The Consultant and the Keepers series: Part Three

It’s hard to watch something rot in real time—especially when the decay follows a pattern you've already seen.

By now, the dynamics are painfully familiar: a grassroots movement begins with urgency and purpose. Then the misdirection creeps in. Control passes through a revolving door of admins, acronyms, opportunists, and provocateurs—each one claiming to represent “the people.” But as soon as someone asks the wrong question or exposes the wrong paper trail, the walls close in. Consensus collapses. Accusations fly. And the very groups meant to defend community interests start eating themselves alive.

Welcome to Newfoundland’s resistance movement in 2022–2025.

The Flashpoint

Over the past week, Coreen Tourout posted two emotionally charged, all-caps Facebook rants—accusing Brenda and Sally Kitchen of betrayal and group hijacking, and calling for followers to abandon one faction and “join the real fight”.

But the facts don’t line up with the drama.

The group at the center of the accusations—No Wind Turbines on the Port au Port Peninsula—was originally part of Coreen’s circle but had long since been abandoned. It had around 2,000 followers. Due to Facebook’s orphaned group rules, Sally Kitchen became the listed admin, not through interference but by default.

Brenda, meanwhile, had created a separate page: Protect Our Port au Port Peninsula. This was her own initiative, and she invited Coreen to help moderate—along with others who declined. Once a conflict of interest became apparent, Coreen was removed. There was no “takeover”—Brenda was the original admin.

The situation unfolded publicly in the Screaming Eagles group, where the internal collapse was as fast as it was messy. What started as a splinter group of vocal opposition quickly devolved into a familiar cycle: power struggles, emotional accusations, and weaponized posts that derailed momentum. Whatever trust remained inside that space was shattered in a matter of days.

What That Moment Revealed

These outbursts aren’t just emotional spills. They’re signals—behavioral patterns that show where a movement is breaking down and what kinds of dynamics are now in control.

Because this is how the decay sets in:

• Narrative ownership eclipses actual organizing.
• Public theater replaces private accountability.
• Criticism, even when grounded in fact, is rebranded as betrayal.

The end result is the same: fractured communities, administrative power plays, and a hollow movement with no clear direction. The same people who shut down discussion or silence dissent step into the void to “rebuild,” only to repeat the same top-down dysfunction they claim to resist.

This isn’t unique to Newfoundland. But here, it plays out with particular brutality—because the cultural operating system already rewards opacity, deference, and performative unity. The opposition becomes the mirror image of the state: defensive, reactive, hierarchical, and allergic to truth.

The Pivot: Who Still Sees the Play

While much of the audience has been distracted by digital meltdowns and opportunistic ambulance-chasers—those posting simply for clicks, ego, or attention—the most important wildcard has stayed in motion: the Kitchen sisters.

Despite the chaos, despite the infighting, despite the desperation to erase them—they still have real support on the Port au Port Peninsula.

And unlike most, they haven’t lost sight of the big picture.

Through the noise, they’ve aligned with those who see what’s really unfolding: the implementation of Agenda 2030 [1], stakeholder capitalism [2], and the soft capture of local governance structures under the banner of sustainability, community development, and reconciliation. Whether it’s land narrative control, environmental licensing, or the rise of federally funded story-shaping projects tied to SSHRC [3], the outcome is the same: consent is manufactured while resistance is quietly preempted.

Love them or hate them, this much is clear: as long as Port au Port continues to lie, the Kitchen sisters remain a threat to the official narrative.

And that’s why they’ve been targeted. Not because they’re in the way—but because they haven’t stepped aside.

The Playback Loop

What’s worse than a bad system? A resistance movement that unknowingly becomes it.

Because that’s what this is: a playback loop.

Many groups in the region have begun to mirror the structures they claim to resist:

• Power hoarded behind admin panels
• No transparency, no process
• Censorship dressed as unity
• Prioritization of vibe over vision
• Managed optics instead of mutual strategy

The consultants are only now arriving. But they won’t have to dismantle much—because the groundwork was already laid by those who unintentionally trained themselves to be manageable.

This is the Local Paradox in action: a pattern of inherited dysfunction where the same old behaviors reproduce under new banners. The slogans change. The symbols shift. But the system remains intact.

Reclaiming the Narrative

Let’s be clear: it didn’t have to play out this way.

But the few who tried to slow the chaos and shift the discussion—myself included—were removed, silenced, or sidelined. Some were banned. Others were ignored. I was walked off the floor in 2022 for attempting to explain The Local Paradox. They didn’t want to hear it.

Not long after, I was blocked for continuing to share the material and connect the dots too openly.

If the House of Mirrors Cracks

So where does that leave us?

Right back where we started—but with better documentation.

The consultants will return when the funding returns.

The brand-builders will emerge when the next CBC crew shows up.

The gatekeepers will find a new group to “manage.”

The slogans will refresh.

But the Kitchen sisters? They’re still standing.

Still making noise.

Still aligned with those who see through the fog.

Because for every person who walked away from the infighting, there are others still watching. Still listening. Still asking:

What if this isn’t dysfunction? What if it’s design?

That’s the right question.

And that’s why, despite the playback loop, the story isn’t over yet.

References

[1] UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda

[2] World Economic Forum – What Is Stakeholder Capitalism? https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/what-is-stakeholder-capitalism/

[3] SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) – Federal research funding for Canadian universities and public-interest policy studies https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/

[4] The Local Paradox – Can be downloaded from: https://baymansparadox.com/downloads/index.php