What does a 10 year old think?

Yesterday was budget day in Canada and the Speech from the Throne day in Newfoundland and Labrador.

As usual the media wants to know what the Boards of Trade think, what other politicians think, what unions think, ad what "big" cities think - but not any curiosity as to what a 10 year old would think.

The feds raided the contingency piggy bank and sold the GM shares to fictionalize a balanced budget. The upper middle class to upper class received more incentive to keep their money sheltered and anything whatsoever that could be considered middle class was put off for future governments to budget. Not much there for the 10 year old and many things to worry about as they enter into their post-secondary and career years.

The province provided a similar plan for destitution for the 10 year old - just slightly worse. We will now run deficits for 6 more years and borrow billions more - this is bad news for the 10 year old. We will be laying down chunks of cash year over year for the Williams/Dunderdale/Marshall/Davis legacy - supplying cheap power for Nova Scotia - this is bad news for the 10 year old.

So if I'm 10 - I can look forward to mounting debt - depleted non-renewable resources with no heritage cash, the payment of pensions 3 generations past, an aging population, a dwindling population, escalated health care costs, crumbling infrastructure and disappearing communities.

I can look forward to depleting oil - with no societal wealth, depleting minerals - shipped out unprocessed, a fishery that has been turned over to a few elite - no processing, a declining if not completely wiped out forestry industrial sector, and energy that I have to pay for regardless - so Nova Scotian young adults can rely on energy for growing industry.

Self-serving, underachieving, mentally lazy, and partisan zealots - have made my future real bright.

The 10 year old should start watching this:

The Newfoundland and Labrador debt clock PRESS HERE

The Canadian debt clock PRESS HERE

or for the other option - where politicians put the next generation ahead of personal or partisan interests - the Norwegian wealth clock PRESS HERE

I went to the Throne speech yesterday and watched the classless and clueless behavior of many government members. From the gallery - I could watch them check pictures on Facebook - or just simply click away on their cellphones while the Lieutenant Governor told us about our future and how important the people are.

Disgraceful. How do you sleep at night?

Our children are going to leave - they will have no other choice.

Innovative PC's - Kent? I think not!

Here we are the great "energy warehouse" hydro-powerhouse - and yet?

There they are - the little Northern Nation of Iceland humming along with half our population and resources.

So what's new?

The Icelandic company Even has purchased, and in the next few months intends to set up, 200 new express electric-car charging stations around the country.

According to plans outlined by the government, 10 percent of cars should rely on sustainable fuels by 2020. Currently, however, it is not very practical to own an electric car in Iceland as there are very few charging stations, most of them located in the capital area.

Oh yes they are even complaining because they are behind Norway - you know the land of Statoil of which Danny Williams thinks Nalcor is like.

As of May 2014, a total of 30,319 plug-in electric vehicles have been registered in Norway, of which, 95% are all-electric vehicles. The registered plug-in electric fleet consists of 28,827 all-electric passenger and light-duty vehicles, and 1,492 plug-in hybrids.

From September 2013 to March 2014, five times an electric car has ranked as the top selling new car in the country. The Tesla Model S has been the top selling new car three times, twice in 2013, first in September and again in December.

AND  Among the existing government incentives, all-electric cars are exempt in Norway from all non-recurring vehicle fees, including purchase taxes...

Did we have a chance to be in on this action? You bet we did. What did we do about it? Nothing! The partisan brains allow only partisan activity. They will drive Steve Kent or his supporters to robo vote on a VOCM poll - diligent, fervent, and maniacal interest in that - while opportunities pass us by.

Innovation? I think not. So as we lose and lose more business interests in our province - somehow the nation of Iceland keeps plugging into this innovation.

In Newfoundland and Labrador - our government is still trying to figure out how to keep the power on. We have the physical resources but we lack the visionary leadership to do anything but give them away.

As we have learned this week - companies know how to suck the money out of this government and use it to advance themselves without regard for the people who financed them...

Can't vote Liberal - Energy Policy by Gibbons and Dumeresque

Voting Liberal means returning to the energy policies of Clyde Wells and Rex Gibbons - PRIVATIZATION included and further deters any ownership of oil and gas projects. And worse he tries to dupe the media - or he does not understand the issue at all.


It's no secret that I have policy issues with the Premier. I support his move to acquire equity in the oil patch - but I do not support his failed fisheries policy - failed rural policies - and especially the suggestion that Lower Churchill power be exported. The "pamphlet" he calls an "energy plan" could have been written in a few nights by myself and a couple of energy zealots. Further it is an insult to Labradorians - simple as that.

I also don't like his style - the Führer comment that got him into an outrage - pontificating on hitting below the belt. The Premier says they will do the campaign without getting into "gutter" politics. The truth is - the man threatened civil servants - threatened to sue bloggers - and generally is a bully. He surrounds himself with "experts" as long as they are his buddies or past business partners.

I support his stand on removing non-renewable resource revenues from equalization - but he is doing nothing practical to make "Steve" live up to his promises.

He's just dragged out the joint management of the fishery again and his desire to see Canada take custodial management of the nose and tail of the Grand Banks - but oddly when Loyola Hearn reneged on this promise - he claimed Tom Rideout and the provincial government agreed with changes made to NAFO on surveillance and penalties. Then the whole works of them got rid of FPI - no equity there. This also includes the Liberals who did not want to upset some of the potential for political contributions.

But let's get to it.

Gerry Reid has just added another piece of logic to his "no equity" policy. Now he says Norway just took equity because it needed to kick start it's offshore - in the same way that Canada did when it took equity in Hibernia.

Why then Gerry does Norway continue to take equity position? Why then Gerry does Norway continue to be a major shareholder in Norsk Hydro? How about this?

Norway has produced this year - a "simple" easy to follow "FACT" sheet on the petroleum sector. Here's a sample found in the document.

The government receives a large share of the value created through:

* Taxation of oil and gas activities

* Charges/fees

* Direct ownership in fields on the Norwegian continental shelf (through the State’s Direct Financial Interest, SDFI)

* Dividends from ownership in Statoil

The State’s Direct Financial Interest (SDFI) is an important source of state revenues, in addition to taxes, fees and dividends from its ownership in Statoil. SDFI is an arrangement in which the state owns interests in a number of oil and gas fields, pipelines and onshore facilities. Each government take is decided when production licences are awarded and the size of the state interest varies from field to field. As one of several owners, the state pays its share of investments and costs, and receives a corresponding share of the income from the production licence.

Gerry - regardless of what Rex says - trying to sell the media that crap is bound to come back and bite you.

And Gerry - let me cut this off at the pass - on Hydro...

Just last month - and based on the current and future value of hydro-power the Government of Norway issues this News Release:

The right of reversion – The Government secures public ownership of hydropower

It says in part:

Today, a provisional decree has been passed in the King’s Council with instant effect which is considered to bring the right of reversion in accordance with the ruling of the EFTA Court and the EEA agreement. It is stated that the basic principle of public ownership of the Norwegian hydropower resources at state, regional and local level is being maintained. It will no longer be given licenses for acquisition of waterfalls and hydropower plants to private actors. Such actors can, however, still own one third of public owned hydropower plants, Mr. Enoksen says.

and

I am very pleased that we have reached an arrangement which completely keeps our most important renewable resource on public hands. We maintain public ownership at state, county and municipal level and thus secure all public hydropower owners rights to the hydropower without time limits, Minister Odd Roger Enoksen states.

Voting Liberal means returning to the energy policies of Clyde Wells and Rex Gibbons - PRIVATIZATION - included and further deters any ownership of oil and gas projects. And that goes for Party President and Candidate Danny Dumeresque (another Clyde boy that promoted and apparently still does support the ideology of privatizing hydro).

Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs speaks Fish

Norway's Minister of Foreign Affairs speaks Fish to the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters during the 150th Anniversary Symposium “Politics and Law – Energy and Environment in the Far North” held two days ago.

First let's look at how Academics play a role in Norwegian Success. Minister Jonas Gahr Støre had this to say:

In my view, knowledge drives development. Knowledge made available to all drives societies and individuals towards freedom and more responsibility. Therefore, the creation of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters – Det norske Videnskaps-akademi – 150 years ago stands out as a major sign of progress – an important step towards Norway’s independence, towards the establishment of the rule of law in a democratic sovereign state, and even towards an awareness of the need to manage natural resources in a sustainable manner.


When it came to discussing fish - the Norwegian Minister demonstrates how that country has learned from Newfoundland and Labrador - are we really ready to learn from them? Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said this:

The depletion of important fish stocks is easily achieved, as we have repeatedly seen. In fact this phenomenon ranks among the leading threats not only to global ecosystems but also to our ability to feed a growing world population. Faced with the challenge of illegal fishing in the Barents Sea, it is as tempting as it is frightening to remind our audiences of the fate of the cod stocks in the waters off Newfoundland. We know this all too well: The restoration of fish stocks is not easily achieved.

To read the Complete Speech Press HERE