Pomises, pomises

John Ottenheimer is heading up to Ottawa to give them flappy-headed Canadians a piece of his mind:

The Honourable John Ottenheimer, Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs, is in Ottawa today and Friday to meet with federal ministers regarding issues of importance to Newfoundland and Labrador and impress upon the federal government the importance of abiding by their commitments.

Hoo boy, that's rich, coming from a Minister in a government with this kind of track record:

[Lying Premier Danny] Williams insists the proper course is an independent study to determine the most effective plan to service Labrador by ferry.

The study, he said, will be carried out by Memorial University's public policy institute which should report back by late January or early February.

"They'll come back with an independent, non-partisan, non-regional approach to this and it'll be based on the facts," he said.

"We want to make a decision based on the best possible information. Let's get an accurate study done. And I think that serves the people of Cartwright and the people of Lewisporte." [St. John's Telegram, November 25, 2003]

Or:

"Our intention as government is to have an independent body determine the evidence-based foundation of configuring the service." [Source.]

Or:

A Progressive Conservative government will acknowledge that the decision in the Powley case applies to Metis in Newfoundland and Labrador, and will participate with specific rights affirmed in the Powley decision and other rights protected under s. 35 of the Constitution. [Source.]

Especially:

We will involve the Labrador Metis Nation, as we will representatives of all residents of Labrador, in the process of negotiating a Lower Churchill Development Agreement. [Source.]

This one:

“We will not develop the Lower Churchill unless the primary beneficiaries are Labradorians. You have my assurance on that.” [Danny Williams, quoted in the October 6, 2003 issue of The Labradorian.]

And above all else, in the immortal words of Danny Williams himself:

"It's high time that Labradorians, instead of feeling like someone else's treasure trove, started feeling like an integral part of our province. We cannot expect fair treatment from Ottawa if we don't practise what we preach."