Parties & Leaders

Danny Williams

MHA Humber West   The PC Party of N.L.

In a province renowned for producing colourful, strong-minded leaders, Danny Williams can hold his own with political predecessors who knew a thing or two about grabbing headlines.

A Rhodes scholar and a lawyer, Williams has become nationally known - if not notorious - for a scrappy style that has pitted him against prime ministers, oil companies, union leaders and any number of political adversaries.

Even his admirers describe Williams as someone willing to engage in a fight for things he believes in. "Maybe sometimes if you're determined and single-minded, that can be a virtue. It can also be a vice," St. John's Mayor Andy Wells, who clashed with Williams before becoming one of his staunchest supporters, said in 2004.

Newfoundland and Labrador voters expected Williams to be controversial when they gave his Progressive Conservatives a convincing mandate in 2003.

Williams, 58, earned a high profile in the province long before he agreed to lead the then moribund PCs. In business, he made a fortune running Cable Atlantic, ultimately selling the company to Rogers for about $280 million. His business interests, which included golf courses and offshore petroleum concerns, sparked the nickname Danny Millions.

Williams ran a successful law practice in St. John's that represented many of the victims of sexual abuse at the former Mount Cashel Orphanage in the city. Williams was also active in community organizations, and spearheaded a drive to build a new hockey stadium in downtown St. John's.

Williams had long been active in political circles, but continually rebuffed appeals to run as a candidate - at least, that is, until 2001, when he won the party's leadership.

Williams campaigned on a platform that emphasized fiscal accountability and greater control of natural resources. As premier, Williams has largely stuck to those principles, although they've brought about conflicts.

Soon after the election, Williams announced the province's debts were so burdensome that he had no choice but to cut spending and freeze wages. That was followed by a one-month strike in April 2004, involving 20,000 public employees that brought many services to a halt, but ended with the unions legislated back to work with little to show for the dispute. Later, Williams compressed health and education boards in the name of more efficient delivery of services.

However, those conflicts were all overshadowed, by far, by Williams's determination to wrest more control and greater revenues from offshore oilfields. Williams first took on then Prime Minister Paul Martin, after Williams said Martin was not honouring verbal commitments he made during the 2004 election campaign to stop clawbacks of equalization. The dispute was resolved in January 2005, with a new Atlantic Accord.

In late 2006, however, Williams found himself squaring off against Prime Minister Stephen Harper, again over the clawback issue. Williams has accused Harper of reneging on written campaign pledges, and has encouraged voters to boycott federal Conservative candidates in the next federal election. A lifelong Tory, Williams has found himself at odds with Conservative cousins.

Williams also squared off against what he called "Big Oil" - particularly the proponents of the Hebron oilfield. His anger on that front, however, cooled, and in August he declared a victory with a tentative deal that gives the province an ownership stake and an enriched royalty agreement.

Williams is unapologetic about his fiery rhetoric and attention-grabbing tactics, which included briefly removing Canadian flags from most provincial government buildings.

"I'm elected to lead," he said in 2005, amid a dispute involving crab fishermen. "I've been elected to make tough decisions. I've demonstrated that and I'm prepared to do it."

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