On Aug. 19, 2020, Andrew Furey was formally sworn in as premier, along with his provincial cabinet. He inherited a fiscal mess from his predecessor.
In March 2020, then Premier Dwight Ball wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ask for help:
“I must bring to your attention the immediate and urgent financial crisis that Newfoundland and Labrador is facing. To put it bluntly, our recent attempts to finalize our borrowing program, both short term and long term, have been unsuccessful.
“We have no other recourse to raise the necessary funds to maintain the operations of government, including our health-care system, especially at this critical time.”
Newfoundland and Labrador had no money. It was up to the Bank of Canada to step in to allow the province to borrow $2 billion to keep things afloat.
Not only did Trimper change his mind, he will run as an independent in the next general election.
To deal with this financial disaster, Furey creates an economic recovery team chaired by Dame Moya Greene. This Premier’s Economic Recovery Team (PERT) will provide an interim report to government by Feb. 28, 2021, with a final report due by April 30, 2021.
PERT’s mandate is to develop a plan of action to address immediate fiscal challenges and “plot a new course forward.”
It appears Furey also inherited some of the disorder that plagued the Ball government: the Sherry Gambin-Walsh situation and now the Perry Trimper situation (Round 2).
It appears — if you read between the lines — that Furey insisted Trimper quit politics. It also appeared Trimper listened.
Then comes the monkey wrench. Not only did Trimper change his mind, he will run as an independent in the next general election.
This confounds Furey’s problems.
Provincial budgets are usually presented in March or April.
Furey has a lot on his plate. As premier, he inherited a Liberal caucus that was marred by scandal, inherited a province that was/is insolvent, he appointed an economic recovery team with an interim report expected in months, more than likely before the spring budget.
To add insult to injury, his minority has been reduced by one with Trimper crossing the floor, and Greene’s interim report will likely not be favourable material for an election budget.
Furey has two choices: one, call an election before Greene’s interim report is complete; or two, blame everything on Dwight Ball because it was his government that added to our net debt in the past six years.
Furey could have a short political career if he doesn’t want to be leader of the official opposition. But at least then Ches Crosbie wouldn’t have to stay up all night worrying about Furey running into a potential conflict of interest in trying to maintain his medical credentials.
Jerome Terry
Mount Pearl
