This province being in the last throes of its financial life, Premier Andrew Furey asked Dame Moya Greene, with her expertise, to help resuscitate the province.
Furey gave Greene her terms of reference and a statement of work with a mandate, part of which is to provide an interim report to the government by Feb. 28, 2021 with a final report due by April 30, 2021.
The election campaign officially began Jan. 15, but unofficially long before Furey became premier. Some soon-to-be-candidates held fundraisers when the optics were not good given the COVID-19 public health protocols implemented by Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, our chief medical officer of health.
The scheduled Feb. 13th voting day would have put the election results well ahead of the interim report expected from Greene.
Furey says he consulted with Bruce Chaulk, the chief electoral officer, and Fitzgerald regarding the date of the election. I have seen no reference anywhere to whether they agreed or disagreed with the premier calling the election at this time, during the winter and amid a pandemic.
The Liberals have made this election about “rising to the challenge.” The biggest challenge is the survival of Newfoundland and Labrador…
As we all know, COVID-19 is not predictable; it has no favourites or friends. It was predictable that an outbreak could happen anytime, and as a medical doctor, Furey was aware of that.
The Elections Act gives Chaulk, as chief electoral officer, authority to prepare for such an event. But knowing we were in the middle of a pandemic, Chaulk didn’t seem to have a real backup plan once we had an outbreak. Every change seemed to be a knee-jerk reaction to developments as they happened over hours and days.
Through all the chaos, the voting date got pushed beyond the release of the Greene report. If the Greene report was released before voting was finished, some speculated it could harm Furey’s chance of winning a majority government.
In the last hours before it was due to be released, the Greene report was delayed for five to six weeks. Now there’s ample time for the vote to be completed.
Greene was given a mandate with a delivery date, and according to her history she always delivers. Many people feared what recommendations might be in that report. Other people realize something has to change.
The Liberals have made this election about “rising to the challenge.” The biggest challenge is the survival of Newfoundland and Labrador — the same reason Furey enlisted the help of Greene, but not one of the parties has dealt with the biggest detriment to the survival of Newfoundland and Labrador, our debt.
By the time this election is settled, our debt will be much worse than it was at the last provincial fiscal update.
Jerome Terry Sr.,
Mount Pearl
