"The premier has sent another message that unless you live on the Avalon Peninsula, you will not have a voice in the operations of government," said Reid. "The premier has a cabinet that is over representative of urban areas and we have already seen the negative effects in rural areas of the province."

Reid points to budgetary cutbacks, school board cuts and health restructuring as key indicators of the direction the government has taken with an urban dominated cabinet. "We are seeing the dismantling of rural Newfoundland and Labrador at the hands of this premier. People are no longer able to access government offices unless they live in a major center or are willing to drive several hundred kilometers. The premier indicated today, with the appointment of Mr. Hedderson to cabinet, that the urban based approach to governing will not change."

The Opposition Education Critic is concerned with the impact Elizabeth Marhsall’s resignation, the firing of Debbie Fry and the shakeup of ministers will have on the operations of government and services available to the public. "Health and education are two very important departments that have now been thrown into disarray. Poor decision-making and lack of planning during the restructuring of both departments had already been causing problems. Now I fear further disruptions to services and management of the health and education systems may occur because new ministers and new officials will need to adjust to their new roles."

The Liberal MHA says the public must realize these disruptions and shake-up were not necessary and could have been prevented if the premier had adopted a reasonable management approach to government instead of the dictatorial, my way or the highway approach he used with Elizabeth Marshall and the officials in the health department.