Saturday, May 31, 2003

All Resourced Up and No Place to Go

It seems that our Canuckistani friends might be facing another separationist movement (via Freedom News Daily). The Newfies are apparently up in arms about the national government's decision to close the cod fisheries.

Well, cry me a tidal pool. Those whacky right-wingers over at Greenpeace point out that government policies of bribing the fishery industry and workers with "gubmint" subsidies has ended up destroying the cod crop, once one of the most abundant ocean resources in the world. Now that the Liberals have finally wised up, it seems that "government intervention" is no longer something admirable in the Maritimes. One of the big reasons that Newfoundland is now a part of Canada is that its previous government was so kleptocratic that it eventually had to dissolve itself and resume colonial status under British control! If Newfoundland does eventually resume its independent dominion status, one hopes that it will take the lessons of its history to heart and embrace fiscal responsibility. Given the long years that it subjected itself to Ottowa's dubious largesse, I find that highly unlikely.

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