Fisherman's Road

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,...