Out of the mouths of hypocrites

MR. WILLIAMS: The Friede Goldman deal. What about the Upper Churchill deal? What about those deals, Premier? What about the deal now that is going to see our ore go to Manitoba and create jobs for Manitobians and Ontarians instead of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians?

above Opposition Leader Danny Williams in 2002 - take that and apply it to clean renewable cost effective hydro power - leaving Newfoundland and Labrador for industry outside our province.

MR. WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, my question for the Premier is, given the fact on those two particular deals that someone outside of government might have made a suggestion, maybe they might have suggested that safeguards be put in the Friede Goldman contract in the event of bankruptcy, or maybe someone might have suggested that escalator clauses be put in the Upper Churchill agreement.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the Premier: Is it possible that we could help? Is it possible that there might be some positive help coming from a debate in this House of Assembly that could end up getting a better agreement, a better deal for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador?

Imagine someone from outside government being able to suggest safeguards or improvements. If he really believed what he was saying then we could avoid another "escalaltion clause" fiasco. Such as Hydro Quebec can attempt takeover of Emera. Debate gone! apparently Dunderdale and bunch are not wrong - not possible.

Tom Hedderson added the following to the debate in the HOA while in Opposition:

A proper deal, Mr. Speaker, is the catch word here. We certainly want a deal that is in the best interest of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. If we do not see that deal until after it is signed and binding, again, the debate on it would, I guess, be useless to some degree because once a deal is binding, once a deal is signed, once it is sealed - and we have seen previous deals, and I do not have to remind the House of the Churchill Falls deal and the difficulty that previous governments have had in even opening up clauses in that deal, in looking at the deal and trying to change the deal. So, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the time will come when a deal, hopefully, will be gotten, but a deal that is not signed, sealed and delivered without, at least, the ratification of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. That is why the members on this side of the House are asking that the ratification take place before the deal is signed, before it is binding, because the implications of it not having been properly debated before it is signed certainly is going to put the people of Newfoundland and Labrador in a weakened position.

Let's get the ratification of the people of the province on the proposed hydro deal. How under this thinking could unelected Premier Dunderdale be able to move forward?

And now Ray Hunter's take:

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of Labrador. I am very proud of the people of Labrador, they contribute so much to this Province. For us to sit back and say that we are not going to present our petitions and we are not going to fight the government in bringing this deal to the House of Assembly, to have it debated before it is signed, Mr. Speaker - we have to know, the people of this Province have to know, that they are going to get the best benefit, the maximum benefit, for the resources in Voisey’s Bay. Not only the nickel in Voisey’s Bay is the most precious metal, Mr. Speaker, we see there are other metals in this development, in this deposit, the copper and cobalt and other minerals, that are very valuable minerals, Mr. Speaker. We have to recognize that there is more to Voisey’s Bay than just taking nickel concentrate to Thompson and Sudbury. The benefits of that would for the people in Sudbury and Thompson when we need the benefits here. We need the 300 or 400 jobs that the CEO of Inco said would happen in Thompson, Manitoba. We need those 300 or 400 jobs here.

We cannot sit by and let the Premier and this government sign a deal and then have gall enough to come back to this House and tell the people of this House and this Province that we will debate the parameters and the framework and the gist of the deal in the House of Assembly. Mr. Speaker, what good is that going to be after the deal is signed?

How about the jobs from industry in using the power here in this province and not fueling the industry in other jurisdictions?

Then Mr. Ottenheimer:

Mr. Speaker, I still have a few minutes left, according to the time. Very often, Mr. Speaker - and the Premier made reference to it, the fact that, oh yes, we will hear during the next three days what happened in the 1960s and we will hear about the failure of the Upper Churchill agreement and so on. Well, I think it is important - and again, this is why Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are often skeptical and truly concerned about any major deal such as this. But, we do not have to go back to the 1960s, and we do not have to go back to thirty, forty, fifty years ago. We can go back to several years ago. I think that this is important, Mr. Speaker, so that we, as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, can reflect upon, really, what can happen when things go wrong.

He is the current Chair of nalcor right?
What about the situation we have here - when we are privatizing assets and leaving them vulnerable to takeovers by Hydro Quebec?

Out of the mouths of hypocrates will continue along with the examination of Emera and Hydro Quebec.