I wonder if  the Quebec Premier did something similar,how would we react? ,,,but I did find it amusing.

 

Yeah i know,more sarcasm.

VOCM NEWS:::::::: Premier to Undergo Surgery

Premier Danny Williams will undergo heart surgery later this week, and he's expected to be out of office anywhere from three weeks to three months. Acting Premier Kathy Dunderdale says Williams is the US for the surgery. Dunderdale says the prognosis is good. She says he went to the States following the advice of his physician, and the option to stay here in the province was not given. Dunderdale says the day to day operations of the province will continue as usual, and she is asking Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to keep the Premier in their thoughts and prayers. She declined to get into specifics of the surgery or exactly where it will take place. She says there will be a period of recovery, and then the Premier will address the situation.  Dunderdale says there will be no quick action taken on any issues including any byelections. The resignation of MHA Elizabeth Marshall to go to the Senate, has left the Topsail riding vacant. Dunderdale says the business of government will go on. They do have legislative deadlines to meet but they will wait until they have a better idea of what the Premier's recovery time will be. Dunderdale says they will not get ahead of themselves. Dunderdale says those who are criticizing the Premier's decision to seek treatment in the United States, rather than here in the province, need to reserve their judgement until all the details of his condition are revealed. She says the Premier has full confidence in the province's medical system and he was very grateful to the health professionals who have treated him so far. Dunderdale says the procedure he has to undergo is not offered here. She says people need to have patience until the details are out.

The Opposition Parties are wishing Williams a speedy recovery. Liberal Leader Yvonne Jones says her thoughts and prayers are with the Premier and his family. NDP Leader Lorraine Michael says at this point she doesn't have any concerns about the operations of government.

 Hopefully our Premier will come out of this ok and be back to work soon. A Facebook site has already been put up for those who wish to comment. Click on the link to go there.

Binding Arbitration,we need it now!

An independent, third party body can have this Province back on track within days. Instead we see half a million people holding their breath and wondering what's next? We will be seeing a minimum level of patient care soon in a province that already lacks essential Health Care. Bargaining is suppose to be two sided but now it's a stalemate and we need a third party to step in and solve this one.

Williams to shuffle cabinet

Saturday, October 25, 2008 | 2:15 PM NT

CBC News

Premier Danny Williams will shuffle his cabinet sometime in the next two weeks.

He didn't say how big the shakeup would be, but Opposition leader Yvonne Jones said the premier needs to make some big changes to his inner circle.

The Liberal leader even has a list of changes she would like Williams to make.

"There's lots of people inside that cabinet that need to be shuffled right out the door in my opinion. One of those is in the Department of Health. One is in the Department of Education."

It isn't clear if Williams will heed that advice and remove Health Minister Ross Wiseman or Education Minister Joan Burke from cabinet.

The premier has said he will make finding a full-time fisheries minister a priority. Trevor Taylor has been acting in that role ever since Tom Rideout resigned last May.

"We do need a fisheries minister and of course if there's going to be any altering of portfolios as well, you want to make sure that these ministers have a chance to get in their portfolios, get briefed, up to speed, and are ready to answer questions in the house and obviously perform their duties as ministers. So, the sooner the better, but hopefully within a fortnight or 10 days we should be able to get it done," said Williams.

The house of assembly is set to reopen at the end of November. That would give the new ministers two or three weeks to brush up on their files.

Thousands of Home care workers and clients are hoping for a new Health Minister! Hopefully one that actually knows we must have a change in the Home care system in NL. Mr. Wiseman simply just shrugged it off by claiming no crisis existed.

Will there be a Hebron Miracle tomorrow?
Will the rain cease on Qudi Vidi and the skies open,will the sun shine tomorrow?
(with apologies to songwriter Michael Lachiusa)

There will be a miracle
Stick around and see
You need patience for a miracle
Timing is the key

Could not have happened yesterday
And tomorrow is not too late
The moment has to be exact
And until then, we have to wait

You can never rush a miracle
You can't force a thing to be
I am desperate for a miracle
But it won't come just for me

We will all share the miracle
As everybody should
Little ones
Bay Men
Townies
Labrador Settlers
Innu
Inuit
Metis
Seniors
the ordinary little Newfie
Hungry souls and home care workers such as me

I always knew there would be a miracle
I wondered when and how
And I will see a miracle
There will be a miracle
If not soon, now

There will be a miracle
We will see a miracle
Wake me for the miracle
Wake me for the...

I apologize to anyone i may of left out. As we are use to hearing in NL it'll trickle down,like the miracle,just you wait and see.

Commission of Inquiry on Hormone Receptor Testing

"The Commission shall not express any conclusions or recommendations regarding the civil or criminal responsibility of any person or organization, and shall deliver its final report and recommendations to the Minister of Health and Community Services on or before July 30, 2008."

It's to bad that our Premier and Justice Minister didn't fall under the same recommendations !

Government Debates Home Care (fr. VOCM News)

The legislature debated home care. But the official opposition received no support from government in trying to bring in emergency measures to deal with the home care situation in the province. It called for measures to help those in need of home care until a government review is completed and long term plans introduced. Liberal leader Yvonne Jones says government members are well aware of the situation. Jones says it is disheartening to know government is refusing to act until the review is completed while many seniors go without some of the basic life necessities in order to pay for homecare. Health Minister Ross Wiseman says he expects the review to be completed as early as September.

The present Government in NL just does not grasp the situation! This motion was just for emergency measures and could of helped until a long term plan was put in place. I doubt if any solution will be found until the premier makes a cabinet shuffle and gets rid of the biggest oxymoron in NL Health Care History. Ross the Wiseman never could understand the situation and denies a crisis exists.

I just feel like being sarcastic again today. Must be the weather.

That was fast!
PM Harper has written a reply to the Premier concerning the Ten Billion owed to the province.

The local water hole,Cape Ray.

Recently the premier announced the government will spend quite a bit of money this year to make the quality of drinking water in this province better. The shot above is how a great many residents of my community get their drinking water. Several years ago our community tried to obtain a clean source for the households of the community but failed when we could not come up with Ten Thousand Dollars, our share of the water study. Lately we have seen a few new homes go up in the community and the way things are turning around in the province work wise i suspect we might see a few more homes constructed in the future. This year we have saw more people getting work locally rather then going West to seek work at their trades. Maybe the local Zone Board can help us seek out or plan a water source with the money that may come from government.


It's 2008 and time to drill a few wells in Cape Ray.I'm sure we have enough drilled in third world countries by now, so lets see some charity at home this year.

Just minutes in the New Year and already a Scientific breakthrough announced.It's now possible for a member of Parliament to have his eyes and ears in Confederation Building,St. Johns,NL and have the asshole remain in Ottawa!

PEACE BY CHRISTMAS ?
Sort of reminds me of the above photo.

Premier to Meet With Prime Minister
November 29, 2007

Premier Danny Williams has agreed to sit down with the Prime Minister when he visits this province tomorrow. Williams says his office confirmed the meeting, set for 4:30 tomorrow afternoon in St. John's, two days ago. Williams says he's pleased to have a face-to-face discussion with the PM on issues of importance to the province. Stephen Harper is making several stops in this province over the weekend; including making an announcement in Stephenville, then attending MP Fabian Manning's official nomination ceremony in Holyrood tomorrow evening. Saturday, a visit to Port de Grave is the main event. A ceremony is planned to recognize those who rescued six crab fishermen from the freezing Atlantic last May when the Nautical Legacy caught fire. Premier Williams says on the agenda will be non-renewable resource revenue, 5-Wing Goose Bay, the fishery and the strong Canadian dollar.

An historic agreement concerning Mi'kmaq in this province is expected to be formally signed in Stephenville tomorrow. It is one of the items on the prime minister's tentative agenda, for a two day visit to the island. Liberal MP Gerry Byrne expects Stephen Harper will officially recognize the aboriginal status of the Federation of Newfoundland Indians, and says this recognition will mean alot to the Mi'kmaq people. There are 45 hundred Mi'Kmaqs in nine bands, primarily in western and central regions of the province.

In your face Steve !

I think i know the reason why Danny will not open the House of Assembly until spring,2008! Danny recently appeared on "This Hour has 22 Minutes" and tonight he'll appear on the "Rick Mercer Report." It's obvious! Danny wants to win a Gemini Award! Rumor has it he'll appear in several more Canadian TV shows in December. Just watch the new RCMP Officer who guest stars in "Corner Gas." In January he'll guest star as a new Imam on "Little Moqsue on the Prairie." Come March in the house when questioned by the opposition, he'll just sit back with his award in front of him,spit polished by Tom and Ross and grin like a Cheshire cat saying under his breath "in your face Steve."

The Premier quoting FDR.

During the premiers victory speech he quoted Franklin D. Roosevelt saying, "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little." For the Home Support workers in NL and their clients i hope the Premier keeps his word. If the Premier does not keep his word on providing for those who have little i might remind him of another quote from Franklin Roosevelt. A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.

All the worlds a stage.

A sunny day in the community today. I expect a big turnout and long lines at our polling station here in Cape Ray. So im suggesting only those that are voting liberal go and cast a vote today. Anyone voting PC can go tomorrow. This will make it much easier for all.

Attention Mr. Williams !

Manufacturers, NAPE Question Leaders
September 26, 2007

NAPE is using the election to get commitments from the political parties as it relates to home care workers. The union says workers in that industry are paid abysmally low wages, which in turn has created hiring problems for companies. NAPE says the problems will continue as long as government policy relegates pay for home care workers to little more than minimum wage. Union president Carol Furlong says they can find greater benefits working in the fast food industry than caring for the sick and elderly.

Furlong is calling on all three parties to outline their plans to deal with the wage issue.

Probably one of the biggest crisis in the province and no one in Government will acknowledge it. If something drastic happened in the Home Care system tomorrow and someone suffered terribly we would see many champions of the cause. Until that time it'll be just thrown on the back burners and forgotten. Mr Wiliams you can be a champion of the cause in the present and not the future when it might be to late for some. Please help the Home Support Workers in NL have a better life. Those we help, know we care. Let us all know you care also!

New make work project revealed !

Sometimes i just don't know what to make of it all! The premier has announced the greatest NL make work project of all time ($1000 for any baby adopted or born in NL) and he estimates it'll only cost 4.5 million. Of course at our age the wife and i are disqualified and nothing is being offered for even trying at our age. Actually the wife looked over at me when the announcement was made and said,"don't even think about it!" My mind started racing and i could not help but grin at the whole thing. I wondered in case of twins would it be considered as double billing and would John Noseworthy be checking out such instances. I thought about the expecting mothers outside of the province who would schedule their vacation time around the time the baby is due and come back home to pick up a few Danny dollars. I thought of all the times callers to open line radio who would make statements such as "i was born a PC/liberal, i'll die a PC/liberal" and now it could actually be a little closer to the truth. This financial incentive no doubt might help those who will have children and i'm sure it would be welcomed. The Premier said the province cannot afford to have its population shrink any further. I agree Mr. Williams,so how about a little incentive for those of us living here and thinking about leaving for better pastures. Each day for us moving to Alberta is a possibility because of the low wages we receive as Home Care Workers in this province. So how about an immediate wage increase? A lot of Home Care Workers might not be able to take part in your new program but a wage increase might make a difference in keeping us here to keep the population up a bit.

Equity,Equity,Equity, but no Equality for others.

A few weeks ago the letters M -O- U became a part of the new vocabulary around the water coolers and coffee shops. Lately it's Equity. Websters defines it as " justice according to natural law or right; specifically : freedom from bias or favoritism b : something that is equitable."
Equality on the other hand is defined as the quality or state of being equal.

The home care workers in NL have known for quite sometime that equality is not synonymous with equity. Home Support Workers are lower down on the health care hierarchy.They are also the most vulnerable. The majority in NL are women, and a higher than average proportion are older than 40 years of age. The majority of Home Support workers in this province are under paid, have no health benefits, no sick days and no union to represent them in getting a better life. On the other hand Home Support Workers work with the mentally challenged and elderly in our province in most cases in the comfort of their own homes bringing to them a higher quality of life. Their work provides quite a savings for the health care system of this province but yet it goes unnoticed by the present administration and the previous ones. With all our so called new Equity in this province it might be high time to give a bit of equality to those of us who work in the home care sector. Mr. Williams please allow NAPE to represent us and bargain with us fairly. Unlike big oil you'll find that Home Care Workers just want what we deserve.

Ross speaks....not really!

From the VOCM News site:

Province Will Talk Wages With Nurses
August 18, 2007

Health Minister Ross Wiseman says they can't increase nursing wages until the current collective agreement is up for renewal. Nurses Union President Debbie Forward has said nurses in this province are the lowest paid in the country and that's a challenge when it comes to recruiting. Minister Wiseman indicates government will be willing to talk money when negotiations start.

What about the Home Care workers in NL Mr. Wiseman? We have no collective agreement with anyone. How about it Mr. Premier? You control the purse strings along with the puppet strings. How about wage increases for those of us who have no one to represent us?