Could he finally be concerned about rural Newfoundland and Labrador?
What? Must have been a change of coffee.
Just as a note to strikers: You are right re: Shelley and there is more he can do yet. Please read to end of post.
The following is an excerpt from a News Release issued by Kathy Dunderdale yesterday, September 11-06
Natural Resources Minister Kathy Dunderdale said today that key timelines for the construction of a commercial processing facility at Argentia are being compromised by the federal government's refusal to deal with the province's request around indemnification issues related to the former American naval base.
First let's look at some important timelines contained in Voisey's Bay Development Agreement:
Demonstration Plant
Section 4.2.1 of the Agreement states, " The Proponent has scheduled the completion of the engineering, design, and construction of the Demonstration Plant so that the Demonstration Plant Completion Date shall have occured on or before 31 December 2006."
Demonstration Plant Completion Date is defined as ," the date, as certified by the Proponent and, at the option of the Government, confirmed by an Engineer, upon which the construction of the Demonstration Plant has been completed in accordance with the Prononent's plans and specifications therefore and is ready to test Nickel Concentrate."
Let's have a look at this - by the contract provisions the test plant in Argentia does not have to be built yet - let alone well on the way to proving-up R&D tech in hydromet.
Good on ya INCO. Now do what's right for the workers at Voisey's.
If Kathy is concerned about timelines - it's only because VBN is well ahead of schedule - not good hey Minister.
The second timelines of interest are the "Decision " and "Decision Date"
Section 4.2.1 of the Agreement states, " The Proponent has scheduled the completion of the engineering, design, and construction of the Demonstration Plant so that the Demonstration Plant Completion Date shall have occured on or before 31 December 2006."
Demonstration Plant Completion Date is defined as ," the date, as certified by the Proponent and, at the option of the Government, confirmed by an Engineer, upon which the construction of the Demonstration Plant has been completed in accordance with the Prononent's plans and specifications therefore and is ready to test Nickel Concentrate."
Let's have a look at this - by the contract provisions the test plant in Argentia does not have to be built yet - let alone well on the way to proving-up R&D tech in hydromet.
Good on ya INCO. Now do what's right for the workers at Voisey's.
If Kathy is concerned about timelines - it's only because VBN is well ahead of schedule - not good hey Minister.
The second timelines of interest are the "Decision " and "Decision Date"
"Decision"
Decision: means the written decision to be delivered by the Proponent to the Government as to whether the Proponent intends to engineer and construct the Hydromet Plant or the Matte Plant.
"Decision Date"
Decision Date: means the date of delivery of the Decision.
Section 4.7.1 of the Agreement states, " The Proponent shall use commercially reasonable efforts to deliver as soon as possible but, in any event, shall deliver on or before 15 November 2008, the Decision and Decision Materials to the Government and Experts.
Section 4.6.4 of the Agreement states, " The Proponent shall establish the Processing Plant at Argentia unless environmental conditions at Argentia would make it not economically feasible to establish the Processing Plant at Argentia and, in such circumstances, the Proponent shall locate the Processing Plant at another site in the Province.
If Kathy were concerned about the location of the plant they would have contacted the feds long before three months ago respecting indemnification of the old naval base. In either case one can anticipate no cooperation from the feds as long as Loyola is the Minister.
VBN is well ahead of schedule on commitments made to the Province - now they should pony up equitable wages. By the way if Danny wanted to really pick a fight - he could take it right to the doorstep of INCO by using provincial legislation which gives Cabinet the right to demand socio-economic conditions as they see fit from the project. Such a demand could be made for equitable wages and benefits or they could pull the company's license.
Such a demand is in keeping with 1.9 which essentially makes the Agreement subject to all Provincial Laws.
Also, the Minister nor the Government should stand for second-class treatment of our workers.
I will present the law respecting this at a later date.
Section 4.7.1 of the Agreement states, " The Proponent shall use commercially reasonable efforts to deliver as soon as possible but, in any event, shall deliver on or before 15 November 2008, the Decision and Decision Materials to the Government and Experts.
Section 4.6.4 of the Agreement states, " The Proponent shall establish the Processing Plant at Argentia unless environmental conditions at Argentia would make it not economically feasible to establish the Processing Plant at Argentia and, in such circumstances, the Proponent shall locate the Processing Plant at another site in the Province.
If Kathy were concerned about the location of the plant they would have contacted the feds long before three months ago respecting indemnification of the old naval base. In either case one can anticipate no cooperation from the feds as long as Loyola is the Minister.
VBN is well ahead of schedule on commitments made to the Province - now they should pony up equitable wages. By the way if Danny wanted to really pick a fight - he could take it right to the doorstep of INCO by using provincial legislation which gives Cabinet the right to demand socio-economic conditions as they see fit from the project. Such a demand could be made for equitable wages and benefits or they could pull the company's license.
Such a demand is in keeping with 1.9 which essentially makes the Agreement subject to all Provincial Laws.
Also, the Minister nor the Government should stand for second-class treatment of our workers.
I will present the law respecting this at a later date.
No comments:
Post a Comment