Voting day

Pledges and promises, from the mouth of Our Dear Premier:

“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. We have the deed to Labrador, but we don’t have the heart and soul of its residents — and that must change.” – Danny Williams, inaugural speech as PC Party leader, April 7, 2001

“I said I was embarrassed as a Newfoundlander in the manner in which we have treated Labradorians from time to time - is that we only paid lip service to the fact that Labrador is truly part of this Province. Not only do we have the deed, do we have the ownership as a Province to Labrador but, in fact, now they are a part of our name. We have to not only talk the talk but we have to walk the walk. We have to go out of our way to bring Labradorians into our Province. The very arguments I think that have been used by Newfoundlanders against the federal government is the fact that we have been treated as second class citizens, that we have been ignored, that we have been put aside. I think some of these same arguments you will here when you go through Labrador. They concern me. They concern me very greatly, and I think they have to be dealt with. Mr. Speaker, I think it is incumbent on all of us to make sure that we do include the people of Labrador in our Province in a more overt way.” – Danny Williams, maiden speech as MHA, House of Assembly, November 19, 2001

“I believe our province has been treating Labrador like second-class citizens… We will not develop the Lower Churchill unless the primary beneficiaries are Labradorians. You have my assurance on that.” – Danny Williams, at a campaign stop in Lake Melville,September 30, 2003

“For far too long, the people, resources and potential of Labrador have been ignored and excluded from decision-making processes of the Province. We can no longer tolerate this atmosphere of exclusion, and we must recognize that Labrador will play a pivotal role in the future success of this Province. Consistent with our energy policy objectives, a Progressive Conservative government will make use of the hydroelectric potential of the Lower Churchill and any electricity that can be recalled or reclaimed from the Upper Churchill to promote industrial development and meet domestic energy demand in Labrador and then on the Island of Newfoundland.” – PC Party platform, 2003

“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.” – Danny Williams’ letter to the Labrador Métis Nation, October 8, 2003

“I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the Labrador Party, a political movement born out of a sense of alienation and frustration that I believe is genuine. Our commitment is to address the root cause of that alienation and to involve Labradorians more than ever in decisions that impact the future of Labrador and our entire province.” – Danny Williams’ election night victory speech, October 1, 2003 “This province has given away your resources in Labrador (in the past). This government will not your give your resources away.” – Danny Williams, November 14, 2005

But he never said they would never take them away.

Vote.