CROSBIE AND COFFIN CONTRIBUTING TO WEAK GOVERNMENT

One year after the General Election, Ches Crosbie’s pathetically weak Opposition should not go unnoticed. Neither should NDP Alison Coffin’s entirely un-influential role, despite holding the balance of power holding up a minority government. 

Another year of the same is layered onto a fifteen year legacy of disastrous public administration under Williams, Dunderdale, Marshall, and Davis and Ball. Each has built on the thesis of Lord Amulree, whose Royal Commission Report suggested that the British Constitution is not suited to the people of Newfoundland. That is to say, we are incapable of self-government. Crosbie and Coffin have done their part, too, to strengthen Amulree’s claim.

DOES CHES CROSBIE HAVE A FUTURE AS TORY LEADER?

The aftermath of the general election remains dominated by talk of recounts (especially in Labrador West), the NDP’s “balance of power” and, of course, P.C. Leader Ches Crosbie’s unscripted outburst on election night. In Minority Government Likely Short-Lived the Uncle Gnarley Blog allowed Premier Dwight Ball, at best, another year to get his affairs in order. A later Post entitled NDP Leader Alison Coffin Next Finance Minister? described the challenges that a mildly resurgent NDP will encounter as they navigate the terms for supporting Liberal dither.

Of course, the Tories didn’t exactly drop off the face of the Earth, having captured 43% of the popular vote in comparison with the Liberals’ 44%, and winning fifteen Seats. That is reason enough to consider what the election outcome says about the Tory Campaign and what it portends for Ches Crosbie.

POLL CLEAR AS MUD BUT LIKELY CANCELS SPRING ELECTION

Is anyone surprised that the latest MQO Poll places both the Liberals (44%) and the Tories (42%) in (possibly) a statistical tie? While neophyte PC Party leader Ches Crosbie has had an uninspiring start, which — for the Tories — aligns well with a non-performing Government, why would the public be in anything but a “show me” mood? 


The Premier's approval numbers testify to the legitimacy of the questions. MQO gives Ball’s leadership a “relatively steady… mean score of 5.2 [on a 10 point scale] this quarter”. Crosbie, in spite of his inability to light any fires, oversees a jump in support of 7% as the NDP races to the status of non-entity. 


MQO comments that declining support for the NDP reflects in the Tories' gain, but that is tantamount to suggesting change in the chemistry of oil and water. More likely, a pervasive leadership vacuum is adding room for fluctuation in the popularity of the two traditional Parties, it being left to both mainstream and social media to set the public agenda based on whatever passes as news.

CHES CROSBIE SENDING WRONG MESSAGES

I am not quite sure who the new Leader of the PC Party, Ches Crosbie, is trying to impress with some of the positions taken in recent weeks.

While he shares the well-known Crosbie name, he is coming up short in proving that he is his father's son. Regardless of the side of the partisan divide upon which one sits, John Crosbie, Ches' father, could be counted on to be forthright and to say publicly — in the Halls of Parliament and in the provincial and federal Cabinets — exactly what was on his mind.

One example is often repeated in a CBC clip in which he is surrounded by a throng of frustrated fishers following the declaration of the Cod Moratorium. Crosbie the elder forthrightly answers one indignant protester: “I didn't take the goddamn fish out of the goddam ocean!”