Keith Russell gets an earful at Labrador budget rally

Just as his once-leader heard in St. John's, former Progressive Conservative minister Keith Russell got an earful from an unhappy demonstrator in Happy Valley-Goose Bay on Thursday.

Russell, who was the Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs Minister in the Paul Davis government, found a vocal critic at a rally that was meant to protest the measures announced in last week's Liberal budget.

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"You stand there and act like it wasn't part of what you b'ys did that got us into this mess," shouted Denise Cole just after Russell addressed the crowd.

"You talk about looking your MHA in the eye? A lot of us looked you right in the eye, and asked you how things were going in Labrador, and you went stomping right down that same path."

Russell was urging the residents to write and call their MHAs to ask why they were voting for the already unpopular Liberal budget.

Budget backlash

The protest was held on the same day as an anti-budget rally in St. John's, where Davis, now Opposition Leader, was shouted down as he tried to speak to crowds.

The budget brought down by Finance Minister Cathy Bennett last week includes steep tax hikes and some cuts in an effort to reduce a multi-billion dollar deficit.

Newfoundland and Labrador's revenues have plummeted in the past five years, due to a drop in oil-related revenues.

The Liberal government, elected in November, has heaped blame on its predecessors. It claims the Progressive Conservative government, of which Russell was a member, is responsible for a fiscal mess.

Labrador impact

The spending on the Muskrat Falls project, located just upstream from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, was a popular complaint among the large crowd at the Labrador rally.

"They should pull the plug on that project across the river," said Francis Winters.  "It's not doing a thing for this community, only raising the prices and we don't need that here in Labrador."

Another gripe was the cutback in Labrador-Grenfell Health funding that led to the loss of a full-time nurse in Black Tickle.

"To live in a little small community like that without a nurse is like going back 100 years," said Kirk Lethbridge. "That's not acceptable."

Organizers claimed about 70 people joined the protest, which walked to the Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs office in the town.

That's Dwight Ball's ministry.

Cole later said she regretted her outburst against Russell. She said it took away from the point of the protest, to show unity against the budget.