I do agree with Robin Short’s recent commentary about our people.
Not that I hate kitchen parties — on the contrary. I love them.
Newfoundlanders are often very talented musicians and I enjoyed the airport party when I watched it. It was fun, and very nice for, well, anybody. But Short was right when he wrote about that “stereotype of the ‘goofy Newfie’ — you know, the sou’wester-wearing, life-of-the-party Newfoundlander who yearns for a good time, but is virtually incompetent at everything else.”
Let me explain.
I went to Harbour Grace in 2008 when Danny Cleary came home with the Stanley Cup, becoming the first Newfoundlander to win the beloved trophy. I was also there in Bonavista in 2011 when Michael Ryder, the second Newfoundlander to win the cup, was there.
There were thousands and thousands of people at both of these celebrations.
Muskrat Falls got sanctioned in 2012. OK, fair point, not many people knew about the bad things about this project in 2008 and 2011. But they do now, it’s coming out, and how many people have organized a great big Muskrat Falls mega-demonstration? Hardly anybody. They’d rather go see the Stanley Cup than fight against a big project that will bankrupt the province.
I’ve been to an anti-Muskrat Falls rally. Hardly anyone was there.
Newfoundlanders do seem to care more about having fun than about serious issues.
To take another example, I went to a rally at Confederation Building in the spring of 2016 that was against the 2016 provincial budget. After the rally, I checked the CBC Newfoundland and Labrador News Facebook page to see what people were saying — and it was a shock to me, to say the least, that they were crucifying not the budget, but the fact that I wore pyjamas to the protest.
To take another example, when the lady firefighter in Spaniard’s Bay got upset and offended because someone showed porn in the firefighting classroom, a lot of people attacked her and defended that ol’ boys sexist club where they could get away with that type of thing. I find it unacceptable!
Also, many people defended the anti-Muslim posters that were put up at the university. People talk about how my people are friendly and open — yeah, maybe if you’re white and a Newfoundlander like them.
I well remember the complainers who complained when CBC hired Ryan Snoddon to be the weatherperson. They didn’t like him because he wasn’t born in Newfoundland. And all you have to do when the CBC Newfoundland news Facebook page posts something about a Muslim or a foreigner is look and see all the xenophobes there.
Newfoundlanders do seem to care more about having fun than about serious issues.
I’d like to see my people continue to go see the sports figures and have the kitchen parties. But stop being xenophobic, get rid of the ol’ boys sexist club and care more about budgets and other important issues like Muskrat Falls.
Jacklyn Adams
Paradise
