Accounting for geography, or not

Tom Hedderson writes a letter:

A per capita comparison of federal jobs at present, as was referenced in Mr. Wangersky's column, fails to account for the geography and rural nature of Newfoundland and Labrador. These realities may make higher rates of federal employment, versus other provinces, necessary in order to provide comparable levels of services. This is also a reason why we advocate for funding allocations in national programs that account for the cost of service delivery for rural and remote populations.

A question, then, for Minister Hedderson. Given that (at least) 70% of the provincial civil service seems to be concentrated in decidedly not-rural metro St. John's, what, if anything, is Williams Government doing about that problem?

Or is it a problem?

Or, perhaps, is "the geography and rural nature of Newfoundland and Labrador" a reality that "may make higher rates of federal employment... necessary in order to provide comparable levels of services", but only in respect of federal government services... not Williams Government ones?

Tom?

Harris Centre for the Study and Promulgation of Newfoundland Nationalist Mythology?

Anyone?