Against the Tide

Following his appointment by Premier Brian Peckford in 1985 to chair a Royal Commission on Employment and Unemployment, Douglas House was seconded to head the Economic Recovery Commission in 1989. This body was formed during the premiership of Clyde Wells to address the need for significant social and economic reform in Newfoundland and Labrador. In the process of initiating this restructuring, however, House was struck by the unyielding strength of the bureaucratic barriers of provincial government. Against the Tide is House's account of the commission's seven years of struggle with bureaucracy, party politics, premiers, and patronage until its dissolution upon the arrival of Premier Brian Tobin. Despite its initial support of the commission's agenda, the Newfoundland government's concern with the issues ebbed, and House and the ERC were refused the authority to implement many of the important plans for reform. With candid assessment of Newfoundland and Labrador's political history and its current system of bureaucratic control, House argues the need to abandon traditional forms of government as long as they inhibit positive change. Combining the dramatic scope of memoir and the close analysis of sociological study, Against the Tide forcefully demonstrates the need for a more creative economic approach in Newfoundland and Labrador in order to overcome the persistent social and economic depression of the province. Through personal anecdote and public accounts, the book stands as a testament to the difficulty of fighting the relentless tide of political and bureaucratic power in Canada.