The late Walter Carter first came to Ottawa in 1968 as a Progressive Conservative MP from St. John’s. He served for a spell, quit, then tried to come back as a Trudeau Liberal — losing twice before deciding to stick with Newfoundland politics where he served as a cabinet minister in two Progressive Conservative governments before finishing in the cabinet of Liberal Clyde Wells.
Astute readers will have counted Carter switching parties not once, not twice, but three times before retiring in 1996. Carter’s constituents apparently liked him — most of the time — no matter the team he was playing for.
Carter is but one example of the great personalities that makes Newfoundland and Labrador irresistible to political junkies in the rest of Canada.
One of those outsize personalities is about to retire.
On Friday, Danny Williams’ will spend his last day as premier. He says he has no plans for now other than to take a rest from public life, but some enterprising federal Conservative ought to figure out how to get Williams into Stephen Harper’s cabinet.
Newfoundland is the only province without a Conservative MP. Williams made sure of that in the 2008 election with his “Anything But Conservative” campaign, launched after the premier’s spat with Harper over equalization.
If relations were patched up, Williams’ personal popularity would be enough for the Tories to sweep all seven of his province’s federal seats, which would go a long way to giving the PM his coveted majority government.
But, like Carter, Newfoundlanders would likely love Williams no matter what team he was on. If Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals could set the right bait, Williams could not only defend the six seats the Libs have now on the Rock and perhaps help the red team elsewhere in Atlantic Canada.
Here’s hoping Danny chooses one or the other after his break.
Meanwhile, Newfoundlanders wonder who will replace him.
For now, Williams’ natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale will take the job and become her province’s first female premier. When that happens, incidentally, Newfoundland will be the first province where the leaders of all provincial parties are women.
But beyond Dunderdale, could Rick Hillier, the pride of Campbellton, N.L., be premier? Canada’s most popular general ever was in Ottawa this week at a fundraising dinner for Memorial University of Newfoundland, the institution where Hillier now serves as chancellor. The premiership would be his for the taking and Hillier is said to be seriously considering it.
He still has a keen desire for public service but is also wise enough to know he risks significant harm to his current excellent public image by mixing it up in the rough-and-tumble world of politics.
Hillier is great on leadership but the knock on him is he was never much of a policy guy. Where is he on health care? On equalization?
And while everyone knows Hillier loves the Toronto Maple Leafs, no one’s quite sure if he wears a blue or red jersey when it comes to politics.
Sources who worked with him during his military career tell me Hillier once described his political views in private conversation as “to the right of Attila the Hun” but in public he has tried to maintain his political neutrality and independence.
Still, he, too, is one of those outsized Newfoundland personalities that would enliven our national political life. And our national political class could certainly use his candour, wit, and good judgment.
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