Give Lane a whistle and zebra stripes

When most people screw up at work, either they can cover their tracks or endure ribbing from a few coworkers. My mistake was published then distributed to households all over the Avalon Peninsula and beyond.
For those who missed it, earlier this month I wrote an open letter to Premier John Hogan before the election, which I knew would be published after the election. Whoopsiedoodle.
I took a chance and I lost. The people of the province, however, won.
No doubt my detractors cut that piece out for the fridge, but I was actually touched by how kind many readers were about my public embarrassment. Truth is, I was deeply embarrassed, so thanks to those who reached out.
The people have spoken. The Liberals lost.
The embarrassing column was aimed at trying to stop the misguided Churchill River deal the Liberals were promoting as the centrepiece of their campaign. I felt people didn’t care enough about that deal, that the Liberals would win the election and then sign it. I felt they were making a grave mistake. I assumed they would win. I did what I did as a sort of last-ditch effort.
Fortunately, I was very wrong. Turns out people did care. Like the Liberals, I underestimated the voters.
For the record I am still unimpressed with Wakeham and his team. My take on the recent election is he and his crew didn’t win, the Liberals lost. They bet on what they saw as a sure thing and like me they were very wrong.
The narrow margin of overall victory for the PCs, not to mention the narrow vote margins in many of the districts, tells me the people of the province don’t care about party affiliation. They just want their elected officials to work together.
With that narrow majority the PCs are going to have to do just that. The math makes that a political necessity. I say to hell with the math. I think the House should work together, Tory, Liberal, NDP and Independent because we all want it that way. Things have to change. There needs to be a new way of doing the people’s business.
Years ago, the PCs had a majority, refused to work with other elected officials, rammed Muskrat Falls through the House and now we owe billions and billions of dollars. Pride went before that fall. We simply can’t afford to keep doing business like that. We need a new approach. We all need to work together for the benefit of the people of this province. How do we do that?
If I was in charge, I would ask Independent MHA Paul Lane to be Speaker and charge him with the extra duty of keeping a lid on partisan nonsense.
Think about it. It solves the pesky power balance as the PCs keep all 21 votes. If anyone was ever born to be Speaker it’s Lane, who has not only been an elected member of both major parties, but quit each one in turn on principle. He knows how they work, is hip to their shenanigans, and is not affiliated with either. He owes nothing to any of them. He has been in the House for years and knows how it works (and how it doesn’t). As a long-time independent candidate, he clearly has the support of the voter.
The House has a lot of old rules, but they can be changed. Also, all sitting MHAs have to agree ahead of time that the Speaker’s decision is final. So, he has leeway in his decision-making, if he wants it.
If change is going to start, I vote he’s just the lad to start it.
Can he do it? Will he do it? Will the PCs have the foresight to ask him? Who knows? I think it’s worth a try, and he would be my choice.
Lane should be the new political referee. Instead of the stuffy outdated garments the Speaker is “supposed” to wear, lets get him a black-and-white striped jersey and a whistle! Instead of boring old traditional openings, he should start every session by saying, in his booming baritone, “Let’s get ready to ruuuuumbleee!”

Ivan Morgan can be found rumbling at ivan.morgan@gmail.com