Integral-er

Congratulations to Lake Melville MHA John Hickey who has belatedly, but finally, been invited into Danny Williams' growing inner circle.

Given the Premier's propensity for the usual Newfoundland-nationalist jingoistic rhetoric about how Labrador is an "integral part of the province", etc., the slighting of Labrador over the past three years has been, and remains, unacceptable. Indeed, Danny even justified his original decision not to bring Hickey into cabinet on the basis that "minute" regions of the province could safely be left out.

With so much of Danny's political capital invested in Labrador-centred policy planks such as the so-called Lower Churchill development, the fixed link fantasy (which he has never abandoned despite the negative results of the pre-feasability study he ordered), and possible mineral developments in the iron patch and the uranium belt, it has never been more important that someone who is directly accountable to the electors in Labrador is seated at the table that makes the key decisions.

Hopefully the Hon. John will also be able to convince the Premier and his colleagues that being an "integral part of the province" means that Labrador will receive honest-to-goodness provincial funding commitments under provincial heads of jurisdiction... not just promises that are entirely conditional on federal matching funding that may or may not exist.

Credit must go to Danny for finally doing the right thing.