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General Rick Hillier, Premier of Newfoundland
Canadian General Eyes Takeover of Newfoundland & Labrador
By Myles Higgins
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
These days a persistent and well sourced rumor is making the rounds in Ottawa and appearing in both national and local media. It seems Newfoundland and Labrador's native son and Canada's top General, Rick Hillier, may be considering a run at the Premier's chair after he retires.
The general is clearly comfortable traveling in political circles and there's no doubt he understands how to play the game in Ottawa, so it's not really a stretch when you think about it.
Some might even think a military man is just what we need to whip the province into shape and "go to battle" with Ottawa over our treatment in confederation. I'm not convinced.
The kind of political battles we're accustomed to seeing in this province will probably be a thing of the past if the General takes command of Canada's eastern most colonial outpost. While a period of relative peace might be welcomed by some, it won't come without a price.
It takes a lot of political maneuvering, a great deal of back scratching and an unquestioning loyalty to your superiors to make it to the top military post. Most of all it takes the ability to follow orders, often very distasteful ones, without question. Something Rick Hillier has been trained to do his entire life.
That's the problem.
It may not be a popular position to take, questioning NL's number one military man, but if General Hillier becomes Premier will we be trading away a leader the mainland papers have dubbed a "dictator" for one who's nothing more than a federal "puppet"?
No offense to the General, I respect him immensely and recognize the difficult job he is doing for Canada. I just don't want him doing that job here.
I don't doubt his intelligence, his character or his abilities. The problem is that I also don't question his allegiance to Canada or his loyalty to his political superiors.
I'm not too fond of the ultra right wing zealots holding Parliament Hill hostage these days. I also don't like the idea of a former military leader ruling Newfoundland and Labrador. Call me crazy but when you add the two together it leaves the door open for some pretty strange situations.
We all know that in Canada doing what's best for the country often means making decisions that can damage Newfoundland and Labrador. You only have to look at the recent battle over equalization to see that, or maybe you'd rather look back to the upper Churchill contract, the collapse of the cod fishery or the removal of the railway.
Ask yourself, if General Hillier was the top man in the province today would he take on Ottawa over their new un-equalization plan or would he support them? The plan hurts our province severely but it provides new benefits to the two most populated parts of Canada, Ontario and Quebec. Rightly or wrongly by federal logic that makes it the best thing for the nation. If there is one thing a man like General Hillier will defend to the death it's doing what he believes is best for Canada.
With all due respect to the General, do we really want a premier whose life has been dedicated to taking orders from behind closed doors in Ottawa?
Myles Higgins is freelance columnist, who lives with his wife and a terminally lazy Terrier named "Molson" in the beautiful town of Portugal Cove - St. Philips, His website can be found at: Web Talk - Newfoundland and Labrador. Myles can be reached at: letters@canadafreepress.com
