Things that bug people
From the Sunday running of the St. John's Telegram, and Tara Mullowney's pre-appearance profile of historian Margaret MacMillan:
Examples of history influencing residents and policy-makers in Newfoundland and Labrador abound, she said, with this province's history as a British colony often shaping local people's attitudes towards the rest of Canada.Hey, you know what else bugs people?
"It seems to me when I meet people from Newfoundland, you have a very different sense of yourself culturally," MacMillan said. "It's partly geography, too - you're an island and that affects people. Also, I notice when you're talking about the Churchill Falls deal, it obviously still bugs people."
Those people who "have a sense of themselves... as an island" who insist on still being "bugged" by the decidedly non-insular Churchill Falls deal.
That bugs people.
posted by WJM @ 4:22 AM
5 Comments:
I'm a little unclear. Does living on the island portion of the province mean that I shouldn't be frustrated by the Churchill deal?
a) I live in Newfoundland and Labrador, and as such, am frustrated by the deal.
b) I live on an island, and have a sense of what living on an island means.
The two are mutually exclusive, and not in opposition.
I agree that the quote is insensitive to Labradorians, but I think your response is a little off.
a) I live in Newfoundland and Labrador, and as such, am frustrated by the deal.
b) I live on an island, and have a sense of what living on an island means.
Both perfectly valid. But no one should ever confuse "island" and "province".
Anyone who's upset about Churchill Falls has no right to conceive of the province as an island.
And anyone who conceives of the province as an island, has no business being upset about Churchill Falls.
Agreed.
I might be wrong on this one - and I didn't read the original article - but isn't Margaret MacMillan not a Newfoundlandler?
Hey, you know what else bugs people?
Those people who "have a sense of themselves... as an island" who insist on still being "bugged" by the decidedly non-insular Churchill Falls deal.
If she's not a Newfoundlander her statement is simply misinformed - she doesn't speak for Newfoundlanders.
but isn't Margaret MacMillan not a Newfoundlandler?
If she's not a Newfoundlander her statement is simply misinformed - she doesn't speak for Newfoundlanders.
Never claimed she is, or that she did, but that she described an irksome juxtaposition of two Newfoundland political-cultural leitmotifs: "we are an island" and "we got ripped off on Churchill Falls".
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