From HockeyVille to Kiss - ANYTHING but our Future

Do you shoot a puck - stick out a long tongue - or have royal lineage? If so the government wants you. From Hockeyville to Kiss - this is what government needs to take your mind off the real issues facing our province.

More people showed up to see that long tongue and more will show up to see the Hockeyville game than would ever show for Lower Churchill hearings, an AGM of Nalcor, or a protest over a search and rescue sub-centre closure.

Get the BBQ out - have a swallie - and get out the guitars - we must as welled be stuffed, drunk, and merry while the last of our renewable resources is given away like all others before it.

The government is on a mission to ask you to subsidize power it wants to sell to a Nova Scotian company and others in order to make it competitive.

If we are going to subsidize power for Emera and others - then why wouldn't we subsidize it for industry based in Labrador?  What evidence do we have as people that there are no industrial interests for subsidized power in Labrador? What would the cost of power produced be - if the massive transmission costs were removed?

Let's assume we could attract one industry with the Muskrat development in Labrador - the transmission costs would be minimal relatively speaking, the great construction building boon would still take place - the difference is - when the building project was complete we could have 1500 permanent and well paying jobs in something like - an aluminum smelter. Under the current proposal we will have a great construction building boon - where a few companies and their shareholders will make fortunes - leave after the project is complete - and we will be left with a ton of debt and no long-term jobs.

Let's talk openly about the sell-out giveaway shall we. I do not expect any entrepreneur in Labrador to turn down a chance to make millions for themselves and their families - in the same way they did not turn it down during the Upper Churchill. Let's not fool ourselves - there were Newfoundland and Labrador families of note that made a mint constructing the Upper Churchill - they did great and their families became the financial elite of our society. How did we do in that deal? How did the province and the majority of the population make out?

Unfortunately there are no entrepreneurs in Labrador or Newfoundland that are going to turn down the millions to be made by them personally - because of a silly little thing such as societal good or the best contract for the people who own the resource. Corporations - have no responsibility to the people generally - that is governments job. The fact that this deal will cripple the futures of generations to come is not a corporate concern - and in fact any active business worth their salt is making nice with the government of the day to ensure some of the windfall available will come their way. You and I, our children, grand-children, and great grand-children will pay for it. These corporations also include significant players from Quebec.

The instant pleasure of the white-collar construction bawdy house is far more rewarding to a corporation and takes much less effort and commitment than what it would take to develop a real relationship with the people.

We hear all the time about the devastating Upper Churchill contract - how painful it has been for our province and our people. The billions of dollars lost - our economy half of what it should be and unemployment levels double what they should be. The contract that we "hate" Quebec over - we have yet to attribute the proper blame to - our own politicians and business gurus of the time - that not only allowed the deal - but promoted it the same way Kathy Dunderdale and her Cabinet are promoting the Lower Churchill development.

The Emera partnership is being touted as wonderful - in the same way the Brinco partnership was touted as wonderful. Remember now the Upper Churchill was done between Brinco and Hydro-Quebec - the province simply facilitated the giveaway of our water.

We "hate" Quebec because they elected politicians with a vision for the future and an ability to foresee that the price of oil would actually GO UP - like that's a stretch over a fifty year period. You know an escalation clause! We "hate" Quebec because we elected and worshipped politicians who were fools and who were hoodwinked by fast talking French and British business people.

Now let's talk about making the Upper Churchill worse. Well first we need to return to two of the three amigos - Dean MacDonald and Brian Tobin who played Lower Churchill footsie with Lucien Bouchard over the development. (PRESS HERE FOR INFORMATION)

If you can recall that fiasco where they all showed up in Labrador for the big announcement which never happened. At a time when we together with Hydro-Quebec were going to develop the Lower Churchill and include other projects such as the Romaine River being partially diverted into the Smallwood Reservoir - thereby increasing output of the Upper (more money).*Note Quebec has since developed the Romaine River.

During those negotiations Dean and Brian did manage to get some things done while attempting to develop the Lower Churchill - (which by the way would have been owned 100% by NL). The changes are as follows and in fact changed the unchangeable Upper Churchill Contract.

• The Guaranteed Winter Availability Contract, signed in June 1999, will provide $1 billion to the province until 2041, thus protecting the viability of CF(L)Co.
  
  
• The 130 MW Recall Agreement, signed in March 1998, will also provide many financial benefits to the province. To date, almost $80 million has been received under this contract — considerably more than the province's share of the take from the Upper Churchill contract over that same period of time.
  
  
• The CF(L)Co. Shareholders' Agreement, signed in June 1999, ensures Labrador West will have a competitive long-term supply of power after 2014, when the current Twinco agreement expires.

Now - unfortunately - we did all these things for two reasons.

The first was - as a part of an entire deal to develop the Lower Churchill - which then did not happen. Second to prevent the bankruptcy of the Churchill Falls - Labrador Corporation (CF(L)Co. owned 66 by us and 33 by Hydro-Quebec - that is to say that the money being received for the sale of the 5000 MW's from the Upper Churchill to Quebec at 1969 prices would not allow the company to pay its bills for maintenance and continuity. Unfortunately the only options then were for the people of NL to actually make up the shortfall and actually pay to have the Upper Churchill give away power or - under another lousy clause of the Upper Churchill agreement - actually see Hydro-Quebec pay the shortfall - for which they would receive additional common shares (ownership) in the Upper Churchill.

So what you see above - negotiated by Dean and Brian - actually prevented that - however also cost us management control of the company. They did not talk much about that - and now anthing to be done with the Upper Churchill must be approved by Quebec as they effectively have 50% control with only 33% ownership. That might have all been worth it - if the Lower Churchill deal was made - but alas it was not. So we were taken again. Now Dean - no doubt with Danny's support would like to become Premier some day.

Now is a good time to talk about the "New Dawn Agreement" which will see you and I pay over 2 million a year to the Innu Nation - why? Because Joey and company, Brinco, and Hydro-Quebec did not take care of that when the Upper Churchill was developed.

Let's get this straight. Hydro-Quebec receives all the benefits from the Upper Churchill, Brinco was bought out by the Frank Moores government - took its money and ran - the construction and engineering companies that made fortunes and somehow none of these players were responsible to pay the Innu peoples compensation? No that falls to you and me - our children and grand-children.

So now the brilliance has it - that we will develop the Lower Churchill and WE will pay to subsidize other Provinces and States electricity bills. The same jurisdictions we will have to compete with for industry. Once again Labradorians currently on thermal will not be powered by this new hydro - however Newfoundland will be.

This deal will make millionaires out of Emera shareholders and many corporate elite. That is the vision of Kathy Dunderdale, Danny Williams, and yes apparently Dean MacDonald. That is the vision of our current crop of leaders - the same giveaway vision of Smallwood and Crosbie.

So keep following that tongue and make sure not to miss the puck being shot into a Mile One net by millionaires - if you happen to look up your future will be gone. Who owns the new team again? Who named Mile One? Who is doing the Tobacco suit?

Shame on you. When will we have lost enough for you to care?

For the record - Sue's Blog has posted 121 pieces on the Upper and Lower Churchill - if you want to take an intermission to look through it.

When the knock comes on the door in September and October - remember to quiz your MHA hopefuls on their energy knowledge. Hi - my name is ... I'm a first time caller to Open Line and I am running in the district of...

While I'm at it - thanks to the journalists of Newfoundland and Labrador for their investigative research and subsequent obvious questions on this sordid deal.

I wonder if we could get a commitment from Kraft Hockeyville to supply a ship load of Kraft dinner in 20 years or so - for our grandchildren to eat when the oil is gone, the infrastructure is gone, the population has aged, the fish is gone, hydro is gone, the debt is sky high, and not a natural resource is left. Yes I'd say the future looks rosy. Oh I'm sorry - I didn't know you were just talking about how the next ten years looks like for you - as we build the legacy of shame.