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Williams & Sivie, DDS - Dr. Brad Williams williamsandsivie.com |  Liposuction and plastic surgery: Plastic Surgery: - Career Politicians... plastic-surgery-usa.blogs... | Humor and Jokes About Politicians, Politics and the Political Process healthydoctors.com | How To Lobby Politicians sullivanstriders.org |
Daniel "Danny" Williams, QC, MHA (born August 4, 1950[1] in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada) is a Canadian politician and businessman. He is currently the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.
[edit] EducationWilliams first attended Saint Bonaventure's College then Gonzaga High School in St. John's, before studying at Memorial University, where he received a degree in political science and economics. In 1969, Williams was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship and went to Keble College, Oxford, earning a Degree in Arts in Law and playing for the Oxford University Ice Hockey Club. He then earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax.[2] [edit] Career in law and businessWilliams practised law from 1972, becoming a financially successful lawyer, and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1984. While still in law school, Williams led a consortium of businesspeople that was granted one of Newfoundland's first cable television licenses and started the company "Avalon Cablevision". Through major acquisitions and the very early adoption of the Internet ISP business (via theZone dial-up and later RoadRunner high-speed cable Internet services), he built Cable Atlantic into one of the largest communications companies in Atlantic Canada. As the principal owner, he sold the telecommunications portion of the business for $76 million dollars in April 2000 to "GT Group Telecom Inc." (who were bought by Bell Canada Inc. in 2006). Then 8 months later the cable TV portion of Cable Atlantic was sold to Rogers Cable Inc. for $152 million in November 2000. This sale plus the success of his extensive law practice gave him the nickname of "Danny Millions" during the early 2000s. Williams also served as president of OIS Fisher, an oil and natural gas company (later renamed Spectrol Group). He also opened three golf courses in Eastern Newfoundland. [edit] Leader of Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and LabradorWilliams ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001. He was elected leader of the party and gained the seat of Humber West in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in a by-election. As Opposition leader, Williams donated his legislative salary to charity. [edit] Premier of Newfoundland and LabradorWilliams led his party to victory in the 2003 general election and became the province's ninth premier. The first year of his government was marked by confrontations between his government and labour unions of the civil service. His son was injured in a nightclub during the height of the conflict, leading Williams to warn the unions to stay away from his family. Shortly thereafter, the attacker came forward and stated that the attack was not politically motivated. Williams attracted considerable national attention on 23 December 2004 when he ordered all Canadian flags removed from provincial buildings in reply to a dispute with then Prime Minister Paul Martin over his desire to shield Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil revenues from the calculation of its fiscal capacity, the basis for calculating equalization payments which redistribute wealth to poorer provinces. Earlier in October, the Premier had turned down the federal government's first offer, and Martin's deputy chief of staff Scott Reid said that Williams was "making a mistake of historic proportions and he is doing it on the backs of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians... He may get some short term gains, but he will pay for this in the long run."[3] Reid later clarified that Williams "was allowing his ego to get in the way of negotiations with the federal government", which resulted in a public apology by the Prime Minister.[4] In late January 2005, Williams and Martin reached a deal which revised the offset provisions, allowing Newfoundland and Labrador to maintain more of its Equalization revenues, and saw the Government of Canada provide this increased revenue in a one-time payment of $2.6 billion CAD in advance. This significantly raised Williams' popularity in the province, though the deal was criticized by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. On March 3, 2006, Williams appeared on Larry King Live where Paul McCartney and his (then) wife Heather Mills debated the seal hunt with him. During this debate, McCartney claimed that any reasonable person who has seen footage of seals being clubbed would not come away believing this is humane.[5] Williams rebutted, correcting them on several points as well as suggesting that the McCartneys were puppets of the issue that helped bankroll the organizations in protest of the seal hunt. He then invited the McCartneys to visit Newfoundland and Labrador during the interview. The McCartneys stated incorrectly they were currently in Newfoundland, but they were actually in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island during the interview. Williams has consistently had approval ratings that rank among the highest of any Canadian politician. In March 2005, one poll showed it as high as 86%.[6] On June 5, 2007, it was announced that a poll conducted throughout most of May 2007 suggested that approval for Williams and his PC party was at 73%, a level of support that had been consistent throughout the year. On August 21, 2007, Williams signed an Memorandum of understanding for the Hebron offshore oilfield with several major oil companies. The agreement sacrificed royalty rates in exchange for the ability for the province to acquire a 4.9% equity stake in the project. On October 9, 2007, Williams and the PC government were re-elected in the provincial election, increasing their caucus to 44 seats in the House of Assembly. Despite the massive majority, Williams received criticism in many corners for delaying the re-opening of the House of Assembly by over six months. Despite this, his approval ratings still managed to grow with polls in March 2008 putting his approval at 85%. As Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador during the 2008 Canadian Federal election, he was at odds with incumbent Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government. He fervently opposed a Conservative majority, and feared the result of such a government. As a result Premier Williams launched his "ABC" campaign: Anything But Conservative.[7] Williams' campaign was an apparent success as the federal Conservatives lost all representation in Newfoundland and Labrador. Stephen Harper was also coincidentally narrowly denied majority government status. The animosity stemmed, in part, from continued disputes over equalization.[8] A poll conducted in 2009 by the Corporate Research Associates showed that half-way through his second term as Premier, support for Wlliams' Progressive Conservative Government is on the rise with 77% of decided voters backing the PC's, that is up from 72% in the last poll.[9] Another poll conducted by Global News and Ipsos Public Affairs during the same period showed similar results of support for the Premier which makes him by far the most popular leader in the country.[10] On September 3, 2009, Williams accused Hydro-Québec of trying to block the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project to protect its own dominance in the marketplace. By making a deal with New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham to buy NB Power's nuclear and hydro generating stations, the transmission system and other assets in a massive deal. Williams spoke out against this deal to New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham. On October 29, 2009, the premiers of New Brunswick and Quebec signed a memorandum of understanding to transfer most assets of NB Power to Hydro-Québec. [11] [edit] AppearancesWilliams made TV appearances on February 18, 2005 and October 16, 2007 on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, on March 3, 2006 on Larry King Live, on the October 23, 2007 edition of The Rick Mercer Report, and on the March 5, 2008 edition of The Hour. In 2008, Williams was also a judge on CBC's annual show, Canada's Next Great Prime Minister. [edit] References
[edit] External links
Categories: 1950 births | Canadian Queen's Counsel | Premiers of Newfoundland and Labrador | People from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador | Canadian Rhodes scholars | Dalhousie Law School graduates | Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni | Alumni of Keble College, Oxford | Newfoundland and Labrador Progressive Conservative Party MHAs | Newfoundland Rhodes scholars | Living people | Newfoundland and Labrador political party leaders | People from Holyrood, Newfoundland and Labrador | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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