Communication remains the single biggest chronic failure of the province’s COVID-19 response. As regular readers of these e-scribbles know, that means it is really a management problem. Government officials have a hard time explaining things clearly because they do not have a clear idea of what they are doing.  You can see this problem most clearly in the “Alert” system announced last spring.  Many countries, states, and even cities use alert systems like this for emergencies.  They are easy to understand – when they are properly put together – and all the people who nee ..read more

 We've moved to edhollett.substack.com. Read for free,  sign-up for email delivery, or subscribe and get special content on politics and history in Newfoundland and Labrador. Bond Papers by Ed Hollett ..read more

We’ve moved. Starting Monday, you’ll find SRBP at edhollett.substack.com. It’s January, the start of a new year. And it’s also the 16th anniversary of The Sir Robert Bond Papers. There’s a lot happening or about to happen in politics in Newfoundland and Labrador. So there’s no better time to shake things up. As in 2005, Bond Papers will still fill a niche on the local political scene, one that has grown to a chasm in some respects. Someone said the other day that I was blogging before people knew what blogging was. A blog fit the need of the times. New demands or larger demands means finding a ..read more

This is the 15th year of Bond Papers. This Sunday marks the 16th anniversary and there's a big announcement coming. Check back. In the meantime, enjoy the top 15 posts from this past year. The facts of the case Cleaning up the mess of Muskrat Falls Interesting news buried under bullshit Number of active COVID cases in NL drops dramatically Troubling travel ban may be illegal Dr. 'aggies H'answer On the need for politics John Crosbie All the news the mob will let us print Three Covid Pressures GNL will Face Mimicry and Pantomime How much is Churchill Falls worth? The Bow-Wow Parliament Creat ..read more

There is no shortage of gaps in politics in Newfoundland and Labrador. Regular readers will be familiar with the Credibility Gap.  That’s the space between what a politicians says and what the politician does. Marketers forget that when it comes to reputation and hence lasting, reliable political support, actions speak far louder than words. They talk about brands and branding.  If you spend any time digging into brands and branding you will find really vague definitions that quickly lead you to the revelation that brands are for marketing what dependency theory and neo-liberalism ..read more

December 17 is an auspicious day in Muskrat Falls history. That was the date in 2012 when Kathy Dunderdale stood in front of a group of cheering supporters of the ludicrous megaproject and proclaimed that the government had formally approved its construction. “It all begins here!” she shouted to the overjoyed throng. ““It all begins now!” It didn’t start there of course. Kathy had stood with Danny Williams two years earlier - 18 November to be precise - and announced a deal to build Muskrat Falls, the project the media hailed as the fulfillment of a dream to build the Lower Churchill and brea ..read more

Danny Williams made the news last week. Williams was locked in a battle with St. John’s city hall over whether or not Williams could put a big Christmas tree in a round-about in his development at Galway. No one in the local news media noticed, though, that Thursday was the 10thanniversary of Williams departure from the Premier’s Office. Back then, they couldn’t say enough good about him.  The Telegram praised Williams as “The Fighter” – the title of the paper’s editorial the day after he announced he’d be leaving office – “a man of the people” whose popularity rating “hovered ..read more

 Accepting that life is all about risk is the first cognitive step. Mark Kingwell, On Risk (2020) The reporter just wanted to confirm how many active cases there were in the province.  The question at last Monday’s news conferencewas simple enough.  It’s a figure the Chief Medical Officer’s staff releases every day when they update the government’s COVID 19 page. Dr. Janice Fitzgerald chuckled.  She didn’t know. And what’s more, it’s not a number people in public health pay attention to, according to Fitzgerald.  People talk about it publicly, Fitzgerald said, but ..read more

The federal government offered the provincial governments its share of about $19 billion in COVID aid delivered to provinces in July. There was another chunk earmarked for municipal transit systems. Buses. CBC reported  at the time that "Newfoundland and Labrador did not apply for that [transit] money".  Apparently, "... the City of St. John's said any transit losses it experienced were minimal compared with larger cities." "We wouldn't have a significant enough loss to make value of that," said [Mayor Danny] Breen. Fast forward to November. The city slashed the Metrobus budget ..read more

 In Newfoundland and Labrador, politicians and public health bureaucrats are dealing more with a pandemic of fear than of disease. It is one they helped create.  It is one they sustain in the way they talk and act.  Let us hope that Monday’s news conference is not another of their super-spreader events. On Saturday, the Deer Lake town council held an emergency meeting and decided to close the town hall and a local recreation centre for two weeks.  They also decided – apparently without consulting public health officials - to encourage all businesses in t ..read more