Door to Door

Oct 1-5

Over the past week I have been going door to door, distributing my brochure and talking to folks across St. John's Centre. The district extends from Parade Street to Blackmarsh road which is a large area to cover but I've had a great group of volunteers assisting and its getting closer to being accomplished even as I write!




Many area residents I met along the way expressed discontents about the 15% surcharge-levy on all insurance products that currently only Newfoundlanders and Labradorians pay. People in the area living on fixed incomes told me that living through a Newfoundland winter involves a juggle between buying food or heat. At today's oil prices most tanks in St. John's centre cost close to $700.00 to fill. One man pointed out to me that most seniors are getting reverse mortgages in order to keep up with current personal income and property taxes, the cost of home care and medication, the cost of home heating and insurance, not to mention basic needs. One elderly lady remarked to me that if she was my age again she would take to the street over the current price of canned milk, which is currently $1.10. I told many seniors that I wished the government would give them a thousand dollars for every child they reared in the province so they could be comfortable in their old age and not have to give up their life savings at unscrupulously high 'reverse' interest rates .

Jason Sharpe, a resident of Calver Ave, gave me a window into the situations of seniors who are not so secure as to be able to depend on reverse mortages in order to survive the rising cost of living. Sharpe has lived in various bedsitting rooms in the downtown area amongst seniors living in poverty. Unable to afford their own apartment due to low pension earnings, seniors have found residence in bedsitting rooms where they are vulnerable to exploitation. Sharpe has observed seniors succumbing to drug addictions for the first time in their lives due to their living situations as well as being harassed, threatened and robbed by younger cohabitants within these houses. Sharpe has witnessed police apathy towards the complaints of seniors in these situations. Clearly, building healthy communities requires investment in affordable, safe housing for seniors. Premier William's needs to sent a clear message that the measure of a civilization should not be determined by credit rating agencies but in the treatment of its weakest members.

In conversing with the coordinators of the Mental Health Crisis Centre we agreed that one aspect of the increased sense of economic competition in every day life is the greater incidence of mental health problems in the population. Wheras in the past many Newfoundlanders relied on sustainable fishing, hunting, gardening and wood harvesting as a security net against hunger and cold, today people are increasingly urbanized and have become dependent on the globally interconnected market economy or the government for meeting their basic needs. When the market-based cost of living goes up because of larger events outside of our democratic control (war in the middle east for instance) people are forced to fall back on their own capacity to either a) work longer in order meet rising costs b) fall into greater personal debt c) move to other places with more lucrative job prospects d) upgrade skills or e) abandon participation in the formal workforce and/or go on social services. The pressures involved with 'keeping up' have produced high incidents of depression and other mental health problems such as addictions. The coordinators of the Mental Health Crisis line point out serious gaps in providing services for people that are dealing with eating disorders, addictions and other manifestations of increased mental stress involved with making ends meet, whatever these ends are. What is there is a 24 hour crisis line for people to obtain support and an emergency mental assessment program that acts as an intermediary for people as they are being referred here or away to the mainland.

All of this leads me to question what is the role the government and why has it changed over the past fifty years from protecting communities from the throes of the worst excesses of global capitalism to being a facilitator of market based forms of political criteria and social organization? The fact that the premier of the province fears 'bankruptcy' when the government itself has the power to nationalize all assets currently in this province is really an expression of a view of governance that favours market based forms of knowledge and authority over democratic based forms. This belief ties Premier Danny Williams closer to the views of Primer Minister Stephen Harper than he may like to admit.

I will conclude this post by showing this picture of my Mother, my Grandmother and my daughter (my son was in the picture at the top). We recently had a conversation about the improvements in the lives of women at the time of confederation and what liberal policies in Newfoundland and Labrador did for our familiy. Both of my Grandmothers had nine and eleven children respectively and they all were given the opportunity for free post secondary education by Joey Smallwood. My generation has not been as fortunate but it is not an inevitability that my son and daughter should grow up in a world where only those in the best economic position to compete-from birth on- should be given the opportunity to develop their full potential. Thats what this election and my overall current and future participation in politics is about for me.

Memorial University students and their discontents

Sept 26/07


On Wednesday the Memorial University Young Liberals Club participated in an information fair held in the student centre. I was really impressed with many of the students I met at the Liberal table. Many students were concerned about a) student debt, which pushes young people out of the province and otherwise stops them from beginning a family for close to a decade and b) overall lack of job prospects in Newfoundland and Labrador for university graduates. Many graduate students admitted that they returned to school because of the high level of competition for decent work in the province. One student suggested to me that government consider a major overhaul of the student loan program and help make it accessible to borrowers. Additionally, there are many workers here in the province who are paying a much higher interest rate on their student loan than new borrowers/students. Reducing student debt load would do more to encourage a culture of life long learning, security, and economic independence for citizens. I also heard an idea about introducing a sliding scale tuition system whereby the amount you pay for school is indexed to income, like the tax system. It really doesn't make sense to subsidize people from other provinces to come to school here, so this would be a win-win policy. Here is a short clip from a discussion I had with Drew Brown, liberal candidate for Virginia Waters, on the subject.








While sitting in on an event sponsored by CBC television I listened to students speak on a variety of topics relevant to the election. Many of the students spoke about the lack of attention that has paid to fisheries issues in terms of an environmental perspective. One comment that struck me in particular involved a young man's comment about the loss of 'top feeders' in the North Atlantic. This called to mind the complexity of the North Atlantic Seal hunt, and how the current abundance of seals must be understood in the context of the decimation of polar bear and shark populations. Seals currently have no predators outside of humankind and global warming (many seals wash up on the shores of Port au Port beach every year, drowned due to melting ice pans). There is a need for to examine the whole chain of relations in ocean ecology if we are to really address the commercial extinction of the northern cod.
One student spoke of how the Newfoundland and Labrador government should be looking to the government of Bermuda for ideas about protecting marine life while also promoting jobs. This comment struck me as I believe we need to look at former colonies that actually making moves towards this concept of sustainability if we are to find suitable comparisons to our own socio-economic condition. The people of Iceland never had a great power take over its country and set up its economy and laws for the purposes of absentee owners in Europe and the sport of exporting so it should not be surprising that they have a successful fishery today. Is it a suitable model given our continuing social inequality here? Can we agree that economic inequality from within facilitates political exploitation from without?



I decided to skip across the road from Memorial to pay a visit to The Elaine Dobbin Centre for Autism. This centre is becoming increasingly important as across Newfoundland and Labrador the rate of autism in our children is on the rise. Currently one of 150 children are diagnosed with autism as opposed to 1 in 1000 twenty years ago. Of course, there is no 'scientific' explanation as to why a 'genetic' condition would be on the increase (we don't suddenly see increased numbers of hemophiliacs for instance). Some feel there is simply a higher diagnosis rate these days, although I am not convinced that people did not 'notice' significant speech impairments and social deficits in their children twenty years ago. I believe higher numbers of autism and ADD/ADHD are related to some of the cumulative effects of our exposure to environmental pollutants. Of course there are many who would like to deny the sheer possibility of this and simply say 'we don't know' and hope to socially 'retrain' children with autism and drug children with attention problems without addressing the root biomedical issue. I believe that if people had access to homeopathic doctors through our MCP plan this issue would have less impact as clinics such as the Wellness Centre do provide effective treatments for these conditions.


There is a perception in the broader Newfoundland and Labrador community that 'autism' is a cause that is receiving great help and attention. If children under 6 are diagnosed with autism they receive thirty hours a week of applied behavioural analysis therapy as opposed to children diagnosed with other conditions. In speaking with Patricia, the coordinator of the Centre for Autism, I was shocked to hear that they had only been granted $100,000 of the $250,000 of funding applied for last year by government, making it difficult to run sufficient programs in the building. Currently, the Centre focuses on providing programs for older chidren and adults with autism, who are not qualified for ABA therapy.



In attending a forum on the environment sponsored by the Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Network 'denial of funding for projects that serve the common interest' was essentially the theme of the evening if not this whole election. Each group that presented, ranging from the Protected Areas association to the Kelligrews Eastern Environmental Protection Association spoke of inaction by government on environmental issues such as species protection, climate change and waste reduction, as well as critiquing environmental procedures and policies that always favour industry needs. Many individuals spoke about industries they have tried to develop to address environmental problems including solar power and tire recycling initiatives and how they have not been able to find support from government. Others spoke about the pollution of water ways and how rivers and tributaries could be prevented if government simply enforced the rules they already have and supported other cost-free solutions.

Unsurprisingly, all 48 PC's were 'too busy' to attend the event.

On Thursday members of my campaign team worked to finalize the details for my official nomination as candidate. My official agent Shannon Hillier and I made steps to get young people involved volunteering for the campaign so we can really hit the town next week with the door-to-door orchestra.

Last but not least, to close off my week, I filed my nomination papers with the returning officer for St. John's Centre. (we took the picture on Wed when I first visited) Lori Ann Campbell-Martino is officially on the ballot!

Answering Questions

Sept. 24th-Sept. 25th
During elections candidates are often called upon to answer key questions of interest to organizations. On Monday I started my day with a plan to answer questions placed to me by the St. John's Status of Women Council and Women's Centre and also the Right to Life association while also participating in an orientation session at the Women's Centre for volunteering. I was asked to answer some questions for NTV after my time at the Women's Centre. As I walked by St. Bonaventure's College en route to the orientation I was shocked to see this long line up at the Basillica Parish food bank. It is terrible to see this level of need juxtaposed against an educational institution that primarily serves some of the wealthiest high school students in the city.
While at the volunteer orientation I learned that the St. John's Status of Women's Council and Women's Centre currently has one fulltime staff person and two full time researchers that are paid through outside project grants. One fulltime staff person to serve roughly 65-80,000 women in this city!Unreal.

The Women's Centre heavily depends on a steady stream of volunteers to hold its drop-in services, food bank, back to school hamper and clothing boutique for women who need assistance. Right now they are looking for people to help during day time hours.

The Status of Women council has issued a question to candidates on what we would do to support safe affordable housing to women over 30 in St. John's. I responded as follows:
"Safe affordable housing is not a luxury for the priviledged but a human right. I support women having access to such housing as well as programs that encourage women to realize their full productive potential. Poverty, derelict housing and environmental contamination are issues that often blend together in St. John's Centre and giving women housing options often is the first step in acheiving wellness.
How would I help the women's centre acheive funding for the construction Marguerite's Place involving programs and low-cost housing units for women? I would initatiate a study on the real costs of not providing such a service, a multifaceted approach that recognizes the link between health, security and socio-economic progress and would initiate a process of lobbying my own party as government or opposition to support the cause. The next thing I would do would be to propose a system of microcredit for women, similar to programs initiated in India, that would allow women to move along from women's centre housing and buy their own homes at lower interest rates.
As a complement to this would be support for housing cooperatives which offer at-cost rental prices. In terms of owners who rent to community members, I would lobby for tax credits for energy efficient renovations as well as changes to the Newfoundland and Labrador tenant act that require renters to test for air and water quality on annual basis and disclose results to potential renters. Another idea that would help the greater community would be to offer tax credits to owners who rent quality apartments at lower than average prices.

Shortly after the orientation I asked Nancy, one of the women being oriented as a volunteer, who also volunteers for the organization Turnings, to take some video of me being interviewed by NTV news. Looking at this video now after shortly watching the all candidates debate, I empathize and understand how Gerry Reid became nervous with the spectacle of it all in the early portion of the debate (not to mention that the other two leaders both had as much to gain by cooperating with each other and ganging up on Gerry-which they did!) There is definetly something about a huge lens and bright lights that makes some people physically freeze up, and verbally and physically gesture in ways in which we are usually unaccustomed. I know Gerry Reid as a very reasonable and confident man who understands politics on a philosophical as well as practical level. Truthfully, I think if I would once again choose Gerry Reid to be my future 'boss' out of the three leaders of Newfoundland and Labrador political parties that participated in the debate. Unlike the NDP's and PC's who insert their ideologies into their budget, the Liberals try to include a blend of both positions in their governance. Now at an important turning point for the party, I think its time to blend in some 'green' economics into their policies.




Moving along quickly from my interview, I went across the road to visit the Right to Life Association to answer in person, the questionaire they had sent out to candidates.

Patrick Hanlon was at the office to greet me and was very happy i made the effort to come down. I told Patrick that I thought abortion to be even more controversial than the seal hunt, and i need to explain my choices with more than a yes or no. Patrick told me that their organization is firmly pro-life. I explained to Patrick that i answered yes to every one of their questions except do I believe abortion should be outlawed. I explained that I do not think we should use abortion as birth control or for eugenic purposes but that without the proper supports for pregnant women raising children I feel that it would be unjust for government to deny women access to such services if this is what they feel they need. In a better world women would feel confident that having children wouldnt put them at a competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis other women and men. Children need to be loved and wanted and Mothers and Fathers need to be able to love themselves in order to love a child! Patrick understood my view that this is not where we are at and maybe increased abortion is really a symptom of a much bigger spiritual problem in our communities. Patrick said he appreciated our visit and agreed to let me take his picture for the blog.

As I conclude this post on the last two days events I can hear the leaders debate being replayed, encouraging me to issue this press release here, as a sign of defence to Mr. Gerry Reid. What he has been up against over the last two weeks has been exhausting and has taken courage.

For immediate Release.....

One man/woman rule fails public interest, civil society and the environment: Liberal St. John’s Centre candidate Lori Ann Campbell-Martino

Liberal St. John’s Centre candidate Lori Ann Campbell-Martino spent the first week of her campaign visiting with citizens and non-profit groups in St. John’s Centre and learned of the difficulties many members of the community are having getting the attention of government.

“There is a common belief in the district that there is only method of getting attention paid to your cause, concern or crisis and that’s to get to the ear of Mr. Danny Williams himself. Unfortunately there is, at present, a 12 month waiting list to get an appointment with Mr. Williams.

“If you have been refused full or even partial funding, as many critical projects occurring in St. John’s Centre have in the last budget, 12 months can mean the life or death or your organization. I believe that government should be the listening post of community groups, not the other way around. Presently community groups can lose their status as charitable organizations if they behave politically and stand up for their needs.”

“There are purely logistical reasons why one man rule fails public interest, civil society and the environment. The inefficiency of this style of leadership has been recognized by some of the highest earning firms who pursue non-hierarchical management strategies. Planning and flat delegating of duties provides incentive for people to be more productive whereas top down micromanagement provokes resent and then people become less diligent in their concerns about their work.”

“If we want our communities to grow politicians need to delegate the duty of informing government on community needs to citizens and commit to listening. Furthermore, to quote Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett ‘‘Being heard,’ means that those listening – elected representatives – are themselves heard when they present the ideas to government. There is no point in citizens wasting their time talking to members if the ‘centre’ of government ignores them.”

Lori-Ann Campbell-Martino is recording her interactions in the community this election in cyberspace to demonstrate one avenue for government to become better tuned in to the needs of the people they represent, ameliorating the democratic deficit in St. John’s Centre.

“Unlike business where you can pass on 20% of your least lucrative ventures to someone else, government needs to do its best to represent all people in our society and protect the environment we all share in order to truly make progress for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Clearly there are still many more questions that will be asked of candidates and leaders and many others for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to think about on election day.

Women Unite, Take Back the Night?

Friday Sept 22-Monday Sept. 25, 2007





Friday evening marked the 23rd anniversary of the Take Back the Night Walk in St. John's. As per tradition, supportive men were asked not to participate in the walk, to emphasize the need for women to be able to walk alone with security.




This policy almost seems ironic because in present day St. John's we are hearing more and more accounts of men of all ages being attacked and robbed of their values while walking alone. But the reality is you seldom hear of a man being attacked and raped while walking alone. Although my experience as a child and youth care worker in inner city neighborhoods of Jane and Finch in Toronto, downtown London Ontario, Stephenville and here in St. John's lead me to affirm the belief that sexual assaults on young men comprise the highest numbers of unreported sexual assaults, sexual assault on women tends to be the ultimate public act of anti-social power and control, as it has a humiliating effect on all members of society. Hence the need for women to solely stand up.

There were roughly 250 women who took part in the walk. I was encouraged to see a high number of young women participating, proving that feminism is not a 'f' word for upcoming generations as some theorists like to suggest. Female representatives from all political parties were present at the walk, including PC candidate Maria Alfonso, NDP leader Lorraine Michael, NDP candidate Gemma Schlamp-Hickey, and Liberal candidate Maura Beam. I felt great about being amongst this group of women and think that we collectively have a great deal to contribute to public life




Organizers let the march to City Hall where a rally had been organized and members of the Take Back the Night men's auxiliary were present to great the marchers. The first speaker to address the crowd was a representative from this group. I was somewhat surprised that organizers chose a man to congratulate the women on the success of their march but as one woman in the audience remarked to me, "Why not". But what happened next was more disappointing. Ms. Universe Canada was given an opportunity to speak to the audience but before she could even tell the audience her name she was heckled by a group of women, who felt pageantry is part and parcel of violence against women and that she had no right as a 'perpetrator' to speak. I never did get the name of Ms. Universe that evening as it was near impossible for her to deliver her speech in the midst of "get off the mike" to "let the woman" speak chants being shouted across the rally but of course I was able to track Inga Skaya of Toronto down online.


Speaking to a friend in the audience, we both agreed that feminists have a right to criticize pageantry for what it is 'turning women into eye candy' (not ear candy) we also agreed that what occurred that evening was wrong and represented a step back for feminist organizing. You can disagree with the position a woman takes, based on valid reasons, but you should never deny a woman the right to speak from that position! This is reproducing the same logic that made sexism valid in the first place. Overall, I wondered why Ms. Universe was interested in having a voice in the event given recognized controversy in the community about her presence. This is what I found out from the Ms Universe website;

"As a survivor of domestic violence I hope I can act as a role model to children facing similar challenges. The easiest thing to do in life when facing hardship is to give up; it takes hard work, determination and self-confidence to tell yourself that you will not use the negative circumstances in your life as a crutch but rather as a springboard to a brighter future filled with hope." I decided to email Inga Skaya myself to tell her that i was ashmaed about what happened. It is no ones right to determine whether she has right to discuss an issue she has been affected by, regardless of her personal life ambitions.

So after all that negative energy filled the air, we were quietly redirected as a group to listen to the story of Shelly, a mother of two who was brutally attacked and raped in her own home this summer in the presence of her children. I was filled with hope and admiration for this woman, and the courage she displayed by coming forward to the public and tell her story. If all women and men could confront their traumas and the beliefs about their personal worth that are a direct result of trauma in such an atmosphere of support I believe the community would be a much better place than it is at present. This is why we need funding for women's groups, better access to psychological counselling services and programs for addressing violence against boys and men, the true root of violence against women. Congratulations to Shelly for standing up for our community by standing up for her individual right to freedom and the ability to reach her full personal potential.


In terms of my thoughts on the success of the event, the greatest thing about my experience was sharing it with my dear friends Renee Brennan and Nadine Drew. Hailing from Stephenville and Marystown respectfully, this was their first experience participating in a take back the night walk. Nadine says "This was my First time attending Take back the Night" I was very surprised to see how few women were at the Rally. I was expecting a lot more ladies considering it was the 23rd annual walk. With the recent attacks against Woman in the last few months here in St. john's, I hoped a lot more Women would walk to show support to those Ladies. I also would like to comment on the rude statements towards Miss Universe Canada, Inga Skaya. I was appalled that someone would disrespect a woman at a rally for women!! She was an invited guest who was there for the same reason we were. I thought it was very distasteful of that person to interrupt her and they should be very ashamed of acting so aggressively towards another woman on that special night.

Interestingly, I have a scheduled volunteer orientation at the St. John's Womens centre today so Im sure this exercise in reflection on precisely 'who' is the exploiter and the exploited and what this means for the Canadian women's movement as an effective force in politics will make for great conversation about key issues.

Green Spaces of St. John's Centre

Sept 19-21

I spent some time in the west end of the district on this day and it was great to see activity happening in the green recreational spaces surrounding Mundy Pond. Here is a shot of a game being played at the Charlie Bhnicsh Soccer field. There is a playground, a skateboard park and a wonderful walking trail that encompasses Mundy Pond. In short, something for everyone!



While watching my children play I decided to ask other parents and caregivers for their opinions on the $1000 baby bonus proposed by Danny Williams. Of course everyone laughs. "It would take more help than that for me to have another one!" was one woman's response. One older gentleman pushing his grandson on a baby swing explained that his daughter cannot afford to pay for daycare for her son she got now, even with a subsidy from government, because of her high student loan payments and that's why he is helping care for the child.
The whole conversation called to mind another story I heard at one door in the district about an elderly lady who receives a pension cheque of $14.00, because 'the only work she ever done was raise nine children'. It seems that historically and today there has been an overall lack of investment in services for families precisely because it is difficult to economically quantify the 'benefits' of providing support of 'future' generations-unlike oil, gas and hydroelectricity projects. But good governance should require the ability to think and act beyond the short term 'today'!

Promoting a life enhancing culture within Newfoundland and Labrador requires publicly funded day care or a guaranteed annual income for stay at home parents to start, but I certainly believe that political agendas around raising the birth rate need to be linked to a culture of respect for the contributions of seniors who have already spent most of their lives raising children for Newfoundland and Labrador. In order to promote a behaviour you need to prop up role models.


Later, Ben Hurley, a resident of inner city district of St. John's Centre gave me a few good examples of some of the things government should not do to seniors and their families.

Ben Hurley told me at that he is a diabetic who has had two open heart surgeries. He finds it difficult to get transportation to his doctors appointments without spending two hours on a bus and often denies himself care. On top of it all Hurley is going blind but thankfully he as adult children that are helping care for him. He told me that he finds things very difficult financially as he is currently not receiving any pension benefits. The government is clawing back funds due to an unpaid phone bill-which he admits, he was his fault. I assume that this means this very ill man also does not have a phone. Hurley was unable to go to court to defend himself against this action. I thought this to be an appalling form of social discipline on behalf of government, particularly in the context of recent spending scandals.

Moving along in this journey of learning, I decided to pay a visit to the Buckmasters Circle Community Centre in the public housing district of Buckmasters Circle and get some opinions on what this neighborhood needs and what is currently being done.

This community centre houses a public health clinic, a salvation army food bank, a community Internet access program, a play and learn club for children, a breakfast club, and a Brighter Futures healthy baby program.Coordinator Seanna Condon notes significant improvement in the living conditions for people of Buckmasters circle through programs such as these but also identified issues such as bullying and graffiti in the neighbourhood as problems. Apparently an anti-bullying program "Roots of Empathy", where a new mom brings her newborn baby into a class of children over the course of one year, had previously been offered in the local school Bishop Abraham. This program was recently cut by Stephen Harper's Conservative government.

In talking to the public health nurses in the community centre, they identified lack of education on matters of education and self image as major health issues for the community. Buckmaster Circle has long had a reputation as a 'tough' place, and like the expression 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree' many people believe that they can never escape the stereotypes of them being 'lazy', 'drug addicts' 'criminals' and this affects peoples perceptions of their self worth. Additionally, the poor state of housing infrastructure, involving mold problems and a significant numbers of rats and mice, was identified as a serious health issue. Newfoundland and Labrador housing recently initiated repairs to housing units but its been a long time waiting. One resident told me that break and enters are on the rise in the complex because of how easy it is to pick the locks on the doors!

In terms of access to green space there are fields and trails
surrounding Buckmaster Circle as well as a baseball field, but no playground anywhere between Holy Cross Elementary on St. Claire Avenue and Bannerman Park on Military road. I think a neighbourhood playground and community beautification/mural project led by local young people would do much to improve living conditions in the area. In terms of other ideas that would boost the quality of life for residents of this community, imagine if people

here could rely on a guaranteed annual income from the federal government, allowing them the economic flexibility to go to work without losing their social safety net of programs, housing and health care. I think this would lead to a significant boost in morale, reducing crime rates and bolstering mental health. It puts the onus on the individual to make changes in their life without threatening their security. Instead we spend millions of dollars each year trying to discipline people off welfare by subjecting them to the worst living conditions, over policing and social monitoring.

But really, is it surprising though that people would trade their right to personal respect for economic security? Its happened over and over again through history. Look at the Republic of Newfoundland's decision to abandon democratic governance after the Great Depression.

The idea of a guaranteed annual income for all Canadians may sound dreamy but it was actually supported by Former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien as he considered his legacy. Again, thinking about this type of solution to poverty requires investing in a long term perspective for Newfoundland and Labrador's place in Canadian confederation.

Yes its been another very interesting day!

On the Campaign Trail

September 19th, 2007



Today I met with non-profit groups operating out of the The HUB community center on Merrymeeting Road. They included Turnings, The Brain Injuries Association, Rabbittown Learners, The Newfoundland and Labrador Deaf Association and the Partners for Workplace Inclusion Program. I received a wealth of information on concerns for the riding as well as insights on the challenges faced by not for profit groups across the province.


The first group I introduced myself to was "Turnings" a community-based organization that was formed to support offenders and ex-offenders who wished to become productive members of society. Currently a portion of Turnings support comes from Federal funding. Talking to Edna, Heather, and executive director Ron Fitzpatrick and I was surprised and saddened to hear that the provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador denied the group funding in its large surplus budget. Fitzpatrick was told that he had to wait 12 months to see Danny Williams to even challenge the decision!


I discussed the need for a drug rehabilitation centre in a growing city such as St. John's with the group. As Mr. Fitzpatrick replied, it almost seems as though the Tories are denying the existence of burgeoning drug problems in the city of St. John's by not addressing this need. Currently you can get a bed for 4-5 days in the city to sober up cold turkey but there a three month waiting list for the 21 day rehabilitation complex in Corner Brook-Humberwood. Currently young people who are being treated for oxycontin abuse are being sent far away to various localities on the mainland for treatment which is terribly difficult on families.


The next group I introduced myself to were the Brain Injuries Association. I met a lovely group of clients and staff and they let me know of the social and recreational advocacy work they are doing for people who are suffering from Brain injuries and other special needs. We talked about issues of accessibility and the lack of teeth in the Newfoundland and Labrador disability act that allows for so many businesses in St. John's to be inaccessable. Coordinator Kerri McGrath advised me that they too had received no funding from the provincial government this past budget, although they have identified a great need for services they can provide in the Gander and Corner Brook areas.


Walking into the next office space I quickly realized that everyone communicated in American Sign Language! This is a literacy/education program offered by the Newfoundland and Labrador School Association of the Deaf. Coordinator Myles Murphy helped me sign 'thank-you' to everyone.





Around another corner of the HUB I checked out the partners for Workplace Inclussion Program, a federally sponsored program that provides job coaching to people with disabilities who are not on EI or otherwise in the workforce. Sandra, the manager of the program did not want to have her picture taken without the presence of her team but gave me lots of information about the great demand for their work in St. John's Centre.

Next I had a great time chatting about issues with Anita and Doris of the Rabbittown Learners Association. They are celebrating their 20th anniversary working for the people of St. John's Centre this coming May. Rabbittown Learners helps people gain their Level 1 High School certification through a structured program. Coordinator Doris Hapgood has been there since the beginning and has helped hundreds of people find work and be self reliant through literacy. Many new Canadians have been benefitted from this service as well as locals. Unfortunately this group struggles for funding as well, falling some $60,000 short of its needs each year.

This quilt was made by Doris on the 15th anniversary of the Rabbittown Learners Association and it called to mind just how hard non-profit organizations work for their communities and the pride their leaders feel in acheiving goals for people who need advocacy.

Overall I have left with the notion that it is a very great shame that in a time of great surpluses for government not-for profit groups are often forced to compete with one another for fundraising dollars and volunteers rather than work together on common aims and objectives. Why is the Danny Williams government sending a message that their work is not important or necessary by denying funding and the ability to politically address this?