LETTER: Liberal leadership rules symbolic of everything wrong with Newfoundland and Labrador's political system

For the last number of months, our provincial government has been plagued by scandals of their own making, whether it be huge tax breaks to big corporations, concerns regarding numbered companies, awarding of high paying government jobs without competition, or the waiving of conflict of interest rules to facilitate ridiculous payouts to companies operated by former senior government officials.

While Premier Dwight Ball claims that his decision to step down was due to his desire to “spend more time with family” the reality is that many of his colleagues have been unhappy for a long time and so you have to believe that he finally saw the writing on the caucus room wall.

Whatever the reason or reasons for his sudden decision to step away from public life, the bottom line is that it has resulted in a party leadership race and ultimately another provincial general election that the majority of citizens don’t necessarily want.

That of course brings me to the prime purpose for this opinion piece, that being the rules that were recently announced for the upcoming Liberal leadership race.

And before someone reads this and says, “it’s up to the Liberal party as to what rules they put in place to choose their leader,” we must remember that in this particular circumstance, we aren’t just selecting a Liberal leader, we are selecting the next premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.

There is a huge difference.

So what about those rules? Well, there are a few concerns that jump right off the page.

First of all, it will cost a prospective candidate $25,000 just to get his or her name on the ballot.

Of course that is only a drop in the bucket as recent history has shown that the actual price tag to compete is somewhere in the $300,000 to $400,000 price range as under the rules, there is no cap on the amount of money that can be spent.

And while that may sound ridiculous to many, the real fly in the ointment comes with the fact that “under the rules” there is no requirement to report where any of that money came from.

Now while my colleague, Ches Crosbie, may have come across a little bit over the top for some when he referred to cash payments secretly arriving to Liberal candidates in brief cases and paper bags, the point that he was making was valid nonetheless, and it should be a concern for us all.

And while there is nothing new about this process, by continuing down the road of ridiculous campaign spending limits, we continue to restrict the potential leadership pool to the independently wealthy, those with “connections” and/or individuals who will find themselves beholding to those with deep pockets.

With that as the backdrop for those who ascend to the very top of our political hierarchy, is it any wonder that we continue to see a lack of appetite by successive governments of all stripes to eliminate “blind trusts” and to amend legislation regarding numbered companies benefiting from the public purse.

Is it any wonder they refuse to overhaul conflict of interest legislation, to amend the Access to Information Act to include Nalcor in order for the public to be more well informed of the dealings of embedded contractors, and to implement legislation to require full public disclosure around corporations receiving loans, grants, tax breaks and other “investments” from government.

I could go on, but I think you get the point.

I will conclude my little rant by stating this. There is much mistrust in the public as it relates to government and the real and/or perceived influence that big corporations and/or the elite within our province hold.

This upcoming leadership race only adds to that skepticism and unless the “rules” are changed, nothing else will.

Paul Lane, Independent MHA,
District of Mount Pearl-Southlands