Woah! To support conservative Premier Danny Williams and protest the federal Liberals giving Newfoundland the shaft over off-shore oil, Marie Routhier changed her name to Marie Johnston.
To explain a little background to this dispute, Newfoundland is Canada’s poorest province, despite being rich in numerous resources including off-shore oil. The reason for the poverty is that the federal government has Newfoundland in a welfare trap whereby they take most of Newfoundland’s tax revenue through claw-backs, but cuts them a check through transfer payments.
The current Premier of the province is trying to break this cycle, and Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin promised Newfoundland (when it looked like the province would vote Conservative) that by Christmas this year a deal would be worked out, no strings attached, whereby Newfoundland could keep its off-shore oil revenue. It worked come election. Of course, Paul Martin lied, probably figuring that after the election he could simply blow Newfoundland off since he controls their purse string. Which is what he did. Nevertheless, Premier Danny Williams has nerve of stone. He stood up for his province and ordered the Canadian flag removed from all government buildings in the province. In Canada, this is the supreme political sacrilege any politician can commit, but the future livelihood of his province depends upon the feds keeping their election promise.
So how does this tie into Marie Johnston, formerly Marie Routhier. And why is Marie’s name change big news? Well to begin, twenty-five year old Marie is probably Canada’s most famous fashion designer among swimmers, gymnists and figure skaters. In fact, she designed the official swimwear for Team Canada Synchronized Swimming. She also designed a line of patriotic (albeit somewhat immodest) swimsuits around the Canadian flag — a line she is now discontinuing.
Raised in a single-parent family, she was quite poor. She began sewing at a very young age as a figure skater, because her mother couldn’t afford to buy the outfits the other kids had. By her teens she ended up swinging this into a full-time career, and operated her company out of Newfoundland for several years where she fell in love with the province. She also fell in love with the conservative ideals of Premier Danny Williams, and moved back when he won the election. Her replacement line will be known as “Republic of Newfoundland”. Nevertheless, she’s forfeiting a lot of name recognition in changing her name, as every Canadian recognizes “Marie Routhier” but not “Marie Johnston”.
But how does the name change tie into all this? Johnston is the maiden name of Marie’s mother, who raised. Routhier, on the other hand, is the family name of her father who abandoned her when she was a baby. Where this becomes highly political is that Marie’s paternal great-great-grandfather is Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier, who authored the original French lyrics to “O Canada!” which is our national anthem. So this is a pretty big shot fired across the bow of Canadian culture by one of its young leaders.
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I’m not well informed on the goings-on in Newfoundland, so please forgive my ignorance when I ask: what are the chances of Newfoundland leaving Canada altogether? And if they were to do so, could the appeal to the Crown for recognition as an independent State?
Better start puttin’ together a glossary for us southerners; or I’ll hafta go buy a copy of the OCD. What’s a “claw-back”, eh?
Dennis: Right now, the odds are greater that Quebec or Alberta will leave, but there are definitely grumblings of separation in Newfoundland. My guess is that the whole country will break-up within the next ten-to-fifteen years, unless a conservative government can get in and renegotiate the constitution. The country simply is not working.
RC: A claw-back is similar to taxes. Basically the government gives you X amount of money, then takes some back. The portion taken back is known as a “claw-back”.
What would be so bad about Canada breaking up? Maybe then everything bought and sold in North America wouldn’t have to have French on it to please those people in Quebec. If the provinces want to have nothing to do with each other, let them go their separate ways.
I think maybe the Maritimes made a mistake when they chose to join the Dominion of Canada (wasn’t it right after WWII?)
Maybe that can be undone.
I think Newfoundland joined Canada by a hair’s margin in 1949.
Newfoundland is wonderful and is very pro-American (lots of Newfies moved to Boston years ago so there are ties here plus American bases were in Newfoundland for years, now the barracks are apartments).
About time Newfoundland stood up to the crappy way the rest of Canada treats them! Good luck and God bless them!
I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Newfoundland, and NF *definitely* made a horrific mistake by abandoning Dominion status and joining Canada in 1949. Joey Smallwood was just persuasive enough (yep, the margin was very narrow) to seal the deal.
And fifty years later, NF is the West’s equivalent to Egypt–a transfer payment junkie of the first order. Which is sad, given the natural wealth of the region and its geographic location (making an ideal transit point for trans-Atlantic commerce.
Getting free of Canada would be the best thing that could happen to the former Dominion.
Whoa! Y’all are really eager to break up a country you don’t live in or know much about! (with the exception of Pete, of course!)
First, a geography lesson: Nfld. is NOT a Maritime province. The Maritimes are Nova Scotia, PEI and New Brunswick.
Second, some history: Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are two of the four founding provinces of Canada. The others are Quebec and Ontario. They helped create Canada in 1867. Back then, the Maritimes were “have” provinces.
To the point in question: I don’t think the country’s going to break up anytime soon. I understand William’s stand, and applaud it. But I don’t think he’s out for a divorce.
As for saying Newf. made a mistake entering Confederation…. have you any idea how dirt poor people were pre-1949, and how used by Britain? I do. My grandparents are Newfoundlanders. There was NOTHING there but the fish. People lived in shacks, couldn’t afford higher education, etc.
There’s a reason there are Newfies everywhere, and the diaspora didn’t start in 1949. Newfies have been moving away for hundreds of years, due to poverty.
Now, does such a bunch of hardworking, smart people deserve a better deal fom the feds? You betcha. Would they be better off if they separated? I don’t think so. The only province that would be better off after splitting is Alberta.
A troubled country, like a troubled marriage, doesn’t need a divorce. Might need some tough love, though. Go, Danny, go!
As for the French comment…. oh, grow up. Reading another language won’t hurt you. Heaven forbid anyone be different from Americans. Sheesh.
More on the French thing: there are francophone populations in every part of Canada, and most are not transplanted Quebecers, but cultural groups in their own right. And what about French-speaking Cajuns in the US?