Grumpy Cat
11-30-2010, 10:09 PM
OTTAWA — While most world leaders have been publicly condemning WikiLeaks’ unprecedented release of secret documents while privately preparing for trouble, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams said Monday he is looking forward to finding out what messages American diplomats sent to Washington about him.
"I have no idea what that could be all about, to be quite honest with you, but I’m certainly looking forward to finding out," Williams said with a laugh in Pictou, where he was meeting with other Atlantic premiers.
Williams, whose last day on the job is Friday, appears to be of interest to American diplomats. He is mentioned by name in the tags of six cables sent to Washington, four from Halifax and two from Ottawa. Other premiers are not named in the 2,361 cables sent from Canada to the United States, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper is only mentioned in six tags.
The text of most messages has not yet been released.
The first mention of Williams in a tag is on Oct. 21, 2003, just as he won power, likely a report on the election. That cable is also tagged with acronyms referring to petroleum, energy, internal affairs, and the Liberal and Conservative parties.
The next mention of Williams is a Halifax cable labelled Labour Sector Affairs from March 31, 2004, after Newfoundland and Labrador brought in a tough budget that was to remove 4,000 positions from the public service. A month later, as a public-sector strike stemming from the budget ended, U.S. diplomats in Halifax sent another Labour Sector Affairs cable.
On June 5, 2004, Halifax diplomats sent a cable labelled Labor Sector Affairs, Internal Governmental Affairs, CA, Danny Williams. That was the same day that then-prime minister Paul Martin met with Williams in St. John’s and promised to renegotiate offshore petroleum revenue sharing, ending the equalization clawback on Newfoundland revenues and setting up the Atlantic accord battles.
On Dec. 29, 2004, American diplomats in Ottawa sent a cable about Williams to Washington labelled Internal Government Affairs, not long after Williams ordered Canadian flags lowered in Newfoundland and Labrador to protest Martin’s position in the Atlantic accord dispute.
The final cable labelled with Williams’ name was from March 2, 2005, two weeks after Martin settled the dispute with Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. It was labelled with acronyms for Economic Conditions and Financial and Monetary Affairs.
It is likely that other cables mention Williams. For instance, on Aug. 20, 2008, the Halifax consulate sent a file labelled Petroleum and Natural Gas and Hebron, the name of an ExxonMobil oilfield off Newfoundland. On Aug. 20, Williams announced a $20-billion deal to develop the field after a long impasse with the American oil firm.
WikiLeaks has said it intends to release 251,287 U.S. diplomatic cables in the months ahead. After two days of releases, WikiLeaks has dominated headlines around the world with behind-the-scenes revelations about everything from Saudi Arabia’s attitude to Israel to Prince Andrew’s rude comments at a brunch in Kyrgyzstan.
If WikiLeaks does release all of the Halifax cables, those about Williams are unlikely to be the most newsworthy.
A dozen of the messages — which date from 2003 to January of this year —are tagged with Terrorism, and 21 concern military affairs. Five cables are tagged Narcotics, including two cryptic messages from 2004 labelled only Narcotics Canada Venezuela and Narcotics Canada Barbados.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1214578.html
<3 Danny Williams. Best politician ever. He's been the thorn in Stephen Harper's backside since 2006 by giving Atlantic Canadians a voice and we love him for it!
"I have no idea what that could be all about, to be quite honest with you, but I’m certainly looking forward to finding out," Williams said with a laugh in Pictou, where he was meeting with other Atlantic premiers.
Williams, whose last day on the job is Friday, appears to be of interest to American diplomats. He is mentioned by name in the tags of six cables sent to Washington, four from Halifax and two from Ottawa. Other premiers are not named in the 2,361 cables sent from Canada to the United States, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper is only mentioned in six tags.
The text of most messages has not yet been released.
The first mention of Williams in a tag is on Oct. 21, 2003, just as he won power, likely a report on the election. That cable is also tagged with acronyms referring to petroleum, energy, internal affairs, and the Liberal and Conservative parties.
The next mention of Williams is a Halifax cable labelled Labour Sector Affairs from March 31, 2004, after Newfoundland and Labrador brought in a tough budget that was to remove 4,000 positions from the public service. A month later, as a public-sector strike stemming from the budget ended, U.S. diplomats in Halifax sent another Labour Sector Affairs cable.
On June 5, 2004, Halifax diplomats sent a cable labelled Labor Sector Affairs, Internal Governmental Affairs, CA, Danny Williams. That was the same day that then-prime minister Paul Martin met with Williams in St. John’s and promised to renegotiate offshore petroleum revenue sharing, ending the equalization clawback on Newfoundland revenues and setting up the Atlantic accord battles.
On Dec. 29, 2004, American diplomats in Ottawa sent a cable about Williams to Washington labelled Internal Government Affairs, not long after Williams ordered Canadian flags lowered in Newfoundland and Labrador to protest Martin’s position in the Atlantic accord dispute.
The final cable labelled with Williams’ name was from March 2, 2005, two weeks after Martin settled the dispute with Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. It was labelled with acronyms for Economic Conditions and Financial and Monetary Affairs.
It is likely that other cables mention Williams. For instance, on Aug. 20, 2008, the Halifax consulate sent a file labelled Petroleum and Natural Gas and Hebron, the name of an ExxonMobil oilfield off Newfoundland. On Aug. 20, Williams announced a $20-billion deal to develop the field after a long impasse with the American oil firm.
WikiLeaks has said it intends to release 251,287 U.S. diplomatic cables in the months ahead. After two days of releases, WikiLeaks has dominated headlines around the world with behind-the-scenes revelations about everything from Saudi Arabia’s attitude to Israel to Prince Andrew’s rude comments at a brunch in Kyrgyzstan.
If WikiLeaks does release all of the Halifax cables, those about Williams are unlikely to be the most newsworthy.
A dozen of the messages — which date from 2003 to January of this year —are tagged with Terrorism, and 21 concern military affairs. Five cables are tagged Narcotics, including two cryptic messages from 2004 labelled only Narcotics Canada Venezuela and Narcotics Canada Barbados.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1214578.html
<3 Danny Williams. Best politician ever. He's been the thorn in Stephen Harper's backside since 2006 by giving Atlantic Canadians a voice and we love him for it!