Cheers & Jeers

✓ CHEERS: to funding for health care. The federal government announced last week that, through a bilateral agreement, it will provide nearly $256 million to support Newfoundland and Labrador’s three-year action plan to deliver improvements to its health-care system. The plan includes increasing access to primary care by continuing to add new family care teams, creating urgent care centres to service the Northeast Avalon, and adding new positions to implement the Child and Youth Community Health Services Model. The plan also hopes to increase health workers and health services to reduce backlogs, increase mental health and substance use services, and modernize health data systems to ensure more patients can access care. Frankly, any funding toward improving health care in the province is a good move, and good news.

x JEERS: to the increasing frequency and severity of violent incidents in schools. The Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association (NLTA) held a news conference last week calling on the provincial government to better resource public education to deal with increasing violence, as well as issues such as large class sizes and teacher allocations. Funding for support in schools, the NLTA added, isn’t adequate to meet complex student needs, yet statistics show the number of violent incidents are increasing year after year. The NLTA has launched a campaign asking parents to add their voices to demand better and safer teaching and learning conditions in the province’s schools. Such a campaign should not need to happen. These issues have been well-known, discussed and studied for years. Enough with the homework, it’s time to lay out and enact a strong course of action.

✓ CHEERS: to the 2024 Herder Memorial Championships. The St. John’s Caps and the Deer Lake Red Wings are battling it out for the coveted Herder Memorial Trophy. Good luck to each team as they keep senior hockey exciting in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Herder trophy was originally donated in 1935 by the Herder family, owners of the then-evening Telegram newspaper, as a memorial to five brothers who played hockey in St. John’s. Competition for the Herder, emblematic of senior hockey supremacy in the province, began March 21, 1935, when referee Herb Coultas dropped the puck between western champion Corner Brook and the St. John’s Boyle Trophy champion Guards at Prince’s Rink in St. John’s. Great hockey history. Keep it going!

x JEERS: to walking out on capelin. Harvester and processor representatives, in a rare show of unity, walked out of a capelin advisory meeting in Gander on March 22 after being informed that Oceana Canada and another environmental non-governmental organization, Oceans North, would have their status changed from observer to stakeholder at the meeting. The fear is that these environmental organizations want to shut down the capelin fishery. The organizations say a short-term shutdown may be required to help rebuild the capelin stock with the aim of a future sustainable fishery. But nobody even got a chance to speak. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans had to cancel the meeting and are left wondering how to proceed now to determine the management approach for capelin in 2024. Don’t underestimate the importance of this little fish — capelin may be the most important food for cod. The northern cod stocks have not been rebuilding as hoped since the 1992 moratorium. How much of a factor is the capelin fishery? We don’t know. Science may have an answer, while fishermen see what’s happening on the water. It really needs a full discussion. Time to roll back to the table.

✓ CHEERS: to exploring the possibility of setting up international trade and investment offices for N.L. in key locations around the world. If done right, and if co-location agreements with the federal government are utilized to help save on costs, it could benefit businesses and industries here in Newfoundland and Labrador and boost their profile outside of the region. The issue was discussed at an Energy Nl-hosted conversation with Premier Andrew Furey and federal Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-philippe Champagne at the Emera Innovation Exchange Centre on Signal Hill in St. John’s March 27. Attending trade shows and conferences is one thing, but having people on the ground working in key locations could produce positive results. Boston was mentioned as a key location, as well as Germany. Other provinces are doing it; it’s time to invest some thought into this idea.

✓ CHEERS: to marking the 75th anniversary of Confederation with Canada. There was much heated debate in the province’s communities in the years, months and weeks leading up to Newfoundland and Labrador’s joining with Canada at the end of March in 1949. Over the past number of weeks, The Telegram ran a series of stories looking back at the time around Confederation, and those stories were complemented by a number of opinion pieces and letters, and several calls, emails and comments. Even now, 75 years later, there’s still emotion attached to the subject and strong opinions on whether it was or was not a good move. Newfoundland and Labrador has a rich and interesting ocean-size history, and it is always good to take a dip back into it for readers.