Factual inexactitude

There are a whole bunch of things wrong with Ryan Cleary's latest column in the Newfoundland Weekly Separatist, (of which, more anon) and it also does a terrific, if inadvertent, job of revealing a Great Truth (of which, more anon) but for now, let's stick to this:

A ferry link is guaranteed in the Terms of Union, but, as usual, we didn’t check the fine print — there’s no guarantee of level of service or fee structure.

Blatantly wrong.

Everyone in Newfoundland seems to talk about the Terms of Union, but does anyone ever read them?

Read the Terms of Union, Ryan, specifically Term 32:

32. (1) Canada will maintain in accordance with the traffic offering a freight and passenger steamship service between North Sydney and Port aux Basques, which, on completion of a motor highway between Corner Brook and Port aux Basques, will include suitable provision for the carriage of motor vehicles.

There's your "level of service", right there in black and white in a constitutional enactment.

If that level of service isn't being met, take it to court. Seriously. With a Great Lawyer™ in charge of running, well, everything these days, and threatening to sue posteriors left, right, and centre, if there's a case, sue the federal government and win.

Other province-specific constitutional enactments, notably the PEI Terms of Union, but also the British Columbia ones, the Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba Acts, and even provincial-specific sections of the B.N.A. Act of 1867, have frequently been the subjects of litigation in the past.

If Great Lawyer™ can't make a Term 32 case, who can?

Enough jaw-jaw. More sue-sue.