PEI government: You can't trust the Harper Conservatives

So, how's that new era of federal-provincial cooperation going again there, Steve?

Premier Robert Ghiz accused the federal Conservatives on Tuesday of leaking details of talks with the province about aid to the P.E.I. lobster industry to the provincial Opposition.

An angry Ghiz said in the legislature that the federal Conservatives can't be trusted.

``Just for everybody's knowledge, because we might as well say it, unfortunately, you can't trust your federal counterparts,'' Ghiz said during a heated exchange with Tory fisheries critic Jim Bagnall.

Ghiz accused several high-ranking federal Conservatives of leaking information about an aid package for Island lobster fishermen.

(snip)

He went on to name names, pointing fingers at four federal Conservative bureaucrats who took part in meetings between the federal and provincial government Monday.

``We are ready to make an announcement. Unfortunately, we were waiting on our federal counterparts,'' said Ghiz. ``But either Gail Shea, Pat Dorsey, Wayne Hooper or Philip Brown leaked that information to the honourable member from Montague-Kilmuir.''

``Here we have a clear indication that the member from Montague-Kilmuir is more concerned about politics in this province than he is with helping out Islanders, and I say shame on him and shame on his party.''

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In PEI is it a red shift?

The Charlottetown Guardian reports that Keith Milligan, the candidate that lost to the infamously departed for business reasons Robert Morrissey for the Liberal nomination in Egmont, will again seek the Liberal nod:

Milligan, who lost to Morrissey in last fall's closely fought nomination battle, said he has carefully considered the consequences of the new political developments in Egmont.

“I am not making any rash decision here, I have carefully thought through the situation and have consulted very extensively within the party...It is after this process that I am now announcing.”

Milligan has considerable political experience. He was elected to the provincial legislature six times and has held a number of high-profile portfolios, including being premier.

When reached for comment, Conservative spokesperson Ryan Sparrow said Milligan has decided to run for the Liberals again because he really, really hates Stephane Dion's Green shift. He just hates it so much!

Don't forget to tip your waitresses folks.

(Red shift because of the red soil.)

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Is this "so-called" Liberal media bias?

You may have read today that PEI Premier Robert Ghiz is endorsing the Liberal Party's Green Shift initiative to reduce carbon emissions, including sweeping tax cuts for Canadians and specific help for those living in poverty.

“I think green shift is the way to go,’’ Ghiz said in an interview with The Guardian.

“I think it’s a good idea but what we have to do is make sure it doesn’t hurt jurisdictions like Prince Edward Island.

“What we have to do as a provincial government is make sure that we work with whatever party is in power federally to make sure that when that tax shift does take place that seniors have more money, that low-income Islanders do have more money.’’

Here's how the major paper in the province, The Guardian, which “covers Prince Edward Island like the dew” by the way, headlined the story:


A fairly neutral headline I think. Now, the Guardian put the story on the Canadian Press wire, and it was pulled down by a one of their maritime cousins, the Turo Daily News in Nova Scotia. They decided to put a different spin on the story by re-writing the headline thusly:


“So-called green shift”? Well, at least they didn't totally adopt Conservative talking points (like, say, the National Post editorial board) and call it a tax trick. But it's not a so-called Green Shift. It is called the Green Shift (pending the outcome of assorted wacky and contrived legal tom foolery). The headline writer may have their doubts on how green it is, or how shifty. But it's not their place to editorialize in the headlines of newspaper articles.

On another note, after the comments from Ghiz the article features commentary from the PEI Conservatives' energy critic, Mike Currie. His party has crunched the numbers and, surprise surprise, it's the end of the world as we know it. But here's what I found quite amusing:

“I think that this guy (Ghiz) is running this government off the seat of his pants,” said Currie, who has spent 20 years in the oil business.

Trust the oil man folks, this environment plan is all bad. Global warmin', schmobal swarmin'. Consume!

P.S. I tried mightily to work a Anne of Green Gables or Road to Avonlea reference into this post, but I could not. I apologize. I have failed you.

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Parallels in PEI

Certainly it may be both stretching and wishful thinking to try and find many parallels between yesterday’s Liberal sweep in PEI and the federal situation, but as I was reading the Globe’s coverage of the PEI results a number of passages in the article did give me pause…

A form of vindication for Mr. Ghiz after years of Tory attacks, it comes in spite of the continuing personal popularity of Tory Leader Pat Binns, reputed to have stayed on specifically to face him.
…
The loss of Mr. Binns would be a major blow to the party. He is personally popular, the sort of person a neighbour would want to drink coffee with, and the Conservatives built this campaign around his profile. They tried hard to turn the race into a direct contest between the leaders, campaigning under the slogan "Leadership that works."

The Liberals countered with: "Put Islanders first ... for a change."

Personal attacks against the Liberal leader and his leadership skills. A Conservative Tim Horton's leader whose personal popularity outstrips his party's. A campaign built around the leader, and leadership.

Sounds rather familiar, n’est pas?

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