I have been more than busy the past few weeks. One day, I would be taking pictures at an NDP fundraiser that Dwain Lingenfelter shows up for. Then I'd be at city council. Or in court. Or I would be on the road.
Not long ago I was on the road to snowy, foggy Lloydminster to cover the premier's Northwest Dinner. I was there to cover Premier Brad Wall and get his thoughts on the fast-moving developments in the BHP Billiton takeover attempt of PotashCorp.
There was just one problem. The unexpected happened. The Premier didn't show up for his own event.
The premier was forced to stay late in Regina, along with the other MLAs, to pass that unanimous motion calling on the feds to block the BHP Billiton takeover of PotashCorp. That forced him to take the plane to Lloydminster instead of going in by car. The plane encountered heave fog at the Lloydminster airport and was unable to land. The pilot headed back to Regina.
Instead of a fiery address by Premier Wall, those attending heard a keynote speech from local MLA and cabinet minister Tim McMillan, who had just barely made it in with his own flight before the fog hit.
Well, great. Here I'd come all the way to Lloydminster on the company dime, and for what? A speech by Tim McMillan! Well, at least the food was good.
That was a perfect example of a situation where unexpected circumstances messed up what everyone expected would happen.
But many unexpected things were happening that week, and the premier was partly responsible- starting with his announcement his government planned to oppose the BHP Billiton takeover.
That took a lot of people in the opposition by surprise. most recently, the Wall government's stance had been to let these situations play out and stay out without interfering.
That was until the Conference Board of Canada report came back and he found the province would be short $3 billion in revenues if this deal went through. As well, the opinion polls continued to show public unease about the hostile takeover.
That forced Wall into action. His decision to announce his province was opposing the takeover was shrewd politics. He knew exactly what the lay of the land was and he adapted according.
Critics in the NDP, who were opposed to the takeover all along, are now claiming Wall's opposition to the takeover is a flip-flop, and an abandonment of his free enterprise principles. They claim Wall is trying to follow public opinion.
Talk about an opposition that is grasping at straws. A government that actually listens to the people it is meant to serve? For shame!
Critics are also grasping at straws at the federal level. In the days leading up to Industry Minister Tony Clement's announcement the federal government was going to block the BHP Billiton takeover bid of PotashCorp, critics were slamming the 13 Saskatchewan Conservative MPs for being silent on the takeover, and were slamming the Stephen Harper government for being too rigid in their free-enterprise principles.
The big buzz was Clement would give the green light to approval, and the NDP and Liberals were licking their chops in anticipation of scooping up all those seats in Saskatchewan that the Harper government was sure to lose because they didn't listen to the people.
Then came the bombshell announcement from Clement last week that, no, he wasn't going to green light it after all. In fact, he was saying no to the deal.
What were these critics to say now? These rigid, "do-nothing" Conservatives had turned around and -- done something!
I watched the whole spectacle on Parliament Hill on TV last week. Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff were tripping over themselves, trying to make hay over the fact BHP Billiton could appeal this ruling within 30 days and were trying to argue this was some temporary ruling that would be reversed in BHP's favour in the end.
Talk about politicians who looked like chickens whose heads had just been cut off.
I think what you've seen is a true case of an opposition being thrown for a loop by an unexpected turn of events. Just like what happened to me at the premier's dinner the week before, this whole BHP Billiton turn of events has forced many to adapt to unexpected changes in circumstances.
At least one opposition politician, though, has been pretty consistent through all this: Ryan Bater of the Saskatchewan Liberals. He's been saying government should stay out of the whole takeover issue and let it all play out without interfering in the free market.
It's admirable we still have politicians willing to stand on principle regardless of what the public opinion is - and Bater's position is definitely regardless of public opinion. He's a brave man, indeed.
I don't think Premier Wall or, for that matter, the federal Conservatives were so brave. I truly believe the political pressure and the poll numbers got to these sitting politicians, and they ended up looking for any way they could to deny BHP Billiton its bid.
If that's what transpired at the end of the day, who can blame them for responding to public opinion-and is that really a bad thing? When it comes to politics, voters can be just like the weather - nasty and unpredictable, and worthy of being respected.
