EDITORIAL: Cheers & Jeers June 17

Jeers: to restating things. Former Nalcor CEO Ed Martin was asked repeatedly at the Muskrat Falls inquiry if he was lying when he told reporters that he hadn’t been fired from his job at the helm of the energy firm. In his answers, he refused to say that reporters recorded his comments inaccurately and says he simply can’t remember what he said that day. Perhaps there’s recorded audio and video out there that can help remind Mr. Martin exactly what was said.

Cheers: to doing scratch-and-patch the right way. Pavement repairs swept quickly down Austin Street near The Telegram building last week. Heavy equipment stripped and cleaned sections of pavement on Wednesday, and paving crews had all the patches put in place by early Friday. No weeks and weeks of wheel-jarring potholes to contend with. Now here’s the question: why is that the exception, rather than the rule? After all, since the general public is the end-use customer of road work — shouldn’t the customer’s needs always come first?

Jeers: to the gang all being there. So, how many politicians does it take to open a bridge? The answer came in this new release on Friday: “The Honourable Gerry Byrne, Minister of Fisheries and Land Resources, will join Gudie Hutchings, MP for the Long Range Mountains, and Jim Parsons, Mayor of Corner Brook, for the grand opening of the Corner Brook Main Street Bridge Replacement.” Huzzah!

Jeers: to pomp and circumstance. Did you know that the House of Assembly had a Select Committee Appointed to Draft an Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne? And here’s the sum total of three MHAs’ work on the committee: “May it please your Honour: We, the Commons of Newfoundland and Labrador, in Legislative Session assembled, beg to thank Your Honour for the Gracious Speech which Your Honour has addressed to this House.” Last year’s committee, made up of three different MHAs, came up with exactly the same response. 2017? The same. It’s always the same. An annual tip of the hat for whoever’s in the big chair to read the words written by people in the premier’s office.

Cheers: to prognostication. Cost to put in flood control measures along the Rennies River/Leary’s Brook watershed to deal with flooding that, according to a report prepared for the city “has resulted in major public and private property damage” and will almost certainly cause the same sort of damage in the future? Somewhere around $5 million, according to the report, prepared for the city in 2014. Cost to pave walking trails (including along Rennies River) to make shared-use trails as part of the St. John’s bicycling master plan, which was formally accepted by council last week? Also, somewhere around $5 million. So, here’s the question: which one should come first?