A number of items on this weekend's podcast from CBC Newfoundland & Labrador are about the campaign: a look at what's on the minds of voters on the Northern Peninsula, a report on some of the Liberal districts that the Tories are gunning for, and a comment on the "baby bonus" proposal from the Tories.
Here's the link to the Newfoundland & Labrador This Week podcast page. It's released every Saturday, and usually runs about a half hour.
- John Gushue
Here's the list of candidates in all 48 districts, as released last evening from the electoral office:
1. Baie Verte - Springdale
Bungay, Glendon Liberal
Howse, Tim NDP
Rideout, Tom PC
2. Bay of Islands
Joyce, Eddie Liberal
Loder, Terry PC
Murphy, Charles NDP
3. Bellevue
Peach, Calvin PC
Pike, Denise Liberal
Slade, Ian NDP
4. Bonavista North
Carter, Winston Liberal
Harding, Harry PC
Parsons, Howard E. NDP
5. Bonavista South
Fitzgerald, Roger PC
Hobbs, Clayton Liberal
6. Burgeo - La Poile
Hiscock, June NDP
Parsons, Kelvin Liberal
Short, Colin M. PC
7. Burin - Placentia West
Brake, George Liberal
Jackman Clyde PC
Mitchell, Julie PC
8. Cape St. Francis
Byrne, Jack PC
Connors, Kathleen NDP
Tapper, Bill Liberal
9. Carbonear - Harbour Grace
Baldwin, Paul Liberal
Kennedy, Jerome PC
10. Cartwright - L'Anse au Clair
Jones, Yvonne Liberal
Normore, Dennis PC
11. Conception Bay East - Bell Island
Goodyear, Linda Liberal
Whalen, Dianne PC
Will, Gavin NDP
12. Conception Bay South
French, Terry PC
Tougui, Touria NDP
Young, Jerry E. Liberal
13. Exploits
Fancey, Jody Liberal
Forsey, Clayton PC
14. Ferryland
Bavington, Grace NDP
Bennett, Kevin Liberal
Hutchings, Keith PC
15. Fortune Bay - Cape La Hune
Hynes, Sheldon NDP
Loveless, Elvis Liberal
Perry, Tracey PC
16. Gander
O’Brien, Kevin PC
Winsor, Stephanie Liberal
17. Grand Bank
Cake, Rod Liberal
King, Darin PC
18. Grand Falls - Windsor - Buchans
Sullivan, Susan PC
Tobin, Gerry Liberal
19. Grand Falls - Windsor - Green Bay South
Hunter, Ray PC
Smith, Aubrey Liberal
Whelan, John L. NDP
20. Harbour Main
Dandenault, Jean NDP
Hedderson, Tom PC
Slaney, Kevin Liberal
21. Humber East
Graham, Jean NDP
Hoffe, Mike Liberal
Marshall, Tom PC
22. Humber Valley
Ball, Dwight Liberal
Hynes, Kris NDP
Kelly, Darryl PC
23. Humber West
Budgell, Maurice Liberal
Williams, Danny PC
24. Kilbride
Broderick, Michelle NDP
Dinn, John PC
Linehan, Roger Liberal
Perrier, Paul Independent
25. Labrador West
Baker, Jim PC
Brenton, Darrel J. NDP
Oldford, Karen Liberal
26. Lake Melville
Cooper, Bill NDP
Hickey, John PC
Montague, Chris Liberal
27. Lewisporte
Martin, Jack Liberal
Vatcher, Garry NDP
Verge, Wade PC
28. Mount Pearl North
Kent, Steve PC
Lockyer, Janice NDP
Reid, Elaine Liberal
29. Mount Pearl South
Denine, Dave PC
McGinnis, Tom NDP
Reid, Bill Liberal
30. Placentia - St. Mary's
Collins, Felix PC
Coultas, Jennifer NDP
31. Port au Port
Cornect, Tony PC
Felix, Michelle Liberal
32. Port de Grave
Butler, Roland Liberal
Dawe, Randy Wayne NDP
Littlejohn, Glenn PC
33. Signal Hill - Quidi Vidi
Afonso, Maria PC
Beam, Maura Liberal
Michael, Lorraine NDP
34. St. Barbe
Bennett, Jim Liberal
Noel, B. Gary NDP
Young, Wallace PC
35. St. George's - Stephenville East
Burke, Joan PC
Lee, George Liberal
36. St. John's Centre
Campbell-Martino, Lori Ann Liberal
Robinson, Jane NDP
Skinner, Shawn PC
37. St. John's East
Adams, Peter Liberal
Buckingham, Ed PC
Schlamp-Hickey, Gemma NDP
38. St. John's North
Lono, Simon Liberal
Power, Matt NDP
Ridgley, Bob PC
39. St. John's South
Bridger, Clyde NDP
Gibbons, Rex Liberal
Osbourne, Tom PC
40. St. John's West
Joyce, George Liberal
Osbourne, Sheila PC
Scott, Joan NDP
41. Terra Nova
Cashin, Bill NDP
Gallant, Katty Liberal
Glover, Lionel Independent
Oram, Paul PC
42. The Isles of Notre Dame
Dalley, Derrick PC
Reid, Gerry Liberal
43. The Straits - White Bay North
Noel, Boyd Liberal
Ryall, Gerry NDP
Taylor, Trevor PC
44. Topsail
Layden-Barron, Cynthia Liberal
Marshall, Elizabeth PC
Rees, Kyle NDP
45. Torngat Mountains
Dumaresque, Danny Liberal
Pottle, Patty PC
Tuttauk, Jimmy Labrador
46. Trinity - Bay de Verde
Johnson, Charlene PC
Layman, Bruce M. Liberal
Penney, Don NDP
47. Trinity North
Small, Kathryn Liberal
Stringer, Janet NDP
Wiseman, Ross PC
48. Virginia Waters
Brown, Drew Liberal
Dunderdale, Kathy PC
Sullivan, David NDP
Wilcox, Fred Independent
If you have some time, check out some of the highlights that CBC Archives has put together about elections past. One of them is a 1971 documentary on the tail end of the Smallwood era, and the monumentally competitive election that year (it took another, a few months later, for the PCs to take a clear victory). Here's the link to the archives page on NL elections.
- John Gushue
Geoff Meeker, who blogs on media issues for The Telegram site, has a post following up on Lorraine Michael's comments from the debate about having received notes from public-sector workers afraid of losing their jobs. Meeker has a letter from someone self-identified as an emergency room nurse. Check it out.
David Cochrane, travelling this week with the Liberal campaign, discovers what can make him park his PDA:
I can't believe my Blackberry is getting enough reception to send this post. As I type this, I'm on the longliner Atlantic Rose. The skipper Stewart Rose is ferrying the Liberal campaign from Hermitage to Gaultois. Gerry Reid is in the district of Fortune Bay-Cape La Hune to help Elvis Loveless's campaign.
Gaultois is one of a handful of towns that punctuate the south coast of the island that are only avaiable by boat. I've never been there and this is a great opportunity to see a truly magical place.
So far in this campaign I've been to Nain and Hopedale. Those are towns I'd probably never see if it wasn't for my job.
Gaultois is another one. The scenery on this trip is stunning. So I'm putting the 'berry away to enjoy the ride.
Here is our working list of who's running where in the Oct. 9 election, based on what we know from various campaigns. Will update as needed.
We will be adding details aplenty next week to our district profiles. In the meantime, here's something to chew on.
1. BAIE VERTE-SPRINGDALE
Tom Rideout PC (incumbent from Lewisporte)
Glendon Bungay Liberal
Tim Howse NDP
2. BAY OF ISLANDS
Terry Loder PC
Eddie Joyce Liberal (incumbent)
3. BELLEVUE
Calvin Peach PC
Denise Pike Liberal
4. BONAVISTA NORTH
Harry Harding PC (incumbent)
Winston Carter Liberal
5. BONAVISTA SOUTH
Roger Fitzgerald PC
Clayton Hobbs Liberal
6. BURGEO-LA POILE
Colin Short PC
Kelvin Parsons Liberal (incumbent)
7. BURIN-PLACENTIA WEST
Clyde Jackman PC (incumbent)
George Brake Liberal
Julie Mitchell NDP
8. CAPE ST. FRANCIS
Jack Byrne PC (incumbent)
Bill Tapper Liberal
Kathleen Connors NDP
9. CARBONEAR-HARBOUR GRACE
Jerome Kennedy PC
Paul Baldwin Liberal
10. CARTWRIGHT-L'ANSE AU CLAIR
Dennis Normore PC
Yvonne Jones Liberal (incumbent)
11. CONCEPTION BAY EAST-BELL ISLAND
Dianne Whalen PC (incumbent)
Linda Goodyear Liberal
Gavin Will NDP
12. CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH
Terry French PC (incumbent)
Jerry Young Liberal
Bob Matthews NDP
13. EXPLOITS
Clayton Forsey PC (incumbent)
Jody Fancey Liberal
14. FERRYLAND
Keith Hutchings PC (incumbent)
Kevin Bennett Liberal
15. FORTUNE BAY-CAPE LA HUNE
Tracey Perry PC
Elvis Loveless Liberal
Sheldon Hynes NDP
16. GANDER
Kevin O'Brien PC (incumbent)
Stephanie Winsor Liberal
17. GRAND BANK
Darin King PC
Rod Cake Liberal
18. GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR-BUCHANS
Susan Sullivan PC
Gerry Tobin Liberal
19. GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR-GREEN BAY SOUTH
Ray Hunter PC (incumbent)
Aubrey Smith Liberal
John Whelan NDP
20. HARBOUR MAIN
Tom Hedderson PC (incumbent)
Kevin Slaney Liberal
Jean Dandenault NDP
21. HUMBER EAST
Tom Marshall PC (incumbent)
Michael Hoffe Liberal
Jean Graham NDP
22. HUMBER VALLEY
Darryl Kelly PC
Dwight Ball Liberal (incumbent)
Kris Hynes NDP
23. HUMBER WEST
Danny Williams PC (incumbent)
Maurice Budgell Liberal
24. KILBRIDE
John Dinn PC (incumbent)
25. LABRADOR WEST
Jim Baker PC (incumbent)
Karen Oldford Liberal
Darrel Brenton NDP
26. LAKE MELVILLE
John Hickey PC (incumbent)
Chris Montague Liberal
Bill Cooper NDP
27. LEWISPORTE
Wade Verge PC
John (Jack) Martin Liberal
Garry Vatcher NDP
28. MOUNT PEARL NORTH
Steve Kent PC
Elaine Reid Liberal
Janice Lockyer NDP
29. MOUNT PEARL SOUTH
Dave Denine PC (incumbent)
Bill Reid Liberal
30. PLACENTIA-ST. MARY'S
Felix Collins PC (incumbent)
31. PORT AU PORT
Tony Cornect PC (incumbent)
Machelle Felix-Morgan Liberal
32. PORT DE GRAVE
Glenn Littlejohn PC
Roland Butler Liberal (incumbent)
Randy Dawe NDP
33. SIGNAL HILL-QUIDI VIDI
Maria Afonso PC
Maura Beam Liberal
Lorraine Michael NDP (incumbent)
34. ST. BARBE
Wallace Young PC (incumbent)
Jim Bennett Liberal
ST. GEORGE'S-STEPHENVILLE EAST
Joan Burke PC (incumbent)
George Lee Liberal
36. ST. JOHN'S CENTRE
Shawn Skinner PC (incumbent)
Lori Ann Campbell-Martino Liberal
37. ST. JOHN'S EAST
Ed Buckingham PC
Peter Adams Liberal
Gemma Schlamp-Hickey NDP
38. ST. JOHN'S NORTH
Bob Ridgley PC (incumbent)
Simon Lono Liberal
Matthew Power NDP
39. ST. JOHN'S SOUTH
Tom Osborne PC (incumbent)
Clyde Bridger NDP
40. ST. JOHN'S WEST
Sheila Osborne PC (incumbent)
George Joyce Liberal
Joan Scott NDP
41. TERRA NOVA
Paul B. Oram PC (incumbent)
Katty Gallant Liberal
Bill Cashin NDP
42. THE ISLES OF NOTRE DAME
Derrick Dalley PC
Gerry Reid Liberal (incumbent)
43. THE STRAITS-WHITE BAY NORTH
Trevor Taylor PC (incumbent)
Boyd Noel Liberal
44. TOPSAIL
Elizabeth Marshall PC (incumbent)
Cynthia Barron-Layden Liberal
Kyle Rees NDP
45. TORNGAT MOUNTAINS
Patty Pottle PC
Danny Dumaresque Liberal
Jake Larken NDP
Jim Tuttauk Labrador
46. TRINITY-BAY DE VERDE
Charlene Johnson PC (incumbent)
Bruce M. Layman Liberal
47. TRINITY NORTH
Ross Wiseman PC (incumbent)
Kathryn Small Liberal
48. VIRGINIA WATERS
Kathy Dunderdale PC (incumbent)
Drew Brown Liberal
Dave Sullivan NDP
Frederick Wilcox Independent
Plenty of journalists, including us, will be chasing a report in today's Globe and Mail on a lawsuit planned by ExxonMobil and Murphy Oil over a CNLOPB requirement on research spending.
The discussion boards on the Globe story are heating up and then some. Check out the discussion here.
One of them used to answer to Lu Lu. One picked Superman as a favourite fictional character. To unwind, one pops on a little Led Zep.
How well do you really know Danny Williams, Gerry Reid and Lorraine Michael? Yes, we all want to know what they think of the issues, but we thought it would be nice to talk to them as, well, ordinary folks.
So, I played 20 Questions with them. Here's how things turned out.
- John Gushue
CBC Radio's David Cochrane writes on Tuesday night's leaders' debate:
People who watched last night's leaders debate on television tell me it was a frustrating spectacle. With the format allowing for head-to-head confrontations, there were often two people speaking at the same time. Each leader ignored the other and barrlled ahead as if they were wearing earplugs. Nobody watching at home could really make out what was being said.
It wasn't much better inside the debate studio. From the questioner's table, I could barely hear what was being said - especially when Danny Williams and Gerry Reid were debating. It's clear in person - and on TV - that the Liberal and Tory leaders don't like each other very much. The debate structure only helped foster that antipathy.
My personal preference would be for a true debate. Each candidate would get limited, uninterrupted time for argument and rebuttal. There would be very little of the head-to-head confrontation. That may add some conflict and heat to the debate, but it does nothing to promote a better understanding of issues or party policy. It becomes a painfully cluttered shout-fest where nobody can hear what is being said.
I didn't envy Fred Hutton's job as moderator. If he jumped in every time two people were bickering the debate would be reduced to 60 minutes of interjections. There is only so much any moderator can do. To make this a proper debate, we need a new format.
On a personal note, this was the first time I've participated in the election debate. And it was a thrill to be part of the journalist panel with NTV's Michael Connors. Michael and I started our journalism careers together at MUN's student newspaper The Muse. From 1995-1997 Michael was editor-in-chief while I was either news editor or co-news editor. It was a great partnership. And it was pretty cool to work together on the leaders' debate 10 years after I graduated from Memorial.
It's now the morning after the debate. As I type this into my Blackberry, I'm on a plane to St. Anthony. I'm with the Liberal campaign this week. My CBC Radio colleague Mike Rossiter is with the Tories. We like to switch a couple of times during the campaign to escape the Big Blue and Big Red Bubbles. It gives you a better perspective of how the campaigns operate and how the leaders are being received.
The leaders' debate ended only a few minutes ago, but we have it archived online. Watch it here.
UPDATE: Here's our coverage of tonight's debate. There'll be more on your local Morning Show, and on Here & Now on Wednesday evening.
Have a thought? Go to our Your View section and join the fray. (Comments are published when approved, so be patient overnight.)
- John Gushue
TV reporter Chris O'Neill-Yates caught her breath in time to follow this dispatch:
Remind me not to powder my nose on the bus again! Terry Roberts from The Telegram captured a frank moment aboard the big blue bus.
Makeup is one of the realities of television that makes me long at times for my radio days. Applying powder on the bus is one thing, but just try getting eyeliner on in a Twin Otter bouncing over the Torngat Mountains on the way into Hopedale without poking your eye out?!
But this is TV after all. I've learned to suck it up and move beyond the makeup to get the job done and tell stories. And my week with the Tory campaign was as challenging, physically and mentally, as it gets, for both myself and my bold, talented cameraman, Bruce Tilley (seen below, shooting said Tory bus).
We slogged gear from bus to hotel to plane to bus to hotel to helicopter to bus to plane ... you get the picture. It's fast-paced and gruelling work, but it was also a lot of fun being at the centre of the action and observing the political drama unfold. I didn't realize just how frenetic the pace of the Tory campaign really was was until last Thursday, when I couldn't remember what town I was in while shooting an on-camera.
As it happened, I was in Clarenville and covering one of the innumerable whistle stops, press conference and stump speeches choreographed by the Danny Williams campaign. It was an interesting seat from which to watch this campaign unfold in Week One. The Williams campaign is - and it may come as no surprise - a well-oiled machine with plenty of money to spend.
And Williams doesn't behave like a guy with a huge lead. He is as driven and as hungry on the campaign trail as if he were behind by 60 points in the polls, and not ahead by 60.
The the kickoff of the Williams campaign in Corner Brook on Monday, where the Pepsi Centre was blocked to the rafters with Williams supporters and about half of the PC candidates.
Over five days we travelled to Goose Bay, Labrador City, Gander, Twillingate, Noggin Cove, Gander, Clarenville, Goobies, Come By Chance, Whitbourne, St. John's, Goose Bay, Hopedale, Nain, Goose Bay, St. Anthony, and back to St. John's on Friday night.
I missed out on Fogo and Change Islands because there wasn't enough room on the chopper but my cameraman went along and shot what was some of the most interesting and confrontational tape of the week. People in both places had a long list of greivances to place at Williams's feet: the ferry service, outmigration, the hospital, and on it went.
'The hem of Williams's garment'
But Williams listened. His people took notes and promised to get back to people. But other than there and Goose Bay (disgruntlement over the Energy Plan is rife in Labrador) it was mostly about touching the hem of Williams's garment. There is no denying that the guy is popular. At times it was like being on tour with Mick Jagger! I'm not kidding.
Part of it is a bandwagon effect, undoubtedly, but people came up to him and said nice things everywhere we went. And it wasn't just at the orchestrated events such as campaign headquarters stops. The message from people was almost unanimously supportive of the job he's doing as premier. I saw that kind of hero worship when I covered the Tobin campaign on the West Coast in 1996. But it was nothing like this.
I've covered others elections and plenty of politics in the almost 15 years I've been a reporter for the CBC. I reported on the Tobin campaign in 1996 and anchored election-night coverage for CBC Radio. This is the first election that I've been "on the bus" during the campaign, aside from hopping on here and there at times. And I know many people question the value of this kind of an arrangement and the ethical implications.
Those of us on the bus are quite conscious of not developing Stockholm Syndrome. To avoid being completely embedded and having nothing but the view from the campaign, Bruce and I jumped off at different points and went out talking to ordinary people. This week after the debate I'm back on the bus. The Liberal bus this time. I'm looking forward to that, too.
On a technological note, thanks to the technical geniuses who invented the tools to help us get our jobs done more efficiently from practically anywhere. I was able to use my Blackberry to go online on my computer and file scripts to be vetted by my producer in St. John's. It sure beats trying to read my own writing down the phone line for a vet. And for radio reporters, being able to use a computer to send audio is a long way from the 'alligator clips' we used to hook on the wires inside the mouthpiece of the phone receiver to send audio.
There are times that the technology fails us. And this week was no exception. Like in Hopedale when I'm up on a hill overlooking the town getting ready to tape my on-camera and the microphone dies. We asked the helpful RCMP officers who were escorting us around town to go back to the plane and bring back Bruce's kit bag so we could get another piece of gear. They did and it all worked out. But meanwhile, the premier is held up in the Twin Otter on the runway waiting to take off so he can make it into Nain on schedule.
Even without technical failures, filing for TV deadlines is sometimes ulcer-inducing. Time had to be built into the PC campaign schedule for us to edit and get our tape to a feed point. We used either a CBC location or our satellite truck, which put a lot of miles on it last week. The technology hasn't evolved yet to the point that we're sending digital video files back to St. John's.
Maybe we'll be there in time for the next election. A couple of times, we edited in hotel rooms rented for an hour or so. You'd really get a kick out of how we overcome challenges in TV is made if you'd seen me record my script this week. Microphone in hand, head underneath a bedspread (to block out any ambient sound) reading script from my Blackberry! Ahhhh, the glamour of it all!
As I write this, the Progressive Conservative leader's tour is underway for today. Here's an excerpt of the agenda:
9:30 a.m. Media arrive at Confederation Building
9:45 a.m. Bus departs
10:00 a.m. News Conference - College of the North Atlantic Children's Centre, 1 Gooseberry Lane, St. John's
Umm ... wouldn't it have been easier, or at least nicer, to have walked across the street and down to the children's centre? The sidewalks on the parkway, after all, aren't that dangerous.
- John Gushue
"You are what you drive" is a familiar saying in the automotive industry. On the campaign trail, what's on wheels may say something a party's standing, its sense of itself ... and how much money it has to spend.
Just consider how the leaders are getting around. The PC campaign has been using helicopters and airplanes to move Premier Danny Williams to more remote locations; most often, though, the campaign has been based in a familiar shade of blue:
The Liberal bus puts Gerry Reid front and centre (actually, he's to the left of the centre of this side, which may be appropriate).
The New Democrats have never been known for the high-flying ways of their political cousins. Here's a snap we got of Lorraine Michael, exiting from Quidi Vidi Lake this weekend after speaking to a crowd at an annual AIDS fundraising walk.
Well, one could never accuse the New Democrats of living beyond their means.
- John Gushue
Here is a list of who's running where, as of this afternoon (this list has been updated, since we posted it this morning), and as best we know them in the CBC newsroom. We'll update the list later in the week. Nominations close with the chief electoral office on Saturday afternoon; we'll update this information in our districts profiles.
BAIE VERTE-SPRINGDALE
Tom Rideout PC (Rideout had represented Lewisporte)
Glendon Bungay Liberal
Tim House NDP
BAY OF ISLANDS
Terry Loder PC
Eddie Joyce Liberal, incumbent
BELLEVUE
Calvin Peach PC
Denise Pike Liberal
BONAVISTA NORTH
Harry Harding PC, incumbent
Winston Carter
BONAVISTA SOUTH
Roger Fitzgerald PC
BURGEO-LA POILE
Colin Short PC
Kelvin Parsons Liberal, incumbent
BURIN-PLACENTIA WEST
Clyde Jackman PC, incumbent
George Brake Liberal
Julie Mitchell NDP
CAPE ST. FRANCIS
Jack Byrne PC, incumbent
Bill Tapper Liberal
Kathleen Connors NDP
CARBONEAR-HARBOUR GRACE
Jerome Kennedy PC
Paul Baldwin Liberal
CARTWRIGHT-L'ANSE AU CLAIR
Dennis Normore PC
Yvonne Jones Liberal, incumbent
CONCEPTION BAY EAST-BELL ISLAND
Dianne Whalen PC, incumbent
Linda Goodyear Liberal
Gavin Will NDP
CONCEPTION BAY SOUTH
Terry French PC, incumbent
Jerry Young Liberal
EXPLOITS
Clayton Forsey PC, incumbent
Jody Fancey Liberal
FERRYLAND
Keith Hutchings PC, incumbent
Kevin Bennett Liberal
FORTUNE BAY-CAPE LA HUNE
Tracey Perry PC
Elvis Loveless Liberal
Sheldon Hynes NDP
GANDER
Kevin O'Brien PC, incumbent
Stephanie Winsor Liberal
GRAND BANK
Darin King PC
Rod Cake Liberal
GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR-BUCHANS
Susan Sullivan PC
Gerry Tobin Liberal
GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR-GREEN BAY SOUTH
Ray Hunter PC, incumbent
Aubrey Smith Liberal
John Whelan NDP
HARBOUR MAIN
Tom Hedderson PC, incumbent
Kevin Slaney Liberal
Jean Dandenault NDP
HUMBER EAST
Tom Marshall PC, incumbent
Michael Hoffe Liberal
Jean Graham NDP
HUMBER VALLEY
Darryl Kelly PC
Dwight Ball Liberal, incumbent
HUMBER WEST
Danny Williams PC, incumbent
Maurice Budgell Liberal
KILBRIDE
John Dinn PC, incumbent
LABRADOR WEST
Jim Baker PC, incumbent
Karen Oldford Liberal
Darrel Brenton NDP
LAKE MELVILLE
John Hickey PC, incumbent
Chris Montague Liberal
LEWISPORTE
Wade Verge PC
John (Jack) Martin Liberal
Garry Vatcher NDP
MOUNT PEARL NORTH
Steve Kent PC
Elaine Reid Liberal
MOUNT PEARL SOUTH
Dave Denine PC, incumbent
Bill Reid Liberal
PLACENTIA-ST. MARY'S
Felix Collins PC, incumbent
PORT AU PORT
Tony Cornect PC, incumbent
Machelle Felix-Morgan Liberal
PORT DE GRAVE
Glenn Littlejohn PC
Roland Butler Liberal, incumbent
SIGNAL HILL-QUIDI VIDI
Maria Afonso PC
Maura Beam Liberal
Lorraine Michael NDP, incumbent
ST. BARBE
Wallace Young PC, incumbent
Jim Bennett Liberal
ST. GEORGE'S-STEPHENVILLE EAST
Joan Burke PC, incumbent
George Lee Liberal
ST. JOHN'S CENTRE
Shawn Skinner PC, incumbent
Lori Ann Campbell-Martino Liberal
ST. JOHN'S EAST
Ed Buckingham PC
Peter Adams Liberal
Gemma Schlamp-Hickey NDP
ST. JOHN'S NORTH
Bob Ridgley PC, incumbent
Simon Lono Liberal
Matthew Power NDP
ST. JOHN'S SOUTH
Tom Osborne PC, incumbent
Clyde Bridger NDP
ST. JOHN'S WEST
Sheila Osborne PC, incumbent
George Joyce Liberal
TERRA NOVA
Paul B. Oram PC, incumbent
Katty Gallant Liberal
Bill Cashin NDP
THE ISLES OF NOTRE DAME
Derrick Dalley PC
Gerry Reid Liberal, incumbent
THE STRAITS-WHITE BAY NORTH
Trevor Taylor PC, incumbent
Boyd Noel Liberal
TOPSAIL
Elizabeth Marshall PC, incumbent
Cynthia Barron-Layden Liberal
Kyle Rees NDP
TORNGAT MOUNTAINS
Patty Pottle PC
Danny Dumaresque Liberal
Jim Tuttauk Labrador
TRINITY-BAY DE VERDE
Charlene Johnson PC, incumbent
Bruce Layman Liberal
TRINITY NORTH
Ross Wiseman PC, incumbent
Kathryn Small Liberal
VIRGINIA WATERS
Kathy Dunderdale PC, incumbent
Dave Sullivan NDP
Frederick Wilcox, Independent
There's been a lot of talk - good, bad and otherwise - about the PC pledge to give parents $1,000 for every newborn or adopted baby. Radio Noon host Ramona Dearing fielded calls on Friday's edition of Crosstalk about the issue, with guests Rob Greenwood and Debbie Hynes.
You can listen to the show here.
Put aside some time Tuesday night at 7 o'clock for a serving of politics, as the leaders' debate gets underway.
It won't be a serving that's raw; if we've learned anything over successive elections, each debate is more processed - if not refined - than the last. The leaders are not only well coached on what to say, but the rules of the game prohibit much of an extended, back-and-forth exchange in which real ideas get picked apart. (For some, that's the definition of a debate, but that's another story.)
The debate will be hosted by NTV, and carried on CBC airwaves - and live over the regional website.
Ever wanted to put a question directly to the party leaders? Here's your chance.
After all, the party leaders are in your backyard, asking for your vote. What would you ask if you could get your question to the leaders?
Wait no more.
E-mail your questions to Here and Now and our reporters will put them to the leaders.
We'll put their answers on a new election feature called Ask The Leaders.
Please e-mail your questions to: hereandnow.nl@cbc.ca.
Stay tuned!
The New Democratic platform is online; you can read it here, in PDF form. We'll have some coverage on our news pages shortly.
From David Cochrane, travelling this week with the Progressive Conservative campaign:
For the second time this week, the Tory campaign is headed to Labrador. Today we are doing whistle stops in just about every region of the Big Land. As I write this I'm on a Provincial Airlines Cessna Citation flying to Happy Valley Goose Bay. Here's the travel schedule:
7:30 a.m. Media arrive at airport
8:00 a.m. Departure
10:15 a.m. (Labrador Time) Arrive in Hopedale
All three parties think they can steal seats here.
The New Democrats are eyeing Labrador West. The Liberals think they can take Lake Melville and the Tories think they can break into the Liberal stronghold of Torngat Mountains.
These should be some of the more interesting races in this election.
I'm always struck by the number of people who have never been to the house of assembly, especially when it's session. Everyone should take the opportunity to check out legislators in action.
The image above is the seating plan for the legislature, at the time it was dissolved on Monday when the campaign officially began.
Check out this interactive version we constructed called Seats of Power, to show who sits where. Run your mouse over each MHA to find out more about them.
- John Gushue
Things can get ugly on the campaign trail; here's the first example of sign defacement brought to our attention.
The Liberals Liberals in Trinity-Bay de Verde are crying foul after someone stole, broke and defaced some of candidate Bruce Layman's signs. The matter has been reported to police. A reward is being offered for any information that leads to the vandals being caught.
The Liberal bus has hit a number of districts so far, mostly on the east coast and central parts of the island. I've seen lots of election signs but one day the Liberals pulled over on the side of the road to show us the scene you see above.
In Topsail district, the election signs for PC incumbent Elizabeth Marshall don't say "The Danny Williams Team." To be fair, the Liberals pointed this out to us and I haven't seen all her signs. But the ones I did see didn't have the slogan that is clearly plastered over the signs of other Tory candidates. I haven't seen any other Tory signs that omit the phrase.
Does it mean anything? I'm not sure. Marshall may be recycling campaign signs. Marshall and Williams have had their difference of opinions – she resigned as health minister in 2004, after Williams waded into a labour dispute with home-care workers – but she apparently travelled to Corner Brook on Monday for the campaign launch and was standing right by his side.
Take it for what it's worth.
- Mike Rossiter
It was only the second day of the campaign, but Tuesday just might be the most grueling of the entire election.
We got up at 5:30 to make the shift change at the Corner Brook mill. For more than an hour, Danny Williams, Tom Marshall and Terry Loder shook hands with the workers streaming in and out of the city's most important industry. After a quick campaign stop at Tim Hortons, it was back to the hotel for the official release of the Tory election platform. That event was at 10 o'clock.
Normally, the release of the platform would be the central event of the day. But the Tories pressed on. After the platform release, the bus pressed on to Deer Lake and the district of Humber Valley. Then we moved to the campaign's private plane and jetted to Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Two hours later it was wheels up again and the campaign plunged into Labrador City and Wabush.
By now it was late, but we were headed back to the airport instead of the hotel. Our next destination was Gander, where we would finally call it a night.
By the time I filed my stories and was able to turn in, it was 1 in the morning. I had been working for about 20 hours. I'm now taking coffee intravenously.
Since the campaign started on Monday I have been in St. John's, Corner Brook, Deer Lake, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador City, Wabush, Gander, Twillingate, Virgin Arm, and Noggin's Cove. Today we roll into Clarenville, Goobies, Come By Chance and Whitbourne.
Then it's back to St. John's. I've got enough time to get some clean underwear, and then it's back on the trail.
- David Cochrane, travelling this week with the PCs
When a campaign kicks into gear, politicians have to switch to some different routines: early mornings, late nights, road food, bus fatigue.
Gerry Reid got a pleasant surprise on Thursday when he got off the bus in Twillinate: a celebration with supporters, and his wife, Cathy. The Reids celebrated their 26th wedding annversary.
Enough time to celebrate - and then back to the trail.
The above was the scene on Wednesday, as the Liberal campaign bus drove past the Progressive Conservative bus on a street in Twillingate. By coincidence, both PC Leader Danny Williams and Liberal Leader Gerry Reid were on the hunt for support ... in Reid's own district of the Isles of Notre Dame.
The leaders may have been tossing the rhetoric around on the hustings, but the buses behaved: a polite exchange of honks as they passed in the sunshine.
We've launched a quiz for you bright-eyed keeners out there ... your chance to test your knowledge of politics and elections in Newfoundland and Labrador.
I titled it Campaigns, upsets, ballots and boo-boos.
Not all of the questions are about elections, of course; the image above relates to one of them (and indeed gives something of a hint).
Feel free to spread this address to friends, family, campaign co-workers, your prof, your neighbour, and anyone else you like:
http://www.cbc.ca/nlvotes2007/features/quiz/
Hope you enjoy it.
- John Gushue
Political circles in Labrador were buzzing earlier in the week with a tasty morsel. Word was that the Labrador party – the upstart party that, as you can guess, puts Labrador issues front and centre – would not be fielding candidates in two of the region's four districts.
Since both of them – Labrador West and Lake Melville – happen to be held by the governing Progressive Conservatives, you can see why tongues were wagging.
But the rumour turns out to be unfounded – so far.
Labrador party Leader Ron Barron is the party candidate in Labrador West, where Tory Jim Baker was elected this winter in a byelection called to replace former New Democratic MHA Randy Collins.
Moreover, Barron told CBC News that the party will have a candidate in Lake Melville, although one has not yet been announced.
In Labrador West, voters will have exactly the same slate as they had in the March byelection. Baker will be up against Barron, New Democrat Darrel Brenton and Liberal Karen Oldford.
One interesting factor in Labrador West is the reported support that Brenton will be receiving from the Wabush Mines local of the United Steelworkers union. In the byelection, that support had gone to the Tories.
"Will it make a difference? We'll see," said Cindy Wall, producer and co-host of Labrador Morning, who is not sure that rank-and-file members will follow suit.
In the byelection, turnout was low, with almost exactly half of the eligible voters casting ballots.
As for Lake Melville, incumbent PC John Hickey (above) is fighting hard against Liberal challenger Chris Montague; we've already noted here that there hasn't been a lot of bonhomie between the two men.
The addition of a Labrador party candidate will, of course, change the dynamic. The Liberals had been hoping the Labrador party would stay on the sidelines … which might have struck the other side as a bit rich, given that Labrador candidate Brandon Pardy placed second in 2003, and only 293 votes behind Hickey.
Danny Williams flew into Happy Valley-Goose Bay on Tuesday to bring some oomph to Hickey's campaign, but encountered criticism over the government's new energy policy. We'll keep you posted on how things play out over the remainder of the campaign.
- John Gushue
It said something when Gerry Reid took the Liberal caravan to Bellevue district, not to mention on Port de Grave, on Monday, just as the campaign was officially kicking into gear. (It says something, too, that Danny Williams went to Lake Melville on Tuesday, but we'll get to that later.)
Bellevue used to have the reputation as being one of those "yellow dog" districts – you know, the sort of place in days of yore where the Liberals could run just about anyone and count on a victory. Bellevue, as we basically know it, was created in 1975, but voters in the area were so loyal to Smallwood Liberalism that they stuck with him and elected Wilson Callan that year as their representative.
Callan later joined up with the Liberals, and sat with them for years – until 1988, when he crossed the floor to join the Tories in the final months of the Brian Peckford era.
That, really, was about as close as the Tories have come to electoral success in Bellevue. Percy Barrett won the seat in 1989 for the Liberals, and did so in every election since then.
But let's look closely at the 2003 results.
You may remember Barrett squeaking through that race over PC challenger Joan Cleary, with just 100 votes.
But those results would have been different, if the redistribution now in place for this election had been in effect for that one.
Different enough, indeed, to have given the Tories the win. Under redistribution, the PCs would have won that race by 16 votes.
In most districts, the addition or subtraction of votes would not have made much difference. Bellevue is one of the cases where things are different – and you can be sure that the parties are perfectly aware of that, in what's expected to be a competitive race.
- John Gushue
Maura Hanrahan, a St. John's writer, author and researcher, distributed this letter to the local media, reacting to Friday's release from Auditor General on spending at the house of assembly. We thought you'd like to read it.
"In the 1997 budget, the Brian Tobin government implemented school bus fees for certain St. John's neighbourhoods with high concentrations of public housing. As part of the Telegram team in the media budget lock-up, I asked Finance Minister Paul Dicks for the rationale behind this decision. Dicks explained that it was "part of government's deficit reduction efforts." Note that the decision would save government $35,000 per year.
"Parents, many of them single moms, were worried about having to pay yet another bill. When the Tobin government wouldn't budge on the issue, parents and kids held a bake sale on the steps of Confederation Building to protest and to raise money to pay the new fees of $10 a month per child, significant for anyone living on minimum wage or social assistance.
"Still, Tobin and Dicks would not budge. The late Brother Jim McSheffrey, who lived in Brophy Place, one of the affected neighbourhoods, made this plea to deaf ears: "If the government has to make cuts, it should not be done on the backs of poor people."
"Thanks to the auditor-general's report, we now know what an astonishing act of hypocrisy the school bus fees decision was.
"At the very same time the Tobin government and the Internal Economy Commission barred the door to the auditor-general, some of the affected neighbourhoods were crawling with welfare cops.
"We citizens have to be vigilant so that the needs of people living in poverty are actually met, not compounded, by government. And we should lend a very critical ear indeed the next time people in poverty are told to tighten their belts."
- Dr. Maura Hanrahan, Ph.D.
There are two Liberal candidates in Mount Pearl who share a campaign headquarters.
They're probably used to sharing many things: they're the husband and wife duo of Bill and Elaine Reid. Elaine Reid is running in Mount Pearl North; her husband is running next-door, in Mount Pearl South.
I asked around the campaign bus to see who can name the first political couple that ran in an election. Someone suggested it was Prime Minister Richard Squires and his wife, Lady Helena Squires, a Liberal candidate who was elected in a 1930 byelection.
- Mike Rossiter
Call it the Blueprint, rather than the Blue Book. Here it is, in HTML format.
From David Cochrane, travelling with the PC campaign:
The first hours of the Tory campaign were spent in Corner Brook, where Danny Williams and Tom Marshall are running unopposed.
When I first started covering politics, Corner Brook was the heart of Liberal power. In fact, the west coast was Big Red country. Brian Tobin. Paul Dicks. Chuck Furey. Kevin Aylward. All Liberals, all prominent, all based on the west coast.
Now, Corner Brook has become the political capital of the Conservative party. The premier's seat is here. So is the finance minister's. The campaign has started and the Liberals can't find a solid candidate to run in either Humber West or Humber East.
The only red signs you see on lawns belong to Re/Max. And even those have some blue on it.
This is perhaps the most visible sign of the imbalance of this campaign. When the official opposition can't find a candidate to run in the province's second city - in what used to be their power-base just two elections ago - it is a bad sign for their prospects. It also shows just how much things have changed.
Former Liberal cabinet minister Paul Dicks had a prominent role in Auditor General John Noseworthy's report released on Friday about constitutency allowances. Dicks, for instance, was found to have claimed $34,145 in alcohol, significantly more than any other claim. (Those were for alcohol not involving meals.)
The audit said Dicks had also claimed $62,712 in personal items through his allowances, most of it spent on art.
These revelations may not square with recollections of Dicks when he served as a belt-tightening finance minister in the Brian Tobin government.
"We must continue to resist demands for spending we cannot afford," Dicks said while introducing the 1998 budget. "There is no more money."
You can hear more of that speech right here.
CBC Radio’s Mike Rossiter files from the Liberal campaign, somewhere on the Avalon Peninsula:
The Liberal campaign kicked off on Sunday afternoon on the south side of St. John's harbour. It's very fitting. So far, the journey on the Liberal campaign bus has felt like traveling on some boat over rocky, rolling waves.
As we left the Confederation Building parking lot on Monday morning, I set up my laptop and gear on one of the tables in the bus, ready to file stories right from the heart of the campaign - just a few seats up from Gerry Reid and his advisors.
As we pulled out, my mouse flew off the table and nearly hit the newspaper reporter sitting across from me. To adapt, you have to be part juggler and part surfer to balance a full coffee cup, a Blackberry, the morning newspaper and the laptop … all the while bouncing down a stretch of highway.
I have deleted full sentences and butchered entire audio interviews when the bus hits a bump. I need to get my sea legs. I've hit my head on the overhead bin at least three times and I'll probably get many more bruises.
That was day one of the official campaign. But I'm not alone getting black and blue. Another reporter fell down a flight of stairs at a ribbon-cutting on Sunday, and yesterday, he backed up into a television set that was mounted on a wall in a fish plant office.
Ouch. He'll be fine though. As a reporter, you have to have a thick skin. I just hope my laptop and gear are even tougher.
As of this morning, the Liberals still need 13 candidates for a full slate of 48. Political staffers say the slate will be filled by the end of the week. An interesting side bar: the Liberal candidate for St. John's Centre is Lori Ann Campbell-Martino. She ran in 2003 for the Green Party but resigned when the Greens adopted a strong stand against the seal hunt.
To my knowledge, the Greens are not running anyone in this election. Martino is running against cabinet minister Shawn Skinner.
The deadline for candidates is Sept. 29.
- Mike Rossiter
With the house of assembly now officially dissolved, here's where the seat count stands heading into the election campaign:
PC: 34
Liberal: 11
NDP: 1
Vacant: 2 **
Total: 48
** The two vacancies, by the way, are in Baie Verte (soon to be Baie Verte-Springdale) and Torngat Mountains, where Paul Shelley and Wally Andersen resigned, respectively, in July and in September.
If you've ever been curious about who sits where in the house, at least up until the legislature closed, click here to see an interactive we've built called Seats of Power. Mouse over each seat to see a picture of the appropriate MHA and the district represented.
Auditor General John Noseworthy's report on the province's $15-million play in a fibre optic network is out, and it does not make for the kind of reading that the campaign-bound Liberals had been hoping for.
Apart from ruling that Premier Danny Williams played no role in the contract, Noseworthy went so far as to rule that taxpayers are getting "good value" from the investment.
That doesn't mean Liberal leader Gerry Reid is satisfied. Williams, though, is thrilled. You can read their reactions in our news report, right here.
You can also listen to CBC Radio's Mike Rossiter interviewing Reid here; you can listen to Williams speaking with reporters outside Government House, just after officially calling the Oct. 9 election, right here.
Noseworthy's report, in full, is here, in PDF format.
It's still early in the day of an official launch, but this quote stuck with me:
"I'll bet a kidney that it's not going to be 48 to nothing for the Tories."
That's CBC provincial affairs reporter David Cochrane, speaking this morning with Jeff Gilhooly, host of the St. John's Morning Show, while dismissing speculation that a Tory sweep is in the making.
- John Gushue
The Newfoundland and Labrador Blog Roll, admninistered by Stephen Eli Harris, has added the Campaign Trail blog to its list, which is appreciated. The roll helps readers know when fresh material is waiting to be read on scores of blogs.
Visit here to see the Newfoundland and Labrador Blog Roll page, and check out some of the participating blogs. They cover the gamut from politics to visual art to satire to photography to personal reflections.
As the Newfoundland and Labrador election campaign gets ready to launch on Monday, don't expect everything to be as dry as toast. One of the sources of political humour (but not friendly to the governing PCs) comes from a blog with the Bart Simpson-esque name of I.P. Freely, the anonymous author(s) of which has been posting "Danny Bingo" cards.
The game works by watching what Premier Danny Williams says, and stamping out some of the (often familiar) phrases he uses. Here's the latest one, posted Friday:
We'll try to let you know about some of the lighter things we see out there on the campaign trail, too.
The auditor-general's report is online. We're starting to wade through the 86-page report here in the CBC newsroom. The report is in PDF format.
Update: Our main story on the Noseworthy report will be updated through the afternoon. You can read that here.
Auditor General John Noseworthy's long-awaited report into how MHAs used their constituency allowance claims will be released today.
Here's a bookmark to keep ready: the page on the auditor general's site for reports.
We wonder how many people in Confederation Building (and people who used to work there) who will be hitting "refresh" on their keyboards today.
A nod to The Telegram for how they let a graphic tell a story in today's edition. The blue seats represent the packed hotel ballroom where Danny Williams addressed the St. John's Board of Trade on Wednesday (our coverage is here); the red seats in the right-hand corner represent the seats that had been sold for a Greater Corner Brook Board of Trade luncheon, where Liberal leader Gerry Reid had been scheduled to speak on the same day.
Reid had to cancel the event for what the Liberals called "unforeseen circumstances," which may - but, to be fair, may not - be code for "unsold tickets."
If there's an image that tells the story of how things stand in the pre-campaign era, this is it.
- John Gushue
If you follow politics closely, you'll know that Lake Melville MHA John Hickey and Chris Montague, the president of the Labrador Métis Nation, are not exactly bosom buddies. Now the rivals are taking things directly into the political ring.
Indeed, Hickey and Montague (above) have had their public spats.
Just a year ago, Hickey, the province's transportation minister, cancelled a photo op at a new bridge being built across the Churchill River, outside Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
Montague had been leading a protest about the construction, arguing that the Métis Nation had not been consulted.
"We're the reason he doesn't sleep at night," Montague said at the time. Hickey didn't seem too disturbed; in fact, he called the demo a "political fiasco."
Get ready for more sparks. Montague is now the Liberal candidate in Lake Melville district. He's also taking a leave of absence from the presidency; Kirk Lethbridge is stepping in as interim president.
This will be one of the races where things could get, to use an understatement, interesting.
-John Gushue
For a governing party that has done well by the returns of black gold, the Progressive Conservatives are putting a lot of stock in clean energy, at least according to what you'll find in the energy blueprint released this week.
Yep, there's still plenty in there on oil and gas (the government's claim on a 10 per cent stake in future oil and gas projects understandably got the party's attention), but the plan has a fair bit to say about wind power, hydroelectricity and even smaller items, like shifting the provincial government's fleet of vehicles to cleaner models.
The Blue Book was the policy guide for the PCs in the 2003 election. One would expect a similar guide to come out once the campaign launches in earnest next week ... and, quite likely, to have a green twist.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government's long-awaited energy report is out; you can read it online here. (It's a PDF, by the way.)
Our news coverage for today is here; expect to read more about it once the actual election campaign kicks into gear.
Remember when Liberal leader Gerry Reid put 13 questions before Premier Danny Williams about the pending Hebron deal? (If you don't, you can read our coverage here.)
Well, the better part of two weeks later, Reid is still waiting for a reply from the premier's office. Indeed, he's still waiting for an acknowledgment that the letter was received.
The Liberals have been looking for specific details in the memorandum of understanding announced with fanfare last month. Those details include things such as royalty payments, job numbers and project timelines.
Williams has maintained he cannot release those details because of a confidentiality agreement.
However, the premier's office says a response will come before the Oct. 9 election.
So, will Reid get answers to all 13 of his questions?
Um - maybe not. The premier's office says Williams has committed to answer the letter, and that's all.
Former Liberal MHA and current party president Danny Dumaresque has caught a little attention (and, according to some reports, a little criticism) for running in the northern Labrador district of Torngat Mountains in this election. Dumaresque's main stomping ground is to the south, where he represented the former district of Eagle River (now known as Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair) for two terms during the Clyde Wells era.
Give Dumaresque credit, though, for being geographically diverse.
This will actually be the third of the four Labrador districts where Dumaresque has sought a seat. In 1984, he ran in a byelection in Menihek district (now known as Labrador West), but lost out to New Democrat Peter Fenwick.
It makes you wonder whether Dumaresque might at some time consider running in the central Labrador district of Lake Melville, just to cover all of the Big Land.
- John Gushue
By all accounts, the campaign for the next general election in Newfoundland and Labrador is as much as a week away. But, let's face it, the campaign has been softly underway for some time.
CBC.ca/nl is launching this Campaign Trail blog to keep an eye on the election, from now through Oct. 9, when voters will go to the polls. We've also launched Newfoundland and Labrador Votes 2007, where you'll find a wealth of background material online. We'll be adding material to it regularly during the course of the campaign, including the best coverage of the election you'll find anywhere.
We'll also be posting regularly to this blog, too. Reporters will be filing from the campaign bus and the field, not just on the headline-making stories but the nuances, tidbits and analysis that make election coverage so compelling.
Keep in touch.
- John Gushue
