Option 3 - Our Government's Dirty Secret

In Newfoundland and Labrador the debate rages on among people as to whether we should export power through Quebec or through the Maritimes.

Please note that debate does not include our government, MHA's Cabinet and or Caucus or for that matter the Opposition parties. None of these entities wish to consult people - they after all know what's best for us. That should be obvious by the mess they have all made of it in the past.

Option 1 - exporting power through Quebec raises a whole host of problems not the least of which is the Upper Churchill hangover that no Screech in the land could possibly hope to cause. There is no question that access through provinces should be achievable and expected in Canada - however the work needed to be done appears outside the abilities of those currently sitting in the House of Assembly. The cost of this weakness is astronomical as we pay to avoid rather than deal with issue head-on and fight for what is most beneficial - economically to us.

Option 2 - exporting power through an "Atlantic/Maritime" route which in turn exponentially worsens our prospects from an economic basis and leaves us more vulnerable to Quebec than Option 1. The straight up logic that as a publicly traded company Emera can choose to sell a significant portion of their company or particular assets as they sit fit for the benefit of their shareholders (who generally speaking are not the people of Newfoundland and Labrador). It further increases cost which in turn makes you and I responsible for paying off unnecessary debt for years to come.

Option 3 - the dirty little secret and hidden option of simply not exporting the power and using it in Labrador. How can we as people move forward to reviewing export routes for our clean, renewable, green, reliable, and relatively cheap power - if we have not first determined if there is a market in Labrador for it. The fact that not one of our governments has successfully attracted such interests does not speak to the potential but rather the inept or disengaged politicians we have elected to represent us. In the case of some - the easier route has always been export as it does not require vision, dedicated effort, or thinking on a global level.

The media, Opposition, or Government has not provided one scrap of evidence that demonstrates we are unable to attract industry to Labrador using this superior power resource. They continue to say nobody has come knocking on our door. Why would they - when they know that eventually Newfoundland and Labrador will deliver the power to Nova Scotia, Ontario, or the New England States while paying for the enormous unnecessary cost of transmission. They know they can get the same deal in any of the jurisdictions we are going to export it to - because we dislike the Upper Churchill so much that we will pay through the nose ourselves just to bypass Quebec.

Labrador sits there without one aluminum smelter - let alone two or three - while competitive jurisdictions such as Quebec, Ontario, Russia, Iceland, Norway and even Greenland move ahead with industrial development using hydro-power.

You figure before Dunderdale or anybody else suggest we take on enormous debt and sell power cheaper than the cost to produce and transmit it - to another province or state - they would inundate us with paper showing us how and when they tried to attract industry to use it. But - not a peep.

You can follow the destruction in our fishery and come up with the same game plan that is being applied here. Let's not kid ourselves - we remain our own worst enemy and continue to attempt resource deals that are not only inferior but down and out reckless.

The Emera deal is a bad deal - and must be stopped. Our Premier - while entertained and complimented on her rise to the top - must not be permitted to make such a disastrous contract based on what appears to be her like of power and the attention she gets based on it.

By the way another day has passed without proper action on Old Harry, the Romaine River, and the Labrador Boundary - wonder if Ed Martin or any Nalcor officials are all over that - or if Dunderdale is drilling down yet again to achieve due diligence. When they are all finished maybe Kevin O'Brien can tell us in his own unique way - that "to be quite honest witchu" it's time to love Stephen Harper again.

With the passion Danny Williams claims to possess for Newfoundland and Labrador - he must be chawing at the bit - and looking for sleep relief. There are rumours he would like to be a comedic actor. I fear the comic relief of Critch and Williams will not raise a smile on our faces if we do not stop destroying the future for our children.