 |
|
|
PHOTO & SLIDESHOW GALLERIES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Last updated at 8:46 AM on 27/11/09 |
An olive branch is still a stick 
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The Telegram
Premier Danny Williams was quoted recently in the national media as saying that if Prime Minister Stephen Harper reaches out, he would accept any kind of olive branch.
One such theoretical branch would be the appointment of Loyola Sullivan to the Senate and to the Harper cabinet.
Besides being responsible for Newfoundland and Labrador, Sullivan could then broker a détente between the warring political factions, presumably for the greater Conservative good.
Maybe not such a good idea
Only what's good for federal Conservatives isn't necessarily good for Newfoundland and Labrador.
Indeed, if Sullivan's Nov. 25 letter to The Telegram ("Focusing on the facts") is an indication, Canada's $225,000-a-year Ambassador of Fisheries Conservation is a sell-out - interested in toeing the federal bureaucratic line above all else.
Fact or fiction?
In his letter, Sullivan wrote that the amended Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) convention is heads and shoulders ahead of the outdated one which allows any country to object to a quota, unilaterally set its own quota and legally fish it.
He writes that there are provisions in the amended convention to move to a legally binding dispute settlement - the key words being "to move."
Slow motion
When exactly will that happen, Loyola?
When NAFO freezes over?
The premier must be careful that any olive branch he accepts isn't yet another stick to beat us over the head with.
Ryan Cleary
St. John's
|
27/11/09
|
Comments: |
|
This Conversation is Moderated. What is moderation?
|
| What does moderation mean? |
 |
The Telegram is committed to encouraging intelligent discourse among our readers and to creating a forum where diverse views and opinions on a wide range of topics can be aired. The forum you are in now is a result of our continuing efforts to facilitate a dynamic online conversation among our readers.
This is a moderated conversation. Once a reader follows the steps to register and submit his or her comment it goes to a moderator for the website. Once it has been approved, your comment will be displayed on the website. A comment may be edited or deleted for reasons of content or language.
All readers wishing to join a conversation must first sign in and agree to the Terms of Usage, which explain the rules of acceptable content.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Taxpayer ll from NL writes: Ther won't ever be anything good that comes to us from Ottawa. The Ottawa/Quebec coalition runs this country as thier own private fifedom, and anyone who gets in the way will be mowed down.
|
| Posted 27/11/2009 at 10:03 AM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
|
Mike from NL writes: For the love of God, get it a rest man.
As much as I dislike Harper, we would be naïve to think the poor (or non-existent) relationship with Ottawa is new or entirely their fault. If it’s not Harper, it’s Martin. If not Martin, then Chrétien. And so on and so on.
Williams did not do himself or the province any favours with the silly ABC campaign. And now he wants to make nice?
Olive branches can be extended both ways, but if I were Danny, I won’t expect one anytime soon. It will take some time to mend the bridges he has burned. Bridges he now desperately needs.
Some may suggest Williams’ invitation to improve relations is a sign of good faith – an olive branch of his own. But it has to be difficult for the Harper to take any olive branch seriously – especially if he keeps getting stuck in the eye.
|
| Posted 27/11/2009 at 2:36 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
|
WTF from NL writes: Poor Ryan, still hasn't found a quarter to buy himself a clue.
|
| Posted 27/11/2009 at 6:27 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
|
aubrey smith from GFW, Nl writes: It appears to me that most naysayers re the ABC campaign which was fought on a principle of a better and fairer deal for NL re Equalization payments are coming from a post-campaign viewpoint .Where were all those naysayers when the battle was being fought ? Most likely in hiding and waiting to approach the declared winner looking for some freebie handout .How any Newfoundlander can honestly fault Williams's attempt to get a just equalization by subtracting offshore resource income is beyond me .Our province is full of retrospective prophets .
|
| Posted 27/11/2009 at 7:29 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
|
Mike from NL writes: Aubrey,
No one is finding fault with Williams attempt to get equalization payments. Some just didn’t like the way he went about it. Pulling down flags and have hissyfits is diplomacy at its finest? Hardly.
And if didn’t see any of those naysayers during the ABC campaign, you obviously didn’t look hard enough or are just plain blind.
|
| Posted 28/11/2009 at 9:45 AM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment |
| ALERT US ABOUT THIS COMMENT |
|
Please let us know if this reader's comment breaks the rules explained in the Terms of Usage and is obscene, abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, defamatory, profane or racially offensive by selecting the appropriate option to describe the problem.
Do not use this to complain about comments that don't break the rules, for example those comments that you disagree with or contain spelling errors or multiple postings.
|
|
|
NOTE
The management of this site emphasizes that it is in no way liable for persons, physical or legal, who are hosted here. Moreover, the managers of this site may not be held liable for errors and omissions that may slip into the information displayed in these reader comments. Everyone who submits a comment should read, understand and agree to the Terms of Usage for this section.
Recent letters to the editor:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
28
