July 2000
by Barry Stagg
The death of infamous racketeer John C. Doyle on May 31 brought back memories of a sad and ruinous time in Newfoundland. Simply put, Doyle was a superb exploiter of Joey Smallwood and thusly acquired and profiteered from vast provincial resources. He was a fugitive criminal who spent his last years in Panama, hiding from the law.
The news about Doyle's demise came to me as I was part way through an article in The Atlantic Monthly called 'The Return of Ancient Times'. This essay by Robert D. Kaplan made the point that the politics of the new century will necessitate a return to a creed of ruthless self-interest as opposed to the principles of well-fed idealism. Kaplan's platform in the middle of the American elite seems curiously insular when domestic scoundrels such as Doyle are considered.
Americans are at the top of the political and economic food chain in this world. Canadians are just a little further down the incline of the pyramid of affluence. The myopia that can be induced from living at such heights can lead pundits such as Mr. Kaplan to ignore some of the more seedy realities of both this and the last century. Ruthless self-interest to the point of criminality was the stock in trade of John Doyle. His actions and the complicity of Smallwood left the Newfoundland of the 1960's with ruined industries, massive government debt and a mountain of lost opportunities sacrificed by Smallwood to the swindles and scams of Doyle. Little in the way of idealistic morality factored into how and why these dirty deeds were done.
Kaplan's central point was made as follows: "Human progress has often been made in the space between idealism and savagery." This is fine as a grand statement about the duel between powerful political adversaries, such as the United State and Russia but it ignores the snickering pragmatism of villains like Doyle when it comes to local dealings between the powerful, the ambitious and the powerless. Doyle and Smallwood filled the roles of ambition and power in 1960's Newfoundland while the province and its citizens filled their usual supporting roles of powerless servants. There was nothing but economic and political savagery inherent in the actions of these two as they frittered away the timber resources of the province in a selfish celebration of themselves.
When a return to a more pragmatic politics is touted in 2000, it ignores that dictatorial, undemocratic politics was alive and well in the domestic arena's of apparently wealthy and sophisticated North America during the very times that Kaplan defines as egalitarian and oriented toward "lofty goals".
This dirty reality of then and now is exemplified by the presence of several of the American social aristocracy among those who oppose Canadian hydro-electric projects on the specious basis of aboriginal and environmental violations. Robert Kennedy Jr. comes to mind as one of the usual suspects who show up when sanctimonious Americans and Canadians are exercising their "lofty goals" against the attempts of Newfoundlanders to make an honest living from their own resources. Robert Kennedy Sr. might have prosecuted Doyle if he had survived the assassins bullets of 1968. Now his son fills the shoes of Doyle by imperiously appropriating the rights and aspirations of Newfoundlanders. The lack of fraudulent intent and the substitution of big city idealism is no excuse for the intrusions of 2000.
Kaplan's title, 'The Return of Ancient Times' is really a misnomer. These ancient ways of suppressing the powerless have never been out of season. It is just the cloak of the culprit that changes colour from time to time. John Doyle's suits and Smallwood's peacock feathers were in fashion in the sixties. Now the preferred garb is that of the Armani suit with an environmentally friendly backpack.