Staying closed is right move: Williams

Premier Danny Williams is defending keeping the legislature closed until 2008, saying it will give ministers the chance to master their new portfolios and ultimately result in better government.

The time away from the House this fall will allow new ministers to get their files "solidly under control" in the lead-up to next year's budget.

Eight of the 18 cabinet ministers kept the same responsibilities, including senior jobs such as finance, fisheries, education, health and natural resources.

Five ministers were shuffled into new, or diminished, roles. There are also five newcomers to cabinet.

Williams said opening the House would have required a throne speech - something he called a "very detailed" process that sets out a full year's agenda.

"So to turn around this fall and prepare another throne speech when we really haven't concluded half of what we set out to do in the year, I just think would be inappropriate, it would be unproductive, it would be just a repeat, a complete re-spin of what we said before," Williams told reporters at Government House.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who won re-election on Oct. 10 - the day after Williams' victory - indicated this week that re-opening the legislature before Christmas is a top priority.

"We do want to come back because we've got a lot of work to get done," McGuinty said Monday, according to The Globe and Mail.

But Williams rejected the comparison between Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario.

"I don't guide myself, or our government doesn't guide ourselves, by what Premier McGuinty does, or Prime Minister Harper does, or anyone else in the country does. We're running our own show down here, and we do it as we see fit, and I think we're doing a great job."

He said opening the House is not the best course of action for this province.

"I don't want to get into a situation of criticizing how Mr. McGuinty conducts his government. We feel we're doing it right. We feel this is the right way to do it. To have my ministers right now in the House for three or four or five or six weeks, I think the departments would suffer as a result of that.

"I think it would not be giving them enough time to basically get a handle on the departments. And those departments are the day-to-day government departments that serve the people, and that's really what this is all about."

Newfoundland and Labrador is on track to have the laziest of all provincial legislatures in 2007, with just 33 sitting days.

In 2004 - Williams' first full year as premier - the legislature sat for 59 days, according to Parliament of Canada statistics. That number dropped to 45 in 2005, then 40 in 2006.