2007/09/29

Will King Danny sweep the province?

I just returned from a week in Newfoundland. It happened to be the first week of the NL election campaign. In NL Danny is referred to as King. His popularity ratings pre-election were in the 80+ range. Given his personal popularity, pundits have been predicting a clean sweep of the provincial seats by Williams Conservatives. While there is little doubt that Danny will increase the number of Conservative seats, my impression is that he will not achieve a clean sweep. In rural Newfoundland, the traditional Liberal heartland there is still a perception that the economic boom of recent years has benefited primarily St. John's and the surrounding Avalon Peninsula but not the outports. There has been an increasing outmigration of rural Newfoundlanders to Alberta, particularly Fort MacMurray and jobs in developing the tar sands. Liberal Leader Gerry Reid is waging an uphill fight against the Williams juggernault, in particular accusing Williams of ignoring the fishery. It appears likely that reid and a few of his colleagues will hold their seats to provide some opposition to King Danny.