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As MLA Abel LeBlanc, Saint John Mayor Ivan Court and International Longshoremen's Association secretary-treasurer Pat Riley fulminate over the Long Wharf land swap, New Brunswickers are pondering an inexplicable question.

What do these people think they are accomplishing?

It has taken Saint John years to shake off the stereotype of a gritty city where politics is waged as a bloodsport. In just a couple of months, these three leaders have cast the success of those efforts into doubt.

In the Internet age, it takes less than a second for strident, anti-business remarks or political accusations to circle the globe. Have these men forgotten that the world is listening and watching - the world Saint Johners are hoping will bring new development to the port city?

In 2003, the five mayors of Greater Saint John unveiled a regional growth strategy. Since then, Saint Johners have been striving for three goals: economic development, rejuvenation of the uptown area and waterfront lands, and improvements that will raise the quality of life in Saint John and surrounding communities. The proposed land swap between the port and Irving Oil addresses all three concerns. So far, the only thing Mr. LeBlanc, Mayor Court and Mr. Riley have managed to do by critiquing it is to raise doubts about the city's future.

This is not the leadership Saint Johners voted for.

It is Mr. Riley's job to serve the interests of his union's members. But Mayor Court and Mr. LeBlanc are public officials, paid to serve the interest of their constituents. Can they not see the damage this public battling is causing to the city's hard-won image as a centre for growth?

Mayor Court is the chairman of an 11-member council. Mr. LeBlanc is one MLA in the provincial Liberal caucus. The other members of council, and Premier Shawn Graham, should exert some effort to moderate the rhetoric of these self-appointed spokesmen before irreparable harm is done to Saint John's reputation.

All leadership requires a degree of statesmanship, including the judgment to realize when not to speak. Casting accusations and prophesying, as Mr. LeBlanc has, "protest and violence" serve no useful public purpose. They only undermine the city's prospects, by replacing faith in progress with an atmosphere of bitterness and threat.