See the smile — that's what great hockey's about. We still miss the NHL, but there's much more to hockey than the pros.

Over the next few days I'll post my picks for Top NL Quotes of 2012.   "Where is the accountability? How come nobody has been reprimanded in this situation? How come nobody (Mr. Gardem, Mr. MacKay, Mr. Harper) has owned up to the huge mistakes that they have made. You have all failed Burton." — Charlotte Winters-Fost, grandmother of Burton Winters, in a letter to the media.  Go here to read the full text of the letter, part of a 'campaign' for improved search and rescue services in northern Labrador. Winters-Fost said the Defence Department's search-and-rescue response was "criminal."

NDP MP’S CALL ON ST. JOHN’S HARBOUR AUTHORITY TO CONSIDER PUBLIC ACCESS A PRIORITY OTTAWA – Both St. John’s area New Democrat Members of Parliament, Jack Harris (St. John’s East) and Ryan Cleary (St. John’s South – Mount Pearl) are asking the St. John’s Port Authority to reconsider the plan to block off access to the St. John’s Waterfront as part of new security arrangements. They believe that any security fence that permanently blocks access to the public is unnecessary and restrictive of public rights. “The new permanent security fence, as planned, appears to be over-kill when it comes to actual security requirements,” said Harris. “We all agree that there are times when access might be denied because of a particular use of a part of the waterfront on a particular day or days, but the default position should be public access.” “The Port Authority ought to engage the public in this process,” said Cleary. “When public access is threatened in this way, the public has a righ...

I posed the above question today (Dec. 5th) in the House of Commons.

Conservative axe continues to fall on Atlantic Canada NOVEMBER 29, 2012 St. John`s – Newfoundland and Labrador’s two federal NDP MPs are outraged at the disproportionate federal job cuts in Atlantic Canada, and are calling on the Harper Conservatives to immediately halt their attack on the East Coast. “This report eliminates any doubt that the Harper Conservatives have it out for Atlantic Canada,” says Cleary (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl), chair of the Atlantic caucus and critic for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. “The East Coast job cuts – on top of the recent 25 per cent slash to ACOA grants - are yet another example of how the Harper government is abandoning Atlantic Canadians.” "It's disturbing to see the same pattern with the Harper Conservatives that we saw with the Liberal cut-backs in the 90's and Newfoundland and Labrador receiving disproportionate cuts. When you combine this with the attack on EI that hurts seasonal workers and seasonal...

The city was on wheels this afternoon with the Downtown St. John’s Christmas Parade — the largest annual event in NL and the biggest parade east of Montreal. From his traditional fly over St. John's dangling by an arm from a helicopter, to his sleigh ride down Duckworth Street, Santa sure knows how to make a downtown entrance.

The above advertisement was published in the late 1940s in the St. John's-based, pro-Confederation newspaper - the Confederate . And no better way to tee up Greg Malone's new book, Don't tell the Newfoundlanders : The True Story of Newfoundland's Confederation with Canada. I look forward to the read. I have no doubt Newfoundland was maneureved into Confederation - the evidence is overwhelming. But then we Newfoundlanders were a highly maneurerable bunch back then, as evidenced by the above ad. *** No doubt Confederation with Canada  was seen as llucrative. Ted Russell was a cabinet minister in the very first provincial government after Canada glued itself to us. According to the 2005 book, Uncle Mose, The Life of Ted Russell , by Elizabeth Miller, during its first year in office, the Joey administration did something Russell would later refer to as “very dishonest,” something for which Ottawa still hasn’t “forgiven us,” and from which “the peopl...

NDP MP Ryan Cleary (St. John's South-Mount Pearl) stands with Erin McCarthy, valedictorian of the graduating class of St. Kevin's High School in the Goulds Wednesday (Nov. 14th), following the distribution of awards and diplomas . NL comedian Rick Mercer had some interesting advice for Memorial University graduates during a convocation address in 2005 , when he was awarded an honourary Doctor of Letters. His advice came down to one word - moisturize.  "If you take anything with you today, take that advice," Mercer said. "You will thank me down the road. Remember, your skin is an organ." And so I related that story to St. Kevin's graduates Wednesday evening in the Goulds, along with my own advice about never forgetting where you come from, or the fact we're all ambassadors for Newfoundland and Labrador. I also told the more than 100 fine young graduates that no matter where they travel in this world, there is no better place than Newfound...

The following four questions were posed today (Nov. 6th) in the House of Commons to Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Peter Penashue, NL's representative in the federal cabinet. Penashue, who rarely takes to his feet in the Commons, was initially caught off guard with the direct questioning. He answered only one of the four questions, the final one being about his controversial election spending.

I posed the following question today (Nov. 2nd) in the House of Commons regarding the ongoing F-35 fighter jet controversy. 

I posed the following question today (Oct. 31st) in the House of Commons.  Mr. Speaker, funding for East Coast businesses from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency declined by a whopping 25 per last year alone — 25 per cent .  Businesses in Atlantic Canada haven't suddenly lost their need for support, the Conservatives have lost their willingness to support Atlantic Canada.  Except, of course, when it comes to the patronage trough. Mr. Speaker, why are the Conservatives leaving the east coast behind?  Why is this government not committed to ACOA? Bernard Valcourt (Associate Minister of National Defence and Minister of State, ACOA:  Mr. Speaker, the honourable member is wrong and fear-mongering.  If he wants to compare apples to apples and look at investment for economic development, he should take into account stimulus measures that were meant to deal with the recession and the unprecedented level of federal investmen...

I had only a single thought just before striking a moose on the western edge of Terra Nova National Park Sunday evening — if it goes through the windshield, I’m dead.  I didn’t see the moose until it was immediately in front of me, meters away.  It was as if my brain took a snapshot of the second before impact: I took in with absolute clarity how the moose didn’t have antlers; how the animal was almost as dark as the highway itself; and how it had a huge belly. “Moose must be eating well these days,” I thought.  I was driving between 75 and 80 kilometers an hour in mist and heavy fog and I didn’t see the moose until it was practically in my face.  The highway was clear.  Then there was a moose.  There was no time to swerve, barely time to hit the break. The Jeep struck the moose broadside and the animal tumbled over the hood before summersalting over the windshield. There was an Echo traveling behind me and the occupants — a mother, fa...



OTTAWA – MP Ryan Cleary (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl) is calling on the Canada- Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) and its new chair, Ed Drover, to follow through on a recommendation for a separate independent safety regulator for the offshore. Justice Robert Wells has described the need for an independent safety regulator as the most important recommendation from his inquiry into the March 2009 crash of Cougar Helicopters Flight 491 that killed 17 people. Justice Wells reiterated that stand this week in media interviews. “It’s been over three years since the crash of Cougar 491 and we’re still waiting for the federal Conservatives and the C-NLOPB to act on this recommendation — shameful,” says Cleary. “Max Ruelokke has said there’s no need for an independent safety regulator, and for that reason I’m glad he’s the outgoing chair. Let’s hope Ed Drover sees things differently.” Cleary says the C-NLOPB is in a conflict of interest. The board is respo...

  As critic for Post-Secondary Education, I posed the following question today (Oct. 25 th ) in the House of Commons.  Mr. Speaker,  Collectively, Canada's students are on the hook to the federal government for more than $15 billion of debt. A record high.  That does not include private debt, such as bank loans and credit cards. With that kind of debt load, how will this generation be able to contribute to the economy? The Canadian Federation of Students has a plan to cut student debt in half by 2015. Will the Conservatives work with us, the New Democrats, students, and their families to reduce student debt? Diane Finley (Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development):  Mr. Speaker,  In the process of job creation, we actually ensure that we have people with the skills and talents to fill those jobs.  That is why our government has been proud to streamline and improve Canada's student loan program....

 Trying on a pair of seal-skin boots at Natural Boutique, Water Street, St. John's, NL. “From a science perspective, science is really reaching the limits of what it can confidently and credibly predict would result from a cull of grey seals. Ultimately, the decision whether or not to do it … would not be a science one but will have to be based on something else.” — Dr. Jeffrey Hutchings, Dalhousie University, as quoted in a Senate report released this week that recommends a cull of grey seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.  “The Committee believes that scientific uncertainty should not be stopping DFO from taking action.” —  A direct quote from the Senate report, The Sustainable Management of Grey Seal Populations: A Path Toward the Recovery of Cod and other Groundfish Stocks .  ••• The Fabian Manning Senate report on grey seals recommends that Canada should pay hunters to kill 70,000 grey seals in the Gulf of St. Lawrence as a means to help ...

“It’s officially gone tinfoil in Petty Harbour.” — A tongue-in-cheek Alan Doyle of his solo album, Boy on Bridge . ••• Doyle performed this week at Hope Live , an annual gala event held in Ottawa to raise money for Fertile Future, a national charitable foundation that provides fertility preservation for cancer patients. The event — one of the most popular of the year in the nation’s capital, attended by dozens of MPs and cabinet ministers — has a distinct NL flavour, featuring the talents of Rick Mercer and Seamus O’Regan. Heidi Bonnell, the event chair and one-time right hand to former Premier Brian Tobin, also hails from NL. Tobin, in fact, was in the audience, sitting alongside former Liberal PM Jean Chretien. At one point, Mercer joked that he was planning to run for leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, which brought Tobin and Chretien to their feet in apparent support. Singing alongside Jann Arden and Dan Mangan, Doyle, the face...

I asked the following question today (Oct. 17 th , 2012) in the House of Commons Mr. Speaker, The Conservatives continue to cut ACOA while keeping a political appointee on salary. The Public Service Commission ruled against Kevin MacAdam's appointment, the appointment of the Minister of National Defence's buddy. Now the Conservatives' only defence is to quote from court documents filed by Mr. MacAdam himself. If the Conservatives are so confident that the Public Service Commission report backs up their claims, why do they not release the report in full? Gerald Keddy (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and for the Atlantic Gateway, CPC): Mr. Speaker, The answer is pretty simple. This is not a political issue. The public court records— Some hon. members: Oh, oh! The Speaker: Order, please. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade...

  I posed the following questions today (Oct. 16 th ) in the House of Commons. Mr. Speaker, The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency has felt the cut of the Conservative knife . Over 100 jobs, eliminated; millions in grants, slashed; regional development agencies, starved. But Conservative patronage appointee Kevin MacAdam still has his job , even while he spent years doing French, collecting a salary and living expenses from Canadian taxpayers. The Public Service Commission ruled that this pork patronage broke the rules, so why is the former aid to the minister of National Defence still drawing a salary and living expenses from Canadian taxpayers? Gerald Keddy (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and for the Atlantic Gateway): Mr. Speaker, I answered this question yesterday. The answer is the same today. This is not a political issue, but if the member wants to che...

   I delivered the following one-minute statement today (Oct. 16th) in the House of Commons.  Mr. Speaker,  There’s a debate taking place in Newfoundland and Labrador over whether to resume helicopter night flights to offshore oil platforms on the Grand Banks.  The Wells Inquiry into the March, 2009 crash of Cougar Flight 491 — which killed 17 workers — recommended that night flights be suspended until all risks are mitigated to an “ACCEPTABLE LEVEL.” The offshore oil companies have just delivered a report that recommended a resumption of night flights.  But that report says there’s still a DEFINITE higher risk at night than during the day.  Workers on offshore oil platforms say that risk is TOO high.  Their families say that risk is TOO high.  The MOST IMPORTANT recommendation of the Wells Inquiry was for an independent safety regulator for the offshore oil industry. An independent safety regulator — NOT the o...

Outside Fort McMurray Monday (Oct. 8th) in front of some outdated oil sands machinery with Steve Drover, vice-president of CEP Local 707, representing unionized workers with Suncor.  There are no hard-and-fast statistics, but word on the street here is that up to half of Fort McMurray’s 105,000 residents are made up of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Or Newfies for short.  I’m no fan of Newfie, but here on the ground in Fort Mac it’s what Newfoundlanders call themselves.  So, as a Member of Parliament passing through, I don’t argue or disrespect.  There are an incredible number of pickup trucks everywhere — four-wheel drive rigs covered in thick dust.  The traffic on the highway to the oil sands just out of town is almost bumper-to-bumper at 6 a.m.  The average salary in the patch is $100,000 a year.  Where at home there’s the hint of salt in the air, in Fort Mac there’s a hint of oil, although it’s much stronger by the oil sands,...

I posed the following question Friday (Oct. 5th) in the House of Commons. Later the same day, the Harper government quietly relented  in the face of bruising criticism that changes it recently made to Employment Insurance were punishing those who could least afford it. ••• Mr. Speaker, a rising unemployment rate and a higher deficit are not something to cheer about. I would like to relate a Tim Hortons moment gone bad involving a man who helps keeps minor hockey alive in my riding.  Robert is age 63 and he has worked at a hockey rink for over 35 years.  He has collected Canada pension since he turned 60 and collects EI for the months the ice is off the rink.  Come January, Robert's Canada pension will be clawed back 50¢ on the dollar from his EI cheque. Why is the government so set on punishing seniors? Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development:  Mr. Speaker, the fact is we have done more ...