Williams faces daunting task of managing expectations

Handed one of the most commanding mandates in Newfoundland and Labrador's history, Premier Danny Williams says he expects to face a cascade of requests for help during his second term.

"We will not let you down," Williams said, after his governing Progressive Conservatives were re-elected with 69.5 per cent of the vote, and as the Opposition Liberals were reduced to just three seats.

Williams's post-election message included a warning that not all expectations can possibly be met.

"There'll be times when you'll disagree with us. There'll be times when we won't be able to get everything that every person in the province wants," he said.

"I [have] got a list longer than Santa Claus's list, after being out [on the campaign trail]for 21 days, I got to tell you."

Williams ran on a platform that anticipated better days, in large part because soaring oil prices have helped put the province's ledger in the black.

Voters responded to the campaign, giving him a caucus that isone seat shy of tying a record for size, and just shy of the support that Liberal premier Joseph R. Smallwood enjoyed in his first election.

The PC platform was wide-ranging, with commitments ranging from beefing up policing to improving the array of services for young parents including a controversial promise to give parents $1,000 for each birth or adoption.

Yet on some major issues, Williams was careful not to lay out specifics. For instance, he frequently said that a pay raise is in store for civil servants, but refused to speculate on what he had in mind. Those issues, he said, will be determined at the bargaining table.

The president of the province's largest public-sector union said Williams will be hearing from her members about his promise to reward the financial sacrifices he demanded of them during his first term.

"We will hold the premier to his commitment," said Carol Furlong, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Public and Private Employees.

"And, if he should forget, which I anticipate that he won't, that we will certainly be reminding him on a regular basis of his commitment to public employees."

Furlong said recruiters in the province are having a hard time filling many jobs in health care and in skilled trades, and that Williams must find ways to make those jobs more attractive.

The province's financial picturehas dramatically improved on Williams's watch. With oil prices surging as offshore production picked up on the Grand Banks, thegovernment trimmed spending. Annual deficits, which had been approaching $1 billion, have been replaced by a surplus projection for this fiscal year of $261 million.

At many campaign stops, Williams was presented with a range of ideas of how to spend surplus cash, from improving highways to updating dilapidated equipment in regional hospitals to tackling staffing shortages in health care.

"People have to be realistic. We have some huge nuts to crack," Williams told reporters Tuesday night.

Large caucus means tough cabinet choices: Williams

Meanwhile, Williams is heading into his second term with a significantly larger caucus.

When the house of assembly was dissolved in September, the PCs held 34 of the legislature's 48 seats.

The Tories won 43 contests in this election, and may yet pick up another seat. The election was cancelled in Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans district after Liberal candidate Gerry Tobin died of a heart attack. Voters there will go to the polls on Nov. 6.

There may be another change, but not in the PCs' favour: A recount has automatically been called in the Isles of Notre Dame district, where Liberal Leader Gerry Reid lost by just seven votes.

Williams said choosing a cabinet from such a large caucus means he has the "luxury" of choices, butthey will betough choices.

"That's a really, really good question," Williams said, "and a difficult problem, I have to tell you."