Introduction: “There are always possibilities… (Lloydminster Meridian Booster, 2009)” marked the end of the original Newfoundland Inkslinger newspaper column series, but it would continue to publish irregularly until my departure from Alberta in 2010. I eventually went on to study Environmental Engineering Technology in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador. The Newfoundland Inkslinger column series went into slumber as I changed careers, but I continued to contribute to various blogs and newsletters, mostly on the West Coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Newfoundland Inkslinger column series was ultimately revived in July 2018 on its now-defunct Blogger site and continues to be self-published periodically as of 2025.
Presented in its entirety is the revival trilogy. These pieces of writing have been frozen in time, so opinions and personal views may have changed since original writing. While the newspaper column series actually launched in 2007, the tenth anniversary is marked from the renaming of the series in 2008 from Navigating the Issues to The Newfoundland Inkslinger.
The Newfoundland Inkslinger
The Newfoundland Inkslinger Tenth Anniversary (Column I/III)
Publication date: July 14 2018
Originally published on Blogger.
Dear readers:
It is good to see you again.
Earlier this year, I was going through my physical and digital portfolio and came to the realization that it’s been ten years since I started The Newfoundland Inkslinger column series. I mulled it over during the winter and ultimately decided to revive it.
Ten years ago in 2008, the Newfoundland Inkslinger came to life as a guest column published in the Lloydminster Meridian Booster (a Sun Media/Quebecor paper at the time). For about a year prior to that, I was writing a column series for the Booster called Navigating the Issues. I simply merged them together.
As a College of the North Atlantic (CNA) Journalism graduate with a growing portfolio, I was primarily working as a pressman in the Booster’s sheet-fed department. In June 2008, I decided to rebrand my series using a play on words. Inkslinger can be interpreted as another word for press operator. Navigating the Issues was rebranded The Newfoundland Inkslinger and kept going for another couple of years before I returned to Newfoundland.
When its final column rolled off a physical newspaper press, The Newfoundland Inkslinger was based in Lloydminster, Alberta. Originating from the Lloydminster Meridian Booster office, the final column was actually printed on the Edmonton Sun press due to cutbacks. Cutbacks that forced the loss of many jobs. I was lucky enough that the axe just missed my neck on several occasions, but I decided to be proactive and look at other options.
I left Alberta in 2010, returned to Newfoundland, went back to school and changed careers.
While on my second workterm in St. John’s during the harsh winter of 2014, I received word from an old colleague that the Booster sheet-fed shop would be shut down on March 28, 2014. As fate would have it, this was the day after my father passed away.
By June 2014, I graduated from CNA in Corner Brook with a diploma in Environmental Technology. I arrived at Come By Chance in early 2015, and continue to work there to this day.
I’ve recently learned that the Meridian Booster was acquired by the Lloydminster Source in 2016.
My base career has shifted, but my heart still beats to the rhythm of a newspaper press. I thought I put it behind me, but that was never true. Before the Edmonton Sun took over printing operations, it was always a joy to visit the Booster’s web press area, particularly on days my column was published. To see it physically glide down the conveyor belt was an honour.
When I lived in Corner Brook, I contributed to Western Environmental Centre newsletters and a local blog.
The idea for the original column was to write from the point of view of a transplanted Newfoundland out West, delving into local issues from afar and throw in some education for the Western Canada readers on Newfoundland culture and lore.
This new column, in contrast, will be on the front lines. It is my intent to look at government policies from all sides, and attempt to balance things out. You can already presume that there will be installments that will cover ramifications of Budget 2016, Muskrat Falls, and so on.
I am self-publishing and will research, write and release columns on my own schedule. This should ensure quality over quantity. The regular column will be the major feature of the site, but the occasional news flash may be reported, giving me the opportunity to practice my journalistic skills.
With the exception of this purposefully longer first entry, I’ll be keeping length to a standard 500 words if possible, depending on subject. Upcoming columns will be “advertised” on social media.
I look forward to picking up where I left off with this project. Thank you all for your interest.
The Newfoundland Inkslinger is back. See you next time.
The Newfoundland Inkslinger
The Tenth Anniversary: Navigating the Issues Again (Column II/III)
Publication date: September 17, 2018
Originally published on Blogger.
Jump aboard, dear readers!
Sometimes while driving back and forth on the isthmus to the Avalon, I plan and write columns in my head. Let’s see what formulates during this one. My on-call job requires that I spent a lot of time on the highway.
Leaving the Veteran’s Memorial Highway, going west.
It’s late September. 2019 and election season is fast approaching. The signs are obvious.
The usual announcements for spending is ongoing. But I notice that no one questions where does the money come from? We’re supposedly on a shoestring budget and deep in debt.
As I pass by the family hometown of Whitbourne…
The original Newfoundland Inkslinger/Navigating the Issues series debuted with a little column called “Sea Fever”, which was a discussion of Newfoundland culture. This column was ultimately the blueprint that the Newfoundland Inkslinger series followed. Now that I’ve since returned home, I’m going to revisit the themes of that column with a more critical eye.
It’s been about eight years since I returned from Alberta. Four of those years were spent back in the classroom (College of the North Atlantic campuses in Carbonear and Corner Brook). I spent the next four to the present day back in the working world in Come By Chance.
Have my impressions of Newfoundland changed since I’ve been away? Yes, they have.
I pass through the Doe Hills, like arches connecting the Avalon to the isthmus.
It’s great to have had the opportunity to uproot myself from Western Canada and return home. Now that I’m back on the ground and mostly caught up in the “real world” to the point where I was in Alberta, the situation is -to be frank- deplorable.
My Chevy Equinox bounces through a series of potholes.
I returned in 2010 and was getting settled in just as former Premier Danny Williams was making his grand exit and signed off on Muskrat Falls. When the news broke, I was in the first semester of my “refresher year” at College of the North Atlantic. I thought that it was very sudden.
Pulling into my apartment in Southern Harbour for a pit stop and to grab my work gear.
I’ve seen the Liberals come to power and drop the infamous budget in 2016 like an anvil. Measures are certainly needed to get the financial situation under control, but it was too much, too fast.
Austerity policies works against us as a society. Due to my situation, I haven’t been personally hit as hard as many other people surely are. For the record, I’m among those that are forced to pay the levy. But one wrong move or a stroke of bad luck, and I could be living paycheck to paycheck – or worse.
We have to be attentive and keep an eye on these folks. They’re supposed to be working for us, but that’s not how it looks to me. Why do they not reduce their own salaries and re-invest the saved money? It’ll be good optics at the very least.
The refinery is looming in the distance. Time for work.
See you next time.
The Newfoundland Inkslinger
The Tenth Anniversary: A Newfoundland Carol. In Prose. A Depiction of a Parallel Universe.
(Column III/III)
Publication date: Mid-December 2018
Originally published on Blogger.
Newfoundland’s independence has been voted away, to begin with.
A Christmas Carol, the famous tale by Charles Dickens, depicts a miser being visited by three ghosts in an effort to change his ways.
Let’s apply part of the framework of this story to Newfoundland, specifically to visit a parallel universe where it did not join Canada.
DISCLAIMER
This is pure fiction and speculation for fun. It all depends on the population and the politicians working together. There are many permutations of an alternate timeline, and this is only one.
It’s 1947. As the National Convention is underway, the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come visits Joey Smallwood and whisks him to an alternate 2018 in a demonstration of what would happen if we stayed independent.
Newfoundland Society
The Spirit flies Smallwood over the multitude of outports that dot the coasts, all thriving with boats on the move.
Newfoundland society is largely the same, with Irish/Scottish roots influencing culture. The society is in island-induced isolation, but connected by Internet. There is a fixed link to Labrador and the Canadian Mainland. Shipping companies such as Oceanex. The interior is developed, increasing population. What were abandoned outports are still active.
Our Economy
The Spirit takes Smallwood to Come By Chance. The Refinery, a sprawling complex with multiple vessel berths was larger in this reality, spewing environmentally clean fumes.
In our timeline, Canada took over our fishery in 1949, which led to mismanagement and the eventual shutdown of the cod fishery in 1992. In this alternate timeline, we have full control, and defense of the Grand Banks. As oil is inevitably discovered, we will have full control as well. This assumes a competent government is in charge with smart negotiators.
Hydroelectricity will be distributed all over the island via a network. The Holyrood Generating Station is still in place, but upgraded. Windmill farms taking advantage of the wind, perhaps in concert with the hydro as while we are windy, it’s not a constant wind.
The Spirit flies Smallwood over Bull Arm, where a GBS was under construction, eventually to pump oil on a recently-discovered field in the Grand Banks. The oil money is invested into a heritage fund and used wisely.
The Spirit flies Smallwood over the vast island interior. A larger population is evident with new communities that are growing. The outports, since there was no resettlement, are very active.
The Spirit points out the upgraded Railway and the Trans-Newfoundland Highway that criss-crossed the island. Asphalt mixture is poured thickly on all roads and highways, preventing potholes.
Our Military
The Spirit flies Smallwood over several Royal Newfoundland Regiment bases. The Navy, with the majority of ships built in our shipyards, patrolled the seas. Mostly for defense and protection of the Grand Banks. Several Newfoundland Coast Guard and icebreaking vessels spotted patrolling around the Northern Peninsula and the Labrador coast.
As the Gateway to North America, Gander Airport is central. The island is a fortress. A large Royal Newfoundland Regiment stands ready.
“This is one possibility if you abandon the idea of Confederation,” the Spirit said to Joey in his head. “Well?”
Smallwood thought for a moment.
To be continued.
I’ll let you consider and decide the outcome, dear readers.
Nonetheless, we have to work with what we have. For all the issues I have with Confederation, Canada is a good country. It could be worse.
Thank you all for following along with the Tenth Anniversary Revival Trilogy since July.
I’m looking forward to bringing the Inkslinger persona into 2019, an election year provincially and federally. Should be entertaining!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
