An olive branch is still a stick

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wrote that the amended Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) convention is heads and shoulders ahead of the outdated one which allows any country to object to a quota, unilaterally set its own quota and legally fish it.

He writes that there are provisions in the amended convention to move to a legally binding dispute settlement - the key words being "to move."

When exactly will that happen, Loyola?

When NAFO freezes over?

The premier must be careful that any olive branch he accepts isn't yet another stick to beat us over the head with.

Ryan Cleary
St. John's

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