May 24th 2013
Protesters gather on the steps of Confederation Building Saturday afternoon. They were there to demand the repeal of Bill 29. - Photo by Colin MacLean/The Telegram
A group of concerned citizens converged at the steps of Confederation Building Saturday morning and demanded a repeal of Bill 29.
The controversial bill changes the province's access to information act to broaden the circumstances in which a request can be denied or information withheld.
Bill 29 passed in the legislature on Friday after a record setting 70-hour filibuster session.
Between 70 and 80 people showed up for the protest.
If Newfoundland had a population in the triple digits, Kathy would probably be concerned by this turnout. What a laughable embarrassment, another failure from the socialist rabblerousers. We have a great government. That's why only seventy people went and that's why the PCs got voted in, despite the Muskrat Falls doom and gloom campaign that was so vigourously pushed by the left.
The small turnout shows, as I thought all along, it is the media and opp. parties who are trying to fear monger as it relates to this bill.
People here are saying that the NDP would never squash away the rights of the public..........How do you know that? No one here can say what any political party would do when elected to a majority. I am in no way supporting this corrupted bill, however I am certainly not naive or blind to the fact that the Liberals and NDP are no different from the PC's. I hope everyone can remember what was going on at the HOA from the Wells/Tobin/Grimes Administration. SO yes while the Dunderdale administration are showcasing pure arrogance toward the people of NL, please leave your arrogance at the door and realize how stupid and false it sounds when people say but the Liberals or NDP would NEVER do this. You can bet your bottom dollar that if something was going on and they didn't want the general population to know about it they would do it faster than Lorraine can say "racism".
The Province of Newfoundland and Labrador desperately needs an intelligent, ethical and honest leader. I do not agree that having Danny Williams alter ego Dean McDonald become leader of the Liberal Party is the solution to the problem. The people of Newfoundland and Labrador must realize by now that they are and have been living under the dictatorial boot of a Government led by Premiers who are the political reincarnation of Joey Smallwood. This current Government is acting the same, making the same dictatorial decisions, making the same mistakes, promoting the same kind of crackpot hydro electric mega projects, expropriating peoples land at the insistence of lobbyists, providing jobs and contracts to political hacks and cronies, passing legislation designed to enrich or appease behind the scenes movers and shakers, allowing patronage, nepotism and corruption to run wild and trying to cover it all up just like Smallwood! The people must vigorously demand and insist to see the information about what the Williams/Dunderdale Government has been doing in secret behind closed doors since the Progressive Conservatives took office. The people must oppose the secret and unethical way politics and Government operates in Newfoundland and Labrador. Otherwise, there will be no limit to the incompetence, waste, mismanagement and corruption that will go on undetected and unstopped! What are you talking about you say? Good question! The people don't know that anything is wrong with their Government because the people are not allowed to see what is really going on. There is no real access to Government information and the media does not report very much of what Government is really up to. It appears that the media regularly receives documents and information regarding Government corruption and improper actions and does not investigate or report it. Why? Other than an occasional news story generated from a Court case, an investigation report or the local rumor mill, the people have no idea what their Government is doing in secret behind closed doors. The Government of Newfoundland has just taken a more draconian and repressive step designed to keep it that way!
Newfoundlanders don't protest' most of us sit back and accept whatever we are given, this protest is no different, all you have to do is look back at past protests, remember the great protest by fishermen that was to take place not enough there to pull up a small punt, remember the protest by retired govt employees looking for pension increase, not enough there for a tea party, remember the protest of loosing our search and rescue center, not many there either, how many were at the protest of govt cuts to eastern health. again not enough for a good tea party, Newfoundlanders don't protest and govt knows it, therefore they can do what they want.
Freedoms are being squashed, and accountability is being placed out of reach. I was not at the rally at confederation hill but count me in as being opposed to this bill. its to bad we are not allowed to know what our goverment are doing..
We voted them in and we can vote them out!!!!! Dean McDonald please become Liberal Leader so we can turf them next election . The arrogance,stupidity and incompetence has to end soon. The protestors are right and they represent the majority of the people in the province. While small in numbers , they have the support behind them and the next polls will show the PC government in serious trouble. But they aren't worried because they have already filled their pockets with their two term pension plan. Time for everyone to wake up and see what is really happening here . I will never vote PC again after this undemocratic move by our so-called government .
wouldn't have mattered if there were 100 000 people there. The current government is arrogant beyond belief and could care less what the people of the province want.
Dunderdale and her Government are in a rush to get roadblocks and filters installed to hide not only past 'indiscretions' but up-coming boondoggles like...I am thinking Churchill Falls II, also known as, Muskrat falls! God only knows what shenanigans are already filling up closets about this one.
He/She can speak his/her mind, but the tide has turned, and the PC's did alone. The past week of proceedings in the House showed the arrogance and stupidity of the gov't members. Where or where can our Kathy be.........
Would it have made any difference if 500-800 had show up instead of 50-80? Does anyone really think the government would have paid any attention to protesters, if they couldn't hear what the elected opposition was saying? For those who snicker and say that protests must have media or politically motivated, I really hope they are right, and that government has NOTHING but the best interest of citizens at heart.
an old saying is "the cameras dont lie'"IS evident here as it shows just how few attended this gathering.More like an ndp tea party!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, I guess the small turnout says it all. What it comes right down to is that the ones making noise about this bill was the media and non PC political types. I suspect the majority there were just that. There appears to be nothing to fear in this bill and John Q Public is very aware of that.
You and Martin Harty are out to lunch. Government will do what it friggin' well wants without any accountability and you don't care? Go back to the cradle because you sure as hell don't have much or any education to accept something like this.
To Mountpearler. The small turnout tells me that either people are apathetic (see voter turnout) or extremely frustrated, knowing that the government's mind ( if they collectively even have one) is not changeable regardless of the idiocy of their actions. The sad thing is that the apathy, and if not that then the largesse immediately before the next election, will overshadow the actions that these "representatives" take to obfuscate further their own personal agendas and feather their own nests. (See spending scandal, travel expense claims and any of the numerous examples of this).
Here in North America, we tend to believe that we're civilized, developed and not barbaric. Thus, thinking about political coups like was recently observed in Libya and other places are often considered overkill or unnecessary. I tend to agree--but I have to say that it IS getting harder and harder to not see the parallels between those dictatorship governments and the Canadian Government and even now in our own provincial government. Freedoms are being squashed, and accountability is being taken out of reach. While it may be a long time coming, these are steps that precede things like imposed curfews, totalitarian governments and essentially a police state. Unless our governments develop some sense of humility, I don't know what's going to happen in the short term, but if it continues into the long term, I can see it leading to horrific and violent results. I just don't know who would strike first--the government or the citizens. I'd thought that we as Canadians were better than this.
The day democracy died and the beginning of the end for Dunderdale and her bobble heads.
its to bad we are not allowed to know what our goverment are doing?
Don't worry! The arrogant Dunderites will simply dismiss them as a small vocal minority who don't have the expertise to understand why this bill is so, so good for us!
My god 70 people(by look of crowd abt 50) showed up from all over the province for this protest ...and this is news worthy? More people show up for a kitchen party on Fogo Island than was here! For sure the NDP had their members there for a photo op, along with a few supporters. So in the end there may have been abt 20 people there not affiliated with a political party...oh yeah its major news! Get over it and cover some real news like the Kruger situation in Corner Brook.
At least the NDP are not stripping away your rights and freedoms before your very eyes. Its time to wake up and see whats really happening here . You either approve of corruption or aren't interested in the rights of the citizens of thei province being protected . Unbelievable!!!!!!!
They're not stripping our rights because we're not foolish enough to elect them. They supported C-19. They're dirty fascists
This is just pissing in the wind.
It would be heartening if there was a bigger turnout for something as fundamentally egregious as this....and it would be nice to know that the attendees were real everyday citizens, and not just minions of political parties. But at least it is something, where I fully expected nothing. From little acorns....
Gagging orders to tell civil servants not to publically critisize government. Cuts to the media when they challenge the government. Public information becoming top secret. A prime minister out to get anybody who challenges him. These are very similar to events which happened in Germany in the 1930's. Dunderdale is learning from the Prime Minister, who has learned from HITLER.
The so called justice minister has really got himself backed into a corner in the litter box on this one. Nows he's trying to tiptoe around the many, many mounds of his own verbal waste that he thought was buried enough to stop the smell of our right to know laying in a grave he was too lazy to dig. But the worst thing he could do is what he's doing now and thats blaming the stink on everyone else. That seems to be a trend with this bunch of self professed exaulted ones.
Embarrased........just a good way to hide illegal activities like the past MHA stealing, secret deals and mistruths told to the public. They forgot who they work for and we need to remember that next election. Vote ABC...like Danny said once before! Please Danny come back !!!!!
While I appreciate the actions of these demonstrators, they are simply not there in numbers to be effective. They need to regroup and by some means, get at least 10,000 of them to go again. Blunderdale and the cabinet are still sleeping comfortably and 70-80 people are insufficient to wake them. People NEED TO UNDERSTAND that it is THEY who own the parliament and its operations and NOT POLITICIANS!!!!!!! THEY are only the representatives YOU HAVE ELECTED and PAY with your tax dollars.
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I suspect they have alot to hide especially about Muskrat Falls. Just in case you didn't know Joan Burkes boyfriend was appointed chair of the board of directors for Nalcor and Hydro. He sells beer for a living but Dunderdale saw it fit to appoint him chair. This government is commiting political suicide.