Selective autonomy

“I don’t guide myself, or our government doesn’t guide ourselves, by what Premier McGuinty does, or Prime Minister Harper does, or anyone else in the country does. We’re running our own show down here, and we do it as we see fit, and I think we’re doing a great job.”

- Danny Williams, applauding Danny Williams for Danny Williams’ autonomy in not bothering to open the House of Assembly that he’d just been re-elected to, October 30, 2007

“I also understand from a quick read of it, that some of these mastectomies are performed through outpatients, which amazes me, quite frankly, but if that is the procedure which is being done across the country I* will have to find out whether that is the norm. Of course, we* will obviously leave that to the Minister of Health.”

- Danny Williams, non-autonomously citing other provinces’ norms, when citing-what-the-other- provinces-do suddenly became more convenient, April 15, 2008

* Note as well the number switch in that most recent statement (“I will have to find out... we will obviously leave that to the Minister of Health.”)