There can be no other explanation. Actions taken by Premier Paul Davis this week are irrational. They would be rational only if Davis fully intended to insult the electorate, show contempt for the people and continue the PCs’ unblemished record of amazing arrogance.
Anyone who complains about there being no justice in Newfoundland need not resort to hyperbole. It is now literal — there is no Justice Department. The trembling, fearful masses have been given a new Department of Public Safety by Capt. Davis. The principles and concept of justice are apparently too complex for the peasants of Newfoundland to understand.
To make sure the voters received a slap on both cheeks, Davis appointed an unelected lawyer as the new minister of non-justice.
Just in case this act of hubris
didn’t rile up righteous members of the electorate who still cling to hopes of democracy in this era of officious authoritarianism, new cabinet chair-warmer Judy Manning quickly declared she had no intention of running in any of the three upcoming byelections. She would wait until the next general election to seek a seat in the House of Assembly, she said.
Capt. Davis should have read Manning her rights. As a cabinet minister, you don’t have the right to remain silent, and anything you say may be used against you.
The PCs are so eager to be hated and turfed out of office that they can’t even appoint a new cabinet without creating a scandal. What did Davis know, and when did he know it? Did he know Manning would declare she felt no need to obtain a seat in the House of Assembly? If he didn’t, why would he appoint an unelected person to cabinet without first discussing the political necessity of getting elected? If he did, why didn’t he foresee the predictable public backlash against such an obviously detestable appointment?
Answer: he wants to be annihilated in 2015.
Nihilism, at this point, is a viable option for the Tories. Only by utterly destroying themselves can they truly begin anew. Preferably, without Steve Kent.
Some people opined that Kent’s appointment as deputy premier was predictable payback for his support for Davis at September’s leadership convention. Perhaps. That is the conventional way politics works.
But following tradition in this instance only makes sense if Davis knew the appointment would add to the PCs’ unpopularity, and if his real intention was to enhance said unpopularity.
Is Davis secretly working for Liberal Leader Dwight Ball? It is tempting to think so.
Davis and Manning must surely have planned — perhaps even rehearsed — what they would say about her appointment to cabinet.
So it is puzzling why she would quip that the controversy over her appointment is “much ado about nothing.”
A minister of the Crown reveals that, in her opinion, the people’s demand for democratic representation is misguided. The obnoxiousness of it is reminiscent of former premier Kathy Dunderdale’s assertion in January that the power outage was not a crisis, even though thousands of people were cold in the dark.
If Davis’s survival instinct kicks in, he will cancel Manning’s cabinet appointment. It shouldn’t be much more complicated than cancelling a paving contract, which the Tories have experience in.
Former PC premier Tom Rideout aptly described Davis’s actions this week as “political madness.” But the madness aspect of it would require that Davis and the PCs want to stay in office. They obviously don’t.
Brian Jones is a desk editor at
The Telegram. He can be reached at [email protected] and can be found on Facebook.
