SHOCKING NEWS... so why not me!!!!

If anybody saw me leaving the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning then please let me know how I got home.... one minute I was sitting there enjoying myself embellishing others with great tales of Mitchell Tweel on his Campaign trail, when suddenly someone innocently plunked down The Guardian and right there before my very owns eyes was Wayne Thibodeau's inside scoop on the front runners for the soon to be announced PEI Lieutenant-Governor... I must have looked like a deer in the headlights as I scanned this "rag" looking for my picture... then I furiously read each page including the obituaries in search of my name, but with each fleeting moment I was becoming even more incoherent, to the point I was ready to fetch Paul MacNeill to bring some justice to this story...

In shock, I muddled my way through the rest of Saturday and thought it only fitting that I should muster up enough energy to head down to the Lebanese New Year's bash at the Delta where surely I would find a camp of supporters... the Premier immediately recognized my grief and offered up the suggestion that if I could stomp Garth Staples out of the running then I may have a shot at it... but Shawn Murphy said knowing Jim Bagnall, he could be the dark horse, as his intellect may be the deciding factor... I was so discouraged that I couldn't even manage to get up and have a swing around the floor with the belly dancer, that's how stunned I felt...

Through the weekend I convinced myself that surely John Jeffery of CBC would get to the root of this obvious oversight and by midday Monday the pre-Compass reports would have pushed my story ahead of those wandering “lice” that Karen Mair has been on the lookout for... you can’t imagine how I’m feeling here after replaying Compass at least a half dozen times tonight and not even a mention... but when you really think about it, why wouldn't I have been the front runner as it was well known when I passed up the offer to be made a Senator, that I qualified such by letting them know I was "in-waiting" for the White House... I had even mentioned at that time that I was prepared to add a new swimming pool, a properly vented smoking room and a high pressure wash bay to the “big house” and all on my own tab...

But this is serious business when we’re talking about representing our good Queen of the Motherland and no one more than I (well maybe John Macnutt Esq.) appreciates the prerequisite of one’s qualifications to do this job properly... even with my credentials as a certified development bully I now know that I have to sweeten up the deal if I ever expect to manipulate my way to the top so first thing tomorrow I’m going to offer up Billy McGuire, the news editor of The Guardian, to be my Aide-de-Camp which should get me the proper media attention... then I’m going to make sure Ottawa knows that I’m prepared to develop a 9 hole executive golf course next to the big house if things go my way... I won’t need a salary so that would save our taxpayers some money and in the summers we could have Allan Rankin’s troupe run a midday socialist “Ceilidh” as the Princess and I would be at the cottage... hopefully this will do it?

If all else fails I just may call Lizzie myself and let her know that I’m prepared to swap the Porsche for a nice British built Lotus to keep out front for her and the Family to sport around in when they visit... and just think of the parties, so why not me?

Hunt is now on for new lieutenant-governor

January 8th, 2011
Wayne Thibodeau
GUARDIAN EXCLUSIVE!

Quietly, behind the scenes, a small group of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s closest confidants in Prince Edward Island are beginning the process to select the province’s next lieutenant-governor.

Barbara Hagerman’s term as Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, representative in Prince Edward Island comes to an end in July.

A replacement will likely be named in late June. Unless there is a federal election in the next six months and the Conservatives lose that election, the decision on who will be moving into Fanningbank, the lieutenant-governor’s official residence, will lie with Harper and his advisors, including Fisheries Minister Gail Shea, who is the minister responsible for Prince Edward Island.

Sources both in Charlottetown and in Ottawa say there is a long list of potential candidates being considered.

However, the prime minister’s office appears particularly interested in three candidates. They include veteran Summerside Mayor Basil Stewart, who ran unsuccessfully for the Conservatives in Egmont several years ago.

Also topping the list is Charlottetown businessman Fred Hyndman, who is managing director of Hyndman & Co. and chairman of the board of directors at UPEI.

There is also a lot of interest in Chief Darlene Bernard, the head of the Lennox Island First Nation. If named to the post, Bernard would be Prince Edward Island’s first aboriginal head of government.

Other names being considered are former Progressive Conservative MLAs Wes MacAleer and Pat Mella, Summerside lawyer Nancy Key, and Roger “Co-op” Arsenault, a community leader in Evangeline region of Prince Edward Island.

All three of the top contenders were surprised to even be considered.

Shea would not do an interview but the Egmont MP issued a carefully worded statement in an effort to fend off those who may want to lobby for the post, which sources say has already started.

“The current governor is doing a great job in her role and we are grateful for her service,” Shea said in her statement. “The prime minister will insure a suitable qualified individual will be appointed when her term comes to an end. It is customary as well for the prime minister to consult with the premier.”

There was a time when appointments of lieutenant governors was carefully weighed by political affiliation, particularly for the party that holds the prime minister’s office, as well as by religion and county lines.

For example, the rotation was usually between Prince, Queen and Kings counties in P.E.I. and between Roman Catholic and protestant. Sources say times have changed and most of those considerations, with the exception of political affiliation, are no longer considered.

Reid said it is an incredible honour and anybody given the opportunity to sit as lieutenant-governor should take that opportunity. “I believe it serves a very, very useful purpose,” she said. “I would think we would lose a lot of tradition if we lost the role of lieutenant-governor.”