Dear John, tread carefully, history will tell

By Ivan Morgan

Dear Premier Hogan, I’m going out on a limb. I am writing this before election day, so I may have goofed and should be writing to Premier Tony Wakeham. I’m betting not.

It looks like you will win the election. First, I offer congratulations. I have worked around enough premiers to wonder publicly why on Earth you’d want the job, but here you are.

I am writing this open letter as I would not be my father’s son if I didn’t use this platform to ask you to revisit the deal you have made with Hydro Quebec (HQ) on Churchill River hydro developments. Regular readers will roll their eyes and think, “There he goes again,” but I am taking that chance.

I am also hoping you will get to read this, and not have it blocked by one of your communications weasels.
First a little background. Contrary to popular belief, the original 1969 contract with HQ was not a good deal for this province. There was at that time a tiny educated professional class in St. John’s, and they knew a stinker when they saw one. My father (an engineer) and his friends – mostly lawyers and other professionals – saw what a ridiculous “deal” it was, but they were a tiny minority and were not listened to. I was 10 years old; I remember it well.

Here we are decades later, and many feel you are poised to once again play into the hands of Hydro Quebec. Now that you are premier, and have a mandate to do what you want, I ask you to stop and review this deal. There are many more capable, educated people nowadays. Maybe you should listen to them.

Yes, I have poked fun at you and your crew before and will no doubt do it again if given the opportunity (hey, it’s a living). This column is not that. This is me, a private citizen, using a soap box at my disposal to try, like a lot of others have, to change your mind – or at least ask you to take more time, give it more scrutiny, build more unison in support for your deal. Wouldn’t it be better if more of us supported it?

You may think your election was an endorsement of this deal. That worries me. It was also a factor of how utterly hopeless your opponents were.

The people who are opposed to this deal are not necessarily opposed to you. They just feel you could negotiate a better deal.

Take a little time and listen to these opponents. While everything is politics, everything isn’t politics. You are in control. You can afford to be magnanimous. You can afford to listen and consider what folks are saying.
Look what happened with Muskrat Falls. In the Muskrat Falls “debate” I saw arrogance that literally knew no bounds. I was there. I worked in the House of Assembly. It would have been funny had it not been so tragic. You are the only premier I haven’t met, but you don’t strike me as deluded, stupid or egomaniacal. So maybe there’s hope for dialogue with folks who have misgivings about this deal?

Have you read Justice LeBlanc’s Muskrat Falls Inquiry report on what went wrong? I’ve read it twice. Maybe you should. He has a few warnings you might want to heed.

Lots of your employees will tell you it’s a good deal. A brilliant deal. Sucking up helps people get ahead in government organizations. It’s healthy to meet with people less enamoured of you. People not dependent on you for their livelihood.

Notice Danny Williams is paying for ads opposing the deal out of his own pocket? You probably also noticed he did not align himself with his former party during the last election. He’s doing this on his own. Maybe I am starry eyed and naive, but I think he, like many of us, honestly wants what’s best for this place. We’re not sure this is it.

Maybe meet with Danny? If he’s wrong, so be it, but maybe you two could talk? What have you got to lose?
The Tories were demanding a referendum on this. That’s just political posturing, and stupid at that. They know, as do most of us, that most people in the province wouldn’t know if the deal was fit to eat.

That’s my point. You now hold all the cards, you have power, and time. What’s the rush? Why not take the time to ensure this is a great deal for all of us.

I am not saying don’t do a deal with Hydro Quebec. I’m asking you to make good and sure it’s a fair one for us.

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