Premier Danny Williams told The Telegram editorial board he will run again in the next election. - Photo by Keith Gosse/The Telegram

While Danny Williams is proud of his many achievements as premier, not everything about the job appeals to him.

In a frank discussion about his political career - at the halfway point of his second mandate - Williams told The Telegram editorial board this week that parts of the job are frustrating.

"I enjoy what we're accomplishing as a government. I don't enjoy the job," Williams stated bluntly.

"All things being equal, I've had a lot better jobs than this one."

While he said politics is both an honourable and difficult profession, he hates being called a politician because of the word's negative connotation.

But the good must outweigh the bad for Williams, as he reiterated that come 2011, his name will once again be on the ballot.

He still hopes to make the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project a reality before leaving office.

"I'm definitely going to hang around to see if I can get it done," said the premier.

But Williams said he's not going to stick around forever "to beat a dead horse" if a deal cannot be sealed, nor will he sign a bad deal for the sake of getting one done while in office.

Business vs. government

Most of Williams' frustration stems from coming from a business background.

He said in private business, once you have a vision and make a plan, you follow through.

"In government, I know where I want our province to be, I know where I want our people," he said.

But because of the nature of public life, Williams said, he spends about half his time talking to the media, spending time in caucus and cabinet meetings, dealing with the opposition and all the other political things.

Williams told The Telegram there is a need for a strong opposition, but he hates when the other parties are critical for the sake of being critical.

"We're only a half million people here, and we need to work together. And if we can only find a way to work together on the things that bring us forward and then, fine, fight it out in byelections or elections or on issues that are really fundamentally wrong," he said.

But he admitted a good opposition can force the government to make changes.

Both the Liberals and the NDP have taken credit over the last year or so for a number of budget items which addressed concerns they've brought to the floor of the House of Assembly.

Williams said while he expects a certain amount of negative coverage in the news media, he gets annoyed when it only focuses on the negative and never the positive.

Economic and other successes

And there's no question the government has achieved many notable things in the past six years, he said.

"We were in a deep, deep hole," Williams notes of the province's balance sheet in 2003.

He said at one point he thought the province was on the road to bankruptcy.

But instead, Newfoundland and Labrador has boasted a series of budget surpluses which has shaved roughly $4 billion off the province's debt.

And late last year, Newfoundland and Labrador became a "have" province for the first time since joining Canada.

The province has also pumped $800 million - this year alone - into roads, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure. It's also acquired equity stakes in the offshore and paid off the unfunded liability of the teachers' pension plan.

"We've achieved much more fiscally than in my wildest dreams," Williams said.

And then there's a long list of other successes, from the introduction of Sunday hunting and a nationally recognized poverty-reduction strategy to eliminating provincial interest on student loans and tax on insurance.

But Williams said all the positives don't amount "to a row of beans" to people who are dealing with an important issue in their personal lives, community or provincial district.

"It's human nature. There's not too much you can do about that," he said. "When expectations are high, when there's an extra dollar available, everybody figures they're entitled to it."

Williams is proud when he goes back to read his first blue book, detailing the achievements his government hoped to accomplish during its first term.

However, he revealed this week he was close to walking away from political life before he even ran for office.

"I just looked in the mirror one morning and said, 'Look, if I don't do this, will I look back in 10 years time and say I could've made a difference?' And I think we've made a difference," Williams said.

But after losing two ministers recently, Williams acknowledged the job can wear him down.

"It's easy to say they're big boys and girls, they should be tough and everything else. But walk in their shoes for a while and go through it," he said.

"I find the job very frustrating, I've got to tell you. I just feel like it's taking a huge toll on me over time."

dbartlett@thetelegram.com