Opinion

A question of legacy

Work in Progress by Ivan Morgan

In my last job one of my responsibilities was to write questions for Question Period in the House of Assembly. As we were a caucus with five minutes at the end of the half hour allotted for questions, questions had to be short, sharp, and to the point.  Allow me the indulgence in my old age of a long meandering question.

Like most politicians, Newfoundland premiers have left behind legacy projects. Something that they can point to in later years and say, “I did that.”

Joey Smallwood left a legacy which writers and historians have been trying to untangle for decades. For me it’s not so complicated. Dragged us into Confederation, then set us on a course of disastrous projects which near bankrupted the province; the Come by Chance oil refinery, the Stephenville Linerboard mill, and the gift that just keeps on giving heartache – Churchill Falls.  He morphed into a petty dictator who stayed too long.

Frank Moores didn’t really want to be premier (I have a recording by John Crosbie on that subject, but like most great stories It’s not fit for a community newspaper). A group of Tories saw the need to oust Joey and saw Frank as their best chance. His legacy was spending nine years with a mop and bucket beginning to clean up Joey’s mess.

Detractors love to sneer and say Brian Peckford’s legacy is cucumbers. It was far more than that. He fought for our offshore oil revenues. Try and remember that Daddy Trudeau wanted all that money for the federal government. If he had had his way, CBS would still be farmland.

Clyde Wells is remembered for his constitutional battles, and for keeping this rusty old tub afloat financially.

Brian Tobin’s legacy, other than changing the province’s name, was himself. He did end denominational education, which was long overdue, but we were never much more than a rung on the ladder of his political career.

Beaton Tulk? He kept the seat warm and didn’t shag anything up. I am not sneering. That in itself is an accomplishment.

Roger Grimes’ legacy was lacklustre, but not for lack of trying. He actually passed some pretty good legislation – Access to Information and the Child Advocate comes to mind. But mostly he presided over a broken Liberal Party (John Efford supporters hated him), a failed Lower Churchill agreement, and he served as Danny Williams’ whipping boy.

And what about Danny Williams? What to say? He presided over a time when tonnes of cash flowed into the treasury. We became a “have” province for a while (that was once a thing here). He gave us all a boost with his personality and wit.

Then, going out the door . . . Muskrat Falls.

Dunderdale? Muskrat Falls, mocking and belittling those who were worried about it, and trying to close the door on access to information. Not pretty.

Tom Marshall? Maybe my favourite legacy. He fixed the pension problem. Back in the day we had a huge public pension liability because decades of governments had ignored it.  Marshall got everyone involved to the table and hashed out a fix. Maybe not grand or flashy, but it didn’t bankrupt us (quite the opposite), it isn’t sitting somewhere rusting, and it benefits people every day. More of these types of legacies please!

Paul Davis? Too soon.

Dwight Ball? That’s another column.

Which brings us to young Mr. Furey.  A clever person I know asks if the new St. Clare’s Hospital is his planned legacy project.

He is an orthopedic surgeon who is maintaining his professional credentials. He is a young man and will have a work life after politics. Possibly in medicine? A brand-new facility would be a great place to return to practice. 

Is the proposed new St. Clare’s Hospital his $5 billion plus legacy project?

Just askin.’

Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com

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