A conversation with Premier Robert Ghiz
WAYNE THIBODEAU
The Guardian
Q. First and foremost . . . how does it feel to be called premier of Prince Edward Island?
A. It was a very exciting year moving from the opposition, being able to have the privilege of forming government last May 28. It’s something that I take very seriously, but I thoroughly enjoy. There are challenges involved but there are also a lot of rewards involved.
Q. Were there times when you were sitting in the Opposition that you thought . . . “I may never be premier”. . . because there were some tough days for the Liberal Party?
A. That always goes through your thought process, of course. But your goal, when you’re in opposition, is to make sure you hold the government accountable. I know when I was in opposition — it’s a very difficult job. You’re number one job is to criticize. Usually people tell you all the time, ‘Why are you so critical? Why aren’t you more positive?’
Your job, when you are in opposition is to oppose government. But I knew that if we did our job correctly, and ran a very good campaign, that there would be a good chance that we would be able to form the next government.
Q. I remember interviewing you in November 2002 and you said at that time that you were not interested in the leadership of the Liberal Party . . . saying ‘no, but maybe someday.’ By spring, you were the new leader of the Liberal Party. Was it a difficult decision to make?
A. If people had of asked me five or six years ago whether or not I’d be sitting in the premier’s chair today, I probably would have told them they were crazy. I did have a tremendous respect for public office and was definitely interested in it at some point in my life.
In 2002, there was a little bit of a draft put on. After some long and hard reflection I decided to take a chance. Here I am four years later, and no regrets.
Q. As you look back on it now, how would you describe the year 2007 for Prince Edward Island?
A. Obviously the year has been a pretty good year for Prince Edward Island. Of course, we have our challenges taking place in agriculture, taking place in some other industries because of the high Canadian dollar.
But at the same time, if you look at the economy, it's still growing at two per cent per year. Just recently, we actually hit our lowest unemployment rate since 1978. That is still on an economy where our three largest industries are agriculture, fisheries and tourism. They’re seasonal. For us to be able to have an unemployment rate at 8.8 per cent is pretty good.
Should we do better? Absolutely.
Q. What was one of the biggest challenges you faced when you took office?
A. One of the biggest challenges that we were faced with right off the bat was the beef plant. To be able to put together a deal with the three Maritime provinces and the federal government was something probably when I made the initial announcement that the provincial government was done unless we could get the other provinces on side. At the beginning, I thought the chances of us putting together a deal were probably 25 per cent. But through a lot of hard work, a lot of lobbying, we were able to accomplish something that I think will be beneficial for the people of Prince Edward Island.
Q. That deal to save the beef plant, do you see that as one of your greatest personal achievements of the year?
A. Absolutely. Through hard work and the dedication of our minister of agriculture, Neil LeClair, we were able to deliver on something that we haven’t seen in a long time and that is the Maritime provinces working together with the federal government.
Q. And with highs come lows . . . do you see a low point for your province as you look back on the past seven months that you were premier?
A. One of the lows would probably be our exporting industry here in Prince Edward Island — the challenges that they are facing with regard to the high Canadian dollar. Those are industries that drive our economy here in Prince Edward Island, create a lot of meaningful employment. Our aerospace industry, that does a lot of work in the U.S. — these are some things that we are going to have to re-evaluate our approach in terms of doing business.
There were business models set up for a Canadian dollar around 75 to 80 cents US. Here we are now with a dollar that’s almost at parity. Those are some of the major challenges that we are facing, but I truly believe that Islanders are resilient and we’re going to overcome those challenges.
Q. There were some who looked to the last session of the legislature and expected a bit more substance. Will we see more from your government over the winter and in the spring session that’s yet to come that gives us a bit more information about your vision for the province?
A. I think so far what we’ve done, if you look at the last six months, we’ve delivered on numerous, numerous campaign promises. Most governments, after they form a government, they actually take the next session off. But because we had a budget that was not passed in the spring session, we had to come in with a special session of the legislature.
Q. What are some of those campaign promises you feel you delivered on?
A. If I look though some of the things that we’ve done already, you’ve got the beef plant, you’ve got the residency program, you’ve got seats at Memorial, you’ve got increases in the doctor recruitment budget, you’ve got a new office set up for doctor recruitment, you’ve got an office of energy efficient, you’ve got the seniors home repair program, we’ve got disability support increasing and you’ve got a new review taking place.
These are thing we’ve done already, within our first six months.
Q. Where do we go from here?
A. Right off the bat, I was able to recruit over from the National Research Council Dr. Michael Mayne to come into government as a deputy minister of bioscience and economic innovation. We’re creating a framework for growing our economy, in terms of the IT sector, bioscience sector, aerospace — these are jobs that are year-round, high-paying and high-skills and that can really drive our economy for a long time to come.
We’re working on a long-term vision for the province. What I want to do is really stay out of the political cycles. Too often, you see governments come in, make commitments where it'’s going to make a difference right away. But usually they are just for short-term political gain because we’re on a four-year political cycle.
What I want to do is look at a cycle that is not political. I want to look at a cycle that takes into account 10 years down the road, 20 years down the road, 30 years down the road.
Q. That’s great to think long-term but are you saying four years from now we’re not going to see a flurry of announcements from your government in an effort to get re-elected?
A. Absolutely, because we have to deliver on our platform. But if you look at our platform, we’ve delivered on a lot of the big, substantive issues.
We’re going to continue to deliver on our platform, leading up to the next general election in four years time, but we’re also going to look at how we can improve our economy for a long time to come.
Q. There has been a lot of talk about political patronage under your leadership . . . it began with your decision to turf one of your candidates — Larry McGuire — for what some viewed as a pro-patronage speech. Why take such a strong stand against patronage?
A. No longer is it acceptable to basically come in and tell people ‘you’re fired because you didn’t vote for me’ and ‘you’re hired because you did vote for me.’
If you look at the previous government, when they came into power in 1996, there was over 800 political discrimination claims. If you read through some of the testimony, it’s almost like a witch hunt that took place through the public service.
The days of firing people are over. First of all, it’s the wrong thing to do. Second of all, it’s very expensive for government to go out and fire someone based on political belief.
Here we are the first government to come in ever in the history of the province that did not commit a large purge on the provincial bureaucracy.
Q. Do you think Islanders were surprised that there wasn’t a major purge of the public service after you were elected?
A. Absolutely. I hear from different people all the time — people who indicate that certain people should be fired because they were hired there only because they were a Conservative. But what we have to understand is if we go out and get rid of those people because they were hired for such-and-such a reason, we’re liable.
Q. But you know, there are Liberals reading this interview right now who believe they should be working for the provincial government now . . . because they worked on your behalf . . . to get you elected. What do you tell those Liberals?
A. I tell them to apply for the jobs. If jobs open up, everyone’s going to have a fair chance at them. The difference is 800 jobs are not opening up immediately.
Q. Will your tough stand on political patronage hurt the Liberal Party?
A. I think in the long run it will pay dividends. People will see that we are a party of inclusiveness, we are a party that’s looking towards the future, we’re the party that’s going to make sure we have the professional bureaucracy in place to deliver the services that Islanders need.
There could be some growing pains but at the end of the day I believe we’re making the right decision. If I’m not, I’m sure I'll find out in four years time.
Q. There are a handful of political discrimination cases outstanding from the 1996 provincial election campaign . . . Liberals who say they were fired by the Tories . . . will you finally put their political discrimination cases to rest?
A. It’s something that we want to deal with, but we want to do it in a fair manner. I understand that there’s currently negotiations going on. We want to make sure we’re respectful of those people that have been discriminated against but also respectful of the taxpayers’ dollars.
At the end of the day, though, it’s not a problem that I created.
Q. As we look back on 2007, there was hardly a day went by that we didn’t hear something about the crisis facing Island farmers. How bad is it for Island farmers?
A. It’s not a good situation. There are a lot of farmers out there that are going through difficult times right now. Their cost of production, they are not even meeting that.
We have to try and find ways to help bridge our farmers into the good times, or we have to find ways to do agriculture differently. Some of this will have to come from the federal government. Provincially, we’re doing everything we can to help out our farmers.
There’s no easy answers. Is Robert Ghiz or the Liberal government going to solve the agriculture problems tomorrow or the next day? Absolutely not.
But what we’re going to do is we’re going to work with our farming community to find ways to help them out as much as possible.
Q. Can agriculture as we know it be sustained in Prince Edward Island?
A. Is it going to change? Absolutely. But can we sustain agriculture in this province? That’s what my goal is. I do want to see agriculture do well again and as a government we will do everything in our power to see that happen.
Q. Is the P.E.I. government doing its part, or is it spending too much time looking to Ottawa for help?
A. I would say that if you look at the amount of dollars that have been put into the agriculture industry by the provincial government on a per capita basis . . . a lot of money has gone into agriculture.
Is it sustainable to keep supporting something that is not working? No. Sometimes you have to look at new ways of doing things.
Q. Earlier this month your government said it was no longer going to financially support the Island’s hog plant in Charlottetown? Why take such a hard line on the hog plant after pouring another $2 million into the beef plant?
A. We did give the hog plant additional dollars — up to $2 million — since taking office. Unfortunately, they came back to us again and said ‘we need more money.’
This is a company that is controlled by the private sector.
In 2006 when the former government signed the deal with them they were suppose to deliver on $2.7 million themselves. That $2.7 million has never materialized. They keep telling us ‘there’s money coming, there’s money coming, there’s money coming.’ We’ve got to a point now where we were asked for $2 million to keep this plant going until February.
We said enough is enough.
Q. Speaking of the beef plant, you recently celebrated a deal that pumped $12 million into the Albany beef plant — money that was contributed by the federal and Maritime governments. How difficult was it to strike that deal?
A. Our minister of agriculture, Neil LeClair, worked extremely hard on this. It was a roller-coaster ride. When I first made the announcement, I had no idea what the outcome was going to be. That was something that was a little scary at the time.
But at the same time, as a province, we couldn’t continue to pick up the tab for the beef plant losing $600,000 a month. I just wasn’t willing to do it.
Q. Half of that $12 million came from the federal government. Speaking of federal-provincial relations, you’re a Liberal premier in P.E.I., Stephen Harper and his Conservatives are in power in Ottawa, what does that mean for relations between Prince Edward Island and the nation’s capital?
A. We have great relations with the federal government. Are we going to agree on everything? Absolutely not. If it was a Liberal government in power in Ottawa, would we agree on everything? Absolutely not.
Q. Wouldn’t it be easier for Prince Edward Island if there was a Conservative MP representing the province in the House of Commons?
A. Right now we have four very strong Liberal MPs. We have Peter MacKay, who is responsible for Prince Edward Island.
You also have to remember that we have a Senate seat open. There is a senator now who is in cabinet. The prime minister can go and appoint someone to the Senate tomorrow, if he wants to, he has done it in Quebec.
I personally think he should appoint someone from Prince Edward Island who can sit in the Senate and be our representative in
his government. I have echoed that to the prime minister.
Q. This being the holiday season . . . and because this interview is being done before the Christmas holidays . . . maybe I can ask you a bit about your Christmas holiday plans. How will you be spending the holidays?
A. I’m definitely looking forward to the holidays. It will be the first time since the election that I am taking some time to lay low, so to speak. My wife will be home over the holidays. She’ll be home for a month.
Between Christmas and New Year’s we plan on spending quite a bit of time together. It’s usually a good time for us to spend a lot of time with our family. So Christmas Eve we’ll go to church with my mother, and my mother’s-side of the family, and then after that we’ll go out to my wife’s grandparents homestead out in Stanhope — the Ellis — for a Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve.
Christmas Day we’ll probably have a turkey or two.
Q. Dr. Kate Ellis, your wife, is she still in her residency training?
A. She is. She’s actually been in Saint John for the last month. She’ll be back here over the holidays, probably working some shifts here in P.E.I., and then she’s back in Moncton for the final stretch of her residency. She’ll be back here practising medicine next June.
Q. If I could get you to look into that crystal ball of yours what do you see as one of the greatest challenges facing Prince Edward Island in 2008, and beyond?
A. Obviously we’ll be starting off the New Year still trying to deal with the problems facing agriculture. That’s why we’re going to be having a First Ministers meeting Jan. 11 in Ottawa with the prime minister to look at solutions on how we can help out those industries that are struggling.
Canada is a family. If one area is doing well, and another area is not doing as well, the federal government has to be there.
Q. Now if I can get you to look a bit further into the future, how long will you be Premier of Prince Edward Island?
A. I've always indicated that a 10-year time frame would be the right time to be in office. So right now, I’m going to say 10 years. If we’re sitting here in 10 years time, and I’m saying how I am going to run for a fourth majority, I want you to tell me to go in and put in my resignation.
Of course, I’ll only be around as long as Islanders give me the privilege of serving as premier of P.E.I.
Q. If I do the math - you're 33 now - so that means you'll be in your mid-40s ... a bit too young for retirement ... have you thought at all about what you'll do afterwards?
A. I've always told my wife I wanted to be the high school basketball coach at Colonel Gray high school (in Charlottetown.) That job is currently taken now.
I'm not sure. I enjoy what I am doing now and that's what I am going to concentrate on.
See Online Extras for more of our interview with Premier Robert Ghiz
29/12/07
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JOE from PEI writes:
http://www.mulchblog.com/2007/06/full_disclosure_who_really_ben.phpI have provided this web site to all the people of PEI, and their farming community, to see for themselves how Canadians and their farmers have been placed in a losing position; with their governments poorly thought out and poorly negotiated trade agreements bringing about our total loss in farming communities and lack of control of our Canadian food stocks. This was all done without the people of Canada's approval. All our government mistakes can be corrected by us, so that we can protect both quality, sovereignty and cost of our agricultural products. and also to change the way we pay twice for our agricultural products first paying for them through agricultural tax subsidies and then paying for them at our food store cash registers .
knowledge a building block for change do ya really care???
Posted 29/12/2007 at 1:38 PM | Alert an Editor | Link to comment
Why has Ghiz rewarded so many 7.5% rollback types from the 1990's with plum jobs, Allan Rankin, Rory Beck.. writes: A long list of appointments by Ghiz for those who axed the wages of ordinary, honest Islanders...Nancy Guptill to WCB, Alan Buchanan to HC, Alan Rankin to ECO, Rory Beck to DM (rehab) and Matt MacLure to the circle.
Others who were instrumental include Wayne Cheverie on the bench. A sad day when those who so ruthlessly purged the honest wages of Islanders are being so handsomley and undeservingly rewarded.
Shame on Mr. Ghiz for suporting those who supported the 7.5% illegal wage rollback.
Posted 29/12/2007 at 2:08 PM |
JOE from PEI writes: Developed new successful market brand for Prince Edward Island.
New brand Prince Edward Island economically beautiful.
Marketing brand strategy number one.Free gas Come to Prince Edward Island where your gas is fee!!
This ad campaign was used to stimulate new car sales , can be reworked to develop Prince Edward Island as a preferred vacation destination.
This will be done through all participating businesses signing on to this program for the purpose of stimulating greater revenue and tourist volume adding the greatest financial benefit to our local tourist business economy. A gas Bucks tourist rebate At point of purchase; example tourist spends $100 receives instant gas Bucks rebate off his bill
Tourist receipt will read $100 -$10 gas Bucks rebate for a final total of $90 this rebate program can be priced in on all product s of all participating businesses throughout PEI. Spend $1500 while vacationing Receive instantly $150 in gas bucks savings. That's $150 towards your gas while vacationing on Prince Edward Island .
Added synergy PR and ad campaign will readily be picked up by all media; radio , newsprint, and television at no cost this PR and ad campaign will give us millions of dollars of high quality vacation consumer brand market exposure no government participation required and a great start to freely establish our Prince Edward Island economically beautiful brand!! win win
Marketing brand strategy number twoEverybody has roots in Prince Edward Island campaign.
Chief benefits of this ad campaign , to help a fellow Prince Edward Islander Gary Snyder
with his dream of restoration of our forests to their original forest mixture and natural Acadian state.
This campaign will be a world PR broadcast allowing schoolchildren worldwide to get involved in Prince Edward Island 's New fun environmental endeavor by running fund raising campaigns in their local community . To help provide Acadian forest material and funds and plant their roots in Prince Edward Island too . Educational benefits include but not limited to providing a unique teaching educational tool expanding our world children's knowledge of environmentally, geographically, social economic issues through their participation; gaining a greater knowledge of collective and personal empowerment the cornerstone for their future and our social and democratic welfare ;our world is getting smaller every day issues. Together we can change our world type of thing.
Beneficial synergy low-cost / no cost further expanding our product brand Prince Edward Island economically beautiful Worldwide!! Also developing our carbon forest commodity as a new export revenue source through newly established world carbon commodity trade markets. This program will do a number of things first it starts to address and reverse environmental degradation that have occurred over many many years of our local governments and businesses mono culture commodity paradigms. debasing our beautiful island of its economic and environmental value. This complementary environmental addition adds strongly to our Prince Edward Island economically beautiful brand. No government participation required win-win
