ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Results of the 2021 Newfoundland and Labrador election will be available at www.thetelegram.com and www.saltwire.com after noon today. The Telegram’s election team will bring continuing coverage and reaction online Saturday and Sunday, as well as followup stories online and in print on Monday.
The lowlights of Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2021 election are practically infinite. The highlights? Well it’s a hard job to think of any.
After Liberal Premier Andrew Furey dropped the writ Jan. 15, a headwind of anger among much of the electorate began to build. Winter elections, let alone a pandemic one, are unpopular because no one wants to slog around in miserable weather.
But with the province’s dim economic outlook and people expecting to be whacked with austerity measures, many were upset an election would go ahead before they got to see the pending interim report from the premier's economic recovery task force.
Then with a surge in COVID-19 cases, and polling station workers quitting in droves, Elections Newfoundland and Labrador postponed in-person voting in 18 eastern districts, followed by an outright cancellation of the Feb. 13 voting day, as the province shifted into an Alert Level 5 pandemic lockdown.
After that, all hell broke loose when it came to the backflips, blaming and confusion surrounding mail-in balloting and getting kits out to frustrated voters. Deadlines kept getting scrapped because they were unrealistic.
The people’s democratic right to vote, and the lack of opportunity thereof for some, has been the biggest lowlight.
It was feared the counting of the ballots would drag into April, but they will finally be revealed Saturday, with official count results coming Tuesday.
Furey has stuck to his script throughout the 70 days of the extended campaign — that he made the decision to call the election based on the best evidence at the time, when there were low COVID-19 case numbers, and that there had to be an election sometime this year.
He stayed on point Friday.
“One of the frustrating narratives out there is somehow the insinuation that I knew this was going to happen and called it anyway,” Furey said in a telephone interview. “That’s just, frankly, ludicrous. Who would want that? Who would want to put the public at risk? Who would want to put democracy at risk? That’s not why I got involved.”
A Friday Postmedia story on a Maru Public Opinion poll reported that Furey took the largest tumble in approval ratings among Canadian premiers — 23 percentage points in early March, after peaking at a rating of 63 per cent in December 2020.
Furey said he doesn’t comment on polls, because they are just a snapshot in time.
Instead, he said history will reflect there was the right balance of democracy and public health given the incredibly unusual and unpredictable situation the province found itself in.
As for whether he felt he got solid political advice leading to the writ drop, Furey said he was honoured to have a mandate from the Liberals, and from the people of Humber Valley-Gros Morne, but he needed one from the province.
“Everyone has the clairvoyancy of the keyboard in retrospect, but we needed an election,” he said.
What’s been the highlight of the election for Furey?
“To be honest, it is every single day that we were in normal campaign mode (with COVID 19-restrictions) ... meeting the people of the province, understanding issues they face, their businesses face, their families, what their hopes and dreams are for the future. And how we can use the political machine of democracy to help capitalize on the momentum,” he said.
“It was always with an air of positivity about the future of Newfoundland and Labrador and, frankly, that’s what got me running on and off the bus every single day.”
And the lowlight?
When it all came to a halt after COVID-19 cases escalated.
"Certainly, you are running at 100 miles and you hit a wall. ... You feel that personally, and you feel the responsibility for it,” he said.
What is Furey’s biggest personal takeaway from the election?
“The No. 1 lesson I learned is it’s very difficult sometimes to maintain the high road, but it’s always the right road. At the end of this, I have to live in the province, I want to raise my family in the province. I am a young man. I don’t want to be at this forever. I’m very proud of the campaign we ran. I think it's one that was built on integrity, respect for the opposition,” he said.
“I am very content — whatever the results. I will be able to lay my head on the pillow at night and go to whatever jobs are in my future in this province.”
Furey said he agrees the House of Assembly needs to examine what went wrong and what can be learned from it, and tackle electoral reform.
And he committed to rectifying a blunder that saw ballots issued only in English, and not in Indigenous languages or Canada’s other official language, French.
Highs and lows for the NDP
NDP Leader Alison Coffin also wants to fix those problems once the House of Assembly gets back to work.
The highlight of the campaign for her was the leadership debate, where her performance was widely lauded.
She said Friday she felt it highlighted her talents and those of her team.
The lowlight?
“The packing up of the campaign office when everything was suspended. It was so anticlimactic,” Coffin said. ”It was like the wind being taken out of you.”
When things started going sideways with the election and the escalating COVID-19 cases, it was surreal, she said.
But what has emerged, she said, is a shining example of how not to run an election — the NDP has been collecting stories from voters snubbed in some way by the process.
“Whatever the results are, we need to modernize the Elections Act,” Coffin said.
A formal investigation is needed, she said, and it shouldn't get lost in the other major issues on the province’s plate.
As for her political future, Coffin said she feels confident in the job she has done leading the party through the election, given the circumstances.
She said she is committed to the NDP, and was lifted up by voters telling her that she is doing the right thing.
“No matter what happens, that’s the right stuff,” Coffin said, adding she’s proud of the candidates, the campaign teams, the supporters and the volunteers.
PCs’ take
Progressive Conservative Leader Ches Crosbie issued a statement Friday instead of doing an interview.
"The 2021 election campaign will live in infamy in the history of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was never necessary to call an election in the middle of a pandemic, in the dead of winter. Yet, Andrew Furey believed his political ambition was more important than Newfoundlanders and Labradorians' safety and the safe rollout of the election campaign,” Crosbie stated.
Since February's COVID-19 outbreak, Crosbie said, the PCs have heard countless examples of voters unable to obtain a ballot — something he contends was largely due to a lack of preparation in the legislation by Furey and in the Elections NL office.
“Despite all that, the campaign has continued and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador have persisted in their efforts to take part in our democracy. Our candidates, staff and volunteers have worked tirelessly for countless hours to connect with voters and show there is an alternative to handing the Liberals a majority they do not deserve,” Crosbie said.
“The PC party message of jobs and growth has resonated with the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. They believe we can grow our way out of this crisis, not cut services affecting seniors, rural populations and our health-care system."
Alliance pledges to keep going
Newfoundland and Labrador Alliance Leader Graydon Pelley said it’s hard to find a highlight in the election process, but his party is dedicated to pursuing democratic reform.
The lowlight?
“Of course, right from the beginning we felt it was not the proper timing for the election,” he said.
“So many things went wrong with this whole process. Personally, I can’t see how anybody can consider this to be a real legitimate election.”
As for the party’s future?
There will be more of a presence, Pelley said, starting with the day after the final results.
“We knew when we started the NL Alliance we were building from the bottom up,” he said.
Political scientist, columnist share thoughts
Memorial University political scientist Russell Williams remains resolute in his opinion the election was unnecessary.
“The biggest theme was having the election itself,” he said.
Overshadowing the entire campaign was that giant iceberg of economic challenges confronting the province, Williams said.
While the Liberals proceeded with an election call before they would have to answer questions about the economic plan, it was hard for the opposition parties to roll out comprehensive platforms, as they don’t have access to the same information as the government, he said.
The PCs campaigned on the pledge they would expand the economy by creating jobs, but the electorate remained skeptical there would be any room for the government to spend, he said.
He said the NDP had a number of platforms designed to help improve people’s situations, but they weren’t fully costed.
As for the electorate, they are disenfranchised, Williams said, noting the ballots cast could leave tens of thousands without a democratic say.
Williams also said there needs to be an investigation into what went wrong and he isn’t convinced there won’t be another election in the fall, which is when it should have been held in the first place.
Telegram columnist Bob Wakeham has been involved in journalism for almost 50 years, and says this election is undoubtedly the most bizarre he has observed.
“I despise the word 'Newfie,’” Wakeham said. “But I’ll use it here because the 2021 election deserves to be called a Newfie joke. It’s not funny, though, is it? What has gone on is shockingly shameful. The entire voting process has been inequitable and unfair, and has made a mockery of the democratic system. And the fault lies at the feet of Andrew Furey."
Wakeham said Furey’s justification for calling the election is lame.
“He basically says the COVID numbers were such that it was the healthiest time for the election to take place. Give me a break. The only numbers that were important to him were the poll numbers which showed he was in a great position to win,” he said.
Wakeham said Furey should have waited until summer when more people were vaccinated, he put Chief Electoral Officer Bruce Chaulk in an awful position and there has been "one screw-up after another.”
The results could be tainted with court challenges, if not another election, he said.
“But man, this is one for the books. Political science professors will be engaging their students to analyze this s--- forever and a day,” Wakeham said.
