This is just a guess, but somebody in the Liberal party’s backroom strategy command centre must have said to his or her colleagues, “Guys, it’s going to take more than just Dwight Ball’s pathetic resignation speech for the people to detest us.”
To which someone, possibly from the Young Liberals, likely declared, “I know. Let’s charge leadership candidates a $25,000 nomination fee.”
Being Liberals, they gave the idea unanimous support.
Never mind that many Newfoundland voters are gradually coming to the painful realization they have been royally skewered by the province’s political class.
After all, it wasn’t the province’s army of minimum-wage earners who conceived and pushed through the Muskrat Falls project.
That would be the province’s elite.
Ah, the elite. Are they real, or are they a political unicorn, a fable, a fantasy?
To find an answer, ask yourself this: “Do I have $25,000 to enter the Liberal leadership race?”
If the answer is yes, congratulations — you are one of the relatively few members of Club Elite who get to run the province, the country and the world.
By the way, be careful not to confuse “elite” with “elitist.”
It has been fashionable these past few years for certain Conservative (in Canada) and Republican (in the U.S.) politicians to denounce as “elitist” anyone who is smart but disagrees with them, because of elitist things such as knowledge, education, facts, expertise and whatnot.
In contrast, the “elite” are usually merely “rich.”
Which brings us back to the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador and its apparent lack of awareness of the message sent to the masses by its $25-K entrance fee.
Sure, it will ensure only serious candidates enter the leadership race. On the flip side of that golden coin, it will also keep out the rabble and riffraff.
The Liberals’ $25,000 nomination fee is proof, and an accidental admission, that only the rich have the right to rule Newfoundland.
Sorry, little boys and little girls and the NDP. Not just anyone can grow up to be premier.
During the Liberal leadership race in 2013, candidate Dwight Ball spent $312,000. Of that amount, $223,000 was his own money (see above: “elite”).
The Liberals’ $25,000 nomination fee is proof, and an accidental admission, that only the rich have the right to rule Newfoundland.
Third-place finisher Cathy Bennett spent $411,000, of which $255,000 was her own money (see above: etc. and so on).
Second-place finisher Paul Antle also blew six figures, although the final tally spent by the experienced election loser (2006, 2015, 2018) couldn’t be found in The Telegram’s archives, even with help from Google.
In the 2013 Liberal leadership race, the nomination fee for candidates was $20,000.
The party machines want your vote, and your help with the phone lines and knocking on doors. They don’t want your candidacy … unless you’ve got 25 grand.
Ches Crosbie said this week the Liberals are putting the premiership up for sale. The Progressive Conservative leader, who could presumably afford such a purchase, is apparently appalled.
Remind us, Ches, of when this was not the case. Perhaps 2003, when a certain D. Williams barely had a couple of million to rub together.
It is doubtful Crosbie had to spend any serious cash in 2018 to defeat Tony Wakeham in the PC leadership race, but if Crosbie ever finds himself installed on the eighth floor, he won’t be referred to as Newfoundland’s first working-class premier.
Speaking of which, NDP Leader Alison Coffin needs to tread very, very carefully, as if she is sneaking into a room to check on a sleeping baby. Any type of coalition with the PCs will likely leave NDP supporters wailing. Where in the country do PCs and NDPers have anything in common, let alone enough to form a coalition? Detestation of the thoroughly ineffectual Ball and his detestable Liberals isn’t enough.
Politics has become — or was it always — a game for the wealthy and entertainment, a tragi-comedy, for the masses.
This time around, it is unlikely many candidates will be eager to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to attain the Liberal leadership. In 2013, the decline and defeat of the Tories was imminent. In 2020, the decline of the Liberals is well on its way and their defeat is also imminent.
Then it will be the Tories’ turn again. Are you not entertained?
Brian Jones is a desk editor at The Telegram. He can be reached at [email protected].
