One of these years

A rather revealing, and, for once, informative, exchange in the Bow-Wow Parliament on Wednesday:

MS JONES: Mr. Speaker, for well over a year now this government have been telling the people in Labrador West that they are going to stimulate the economy there, they are going to do work on the highway, they are going to do work on the hospital.

I ask you today, Minister: In light of what is happening in that area, the fact that we are coming up on the construction season, when are the tenders going to be called for the highway work and also for the hospital?

MR. TAYLOR: Mr. Speaker, somewhere around April 18 the tender will be called for the roadwork. On April 18 the tender will be called for the trade school; and, subject to discussions next week, Mr. Speaker, we will be in a better position, once we know the scope of programming and what have you at the hospital, we will be able to determine whether or not we can proceed with the tender call for cement and services for the hospital later this year.

If we somehow can't proceed with the tender call later this year... then that would mean that construction (and what have you) wouldn't begin until next year.

2010. At the earliest.

That would be the sixth calendar year since the "needs assessment", the fifth since the project was first announced (twice) ; the fourth after re-announcement again in 2007 (and again and again); the third after re-re-announcement in 2008 (and again); and the second since it was re-re-re-announced earlier this year yet again.

Of course, since the hospital project was re-re-re-re-re-announced as part of the Labrador stimulus package, this means that the work, which is the design portion of design-build, is being done in Labrador... right?

If this keeps up, Williams-Government runs the risk of sowing seeds of doubt and cynicism amongst some of the more free-spirited in the hitherto positive and optimistic electorate.

On the flip side, the longer the project is pushed off in the next 12 to 18 months, the more ostentatious the construction (and informative the associated signage) will be during the next provincial electoral cycle.

Unless — perish the nightmare scenario, ye bandwagoneers — s. 3.1 of the House of Assembly Act ends up being invoked...