CURRENT ISSUE VOLUME 19 NO. 3 MAY/JUNE 2008
Back Page
Good-Bye To All That...The End
By Hon. John C. Crosbie
This is my 60th column for Atlantic Business Magazine; sadly, it is also my last.
Monday, February 4, 2008 marked yet another significant change in my life. It was on that date, at an inauguration ceremony held and hosted by Premier Danny Williams, that I was sworn in as the Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL). The first incident of similar career significance was my entry into active politics, starting with the St. John's city council election of 1965, continuing with the provincial election on September 8, 1965, and culminating with the September 8, 1976 election when I was elected to the House of Commons in a federal by-election in St. John's West. For the next 17 years, I served as an MP and cabinet minister, first in the administrations of Joe Clark and then with Brian Mulroney until I retired from active politics before the 1993 federal election.
Then, in 1994, I returned to practice law with Patterson Palmer (now Cox & Palmer), and was appointed by former Premier Clyde Wells as Chancellor of Memorial University, a post which I enjoyed for 14 years. During this time, I was also privileged to be a writer and commentator on public affairs, both in my book (No Holds Barred) and in various media outlets (notably, Atlantic Business Magazine). Now I must relinquish those activities as I move on to the next phase of my career.
When a person assumes the office of Lieutenant Governor, they occupy a little understood constitutional office where impartiality must be demonstrated, where political opinions publicly proclaimed are forbidden and it is required, so far as possible, not to give offence to any racial, religious or sectional group. Thus, an opinion column like the Back Page must end - though I do so with great appreciation for the opportunity given me by Atlantic Business Magazine.
My first column for Atlantic Business appeared in their April/May 1998 issue, approximately 10 years after the start of this great publication. Through the hard work and talents of publisher Hubert Hutton, chief operating officer Edwina Hutton and editor, Dawn Chafe, it has become a sophisticated and successful magazine with the largest circulation of any business magazine in Atlantic Canada. Though it is distributed principally throughout the region, this fine magazine also has a well established national and international audience.
I want to thank Hubert, Edwina and Dawn for their outstanding work, assistance to me and achievements in the publishing industry. They exemplify the kind of entrepreneurial instincts, risk taking, hard work and determination that marks every successful business.
With nostalgia, I remember the freedom I have had to express views on many important subjects such as fiddling and diddling with the Atlantic Fishery, fiddling and diddling with resource development, national unity issues and the need for adequate, well armed defence forces to protect our safety and sovereignty. I was free to oppose the stifling grip of political correctness, thereby maintaining the right for all views to be expressed.
I have often pointed out that one of the most important services that government can perform for its people is to maintain national security to keep us alive and free. It is a sentiment I want to repeat in this, my final Back Page. As a contributor to and observer of Atlantic Business Magazine, I have found it very satisfying to read about the efforts of the region's businessmen and women to take full advantage of the opportunities created in the oil and gas and mining industries. However, I am disturbed and dismayed by the government's failure to abide by its duty in regards to offshore evacuation systems. The Government of Canada, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board and other regulatory authorities have not yet done everything that is humanly possible to improve the evacuation systems on offshore rigs, systems that were revealed to be inadequate when the Ocean Ranger sank 26 years ago (killing all 84 crew members), and that are still inadequate today. This is in spite of the personal efforts of Newfoundland philanthropist Paul Johnson who, without any support from the Government of Canada, has made substantial investments in an attempt to develop adequate evacuation procedures and equipment.
Over the last 14 years I have had the opportunity to observe and do what I could to assist our own great university in its work of preparing young Newfoundlanders, Canadians and students from outside to build our economies and give proper opportunities to those who come behind us. There is nothing more important than supporting and assisting our universities in Atlantic Canada and encouraging independent, economic research in think tanks such as AIMS to provide different points of view on how economic growth is achieved and how our governments in their public policies can best support such activity and to support the political parties of our choice for a healthy and competitive political system.
In ending, I thank again the Atlantic Business Magazine, Hubert and Edwina Hutton and Dawn Chafe for the opportunity to participate through their pages with my fellow citizens in our democratic system.
The above excerpt was taken from the most recent issue of Atlantic Business Magazine. Our complete editorial content is available in print form only. To receive a free subscription to Atlantic Business Magazine,
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