First Posted in 2007 by Sue's Blog
I guess most of the readers are familiar with the various TV shows on flipping houses - where the buyer picks up a property - renovates and or adds an addition and flips it for a profit.
Newfoundland and Labrador has it's own new program now - called Flip this Utility. I cannot for the life of me figure out why CBC or NTV have not picked up the pilot and a couple of completed programs in the can. The least the Telegram or VOCM could do is give the reader and listener some highlights of the new series so we can encourage one of the TV networks to pick it up. I don't expect "Out of the Fog" would be interested.
The program is filled with energy as the hosts and flippers are interesting well known characters - that give it a kind of soap opera appeal - mixed with a tinge of a reality series.
The creator of the series is a well kept secret but I think it's fair to say that Brian Tobin might be the producer and the government of Newfoundland and Labrador acts as a partial financier of the renos.
Te pilot takes place in Newfoundland and Labrador when Tobin was the Premier. He decided after some encouragement by the local cable company that it was time to reno the government's communications contracts. So Tobin without an RFP or tender call picks Cable Atlantic for the investment.
Cable Atlantic picked up the government contract and away they went. Shortly after the owner of Cable Atlantic flipped the property for a tidy profit to Rogers - not a (local) company.
Dean MacDonald - Danny Williams - Ken Marshall - and Brian Tobin are featured predominantly in the pilot and the backdrop is priceless - as one of the flippers - apparently not believing that Tobin's government had done a good job became the leader of the other political party and went on to become Premier.
The second program starts off with one of the flippers of the first property picking up Persona - and while Danny is becoming Premier - Dean Macdonald leaves Rogers - the purchaser of the renovated Cable Atlantic - and starts to work on Personna. Not to be left out Brian leaves as the Premier and he ends up on the Board of the new property to be renovated and does work for the company that picked up the first flip.
The third show features all the same players - but this time the Premier who was a flipper on the first - decides government needs some reno work itself - and Personna who is ready to be the second property - just happen to come together with the same plan. So instead of going out to the market to find another property to invest in - government decides why not just deal with the same gang. No tender of RFP needed.It worked before. Same storyline - local company gets reno...
Now this episode gets real fun as the biggest communications (telephone) company Aliant experiences a real tragedy and has a fire in one of its buildings knocking out cell and telephone services far and wide. Danny - and Dean - recognizing this irony jump all over this to convince us that another reno is essential.
They send out a new character Trevor - to announce all the plans - and poor Trevor is all over the map as to exactly what it is they are doing for the reno and why. He fondly becomes known as the "duct tape man".
Then our Minister of Business Kevin O'Brien jumps in - to be honest witchu - and starts selling the audience on the real value in this property.
The audience is in for great laughs as everyone runs around trying to figure out if they want strands or a whole network or how many fibres they will need and whether or not they will light them. And if they are lit - who will do it. The funniest part is when the neighborhood spokesperson won't reveal who is going to pay what for maintenance and the whole meeting goes up when one of the property owners asks for an administration fee to sort it out.
Once again the appeal to us the audience is that another local property wants to reno and expand. Unfortunately - once again the audience is torn when the property is flipped to another company on the mainland.
Unlike the first flip where the profit details were available - the producer will keep us guessing as the real profit off this one will not be known.
The producer is not talking but the last episode might go something like this - Danny leaves as Premier - Dean takes that job - and Brian picks up a property to reno and appoints Danny to the Board. The new government under Dean will encourage reno's to that asset and will partially finance the upgrades - without a tender or RFP. I haven't heard yet if they will release the results of that flip and the profits which might accrue.
1 comment:
Sue what you have described here is Corruption that is not unlike that which has gone on in the Arab States.
It appears to me that all the politicians the province of Newfoundland and Labrador ever produced to be leaders were not Democrats, but Dictators, since they have given away every last one of our natural resources for some other province to benefit economically, and anything they negotiated in the form of Royalties or Corporate Taxes for our province's benefit was far less than what the other provinces would have negotiated and again 25 per cent of that was shipped out of the province to benefit others, more than twice the national average according to the two Economists who have come forward.
Jim Standford of the Canadian Auto Workers and Trevor Fair of Laval University have come forward to tell us Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that we are giving away the shop and we have to wrestle back some of the wealth produced here so that we can build up our own standard of living.
We need to do with our traitors what the Arab people have done with theirs. We need a peaceful revolution to make every Newfoundlander and Labradorian aware of what the politicians are up to and how they have shafted us in the negotiation of our natural resources. I truly think our people are unaware and that is why the politicians have gotten of with the crimes that they have gotten away with.
The politicians might think they are honest, but they aren't. They have shafted us, the electorate of Newfoundland and Labrador, and they need to be brought to justice for it. Does anyone have any suggestions to where we will send them into exile? They have to be punished for the crimes they committed against their people. We cannot allow corruption to run rampant like it is in this province. It has to be put in check.
The latest project that is rife with corruption is the proposed Muskrat Falls and that cannot be allowed to proceed the way it is structured, where again some place else will get the benefits, while we Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will have to pay the mortgage on the Project. We cannot and must not allow that Project to proceed.
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