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Margaret Wente can kiss my toutons

Margaret Wente, a Canadian citizen for 25 of her 55 years, is a columnist for The Globe and Mail. A very opinionated one, it seems. Her biography describes her as having the ability to enlighten and entertain her audiences on a regular basis. Enlighten? Perhaps. But certainly not educate. Born in Chicago, "educated" (she has an English degree) in Michigan, she's recently become a self-appointed authority on Newfoundland history and culture.
On January 6, 2005, the prestigious national paper ran a column penned by Ms. Wente that can only be described as an opinionated anti-Newfoundland rant by an arrogant Torontonian with a misplaced sense of superiority. I unfortunately do not have permission to reproduce her article here, but if you want a copy of it, I would be more than happy to send it to you. What I do have permission to do here though, is publish my response, and by heck, that's just what I am going to do:

Margaret Wente is perhaps the least-qualified person in Canada to comment on the present situation in Newfoundland (Oh Danny Boy -- Pipe Down, Jan. 6). Perhaps before deriding Premier Williams as a deadbeat, she could have done a little research into why Newfoundlanders presently feel the way they do.
Newfoundland does not want to "have it's cake and eat it too". Both it and Nova Scotia simply want to be treated as other provinces (such as Alberta and Quebec), with the right to profit from their own resources. And yes, the offshore oil and gas deposits are their resources, as the Atlantic Accord dictates that they should be treated as though they were land resources. The Atlantic Accord provided that Nova Scotia and Newfoundland would be the prime beneficiaries of those oil and gas revenues. The original division of profits was supposed to be 54% to Ottawa, 46% to the provinces. As it currently stands, the provinces are only left with 14%. How well do you think that would go over in Alberta?
Newfoundlanders do not possess an unmatched sense of victimhood, as Ms. Wente insists. Rather, they possess a fighting spirit and passion that is absent from most of the rest of complacent Canadian society. Ms. Wente would do well to remember that, before she insults anyone else in her adoptive nation.
Sincerely,
Saedigh, Ottawa, ON