Places that don't matter

CBC puts a little bit of top-spin on O.D.P.’s recollection of his conversation with Stephen Harper last fall, headlining its story, PM thinks N.L. ridings don't matter, Williams says

That’s not quite what Williams said Harper said (let alone what Harper said, as opposed to what Williams said Harper said)… but, heck, for fun, let’s assume it was.

Let’s assume that Harper did say, bluntly, and in as many words, that Newfoundland and Labrador ridings don’t count.

How is that any different from saying about Labrador, and the geographical makeup of a provincial cabinet, as Danny Williams said on the day he was sworn in as the Premier of Newfoundland — and Labrador — that “obviously certain portions of the province, minute portions of the province, can be left out”?