Danny needs more Fibre 2

Question # 2 NTV interview

Fred:

So is the problem here that the province did a poor job of in selling this idea to the public – or not selling it – just putting it out there – PR – perception is reality – a lot of people think that there is the connection between yourself and Dean MacDonald and Ken Marshall and that something is there because it wasn’t it didn’t go through a tender process – you didn’t call for proposals?

Williams:

Well that’s perfectly legal – first of all for economic development purposes you’re allowed to do this – there’s nothing improper about this – as a matter of fact someone has suggested that the Auditor General should look at this – and my answer to that is - absolutely go right ahead because this whole transaction is as clean as a whistle. So yaknow it’s not a perception.

We realized as a government that we would take some heat for this – on the basis that these are people who worked for me before – but what do you do – do you not do something that’s in the best interest of the people of the province so they can get better rates and better services and have that redundancy that’s necessary – I mean just a week before people were calling out for yaknow this service – the Leader of the Opposition Gerry Reid was saying yaknow after the emergency happened that we should have a redundant service – ahh you have institutions like the Federation of Mayors and Municipalities – the Mayor of St. John’s – NATI – the Board of Trade – Memorial – the College of the North Atlantic – all coming out saying this is a very very good investment.

So when people sit back and look at it – look at the benefits – and look at who has endorsed it – I think they realize there is no impropriety whatsoever with this transaction.
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The question was asked about the lack of RFP or public tender call on the deal - I ask the reader where is the answer?
Danny pointed out that it was not illegal because they are exempting themselves from the Public Tender Act for economic development reasons. Well - define economic reasons -who decides? Cabinet decides at their discretion!
If we want a second infrastructure of fibre optic lines across the Island and to the mainland - why not put out an RFP to see who might respond - especially if the government is willing to invest 15 million of our money.
Then the Premier talks about the leader of the Opposition wanting a redundant system - and to that he basically is saying - presto - here it is. This is a joke and does not speak to what really is needed for redundancy.
The benefits have not clearly been outlined or costed and many of the parties that have spoken publicly also have or have had close connection to the Premier.
If this has the potential to provide substantial benefits to the people and government agencies - why would those benefits disappear if another consortium did the deal?
All the parties that have come out and said it is a good investment are not addressing whether or not it is a good deal. There is a difference! They like the rest of us have not seen the deal - therefore cannot render that judgement. Danny is trying to confuse what he calls a good investment with a good busines deal. Other companies or company could provide another fibre optic system in the province and that too would be a good investment - but it might be a better deal.