It is no secret that the Canadian experiment has been very, very good to the Atlantic provinces and Newfoundland in particular. Newfoundland discovered after centuries of being a British colony that quasi-independence was not a paying proposition and allowed itself in 1949 to be seduced into Confederation on payment of its debts and the promise of a steady stream of federal government cash transfers. And I'm glad it did. We would all be poorer as Canadians if the Rock had joined the USA or allowed itself to be annexed by Greenland. Can we imagine a Canada without Rex Murphy, figgy duff, squid-jigging and seal-clubbing? I can't.
And so it is with dismay that I observe erstwhile cod fisherman ripping up maple leaf flags and Newfie officials calling for scrapping Confederation and not enforcing Canadian laws. Throw in terrorist fishermen in New Brunswick, resorting to arson and intimidation to get a bigger quota for their crab catch and I have to ask the Atlantic provinces: what the heck do you think you're doing? Instead of whining and breaking the law like a bunch of French wine-growers, you should be on your knees thanking a gracious Providence for allowing you to live in a country that has subsidized your poverty-stricken region to the hilt and encouraged you to drink too deeply for too long of the overflowing cup of federal pogey. Burning some Micmac's boat isn't going to make the crab any more plentiful and calling for the head of Fisheries Minister Thibault won't bring back the cod. Relax, grab yourselves a Moosehead, and listen to the fiddles. Isn't that what I pay my taxes for?
Posted by at May 8, 2003 11:12 PM