While Danny's in Alberta - where is Charest?

Let's Start here...

Here is a quote from the Premier on the Lower Churchill to the editor of the Corporate Knights magazine:

Newfoundland and Labrador are set to develop the Lower Churchill’s hydro potential. Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams told me, “I recently [May 2006] wrote to the Premier of Ontario about [Lower Churchill], which will be online by 2015 and can provide 2,800 MW, enough to light up a million and a half homes in Ontario. We have some of the best wind regimes in the world; our projections indicate that by as early as 2009 we could have 300 MW, another 400 MW by 2013, with the potential of tens of thousands of MW of wind energy available through Labrador. Between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, we can provide [Ontario] with all the clean energy that you’re going to need over the next several decades.”
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This is one of the many places Danny and myself part ways.

Sometimes it's just in the attitude. It's having a vision - selling it - and doing what's necessary to bring it to reality.

Sometimes it's being in the right place at the right time. It's knowing where that is and making sure your included.

Sometimes it's knowing what your brand is - not what a group flicks up on a design program. It's believing what you have is unique - in demand and valuable.

While Danny is in Alberta visiting his Newfoundland and Labrador constituents - people who have left from years of failed government policy - Jean Charest is in Davos Switzerland highlighting Quebec (the nation within a nation) to the world. He is doing this to avoid having to make the U-Haul out west to visit Quebecers who have emigrated.

What is Charest doing there?
Well he (the Government of Quebec) is a selected participant at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2007.

Selected Participants representing Canada are:
Jean Charest - Premier of Quebec - Canada
David Emerson - Minister of International Trade - Government of Canada

What is Charest participating in? The agenda follows below but Charest is focused and he's getting media and industry attention.

Here is part of a CanWest story on Charest's participation.

Wednesday was the first day of annual meetings in Davos where corporate and political leaders meet with academics and representatives of civil society.

''It is unthinkable that we can solve the problem of climate warming without the United States,'' Charest said, recalling that in the 1980s, emissions of sulphur dioxide, falling in Quebec lakes in the form of acid rain, were a major pollution problem.

It took the U.S.-Canada Acid Rain Treaty, signed by then-prime minister Brian Mulroney and then-president Ronald Reagan, to set the stage for the American Clean Air Act of 1990, he recalled.

At discussions in Davos on Wednesday, climate change was described as ''the biggest market failure of all time.''

Charest said the Clean Air Act offers market mechanisms that could be applied to deal with the greenhouse gases blamed for climate change.

''We are very much at the beginning of a market mechanism in the reduction of greenhouse gases,'' he said, adding that the success in dealing with acid rain shows this approach can work.

''Clear objectives are the first ingredient necessary for success,'' the premier said. ''If there are no clear objectives, human nature being what it is, people will procrastinate.''

Charest noted that in his state of the union message Tuesday, U.S. President George W. Bush, ''for once'' spoke of greenhouse gases and ''seemed to remember what is at stake.''

The premier said in the discussions in Davos he has attended, American corporate leaders have shown they do not share Bush's view that cleaning up greenhouse gases could harm the U.S. economy.

''The American people have been much more sensitive to the issue than the federal American government,'' he said.

''Several American states have made commitments,'' he added and Quebec will working with the New England governors and the other four Eastern Canadian premiers at a meeting next month in Quebec City on climate change.

''In Quebec we have taken the offensive,'' he said. ''We have taken a leadership role on the issues of sustainable development and reducing greenhouse gases.''

And that extends to his government's commitment to develop clean renewable hydroelectricity, which Hydro-Quebec will offer for sale to Quebec's neighbours, he said.

Environmentalists have questioned whether damming the Rupert River to generate electricity for export is an ecological solution.

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation Wednesday, Charest called Quebec the California of the North, comparing his government's environmental efforts with those of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Charest is sipping champagne with World political Leaders - World super Industries and significant numbers of NGO's.

He is meeting with the elite of the elite in business and Hydro Quebec and through it Quebec is planning the next 25 years of growth based on hydropower - including the Lower Churchill in one way or another.

The Premier says he wants Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro to be a super Energy Company and the Province to be an Energy Warehouse. With Danny's lack of vision and determination to export all the power from the Churchill through or to Quebec - we remain a pimple on the arse of Central Canada.

The agenda for the forum:

Date Title
24.01.2007 Update 2007: The Legal Landscape around Climate Change
24.01.2007 Update 2007: The Global Economy
24.01.2007 Update 2007: The Regional Agenda - Middle East
24.01.2007 Update 2007: The Regional Agenda - USA
24.01.2007 Update 2007: Exploring Identity and the Communication Disconnect
24.01.2007 Update 2007: Beyond Web 2.0 -- From Content to Collective Knowledge?
24.01.2007 Update 2007: Addressing Global Fault Lines
24.01.2007 Update 2007: Leading in a Networked World
24.01.2007 Update 2007: CNBC Debate - Make Green Pay
24.01.2007 Update 2007: The Regional Agenda - Asia
24.01.2007 Update 2007: The Regional Agenda - Latin America
24.01.2007 Opening Buffet
24.01.2007 The Shifting Power Equation: Business
24.01.2007 The Shifting Power Equation: Technology and Society
24.01.2007 The Shifting Power Equation: Geopolitics
24.01.2007 The Shifting Power Equation: Economics
24.01.2007 The Shifting Power Equation: Exploring the Implications
24.01.2007 Opening Reception
24.01.2007 Welcome to the Annual Meeting
24.01.2007 Opening Address by Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of Germany
24.01.2007 Opening Plenary: The Shifting Power Equation
24.01.2007 Democracy Beyond Elections
24.01.2007 Why Do Brains Sleep?
24.01.2007 Getting the Message across with a Story
24.01.2007 The Security Implications of Climate Change
24.01.2007 The Rise and Fall of Empires
24.01.2007 Living in the Urban Age
24.01.2007 The Age of the Avatar and Multiple Identities
24.01.2007 Museums Look to the Future
24.01.2007 The Geopolitics of Demographics
24.01.2007 AIDS 2025
Date Title
25.01.2007 The World Electronic Community (WELCOM) Interactive Platform
25.01.2007 Iraq: Uniting for Stability
25.01.2007 Meet the Artists
25.01.2007 Robotics Unleashed
25.01.2007 Future Series: Building the Skills of Tomorrow
25.01.2007 What the Mind Teaches Us about Education
25.01.2007 Relationships and Self-Esteem
25.01.2007 The Comprehensive Response to Terrorism
25.01.2007 The Challenge to Moderate Islam in South-East Asia
25.01.2007 When Emerging Market MNCs Buy Abroad
25.01.2007 Dialogue in the Dark
25.01.2007 Ensuring Future European Growth
25.01.2007 Energy 2007: Generating Local Solutions
25.01.2007 Demystifying Productivity and Growth
25.01.2007 Joint Swiss-US Economic Commission: The Challenges Confronting World Trade Liberalization
25.01.2007 Depression
25.01.2007 Rules for a Global Neighbourhood in a Multicultural World
25.01.2007 Who Will Run the Internet?
25.01.2007 Stem Cells
25.01.2007 Japan: Beyond the Recovery, But What's Next?
25.01.2007 Introducing the Open Forum 2007
25.01.2007 The Big Re-think: Managing 21st Century Challenges
25.01.2007 Investing for Stability
25.01.2007 Journalism Is Dead - Long Live the Journalist
25.01.2007 Early Warning and Crisis Preparedness
25.01.2007 CNN Connects: Our Networked World
25.01.2007 Do State-Owned Enterprises Tilt the Playing Field?
25.01.2007 Managing India's Youthful Tide
25.01.2007 Making Sanctions Part of the Solution
25.01.2007 Regulation and Financial Market Competition
25.01.2007 Future Series: Making Tribal Dynamics Work
25.01.2007 CEO Salaries: How High Will They Go?
25.01.2007 From Private Giving to Social Investing: the New Philanthropreneurs
25.01.2007 Reveal Your True Colours
25.01.2007 The Scent of Success
25.01.2007 India and the Global Services Economy
25.01.2007 Dialogue in the Dark
25.01.2007 The Next Wave in Banking - the Unbanked
25.01.2007 Climate Change: A Call to Action
25.01.2007 Creating New Body Parts
25.01.2007 What Kind of World Does China Want?
25.01.2007 China, Japan, and Korea - Managing a New Power Centre
25.01.2007 Checkmate
25.01.2007 Future Series: Visualizing a Successful Enterprise
25.01.2007 Enough Is Enough - Israel and the Palestinian Territories
25.01.2007 Reverse Engineering the Brain
25.01.2007 Stopping the Spread of Nuclear Weapons
25.01.2007 Energy 2007: The New Era of Petropolitics
25.01.2007 What's on the Mind of Asia's New Business Giants?
25.01.2007 Billions in Development Aid: What Are the Results?
25.01.2007 China as a Global Partner - A Conversation with
25.01.2007 The M&A Landscape: Developing the 2007 Heatmap
25.01.2007 Dinner and Jazz
25.01.2007 Whither European Identity?
25.01.2007 The Art of Investing in Art
25.01.2007 The Future of the Dollar
25.01.2007 Science and Spirituality
25.01.2007 The Global Playing Field for Intellectual Property Rights
25.01.2007 The Role of Religion in International Relations
25.01.2007 Classic Clarets
25.01.2007 Can Markets Save the Planet?
25.01.2007 The Changing Military Calculus on the Korean Peninsula
25.01.2007 How Red Is Your Tape?
25.01.2007 Me, Myself and My Identity
25.01.2007 Governing the Multifaceted Citizen
25.01.2007 Emerging Nutrition Markets
25.01.2007 Pricing China's Demographic Trends
Date Title
26.01.2007 The World Electronic Community (WELCOM) Interactive Platform
26.01.2007 Who Will Shape the Agenda?
26.01.2007 A Conversation with President Lula da Silva of Brazil
26.01.2007 Is Freedom Overrated?
26.01.2007 Dialogue in the Dark
26.01.2007 The Procreation Choice
26.01.2007 CEO Series: Collaborate to Innovate
26.01.2007 In China, Does Big Equate to World Beater?
26.01.2007 Housing Deflation: What's That Hissing Sound?
26.01.2007 Privacy: Your Life as an Open Book
26.01.2007 Who Funds Research and Innovation?
26.01.2007 Engineering Nature's Power Solutions
26.01.2007 Finding a Stable Future for Iraq
26.01.2007 Technology for a Healthy Future
26.01.2007 How Cities Drive Innovation
26.01.2007 Wisdom of Youth
26.01.2007 Simple Solutions to Complex Problems
26.01.2007 Hedge Fund Transparency
26.01.2007 Africa's Emergence as a Vital Strategic Interest
26.01.2007 Sustaining China's Next Stage of Development
26.01.2007 Science and Development
26.01.2007 CEO Series: Globalization at a Crossroad
26.01.2007 BBC World Debate: Climate Change
26.01.2007 New Blood for Industrialized Societies
26.01.2007 The Human Lifespan
26.01.2007 Emerging Markets: Whose Standards Apply?
26.01.2007 ASEAN's Economic Roadmap
26.01.2007 Mexico and US Immigration Politics
26.01.2007 India's Reform Agenda
26.01.2007 The Responsibility of the Moderates
26.01.2007 Sustainable Energy Consumption: Does Anyone Care?
26.01.2007 African Agriculture: Ready for a Revolution
26.01.2007 Derivative Markets, Mounting Worries
26.01.2007 Investment Fund Activism
26.01.2007 Making Brazil Grow Better
26.01.2007 Managing Risk in Megaprojects
26.01.2007 Fighting Low-Profile Diseases
26.01.2007 Executive Pay and Performance
26.01.2007 The Gulf States as an Emerging Financial Hub
26.01.2007 The G20 Agenda - A New Power Equation
26.01.2007 How Much Should the Industrialized World Spend on Healthcare?
26.01.2007 Nuclear Fusion: An Energy Source for Tomorrow
26.01.2007 The Gulf Cooperation Council Countries and the World: Scenarios to 2025
26.01.2007 Dialogue in the Dark
26.01.2007 Pioneers and Pitches: The Next Big Thing
26.01.2007 Relationships and Self-Esteem
26.01.2007 The Next Limits to Growth
26.01.2007 A Business Manifesto for Globalization
26.01.2007 Strategies for a New Power Equation
26.01.2007 Is Bigger Better in Private Equity?
26.01.2007 The User Takes Charge of Content
26.01.2007 Energy 2007: Advancing the US Energy Agenda
26.01.2007 CEO Series: Finding Future Talent
26.01.2007 Future Series: The Future of Urban Mobility
26.01.2007 A Conversation with H.M. King Abdullah II of Jordan
26.01.2007 The Battle against Cancer - A Progress Report
26.01.2007 Scaling Innovation in Foreign Aid
26.01.2007 Hurricanes, Heatwaves and High Seas
26.01.2007 Rebalancing Risk in Financial Markets
26.01.2007 The Price of Becoming Old
26.01.2007 Latin America Broadens Its Horizons
26.01.2007 A Conversation with President Calderón-Hinojosa of Mexico
26.01.2007 Delivering on the Promise of Africa
26.01.2007 Managing Access to Oil: The Risk of the 21st Century
26.01.2007 Convergence on the Move
26.01.2007 ASEAN's 40 Years - A New Future
26.01.2007 Building Sustainable Post-Conflict Environments
26.01.2007 Wealth, Passion and Succession
26.01.2007 Dinner and Jazz
26.01.2007 Turkey's Political Future
26.01.2007 The Singles Economy
26.01.2007 Globalization and the Middle-Class
26.01.2007 Health in the City
26.01.2007 Time for Tough Choices in Latin America
26.01.2007 Cultural Leaders Dinner
26.01.2007 The Influence of the Gaming Generation
26.01.2007 Who's the Teacher
26.01.2007 The State of US Leadership
26.01.2007 Eclectic Fine Wines
26.01.2007 Combating Counterfeiting and Criminal Syndicates
26.01.2007 Entering a New Age of Human Space Flight
26.01.2007 Russia's More Muscular Diplomacy
26.01.2007 Western Europe's Eastern Neighbours
26.01.2007 Nobel Nightcap
Date Title
27.01.2007 Voices from Iran
27.01.2007 What Is Today's American Dream?
27.01.2007 The Global Economic Outlook 2007
27.01.2007 The Future of the Middle East
27.01.2007 The City: Managing Rapid Urbanization in Developing Economies
27.01.2007 Future Series: Designing Sustainable Cities
27.01.2007 Managing Hyper-growth Corporations
27.01.2007 Building Health Systems in Developing Markets
27.01.2007 Checkmate
27.01.2007 Genetic Screening: Seeing the Future?
27.01.2007 The Commodities Boom - Structural or Cyclical?
27.01.2007 Can Central Banks Manage Global Financial Risks?
27.01.2007 CEO Series: Surviving Information Epidemics and Managing Reputation Risks
27.01.2007 A Blueprint for Human Settlement of the Solar System
27.01.2007 Modern Russia: Strengths, Challenges and New Prospects - A Perspective from the Government
27.01.2007 The Fate of the Universe and the Search for Life
27.01.2007 Modern Russia: Strengths, Challenges and New Prospects - A Perspective from Business
27.01.2007 Presentation of the Crystal Award
27.01.2007 Buffet Lunch
27.01.2007 Future Series: Living in a Connected World
27.01.2007 Is the Multicultural Society an Illusion?
27.01.2007 CEO Series: Energy Strategy as a Competitive Advantage
27.01.2007 Combating Corruption
27.01.2007 Pandemics: Monitoring a Risk in Hibernation
27.01.2007 China Gets Innovative
27.01.2007 The Impact of Web 2.0 and Emerging Social Network Models
27.01.2007 The Emerging Strength of Emerging Markets
27.01.2007 Global Challenges
27.01.2007 Religion: Source of Peace or Cause of Violence and War?
27.01.2007 Closing Plenary
27.01.2007 Frozen Trade Talks and the Need for Progress
27.01.2007 New Frameworks for Tackling Digital Piracy
27.01.2007 Brands: Today's Gods?
27.01.2007 Concert
27.01.2007 Concluding Remarks on the Open Forum 2007
27.01.2007 The Gala Soiree

That's the agenda - do you think there may be anything of value to Newfoundland and Labrador here?

Selected Participants representing Canada are:
Jean Charest - Premier of Quebec - Canada
David Emerson - Minister of International Trade - Government of Canada

What is Charest participating in?