Ownership of Newfoundland and Labrador - it`s all in the Shoulder Twitch

A twitch of the shoulder here and another twitch of the other shoulder there and we should be able to sort out who owns us. Seems the shoulder twitching is catchy. 

The Fishery


This was initially given up under Confederation. Prior to confederation we owned the inshore - we gave that up. Then when the Law of the Sea came into affect in 1982 nations got an 200 mile exclusive economic zone. Had we not joined Canada all of that would have been ours. As it is the fish quotas are owned by the people of Canada and we are told we cannot fish.

The commercial media and even the public broadcaster have bought into the downsizing, rightsizing, and rationalizing rhetoric and the associated propaganda.

We were a fishing nation - now we are not a nation and the fish are gone - at least from our people.

We have lost hundreds of communities and tens of thousands of people. We have left fishers and plant workers high and dry in communities where their homes are now worth 1/10 th their replacement value.

Year by year - decade by decade incompetent and disinterested politicians and bureaucrats both federal and provincial have slowly eroded the fabric of who we are. They have taken the pride from people - split families up - exported our working population to Ontario and Alberta - and watched idly by while we were getting screwed.

In the nineties we were faced with a moratorium which was to last 10 years - 20 years later it is still in place. There has been no compensation for the mismanagement yet the federal government was responsible for it.

This costs us 1 billion dollars a year - and we just sit back - and let it all happen - or worse complain about the whining of those directly impacted and the communities that are dissolving because of it.

We talk about urbanization and the "natural" "progression" of people moving to urban centres particularly St. John's Metro - as if it were a badge of honour and a right of passage.

Then as we watched the destruction of FPI and the turnover to the "private" sector. We seen the dismantling of our marketing arm and the continued requests to diminish processing responsibilities here.

Every time we turn on the news we hear one Sullivan or another talking about one quota or another - locking out fishers and partnerships in other companies.

We watched Loyola Sullivan be the ambassador of fish for the PM that lied to us on equalization - and he did what? Well whatever it he gained by running here and there globetrotting must be of value now as he joins the other Sullivan boys who together with Ches Penney continue to gobble up what's left.

We lost 80,000 people and lose 1 billion a year - hello - are we home anymore?

I wonder if they manage to get all processing plants shut down - are they even going to employ Newfoundlanders and Labradorians fishers on their vessels that will never land their catch in our province?

I am sure they could make an argument that our people want wages that are too much - wait that's happening now right?

There are only a couple of other fish merchants left in the province and between them they control it all.

Oil and Gas

Well we gave that up too under Confederation - even though we did not know the resources were there. If we remained a nation - we would own it under the Law of the Sea.

Canada owns the oil and gas resources offshore and we had to kill ourselves fighting to even get participation in it. Unfortunately we were not allowed to process our own oil as there were other refineries in the Maritimes and Quebec that had to be satisfied first.

That has cost us billions of dollars and thousands of jobs. Oh well!

Then for years we had the feds clawing it all back - then we got a break - then Stephen took away fairness once again.

How's our price of oil and gas these days? Oh yeah - expensive - yet we own so much right?


Ship Building

Well we are the people of the sea right? The rowers of the dories and the ocean experts - with a Centre of Excellence in the Marine Institute.

Well then what is going on with Marystown? It should be like the Irving shipyard by now. It should be quadruple the size and we should have several thousand people working there - continually.

Funny how even now - we do not have the infrastructure to build all 3 modules for the Hebron project. Why is that?

Newfoundland and Labrador and more particularly Marystown and Keiwit and Sons were in the running for the 25 billion dollar federal shipbuilding contract. 25 years of work - an entire generation - thousands of jobs. Then - inexplicably - Kiewit pulls out of the bid - citing Human Resource issues. This is what Keiwit says about itself: "We have virtually unlimited bonding capacity and are one of the few construction firms able to compete for billion-dollar mega-projects".

I am curious about another thing - based on what Kiewit says here: "Kiewit has served the power generation market for more than 30 years. We bring in-depth expertise to deliver power projects using engineer-procure-construct (EPC), design-build, design-assist and traditional bid-build models. We've helped clients meet the challenge of changing power consumption trends and generating strategies by building “run-of-the-river” hydroelectric, nuclear and geothermal power plants, as well as cogeneration, combined-cycle and waste-to-energy generation and resource facilities. Through our subsidiary Kiewit Power Engineers Co., we provide a complete array of design and engineering services for major power plant projects that set industry standards for quality design and superior function worldwide." Is there some reason Marystown and Kiewit could not complete this work for the proposed development of Muskrat Falls? This might knock out Quebec and Nova Scotia firms but hey we are supposed to employ as many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians as we can right?

Back to shipbuilding - the federal contract has since been awarded to the Nova Scotia consortium.

Forestry - Pulp and Paper

From 3 to 1 - pulp and paper operations. The loss of two major employers from Central and Western Newfoundland.

We had 20 years to look at converting these mills to produce other products - we had 20 years to discuss with Abitibi what other options were available. There were other options.

First we turned the forest resources over to these companies - then hydro assets - and through clear-cutting we were in trouble. The now Premier - then Minister went ahead and expropriated the community (accidentally) then went through a process of getting control of assets.

With Stephenville and Grand Falls-Windsor now industrial toast - Corner Brook's Krugar mill is now at the initial layoff stage - and government is "hoping" they remain committed. The Premier feels that "Mr. Krugar" will look at everything - in order to stay.

The Premier must now realize that corporations are not in the business of delivering government programs. Corporations are in the business of making money for their shareholders.

Begging Mr. Krugar won't change what will happen. Perhaps some vision would.

Newfoundland and Labrador must find industry for our forest resources and we still need a complete forestry use plan.

We must look at all types of trees and look at what could be produced by them - this type of manufacturing should be promoted and supported.

We must look into the future and see what products will be produced and needed and then utilize our resource sustainably. This includes tourism and seasonal potentials.

Energy Resources (renewable)

Newfoundland and Labrador is one of the richest pieces of geography on the planet. The renewable energy resources are tremendous and varied.

Hydro-electric
Wind
Wave
Tidal
Thermal
Hydrogen
Wood

Our history of development has seen significant successes and significant failures. The Upper Churchill development was on time - on budget - and remains one of the best large hydro projects in the world. Unfortunately, this project has and continues to cost the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. As successful as the actual physical project was it was equally unsuccessful with respect to benefits for our province.

This administration appears hell-bent on doing that again. If we proceed this way - the development of Gull Island must be seen as a private project where the same multi-millionaires are going after the ownership.

Assets that were developed for use domestically have worked out much better. Bay d'Espoir is a jewel in our system and has been already paid off.

The truth is we have been ignoring all other forms of renewable energy - with the exception of when the Government of Italy wanted to sell us our own wind. In that case - Nalcor was singing the praises and giving away.

Labrador has been ignored - the value of the Upper Churchill is so great that the Labrador highway should be paved with gold - 4 lanes of it - and divided by a silver barrier.

Parts of Labrador still using diesel means there is no room to consider Holyrood first - that is just obscene. Communities in Labrador having to purchase power from Hydro-Quebec is even more obscene.

Can you imagine our wealth if the Upper Churchill was netting us a billion a year and the ground stocks were doing the same? What a wonderful future for our children. But no - this Premier, her former boss Williams and the rest of the gang want to give away what's left. 

The 2041 question remains unanswered by all politicians and Nalcor. Dean and Brian made the Upper Churchill deal worse. 

Crown Lands  

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha - work for nothing.