NDP does full court press on helicopter safety - by accident

It's been a busy year for the NDP, but one issue they never seem to pass up a chance to talk about is Sikorsky S-92 helicopters.

It almost seems like the federal and provincial NDP representatives have been co-ordinating their message - except that they're not.

Both within the province and on the mainland, the NDP has been pressing the issue, talking about the helicopter's inability to fly for 30 minutes after losing oil pressure in the main gearbox.

"These helicopters were certified to fly with a 30 minute run-dry capability, and that wasn't the case," said St. John's MP Ryan Cleary.

In November, in the space of less than a week, Cleary and transportation critic Olivia Chow asked questions on the issue in the House of Commons, while provincial NDP MHA Dale Kirby was raising the same issue at the Hebron public review.

In the spring, NDP Leader Lorraine Michael raised the issue in the House of Assembly.

St. John's East MP Jack Harris has also been active on the issue - during the Wells Inquiry into the 2008 Cougar helicopter crash, Harris actively participated and questioned witnesses.

Both provincial and federal NDP representatives who spoke to The Telegram said it was pure coincidence that the two parties have both been pushing the issue at the same time.

"There's no strategy there," Cleary said. "It was coincidental, but it did work out well."

Kirby said the two wings of the NDP do talk back and forth, but there's no effort to be strategic about what they talk about, and when.

"It's less orchestrated than you'd actually believe, I'd say," he said. "I mean, we talk to each other. We're all friends. We see each other at events and we talk politics and policy, but we do that with just about everything."

At the same time, Kirby said, it's something they might look at in the future.

"We're co-ordinated insofar as we all know that we stand for the same things and we do talk about these issues when we do have an opportunity to talk on the phone," he said. "Maybe going into the future there will be more of it."

jmcleod@thetelegram.com Twitter: TelegramJames