Even today, Newfoundland and Labrador has the potential of being the richest of the 10 provinces of Canada, writes Indigenous author from Southwestern Newfoundland (land of the Jackatars).Yet our political leaders continue to fail us. Mercedes Benoit Penney attempts to go where no one has gone before, into the mindsets of those who have influenced the governance of the land. She paints a vivid and disturbing picture of life in the strikingly different cultures that comprise Newfoundland and Labrador. The country could have grown to become an economic powerhouse but she unravels how the ruling political merchant mentality never allows prosperity to prevail, beyond the Avalon.