Dec. 12th Telegram letter to the editor I wish to make a correction to my Nov. 27 letter to the editor ("An olive branch is still a stick"), and make a further point. In the letter, I wrote that Loyola Sullivan, "Canada's $225,000-a-year Ambassador of Fisheries Conservation is a sell out - interested in toeing the federal bureaucratic line above all else." In fact, Sullivan e-mailed me after the letter was published to say his salary falls between $143,000 and $168,700 a year. My apologies to the sell out. In the most recent news on the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization front ("Jones, Shea meet in Ottawa," Dec. 5), The Telegram reported that provincial Liberal Leader Yvonne Jones met recently in Ottawa with federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea. Jones said she was surprised to learn that the federal government's decision on pending amendments to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization is final. The current debate in the House of Commo...

Nov. 27th Telegram letter to the editor Premier Danny Williams was quoted recently in the national media as saying that if Prime Minister Stephen Harper reaches out, he would accept any kind of olive branch. One such theoretical branch would be the appointment of Loyola Sullivan to the Senate and to the Harper cabinet. Besides being responsible for Newfoundland and Labrador, Sullivan could then broker a détente between the warring political factions, presumably for the greater Conservative good. Only what's good for federal Conservatives isn't necessarily good for Newfoundland and Labrador. Indeed, if Sullivan's Nov. 25 letter to The Telegram ("Focusing on the facts") is an indication, Canada's $225,000-a-year Ambassador of Fisheries Conservation is a sell-out - interested in toeing the federal bureaucratic line above all else. In his letter, Sullivan wrote that the amended Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) convention is heads and shoulders ahea...

A TALE OF TWO FISHERIES John Crosbie once asked, who hears the fishes when they cry? The answer apparently depends on the species of fish, and the political weight of the shores they frequent. The federal Conservative government has heard the sobs of sockeye salmon in British Columbia's Fraser River in recent weeks, calling a judicial inquiry into their vanishing numbers - which was the right thing to do. But it's been 17 years since groundfish stocks collapsed on the Grand Banks, and successive federal governments have been deaf to the cries of cod and flatfish. Indeed, it's been 18 years since Newfoundland's commercial salmon fishery was shut down, and - despite the fact Atlantic salmon numbers are reportedly lower now then they were in 1991 - still no inquiry. Why the double standard? Good reason to review The Fraser River's once-prodigious sockeye salmon runs have undergone a shocking decline, so much so that commercial and recreational fisheries were halted. N...

Making this a better place I applaud Ryan Cleary’s letter in the Oct. 31 Weekend Telegram (“Time to act, not talk”) touting teamwork as the key to forging a future for rural Newfoundland: it was eerily reflective of the premier’s front-page interview. It’s a prime example on how we all could, and should, put partisan politics and prejudices aside to perpetuate the one commonality that binds us — passion for the promise of this place. The power of that unified front is visible with the government’s prioritizing the H1N1 vaccination roll-outs this week, in light of the international crisis for Newfoundland and Labrador with changes proposed to the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) convention, and the national crisis with Quebec and the Lower Churchill quagmire. The people of this place must come first and we personified that this week. Thus, there is hope for the future. Rise to the occasion Having said that, like the tide, we need to rise to the swell of occasion as well,...

Time to act, not talk Section: Letters to the editor I agree with letter writer David Boyd of Twillingate ("Fishy deal," Oct. 28) that the little boats of Newfoundland are being starved out of the fishery. But I disagree that the biggest "mind-boggler" of all is that no one speaks up for the outrage. We don't let up about it. There are as many so-called true Newfoundlanders, in terms of rants and roars, as ever. Check the open lines for proof. Hand lines may be empty, but phone lines are as blocked as ever. And there wasn't much to complain about in recent years. Rural Newfoundland did better than ever, the outports practically glowed (streetlights will do that). But Alberta oil only managed to fan an economic spark that was all but out. When Western work tapered off, the outports again looked to the sea. And, once again, the sea fails to provide for them, as does the latest make-work response. The $9-an-hour brush cutters on the Northern Peninsula will att...

Korea National Oil is proposing a $4.1-billion takeover of Harvest Energy Trust, owners of the Come by Chance oil refinery. That $4.1 billion is a far, far cry from the $1 the Placentia Bay refinery was sold for in 1986. You read that right — $1, or four quarters. Come by Chance opened in 1973 to much fanfare. In fact, the world’s much luxurious ocean liner, the Queen Elizabeth II, steamed up Placentia Bay for the grand opening with some 1,000 guests on board — guests who could not otherwise be accommodated in the outport. Three years later the refinery went into receivership — at the time, the biggest bankruptcy in Canadian history — with cumulative debts in the order of $500 million, including $42 million owing to the province and another $40 million to the feds. Years earlier, questions over financing of the project had driven young Smallwood cabinet ministers John Crosbie and Clyde Wells out of cabinet and the Liberal caucus. Petro-Canada picked up Come by Chance in 1980 for the fi...

Federal minister's record pathetic LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Telegram I have a fundamental problem with the Sept. 26 letter to the editor by federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea ("Fisheries concerns unfounded") in regards to proposed changes to the NAFO convention - she and her department have no credibility. Zero. I would sooner believe foreign fleets use their nets on the Grand Banks to catch butterflies. Shea, who has been minister for less than a year, argued that Canada would not be pressured or coerced to allow NAFO to either manage stocks inside 200 miles or to allow for weaker conservation measures. At the same time, four retired, toplevel DFO bureaucrats with decades of experience in international fisheries negotiations argue just the opposite. Red flags have been raised and Ms. Shea expects us to trust her inexperience, not to mention her department's pathetic track record in management and conservation. Not binding Ms. Shea wrote that the changes...