COLEMAN: BORING AS A EULOGY AT FILLATRE'S

My decennial vacation forced me to rely on reports for what Frank Coleman said when he announced he was seeking the leadership of the P.C. Party.  This Blogger confirmed six weeks ago that the “fix” was in; Danny had recruited Coleman and the Caucus had fallen in line, just as it had for Dunderdale.  Still, rumours of Coleman’s wobbling abounded until the decision became official. 

Minutes before sitting in a kayak to navigate the warm waters of the Baja Peninsula the internet confirmed Coleman’s move.    It reported a story, too, that Steve Kent, John Ottenheimer and Shawn Skinner had contracted a case of weak-knees.  Williams had given them the evil eye, it seems, a look evidently so malevolent that it melted their already half-completed nomination forms.  They know they must never shag with the dark forces.  But, what of it, if deference is their strong point.

Back on Terra Nova, I asked one wit how Coleman’s Press Conference had turned out.  He replied: “B’y it was as boring as a eulogy at Fillatre’s”.   (Fillatre operates Funeral Homes on the West Coast).  That seemed an odd if not depressing characterization of Coleman’s coming out.
I scoured the internet and found no “Frank Coleman for Premier” Web Site and no Press Statement; then off to the CBC archives, only to learn the Candidate had introduced himself and otherwise said little about the job he hoped to perform.  Not a word was spoken as to what he stood for nor any of those all-important matters of public policy. 

Coleman is hardly a household name; that he might share a little of himself, seemed not too excessive an expectation.

I wondered. Can I count on Cochrane? Surely, CBC’s On-Point would attempt to fill a rather large gap in the register of one who sought to be the Province’s First Minister.   

Had I known the two ads that constitute the price of admission to the CBC’s On-Line video would be the most upbeat and informative part of the ‘Show’, I might have logged off then.  But expectation is always the mother of disappointment. 

I was fifteen minutes into On-Point when the thought struck me: is Cochrane going to do all the talking? Who is interviewing whom?

Coleman muttered he wanted to keep the economic momentum going that the Tories had started; mid-way, pressed by Cochrane as to his plans, he offered that he wanted to deal with some things successive Governments had kicked down the road like the public sector pension plan. He opined that he had no solution right now.   

Coleman talked about the importance of transparency alluding to Dunderdale’s failure to connect and noted “he is the sort of person who likes to let people into the game”.

It took Cochrane to say that Premier Marshall was working on that though it struck me Cochrane must be big on Committees because the evidence is less than impressive that Marshall is engaging in anything but talk, especially on the matter of oversight of Muskrat Falls. 

Pressed by the Host on the subject of ‘change’, all Cochrane got was Coleman’s admission he is a “fiscal conservative”.

That’s as much as we know of what Frank Coleman is bringing to the table; slim pickin’s in the era of Television, Facebook and Twitter.  I guess he’s just not a ‘content’ guy.

Then, I remembered the earlier sage, the one who described Coleman’s official announcement as “boring as a eulogy at Fillatre’s”.  Of course, Coleman had never intended to say anything.

Suddenly, I understood what he meant by “fiscal conservative”:  it’s an economy of words, stupid! 

Jeepers, one Dwight Ball is boring enough.  But two?  

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