Stakes high in Signal Hill byelection, NDP admits

The New Democratic Party is pulling out all the stops to hang on to its cornerstone seat in the Newfoundland and Labrador legislature, with supporters suggesting democracy in the province is at stake.

Lorraine Michael, who took over the party reins from veteran leader Jack Harris in May, acknowledges winning the race in Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi on Nov. 1 will be difficult.

"I think the biggest thing that's at stake is losing our voice in the house of assembly," said Michael, who said former leader Harris— who represented the seat for 16 years and led the NDP for 14 years— elevated the quality of legislative debate.

"What's at stake for the people, I think, and for us too, is maintaining that discussion in the house, because it's very important for the province."

Michael is competing against Jerome Kennedy, a high-profile criminal defence lawyer who is making his first foray into elected politics.

The Liberals are sitting out the campaign, with some party members endorsing Michael's candidacy.

Harris resigned his seat Sept. 29, clearing the way for the byelection.

While the NDP has won the seat— known as St. John's East before a redistribution in the mid-1990s— in two byelections and four general elections since its first victory in 1986, the party admits it must overcome the overwhelming popularity of Premier Danny Williams.

The most recent quarterly tracking poll by Corporate Research Associates, for instance, showed Williams was the preferred choice as government leader of78 per cent of those surveyed.

By contrast, Michael had only four per cent.

Granted, that poll usesa sample size of just over 400 voters, with a high margin of error, and spanned the entire province.

Nonetheless, Rick Boland— a well-known actor and long-time party activist who is managing Michael's campaign— said the NDP knows it faces a behemoth of an opponent.

"The biggest challenge that we face is Danny Williams… no question about that," Boland said.

"I think that it is imperative on both the opposition parties to let the province know that Danny is not all powerful, that the opposition can take a seat."

"Do the math," said book publisher and NDP volunteer Gavin Will.

"This is not like the Liberals, who can afford to lose one or two seats…. To reduce the party from two [seats] to one would be bad for democracy in this province."

The NDP has other problems. Randy Collins, who holds the party's remaining seat in Labrador West is one of the politicians under a police investigation sparked by this summer's series of stunning audits into legislative spending.

To help win the byelection in Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi — a seat that includes much of downtown St. John's, the historic Battery region and suburbs in the east end— the party is calling in help from volunteers all over the region.

Michael, a former Roman Catholic nun who has worked on social justice campaigns for several decades, said a byelection loss will not mean the end of the NDP.

"It just means harder work. I'm not going to give up," she said.

"If it turned out that I didn't win, then I have a general election next year that I run in. So it just means more work."