Recently tagged Danny Williams

Every year, Ketchum Public Relations releases a list of people who got their message across well … and those who fell flat on their face.

Danny Williams made this year’s list, and then some. New Toronto mayor Rob Ford got some applause for a clear message, and a knock for famously doing an interview while coaching a school football practice.

You can read the full release here. We thought you might like to see the relevant part about Williams:

Lesson #10: Authenticity trumps just about everything

We hereby welcome Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams into the Ketchum Communicators Hall of Fame. Mr. Williams was already on our best list this year for his unapologetic response to criticism of his trip to the U.S. for heart surgery. He knew it would be controversial, but he concluded his personal health trumped any public fallout over the controversial decision. “This was my heart, my choice and my health,” said Mr. Williams. “I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics.”

But when he announced his retirement from politics, he again demonstrated why he has been so successful at forging a bond with “the extraordinary people of this unique and this proud and this bloody awesome province.”

In spite of the fact he was Oxford educated, a Rhodes Scholar, a lawyer, and has great personal wealth from the sale of a communications firm, he is the quintessential man of the people because he speaks candidly and with great passion. He is credible because he is authentic. Welcome to the Hall.

Danny Williams has never been quiet throughout his political career, and many of his most fervent admirers - indeed, many of the people in Newfoundland and Labrador, period - quite liked him that way. As his finishes his seven-year term, we canvassed the audience and ourselves for some of the moments that stand out above others.

This is not a complete list (it doesn’t include, for instance, his early byelection wins, the 2003 change in government and various speeches he’s given about various foes), but it covers the emotional gamut. Thanks to all who made suggestions.

‘We got it’

Ranking on top is a suggestion from Williams himself. When he came to the CBC production centre in St. John’s for an interview with The Current on the morning after his retirement announcement last week, I asked Williams which moment he would pick as the most significant. After a brief pause, he said, “I gotta go with the airport.” Then, he imitated the familiar sound of the “We got it!” refrain that’s been played endlessly since.

It was Jan. 29, 2005, the day after Williams brokered a Friday-night deal in Ottawa that revamped the Atlantic Accord, and brought at least $2 billion to the provincial government. Williams arrived to a triumphant round of cheers from supporters, pumped his fist into the air and yelled, “We got it! We got it!”

As Williams told me, that was the key turning point in his government.

‘Steve’ and ABC

Danny Williams had many opponents during his two terms, but few brought such a visceral response as Prime Minster Stephen Harper. It’s no secret that Williams and Harper have never been close, but things started boiling over in October 2006, when Harper refused to commit to honouring the terms of the Atlantic Accord. Even though the two appeared at a Tory convention together in Gander, as seen in the picture above, Williams just hours later lashed out at Harper, and promised a “goose egg” in the next federal election if things didn’t change. They didn’t, and in April 2007, Williams started calling Harper “Steve,” as a sign of disrespect for a politician he said he couldn’t be trusted. Williams, though a Progressive Conservative himself, eventually launched an Anybody But Conservative campaign, or ABC, that resulted in the Conservatives being shut out of Newfoundland and Labrador ridings in the October 2008 election.

‘Until the cows come home’

It was one of the nastiest labour battles in recent provincial history, and it shut down the provincial government. About 20,000 members of NAPE and CUPE went on strike in April 2004 , and stayed there for 27 days, until they were legislated back to work by the house of assembly. The “cows come home” reference came from a warning Williams told union leaders, advising them and their members to steer clear of his family members. (His son had been confronted on George Street.) If they did it again, Williams said, they would be “out until the cows come home.”

Confronting a Beatle

The Humane Society of the United States reaped a PR coup when pop superstar Paul McCartney and his then-wife Heather Mills visited Canada in March 2006 to protest the seal hunt. When Canadian government officials were not available to go up against the McCartneys on CNN’s Larry King Live, Williams stepped in. A key moment: McCartney, who was in a studio in Prince Edward Island, revealing that he thought he was in Newfoundland.

The flags come down

Before Danny Williams got a new deal on the Atlantic Accord, he waged a very visible campaign against then prime minister Paul Martin. The most significant moment came on Dec. 23, 2004, when he ordered the Canadian flag to be removed from all government buildings. The move astonished federal politicians and angered numerous columnists and pundits, but won Williams a new national audience as a spunky fighter. There’s also no doubt that it got Martin’s full attention.

Danny vs Big Oil

While Williams was a successful businessman in his own right, he wasn’t afraid to challenge the multinational companies wanting to develop the Hebron property - or, to use the phrase he deployed in that campaign, Big Oil. The campaign was risky, and earned Williams the nickname “Danny Chavez” from commentators who were offended by what they saw as anti-capitalist rhetoric. Williams went on the offensive against Chevron and its partners until he got what he wanted: an equity stake in the project, and a better return for the provincial treasury. When the time came to sign the Hebron deal, as seen in the picture above, Williams dropped the Big Oil attacks and resumed much warmer relations with oil companies.

Hebron apology

Hebron is not just the name of the fourth oil field east of Newfoundland, but the name of an Inuit community in northern Labrador that was resettled decades ago. In January 2005, when Williams took part in a celebration of the transition to Inuit self-government in Labrador, he made an apology that sparked a deeply emotional response among some of those who heard it. “History has not always been kind to our aboriginal peoples, and today with the signing of this agreement we have an opportunity to right that wrong,” he said.

Landslide in 2007

Winning the 2003 election brought about a change in government, but the 2007 result was more dramatic: a landslide that left the Tory caucus holding all but four of the 48 seats in the house of assembly. The result gave Williams a commanding mandate, but problems, as well, including the difficulty of managing expectations, multiple backbenchers with competing demands, and a tiny Opposition that had a hard time challenging government policy.

‘My heart, my choice’

In February 2010, Williams sparked an international debate about health care, medicare and politics, when he flew to Florida for a less-invasive type of heart surgery that his medical team recommended he get there. Williams was labelled a hypocrite and as being against medicare, and some U.S. politicians and pundits pounced on the story, citing it as proof that the Canadian style of health care was inferior. Recovering a few days later, Williams was unapologetic: “This was my heart, my choice and my health.”

Lower Churchill deal

It wasn’t the deal that Williams had always wanted, but it was, evidently, good enough. Just last month, Williams and Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter signed a term sheet that will develop a 824-megawatt hydroelectric power plant at Muskrat Falls on Labrador’s Churchill River. The power will be piped first to Newfoundland, with much of it then to be moved by underwater cables to Nova Scotia. Left undeveloped: the much larger Gull Island component of a power plan that has been on blueprints for decades. The Muskrat Falls development still has several hurdles to clear before power comes onstream in six years, but Williams was confident in calling it his legacy project.

And … a bonus item

Danny Williams never shied from a fight, and he certainly left countless opponents feeling like they had been beaten up. However, he also understood his own scrappy image and liked to make fun of it. One of our favourite moments aired just this week, in his farewell appearance with Mark Critch and the crew on 22 Minutes:

With Danny Williams set to exit the political stage in a week, what moments in his colourful political career will you remember most?

We’re compiling a list of the key points in the seven years Williams served as premier, and we’d like your help in putting it together.

Is there a moment that stands above others for you? Perhaps it’s his “We got it!” celebration at St. John’s International Airport after the Atlantic Accord negotiations … or his controversial decision to haul down the Canadian flags at government buildings beforehand. Perhaps it’s the “until the cows come home” confrontation with NAPE, or his emotional apology to the former Inuit community of Hebron, or the negotiation of another Hebron, the oil field.

Perhaps it’s the Lower Churchill agreement that preceded this week’s startling decision.

Or, it could be any other moment that you think should go on the list.

Leave a comment, or send a tweet on @cbcnl, or write to us.

We’ll sort through things and compile a feature for next week. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: CBC is having problems with our commenting system, across the board. We’ll renew our call in the days to come, and we appreciate your patience.

The National Post has an interview today with Danny Williams - not about any breaking news, but as part of a series of interviews with the Canadian premiers.

Some things we already knew (the premier describes himself as fiscally conservative, he finds the current federal Conservatives distasteful, he plans to fight one more election before he retires), but there are a few things that shed a bit more light on how he ticks.

For instance, the premier is a fan of dropping in on Canadian Tire, solo:

The nice thing about being premier of this province is I can go anywhere anytime without security and just do my thing. Yesterday, for example, I went to Canadian Tire and filled my basket with Turtle Waxes and plungers and things that I needed. I’m an old Canadian Tire shopper. That’s my mecca. If you had to see me coming out of there, I had a basket with all kinds of things. That’s the beauty of being premier of this province. I can go anywhere, and no hassles.