SKIPPER'S BLOG: Fish Minister Musical Chairs

A colleague of mine recently visited the provincial Fisheries and Aquaculture building in St. John’s recently and was taken aback by the sheer number of photos he saw on the wall.

The photos were of all the people who had held the position of Fisheries Minister.

There have been a lot of them since Confederation, but we have never seen the disgusting and disturbing amount of turnover we have seen in the last few years.

Consider this:

From 1949 to now, including new minister Derrick Dalley, there have been 26 fisheries ministers (one acting).

Joey Smallwood’s government lasted 23 years, and in that time there were five fisheries ministers. That’s an average of 4.6 years per minister.

The Frank Moores/Brian Peckford Tory government lasted 17 years and produced eight ministers, for an average of 2.1 years per minister.

The Clyde Wells/Brian Tobin/Roger Grimes administration lasted 14 years and put six ministers in place for an average of 2.3 years per minister.

And now we have the Danny Williams/Kathy Dunderdale government, which has been in power for nine years  and produced seven fisheries ministers — that’s a new minister every 1.3 years.

And ladies and gentlemen that is absolutely not acceptable, and the game of musical chairs needs to stop.

How can a department be progressive and sensible by recycling ministers, and changing direction and leadership on average once a year?

Just when did the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture become such a damn wasteland?

There was a time when the job carried prestige and an opportunity for whomever was in the big chair to be seen and heard publicly on a regular basis and to cut their political swath across the landscape. It wasn’t like tourism where all you had to do was shut you face, make happy announcements and cut ribbons from time to time.

There was a time when the top jobs in the NL cabinet included Health, Justice, Finance, Education if there was some possibility of strife, and yes, Fisheries.

Think of the people who have held the job: John Crosbie, Walter Carter, Frank Moores, John Efford — they are political heavyweights all, and they all made their hay in the Fisheries Minister’s position.

Today, the job has become so interchangeable and undesirable now that you may as well put a yellow dog in the job.

There was a time when being named minister of Fisheries as an invitation to the political penthouse.

Now, it may as well be an outhouse.

Check back tomorrow: I'll give you some more food for thought by taking a glance at the people who have tended to that outhouse.