It won’t be long now before the economic recovery committee currently  plotting our future will weigh in on where that economic road may lead. I personally hope they are tough as nails, because we cannot go on the way we are going. It is, by the way, a good idea politically to have an unelected and prestigious advisory group that’s not elected.

Whatever the recommendations, no matter how tough, Premier Furey and company can say; “Well it isn’t us.”

Financial righteousness

It’s hoped that all things are on the table and that unpopular decisions won’t be shot down by three calls to an open line show and a protest at Confederation Building. 

Governments too often  get driven by what is popular. That’s how Mount Pearl became a city separate from St. John’s and how the province of Newfoundland somehow became Labrador and the island portion of the province.

I hope the latest attempt to put us on the path to financial righteousness is real. 

Basic questions need to be asked and answered about services and costs. How many teachers do we need? How many nurses? How many communities can we service without collapsing. Who keeps the lights on and who keeps the roads plowed and at what cost? I don’t know the answers, but the questions are real. 

There was encouraging news from the City of St. John’s this week. Like a light in the darkness they took the decision to shut the Railway Coastal Museum. 

The basic reason is that not enough people go there and it’s too expensive to operate. There was the expected hue and cry about our heritage. That was predictable enough. I know a bit about the railway. 

I worked there at several jobs including on the trains. I know that people like everything about trains except actually riding them for transportation. 

I also know I did one of the video exhibits at the Railway and Coastal Museum and in my couple of visits there I never saw another visitor. It’s too far west on Water Street to attract a lot of people. I suspect the Newman premises is like that; too far west.

Bring it on!

I digress. To the provincial government my prayer is; Come on with the tough decisions! The good of the province is at stake. Let me assure you that the future and our basic democracy is on the table.

If we don’t make the tough decisions they WILL be made for us. Ottawa won’t let us starve in Newfoundland, but there will be somebody from Ottawa sitting in Confederation Building making sure that not a penny is spent without  he or she signing off on it. That’s the background … Bring it on!