Letter: This government is steering us toward disaster

I am one of the lucky Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, with six children, four of whom, plus five grandchildren, are married and living in this province.

The last 40 years I have been trying to make this province a better place for them to live — calling in on “Open Line,” letter-writing, sitting on committees province wide, working on getting politicians elected and some defeated, so that this province can have a bright future.

We have a captain at the helm who is incapable of getting this province back on track.

He has proven that by agreeing to sign a deal with the union that no one gets laid off for the next four years. Of the many promises Dwight Ball made when running for premier, this is one he has kept.

They keep taxing people to death and borrowing money to keep workers in place who are not needed, and going further in the hole every year, using the excuse that layoffs will shock the economy. This is b.s. We lost the paper mills in Grand Falls and Stephenville, all the workers still found work and these towns are prospering.

The biggest cost to many employers is the cost of labour, and when employers get in trouble the first thing they do is downsize and try to save their business so that they can continue to exist and keep people employed.

Both the Newfoundland and Labrador Employers’ Council and the St. John’s Board of Trade has continued to press this government to cut spending, but the premier has refused to listen to the people who are keeping the economy and the province alive, and he is doing the complete opposite.

I have come to the conclusion this government has no intentions of curbing spending and getting this province back on course. The deal with the unions was the last straw for me.

With the boondoggle Muskrat Falls coming on stream in a couple of years (which the premier could have stopped), and a bloated, high-paid public service — people who are guaranteed their jobs for the next four years, this province is in the worst state that I’ve seen in my lifetime.

We have a captain of the Good Ship NL who is plowing through ice-infested waters at full speed, and as every captain in this province knows, by doing that you are risking the lives of all aboard, and the crew are standing by and watching it happen. Remember the Titanic!

This is a hard letter for me to write, seeing as I spent a lot of time and money getting this government elected. I have come to the conclusion this government has no intentions of curbing spending and getting this province back on course. The deal with the unions was the last straw for me.

This letter is written on behalf of my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who are facing a bleak future in this province. I know I will piss off some politicians by this letter, but I will continue to do it as long as they are playing politics with the future of my family.

To the people out here who think like I do, speak up before it’s too late, let your member know that you are not satisfied with their performance and they are not doing what we elected them to do. It’s time for politicians of all stripes to get their act together and bring this province back on track.