ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams boasted about his province's fiscal turnaround during his four years in power and vigorously defended his government's record over an embarrassing spending scandal during a televised leaders' debate Tuesday.
"People have a right to be angry ... the system has failed them and some of their elected representatives have failed them,'' the Conservative leader admitted during the hour-long debate, broadcast across the province with two weeks to go in the provincial election campaign.
"I, personally, was very concerned when I was in opposition, and felt there was something unusual -- the fact that the auditor general wasn't being allowed in to check the accounts.''
But he stressed that it was his actions, such as calling in a judge to review the legislature's spending practices, that shed light on the debacle perpetrated during the previous Liberal regime.
"It was (Liberal Leader Gerry) Reid's government that took the auditor general out, that allowed the atrocities to take place. As a result, what we did is we cleaned it up.''
NDP Leader Lorraine Michael alleged that the premier sat on his hands while in opposition, despite early reports about spending irregularities.
"You didn't go public when you were the leader of the opposition,'' Michael said.
Reid, who has throughout the campaign accused Williams of painting a rosy economic picture while ignoring the plight of rural Newfoundland and Labrador, repeatedly accused the premier of doing nothing for the fishing industry.
"I ask you: who stands for the fishing industry in this province, you or I?'' Reid blared at Williams. "I think the people in that industry know that.''
When Williams accused the previous Liberal government of failing to support fishermen, the two leaders engaged in a confusing verbal brawl that left both men straining to talk over the other.
Their voices were raised and the emotional temperature of the debate went up, but it was difficult for those watching to figure out what they were saying.
At one point Reid asked: "What did you put into the fishery?'' Williams, busy making his own points, said his government was busy "cleaning up your rot ... and the stink that you left the province in.''
Virtually every other time the leaders engaged each other, the result was the same: a series of harsh, overlapping statements that amounted to nothing more than political noise.
For the most part, Williams kept his cool, but Reid seemed to get carried away with his emotions.
"At times, it seemed like he was desperate,'' said Michael Temelini, a political science professor at Memorial University in St. John's.
"He was uncomfortable and really overcome by anger ... At one point, I was so frustrated I just muted the remote.''
In contrast, Michael appeared poised and Williams held his own, he said.
"I don't think he's going to lose any votes tonight,'' he said.
Despite questions surrounding his policies for disadvantaged rural regions, the sting of the spending scandal and another scandal that has called into question the quality of the province's health-care system, Williams is heavily favoured to win the Oct. 9 vote.
Earlier this month, the province's auditor general released his final report into constituency allowance spending that found members of all three political parties spent more than $2 million on questionable donations and personal items, such as alcohol, cigarettes and lottery tickets.
Some of those named in the report are seeking re-election.
Meanwhile, the province's largest health board is under scrutiny for giving hundreds of breast cancer patients faulty test results. At least 36 patients have died, though it remains unclear how many of them died as a result of the erroneous tests.
Williams has managed to distance himself from both controversies by establishing a judicial inquiry to investigate the problems with cancer testing, and repeatedly pointing out it was he who "cleaned up'' the mess that arose from politicians' spending habits.
Williams also trumpeted the province's swift fiscal turnaround during his mandate, largely thanks to a gush of revenue from the offshore oil industry.
During the first week of the campaign -- and during much of the debate -- Reid focused on issues that affect the province's small outports, such as outmigration and the fisheries.
Newfoundland, with a population of 505,000, has lost 7,000 people since 2001, according to Statistics Canada. And the fisheries -- once the province's flagship industry -- has never fully recovered from the federal cod moratorium of 1992.
But on the hustings, Reid has found himself trying to contain a couple of gaffes.
Last week, a campaign worker for the Liberals referred to Williams as "my Fuehrer'' at a party rally. Williams condemned the remark as "gutter'' politics.
The NDP, meanwhile, has had trouble fielding a full slate of candidates. As of Tuesday, the party only had 24 candidates running.
But Michael promised Tuesday there would be 37 candidates ready for the election, and she appealed to the province's electorate by positioning herself as the "real opposition and a real voice in the house of assembly.''
Williams, who some observers say could possibly win every seat in the house of assembly, denied he is seeking a wipeout.
But he emphasized that the opposition "has to earn the vote.''
"People can't just default and say, `Give us a vote please because we have to have an opposition.'''
At dissolution, the Tories had 34 seats in the 48-seat legislature, the Liberals had 11, the NDP one and there were two vacancies.
