Danny williams is used to being in command and, judging from public opinion polls, Newfoundland’s Tory premier should be feeling fairly confident as his government approaches its second year in office.

If an election were held today, the Tories would win 60% of the votes — enough to win almost every seat in the legislature. With this level of support, Williams could start going easy on the whip and allow dissent among his subjects. But Williams, who earned a reputation for ruthlessness and a cutthroat approach to business before entering politics, is not for bending. If anything, the rise in popular support for his government is being accompanied by a level of control from the premier’s office that borders on paranoia.

Witness Williams’ surprise visit in early September to a private cocktail party held in St. John’s for an elite business group, the Canadian chapter of the World Presidents’ Organization. Williams used the occasion to demonstrate how difficult the transition to public life has been for him and his family. Principally, he told them about how his son, Danny Williams Jr., had been physically assaulted in a brawl by a union supporter during a strike by public service workers in March 2004.

This claim was similar to a statement Williams made shortly after the alleged incident, in which he appeared to blame all union workers for the attack. He neglected to tell the businessmen that the man charged with the assault was not a union member. More critically, he failed to mention that charges against the accused had been withdrawn.

After mis-educating his audience, Williams opened his heart to explain how he had grown as a person since taking the reins of office. He proudly explained that he has developed a “thicker skin” since becoming premier.

What the tale about his son reveals is that Williams knows how to carry a grudge against those who oppose him. Unions and others who question the premier have certainly learned that he does not back down easily from a fight.

A strike by snow crab fishermen this spring illustrates Williams’ style, which is emulated by his ministers. Last year, Trevor Taylor, the fisheries minister, pledged to consult with fishermen about ways to ensure the equitable distribution of crab to processing plants throughout the province. Despite this promise, the government unilaterally imposed an experimental system of production quotas — a plan that the largest fishermen’s union decried as a cartel. Rather than accept the unilateral measures, crab fishermen tied up their boats. After two months of protests, Williams backed away from imposing the plan, but only after one processing firm, Quinlan
Brothers, broke ranks and sided with the union. By the time the boats took to the water, however, the crab season was almost over, and fishermen suffered significant losses in income.

Perhaps the most damning condemnation of Williams’ approach to leadership came from former health minister Elizabeth Marshall, who resigned in September 2004 after the premier made decisions involving her department without consulting her. Marshall, who had previously served as the provincial auditor general and was lured into politics by Williams, said she did not agree with his “style of management.”

In the remaining two years of Williams’ mandate, it will be interesting to discover whether the premier knows another important element of leadership: the art of
compromise. IE