it will be an interesting few months until the final decision is made in mid November. Like any race worth watching this one has interesting characters and is bound to have a few twists along the way.

The cast of 5 contains a few familiar names to Liberals of the province and here in brief are my comments on each.

Cathy Bennett. Successful business woman who has decided that now is the time to get involved in politics. Her name is known in the metro area as she owns a few McDonalds restaurants and has been vocal on a recent daycare issue. However beyond those few morsels I'm not sure Liberals of the province really know that much about her. The media has already informed us that she has been a reasonably significant contributer to the PC party but that doesn't necessarily mean that much. In the end she will likely garner support in metro and from business minded folks but I think she'll struggle to connect with the average Liberal voter.

Paul Antle. Paul is another successful business person from the metro area. The main difference is that Paul has a history with the Liberal party including financial support and even running as a Liberal candidate in the past. He only just officially launched his campaign but even before the rubber hit the road the CBC was reporting a story of some legal issues around tax avoidance in a southern country. Paul is a Liberal, is well educated and well spoken but again he may have trouble connecting with the common man.

Danny Dumaresque. Danny is no newcomer to the NL Liberal party, not in any way. He's been on the board of directors, a previous MHA, and a former contender for the leadership. He is passionate and incredibly knowledgeable about the fishery. He has a great deal of old school Liberal contacts and connections and he's a damn hard worker. The struggle Danny will have is that he may be seen as the past of the Liberals and not the future. In addition he's know as strongly partisan and rural focused, and even though he is attempting to soften his image a little, he is a very polarizing figure.

Jim Bennett. Current Liberal MHA and former Liberal leader, for a very short period. Jim has been involved with the party for a long time and it is well know that it was his hard work and organization that won him his hard fought seat in the last election. He has strong rural routes but doesn't bash the townies with them so he may have a wide base of support. Jim's obstacle will be to prove he's the right person considering he had the job previously and was essentially forced to resign.

Dwight Ball. Dwight has the considerable advantage of essentially being in the position already. Being interim leader for the past 18 months or so has already placed him in peoples minds as the leader. Some feel that it is his leadership to loose. He also has support from most of the caucus and a couple Liberal MPs. With all this you might think he's a shoe in, but he is not without his challenges. Because he has been seen so much people have commented that he lacks a little in the personality department but that is not his biggest challenge as I see it. If you look at the polls it is true that the PCs have tumbled and the Liberals have risen, a little. But with a government imploding the way the current one is the Liberals should have gained much more ground in terms of public support, but they haven't. As a party they haven't really done a whole lot, and it shows. So Dwight's biggest challenge is in fact his experience and track record as Liberal leader for the past year an a bit.

So there you have a brief look at all five candidates. In future posts I'll go over the basics of the process and a few more details on the timing and such. But up next will be a shout out to the candidate who I'll be supporting and why. Stay tuned...  

You Don't Have The Right

Occasionally a news article will get a rise out of me. Unlike yelling at the radio when ridiculous comments are made on the call in shows, yelling at the paper in my hand doesn't have the same level of satisfaction. And so here we are.

Yesterday I checked the mail and was delighted to find my most recent issue of the Municipal News. It is a quarterly paper printed and distributed by Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador and contains the usual updates and news stories relative to the municipal sector in NL. I've been reading it for 6 years or so now and you can get the digital copy over on the MNL website here.

In the most recent installment there is a cover story on electronic voting by Randy Simms. It's something I have an opinion about and as it turns out so does Randy. Reading through the piece I find that Randy is in favor of the idea and was hoping we might all have a go at it in the upcoming municipal elections in the fall. But alas, it is not to be this time around. The current Government has taken the unsurprisingly short sighted view that we're not ready for it just yet.

The article was generally informative and pretty well written but I actually had to pause in the middle of reading it to let out a few choice words that thankfully only my dog was close enough to hear. The offending paragraph contained a quote for the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Kevin O'Brien. Now to be upfront I'm not a big fan of "Farity O'Brien", as The Sir Robert Bond Papers like to call him. And I've heard him say some pretty darn silly and upsetting things, like the time he compared the departure of Danny Williams to the assignation of JFK. But this one really got my blood boiling. In reference to uninformed voters who might vote given an electronic ballot option he said:

"People who don't know what's going on, voting for people they don't know, is not appropriate"

So if I might take a moment to clarify that comment, it appears that he feels that not everyone has the right to vote. Now if I'm not mistaken the right to vote is accorded to every man and women of legal age and can show they are a resident of the district they wish to vote in. There are no tests to determine their intimate level of knowledge of the parties, the candidates or the issues at hand. One person, one vote.

But hey, he's only a Minister of our Government, if he doesn't believe in democracy then I guess it's no big deal. After all, if we did things his way and every voter had to know full details on the people running in an election and perhaps even their motivations for running, he might still be in private business and we might all be spared old Farity's version of democracy.




 

She Is The Premier After All

I have been very critical of the current Government headed up by Premier Kathy Dunderdale, and for good reason. As a Government they have made terrible decisions, passed damaging legislation and operated Government as though it was their private corporation. All reasons to be very critical and work damn hard to get them out of that position of power before they do even more damage.

The odd part about politics is that this Government which I despise is made up of good people who at least on some level feel they are doing the right thing. With rare exception the current Cabinet Members I have met and spent time with have been nice people. Most  of them got into politics to make a positive contribution to NL, some simply saw a free ride on Danny's coat tails to popularity, a salary and maybe even a pension. So if they are largely good people with what they feel is the right motivation it is imperative to separate the political criticisms from the personal attacks.

As an example I look at Minister of Education, Clyde Jackman. Like many Ministers he has changed departments over his many years in Government and as such I have had the opportunity to meet him more then once. I find Minister Jackman to be a very knowledgeable, thoughtful, and personable man. I have a great deal of respect for him and his abilities. So when I look at the ridiculous decision to amalgamate all the english school boards I will criticize the decision and the man for making/backing the decision but never on a personal level. In fact because I respect him I wonder if there's more to that decision then I know in order for him to endorse it. I don't think so but it does give me cause to pause.

The same logic applies to the Muskrat Falls project. I see it as a terrible idea that is both unnecessary and damaging to NL but yet sensible people made the decision to begin and continue this massive mistake. While Kathy did not initiate the project she has stood behind it (while standing next to Harper lol) and has continued to defend it and push it forward. Paddy Dally has asked why would people, politicians and bureaucrats alike, push for a project if it was so bad? I have a few theories but I only wish I knew the real answer, but there's no doubt that Dunderdale's credibility has been irreparably damaged because of this and many other issues over the last few months.

This is a woman with a very accomplished past even before she became Premier. I have no doubt she is a formidable person who has the faculties to be the Premier of a challenging province. These are the items that people should remember before throwing personal attacks her way. There's a difference between calling a person stupid and calling a decision stupid. Never has there been a person on earth who has never made a decision that they immediately know was the wrong one. It was a stupid decision but it doesn't make you a stupid person.

While this may be a simple point it is often lost in the word of political commentary, both for those who can hide behind their keyboard and for those under the bright House of Assembly lights. It is the path of a week debater to attack the person and unfortunately we see it far too often. From a political standpoint besides the optics of personal attacks, all they do is show that you have underestimated your opponent, a mistake in any encounter. In the end respect for others involved in a debate, discussion or the general political arena is a must. When you don't show respect for others it reflects badly on you, not on them. After all no matter how many bad decisions she has made, Kathy Dunderdale still deserves respect, she is the Premier after all.      

Step right up, And don't forget your wallet!

After a mere 16 months of having no voted official party leader the Liberal Party of NL has decided to open nominations for the position. The position won't be officially filled until the fall of this year which will make it nearly 2 years since Kevin Alyward announced his decision to step down following the election of 2011. Since that time Dwight Ball has been keep things in line as Interim Leader. Over that time a few names have come and gone as possible contenders for the top seat but the only confirmed/announced candidate so far is in fact the the current Interim Leader.

The last time the Party had a leadership contest it was hashed out over a few short days between a group of largely unknown folks (including yours truly) and two old school Liberals. In the end the process may not have been perfect but it accomplished a great deal of things in a short amount of time. It gave people a chance to be candidates who may not have normally had the opportunity. It created a media frenzy and grabbed public attention. And most importantly it engaged Liberals around the province through a teleconference in numbers that were quite unexpected. In the end it should have been more then simply a board decision, but it still was a fairly successful exercise. This time around I have some concerns.

First off, if you haven't read the actual rules for the contest pop over to the NL Liberal Party website and read them here. Most of the items are fairly standard fare and will work reasonably well as a leadership deciding process. There is one item that I find pretty unusual, and borderline offensive. Under Article 3 it states the following:

3.05 A nomination fee of $20,000.00 will be paid to the NLLP by each Candidate. The nomination fee is payable in three or four instalments depending upon when the Candidate files the LCNF. The first instalment of $5000.00 shall be paid at the time of filing the LCNF. The second instalment of $5,000.00 shall be paid by not later than 5:00 p.m. on the 5th day of July, 2013; if the Candidate does not file the LCNF until July 5, 2013, then $10,000.00 fee is payable upon filing. The second or third instalment, as the case may be, of $5000.00 shall be paid not later than 5:00 pm on the31st day of July and the final instalment of $5000.00 shall be paid not later than 5:00 pm on the 30th day of August, 2013.

Yeah. $20,000. When I had first heard it I thought it was a joke. Well in a way I suppose it is. A pretty sad joke.

The Liberal Party is essentially saying that as leader your job is to help bail out the Party from your own personal finances. Or perhaps it's just a general statement that you need to be very wealthy to lead the Party. Whatever the rational I happen to think it is a very poor decision. Part of what made the previous leadership contest even remotely interesting to the general public was the fact that there were some candidates who were not know. This single bad decision will hurt the Party and it's attempt to drive media and public interest, and will eliminate some potentially great candidates.

Unfortunately this move seems to indicate that the Party still has trouble learning that people actually want to get involved in politics and government. They seem determined to prevent that involvement, at least at the highest level. And despite the "Renewal Tour" that didn't seem to do much except conclude a bunch of stuff everyone already knew, there are still no significant moves to engage the public, or actual card carrying Liberals in any real decision making. The one thing I saw and heard from the couple of Renewal meetings I attended was that Liberals want to see action toward change. I don't think this is what they were talking about.

The consolation here is that there will be good candidates come forward who can afford the bill. Being wealthy enough to afford the entry fee certainly does not include or preclude the ability to be a good leader. But unfortunately it does exclude a great number of potentially great leaders from even entering the race. In the end I have no doubt that whomever the successful candidate is that they will do their best to represent the Party leading up to the next election. I sincerely hope that by the deadline there will be quite a few contenders. Not just for the sake of democracy within the Liberal Party, but also for the sake of the Party's bank account.  

Necessary Negativity

I'm a pretty positive guy. I look for the up side whenever possible. As a result I try not to be too negative even when it's the only logical response. The old saying "if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all" has played in my mind and kept me quiet on more then one occasion, but not often enough some might say. When it comes down to it I believe in truth above all else, and when it comes to the current Government of Newfoundland and Labrador the truth hurts.

Unless they discover an eternal oil well under the confederation building "The Dunderdale Government" may go down as at least one of the worst, and perhaps the worst NL has ever had. From a simple optics perspective she has taken NL from a have province just off the Canadian teat, to an economic basket case, forced to lay off a significant number of employees and cut services. Now to be fair the truth is more complicated then that. This current crisis is a result of years of planning, or lack of planning. Good old DW knew exactly whet he was doing when he jumped ship a couple of years back.  "Get while the getting's good" as they say. Despite the fact that the current crowd were set up to fail they could have avoided this by not hanging the entire provincial economy on one very volatile commodity, oil. But there I go starting down the path of negativity, but thats kind of the point.

I'm doing my best not to say "I told you so" and to not jump on every little ridiculous move the current Gov of NL makes, but its quite difficult. It doesn't matter if hundreds of people danced up and down the streets foretelling the eventual failure of this Gov and their lack of sound financial planning, we are where we are. The challenge now is to somehow get out of this with our services and economy intact. And while I don't have much faith in the "Dunderdale Crowd" on the hill, I still have faith in the people to raise hell when the need arises. And the need has arisen. We need to let them know that this kind of bull shit is not acceptable, under any circumstance. Call the radio shows, write letters to the editors, write blogs and write and call your MHA. I am glad to see the general public awakening to the financial mess that we now have to deal with and I hope that when the time comes to cast a vote again we can change "The Dunderdale Government" back to the "Government of Newfoundland and Labrador." I'm positive we can make it happen!