Oil is here - Oil is gone
To be competitive in today's world you must have an advantage.
Newfoundland and Labrador is rich in natural resources - unfortunately either by giveaways or mismanagement we have lost the industrial edge we were geographically gifted with.
Our non-renewable ores were shipped out without processing fuelling the economies of Ontario, Quebec, and even Manitoba. The rich iron ore from Bell Island was shipped out to Nova Scotia for processing and do you believe Labrador has gained properly from its iron ore?
The Upper Churchill was developed by an astute Quebec and is a major reason Hydro Quebec is an "energy giant" today. The fishery (best in the world) was taken over by Ottawa a few years after confederation and was destroyed by Ottawa in a few short decades. The forestry resources were given away and advanced industrial development on the paper mill side was non-existent.
The boom in metro is at the cost of rural communities and is only as a result of oil. Where are the real oil jobs? What of our oil do we refine or process into goods?
Politicians of all stripes have contributed to the mess we have today - short-term prosperity for Newfoundland and Labrador - long-term prosperity for others who process what we own.
We lost at least 40,000 people to the fisheries moratorium and numbers of plants while decimating rural communities. Who owns what is left of our fishery now? Is it still being plundered (shellfish) and when will that collapse?
We are down to one paper mill when we should have kept at least two. Politicians made fine work of that planning - there was grest opportunity in Stephenville but it was squandered by politicians who did not have foresight and certainly no vision. What we do now in Grand Falls-Windsor and Stephenville is manage the loss. Can we bring in a Costco or Walmart a Canadian Tire or Sobeys or Kent - that is the mantra. Maybe haul a few government agencies or divisions to (decentralize). Where is the new money in this - it is simply hauling the same money around and in this case giving to mainland companies so that reinvestment happens outside Newfoundland and Labrador instead of local companies reinvesting here. What happened to our airports?
About the only thing we have managed to hang on to is renewable hydro - and only because the people waged a three year battle against the policy. Now we are set to start giving it away again. We need this energy to attract industry. Industry goes where the power is and we are making sure that it is everywhere but our province.
We will give it to Nova Scotia to either use themselves or transport to other provinces or states to use there. Nothing in Labrador! Labrador who relies on Quebec and thermal generation for power. What a joke.
We must stop this Emera deal and start again - go back to an energy plan which uses that raw resource to generate industrial growth right here. If we go ahead with the Emera deal we will have escalating costs for our own domestic power and have nothing to offer industry which will follow our power out of the province.
We continue to have excessively high unemployment, our rural communities continue to be decimated and Labrador continues to be raped of its tremendous resources without any real return. This must stop.
Where is the vision of government - does it rest with senior faceless bureaucrats who quite often move on to the same private industrial sectors they help through policy? Is it politicians too lazy to read - to understand - or are they incapable of real vision. Do we ever really know who stands to gain personally from decisions they have played a part in?
Then there is Ottawa - Danny gains 2 billion (gets hit with the stock crisis) net??? and then loses 10 billion in the change-up of equalization while Quebec the (have-not) province continues to receive the most equalization.
When you take on the establishment the banks, brokers, investors, basically private sector greed there is a price to pay. Personally and professionally they attack you until you starve. They run political parties like they are their own assets. They move saviors in and out and ensure that their policies continue to move forward.
When they go after the last of our hopes for the future - we must take a stand - and that we will do. Premier Dunderdale and her Cabinet take note - this will not happen without thorough discussion and consultation and it will be done to benefit us not to ruin our future.
I ask the backbenchers of the Tory government - do you want to be responsible for a giveaway as great as the Upper Churchill?
And while we are at it why does the a crown corporation of Saskatchewan deliver tv service to hospital rooms in Newfoundland and Labrador
Showing posts with label Ocean Choice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ocean Choice. Show all posts
Monday, January 10, 2011
Monday, August 27, 2007
Newfoundland and Labrador is not their oyster...
This Province and potential opportunities from resource development must not be restricted to a few close buddies or a "special" corporate group.
I recognize that right now - it is difficult for one to question Premier Williams on anything he does - as the "fan power" right now is similar to one NFL player before they found dead dogs on his property.
One example - the Sullivan boys from the Southern Shore. Loyola - after just leaving as the Minister of Finance for the province - emerges to become Canada's new "Fish Ambassador" - Karl - Senior Manager of the Barry Group - has managed to steer assets - quite cheaply into the Barry Group's list of holdings with government guarantees - and just the other day - significant assets of FPI purchased by Ocean Choice - of the Penney Group - with Ches Penney flanked by Martin and Blaine Sullivan President and CFO respectively.
Think about the various potential conflicts or influence here - and within one of our most important resources - fish.
Then let's look at the fibre optic deal - remember that one? Persona - whose chief is Dean MacDonald and his buddy's government pumps a 15 million dollar investment that way - without any Request for Proposals - arguing that anybody that could be in the deal already was - Rogers - Persona - MTS Allstream. That's if first you can get past the potential conflict or influence with Rogers involved - with the Premier's selling of his company Cable Atlantic to them or the Premier's former law and business partner Steve Marshall's brother Ken Marshall remaining in a senior position with Rogers.
Then there was the whole mess of Aurora Energy appointing Dean MacDonald to the Board when the company is involved in uranium potential for energy - even though Dean at the time was the Chair of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro including the responsibility of the Lower Churchill Development. Although MacDonald quit the Aurora Board within a couple of days after Sue's Blog and then media pointed out the potential conflict - we are left to wonder what type of influence Aurora has and more importantly Altius - which as at January 2007 held a 10% interest in Aurora - 30% Rambler gold-copper mine - 37.5% interest in Newfoundland and Labrador refining corporation (you know the refinery proposal) and then there was and is their proposal for financing the Lower Churchill project described this way:
Altius has also made a proposal to the provincial government for financing the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project. Its proposal was put on the three-bid short list; its proposal (involving a royalty foundation for provincial residents) has the benefit of benefiting the local populace, a sensitive issue in a poor province where many projects have been sold to outside interests. Altius’ proposal could also be combined with other financing proposals. Currently, the provincial government is working on the development plan. Once this plan is complete, after three or four months perhaps, then it will turn again to the financing proposals. If successful, Altius would likely end up with a free-carried interest generating cashflow, for very little initial cost.
So there we have the fisheries - minerals - oil and gas - hydro - and communications all wrapped up in a little corporate gang.
For more specifics refer back to the following posts:
Dean MacDonald Please Resign
Why it's okay to question Dean and Dan on the Fibre Optics
The Fibre Optic Deal and Lobbyist Part 1
The Fibre Optic Deal Part 2
The Fibre Optic Deal Part 3
The Fibre Optic Deal Part 4
Political Patronage "Persona"fied
Now we can fight with Ottawa (as we should) but there is no plan to correct the deficiencies in our federation - and it will do wonders to keep our eye off the ball.
Williams is becoming the master of red herrings - to cover for:
Keep your on the balls being juggled by Williams while he attempts to divert your attention with nationalistic heroism.
I recognize that right now - it is difficult for one to question Premier Williams on anything he does - as the "fan power" right now is similar to one NFL player before they found dead dogs on his property.
One example - the Sullivan boys from the Southern Shore. Loyola - after just leaving as the Minister of Finance for the province - emerges to become Canada's new "Fish Ambassador" - Karl - Senior Manager of the Barry Group - has managed to steer assets - quite cheaply into the Barry Group's list of holdings with government guarantees - and just the other day - significant assets of FPI purchased by Ocean Choice - of the Penney Group - with Ches Penney flanked by Martin and Blaine Sullivan President and CFO respectively.
Think about the various potential conflicts or influence here - and within one of our most important resources - fish.
Then let's look at the fibre optic deal - remember that one? Persona - whose chief is Dean MacDonald and his buddy's government pumps a 15 million dollar investment that way - without any Request for Proposals - arguing that anybody that could be in the deal already was - Rogers - Persona - MTS Allstream. That's if first you can get past the potential conflict or influence with Rogers involved - with the Premier's selling of his company Cable Atlantic to them or the Premier's former law and business partner Steve Marshall's brother Ken Marshall remaining in a senior position with Rogers.
Then there was the whole mess of Aurora Energy appointing Dean MacDonald to the Board when the company is involved in uranium potential for energy - even though Dean at the time was the Chair of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro including the responsibility of the Lower Churchill Development. Although MacDonald quit the Aurora Board within a couple of days after Sue's Blog and then media pointed out the potential conflict - we are left to wonder what type of influence Aurora has and more importantly Altius - which as at January 2007 held a 10% interest in Aurora - 30% Rambler gold-copper mine - 37.5% interest in Newfoundland and Labrador refining corporation (you know the refinery proposal) and then there was and is their proposal for financing the Lower Churchill project described this way:
Altius has also made a proposal to the provincial government for financing the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project. Its proposal was put on the three-bid short list; its proposal (involving a royalty foundation for provincial residents) has the benefit of benefiting the local populace, a sensitive issue in a poor province where many projects have been sold to outside interests. Altius’ proposal could also be combined with other financing proposals. Currently, the provincial government is working on the development plan. Once this plan is complete, after three or four months perhaps, then it will turn again to the financing proposals. If successful, Altius would likely end up with a free-carried interest generating cashflow, for very little initial cost.
So there we have the fisheries - minerals - oil and gas - hydro - and communications all wrapped up in a little corporate gang.
For more specifics refer back to the following posts:
Dean MacDonald Please Resign
Why it's okay to question Dean and Dan on the Fibre Optics
The Fibre Optic Deal and Lobbyist Part 1
The Fibre Optic Deal Part 2
The Fibre Optic Deal Part 3
The Fibre Optic Deal Part 4
Political Patronage "Persona"fied
Now we can fight with Ottawa (as we should) but there is no plan to correct the deficiencies in our federation - and it will do wonders to keep our eye off the ball.
Williams is becoming the master of red herrings - to cover for:
rural Newfoundland and Labrador decimation,
FPI fiasco,
Paper Mill in Stephenville,
the Metis,
continued loss of our graduates and job fairs to Alberta,
Danny's friends and colleagues and positions of influence,
no energy plan,
net outmigration,
high unemployment,
giveaway of wind power resources - in part to the Government of Italy,
Persona and fibre optics,
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro hires Summa to lobby Ottawa on the Lower Churchill - including the employment of Timothy Powers - a strategist for the federal Conservatives - while Danny launches an ABC campaign,
Failure to release MOU with Hebron partners.
Keep your on the balls being juggled by Williams while he attempts to divert your attention with nationalistic heroism.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Williams has done what no other Premier could do before him...
...allow the destruction of FPI.
I am upset today as a Newfoundlander and Labradorian - are you?
While equity in non-renewable assets is the order of the day for Williams - valuable renewable assets and associated business get the thumbs down.
A Nova Scotian based company ends up with the lucrative North American marketing arm of FPI - yahoo!
How many Sullivan's does it take to consume FPI?
Give me a penney and I'll tell you.
This is pathetic and deserves as much negative attention as the Hebron MOU deserves positive. The fishery until Danny Williams became the Premier - was referred to as the backbone of our economy. Nowadays - I think the government MHA's are careful or told not to say that.
As most of us should have observed by now Dean and Danny have a fetish for oil and gas and that is where the focus has been. It is nice to have the diversity of natural resources we have - but with Williams it will be oil oil oil and soon gas gas gas. The Premier just does not have the same protective passion for renewable - generational resources like the fishery - hydro-power - and wind.
Today I will focus on the fishery. Regardless of how the Premier or his top-spinner Ross Reid might plan and roll out announcements during polling period or just before an election - they are just inadequate when it comes to that resource of the sea.
Danny is the man to fight Ottawa over equalization (oil revenues primarily) and fallow field legislation - but when it comes to the fishery - he is impotent. The grand fisheries conference a year or so ago - has produced nothing new.
Do you see Williams pulling an ABC because there is no early retirement package - or inadequate federal money dedicated to science - the failure of the ground-fish stocks to recover well past the originally predicted time-frame? You have not heard a peep from him on proposed changes to the federal fisheries Act or the NAFO shenanigans brought to light by former DFO official Applebaum. Oil is sexy to St. John's, the business and construction labour communities - whereas fish is just this nuisance that the rural crowd keep pestering him about.
There is no doubt about it - Williams just does not have the guts - knowledge - interest - or some combination of them to take on the feds over the fishery - and further - the display of bravado to big oil companies - is just not present with the fish merchants. For some reason the Barry's - Penney's - and Risley's of the world are just too tough.
Here's a portion of the News Release put out by Highliner Foods International on the purchase of a portion of FPI assets:
High Liner Foods Incorporated today announced it has signed an agreement with FPI Limited and its subsidiary, Fisheries Products International Limited, to purchase its
marketing and manufacturing business.
FPI's marketing and manufacturing business consists of its North American
value-added food service and retail frozen seafood businesses. In 2006, the
business had sales of $452.9 million and gross profit of $43.5 million.
So if they become the leading - where are we?
Just to put that in perspective:
Highliner
The company began in 1899 with the founding of W.C Smith & Company, a salt fish operation located in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia -- the current home of our head office and one of the most modern and diversified food processing plants in the world.
FPI
Fishery Products International is an industry leader in harvesting, processing, global sourcing, and marketing a wide selection of high quality seafood products. From its corporate headquarters in St. John’s, FPI manages primary and value-added seafood processing plants and a fleet of modern harvesting vessels.
From the few words which I have highlighted - can you see the problem already?
Please remember when the legislated restrictions are finally gone - the guarantees have a very short time-frame. The rural communities affected by this deal today - no longer have the protection of socio/economic policy attached to the harvesting of the resources adjacent to them.
First problem:
The Provincial Government has achieved a five-year agreement for the sustained operation of existing FPI facilities.
What happens then???
Second problem:
...we have made it a condition of sale that FPI and OCI proceed expeditiously with the transfer of the Fortune facility to Cooke Aquaculture. Is Cooke still interested? I thought not. (That's if you buy into Aquaculture being a panacea to replace the wild fishery) More on that in the next post.
So what happens now?
Third problem:
Sold to Highliner -
FPI's marketing and manufacturing business consists of its North American
value-added food service and retail frozen seafood businesses. In 2006, the
business had sales of $452.9 million and gross profit of $43.5 million. I wonder who benefits from that now?
What's the provincial portion of tax lost etc...What does Nova Scotia gain - and what does Newfoundland and Labrador lose?
NO EQUITY IN OR FOR THE FISHERY!
That's the real problem - so tilt your glasses and toast the man of the hour Danny Williams who has done what no other Premier could do before him - allow the destruction of FPI.
I will conclude by saying: In my opinion it's much tougher to make your million on a crab boat or prosecuting ground-fish than it is to make it off - let's say a bunch of poles and wires capable of bringing sports - pornography - and news into your house!
I am upset today as a Newfoundlander and Labradorian - are you?
While equity in non-renewable assets is the order of the day for Williams - valuable renewable assets and associated business get the thumbs down.
A Nova Scotian based company ends up with the lucrative North American marketing arm of FPI - yahoo!
How many Sullivan's does it take to consume FPI?
Give me a penney and I'll tell you.
This is pathetic and deserves as much negative attention as the Hebron MOU deserves positive. The fishery until Danny Williams became the Premier - was referred to as the backbone of our economy. Nowadays - I think the government MHA's are careful or told not to say that.
As most of us should have observed by now Dean and Danny have a fetish for oil and gas and that is where the focus has been. It is nice to have the diversity of natural resources we have - but with Williams it will be oil oil oil and soon gas gas gas. The Premier just does not have the same protective passion for renewable - generational resources like the fishery - hydro-power - and wind.
Today I will focus on the fishery. Regardless of how the Premier or his top-spinner Ross Reid might plan and roll out announcements during polling period or just before an election - they are just inadequate when it comes to that resource of the sea.
Danny is the man to fight Ottawa over equalization (oil revenues primarily) and fallow field legislation - but when it comes to the fishery - he is impotent. The grand fisheries conference a year or so ago - has produced nothing new.
Do you see Williams pulling an ABC because there is no early retirement package - or inadequate federal money dedicated to science - the failure of the ground-fish stocks to recover well past the originally predicted time-frame? You have not heard a peep from him on proposed changes to the federal fisheries Act or the NAFO shenanigans brought to light by former DFO official Applebaum. Oil is sexy to St. John's, the business and construction labour communities - whereas fish is just this nuisance that the rural crowd keep pestering him about.
There is no doubt about it - Williams just does not have the guts - knowledge - interest - or some combination of them to take on the feds over the fishery - and further - the display of bravado to big oil companies - is just not present with the fish merchants. For some reason the Barry's - Penney's - and Risley's of the world are just too tough.
Here's a portion of the News Release put out by Highliner Foods International on the purchase of a portion of FPI assets:
High Liner Foods Incorporated today announced it has signed an agreement with FPI Limited and its subsidiary, Fisheries Products International Limited, to purchase its
marketing and manufacturing business.
FPI's marketing and manufacturing business consists of its North American
value-added food service and retail frozen seafood businesses. In 2006, the
business had sales of $452.9 million and gross profit of $43.5 million.
"This acquisition will be an important milestone in pursuit of our vision to become the leading value-added frozen seafood company in North America..."
So if they become the leading - where are we?
Just to put that in perspective:
Highliner
The company began in 1899 with the founding of W.C Smith & Company, a salt fish operation located in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia -- the current home of our head office and one of the most modern and diversified food processing plants in the world.
FPI
Fishery Products International is an industry leader in harvesting, processing, global sourcing, and marketing a wide selection of high quality seafood products. From its corporate headquarters in St. John’s, FPI manages primary and value-added seafood processing plants and a fleet of modern harvesting vessels.
From the few words which I have highlighted - can you see the problem already?
Please remember when the legislated restrictions are finally gone - the guarantees have a very short time-frame. The rural communities affected by this deal today - no longer have the protection of socio/economic policy attached to the harvesting of the resources adjacent to them.
First problem:
The Provincial Government has achieved a five-year agreement for the sustained operation of existing FPI facilities.
What happens then???
Second problem:
...we have made it a condition of sale that FPI and OCI proceed expeditiously with the transfer of the Fortune facility to Cooke Aquaculture. Is Cooke still interested? I thought not. (That's if you buy into Aquaculture being a panacea to replace the wild fishery) More on that in the next post.
So what happens now?
Third problem:
Sold to Highliner -
FPI's marketing and manufacturing business consists of its North American
value-added food service and retail frozen seafood businesses. In 2006, the
business had sales of $452.9 million and gross profit of $43.5 million. I wonder who benefits from that now?
What's the provincial portion of tax lost etc...What does Nova Scotia gain - and what does Newfoundland and Labrador lose?
NO EQUITY IN OR FOR THE FISHERY!
That's the real problem - so tilt your glasses and toast the man of the hour Danny Williams who has done what no other Premier could do before him - allow the destruction of FPI.
I will conclude by saying: In my opinion it's much tougher to make your million on a crab boat or prosecuting ground-fish than it is to make it off - let's say a bunch of poles and wires capable of bringing sports - pornography - and news into your house!
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Eliminate Low-Margin Products
I'm left to wonder - how I should take a message from an FPI News Release this week. If I'm a shareholder - and I'm not - I would be delighted. But if I'm involved in the fishery - the words would spell gloom and doom. I would be angry.
Beverly Evans - Chief Financial Officer - of FPI said this of the company's over 6 MILLION DOLLAR QUARTERLY PROFIT:
FPI's profits are up 3 1/2 MILLION DOLLARS from the same quarter last year.
Understand - that this news - while great for shareholders - is a reflection of human suffering in Newfoundland and Labrador. Communities in peril - fighting for their existence - people packing up and moving away before they lose everything.
When Beverly talks about eliminating low margin products - to you and me those products - in reality are people and communities. And all that to ensure that when Ches Penney - Nova Scotia and Iceland Corporates take over the company - they will not be the villains.
How do they all sleep at night? It's takes a special breed to fill your own arse pockets while you watch families and communities suffer. That is the mark of a "successful" business person - not necessarily a "good" one.
This is where the government of Newfoundland and Labrador had some control - had the ability to operate with a 2 million dollar profit instead of a 6 million dollar one. The shareholders should have been and should be the people of the Province - until some corporate entity would have accepted a couple of million a quarter - and communities and people (society) could have carried on.
You see this is not a swipe at the corporate elite - it is their swipe at us. The government neither has the vision nor the guts to do what's right. This will be another Williams' legacy.
Beverly Evans - Chief Financial Officer - of FPI said this of the company's over 6 MILLION DOLLAR QUARTERLY PROFIT:
"Profitability has improved through the execution of our strategy to eliminate low-margin products from our portfolio"
FPI's profits are up 3 1/2 MILLION DOLLARS from the same quarter last year.
Understand - that this news - while great for shareholders - is a reflection of human suffering in Newfoundland and Labrador. Communities in peril - fighting for their existence - people packing up and moving away before they lose everything.
When Beverly talks about eliminating low margin products - to you and me those products - in reality are people and communities. And all that to ensure that when Ches Penney - Nova Scotia and Iceland Corporates take over the company - they will not be the villains.
How do they all sleep at night? It's takes a special breed to fill your own arse pockets while you watch families and communities suffer. That is the mark of a "successful" business person - not necessarily a "good" one.
This is where the government of Newfoundland and Labrador had some control - had the ability to operate with a 2 million dollar profit instead of a 6 million dollar one. The shareholders should have been and should be the people of the Province - until some corporate entity would have accepted a couple of million a quarter - and communities and people (society) could have carried on.
You see this is not a swipe at the corporate elite - it is their swipe at us. The government neither has the vision nor the guts to do what's right. This will be another Williams' legacy.
Monday, July 30, 2007
News Break FPI FPI FPI
Looks like the FPI deal may be further off than thought. The company has just issued a News Release postponing the annual and special meeting of shareholders to seek approval for the sale of assets to Ocean Choice and Highliner Foods from August - 07 to an unspecified date before October 31-07.
The most interesting sentence in this Release is:
"Negotiations between FPI and these two companies are ongoing, and there is no certainty that definitive agreements and transactions will result."
CLICK HERE FOR THE NEWS RELEASE
ATTENTION POLITICIANS - TIME TO COME OFF THE BBQ CIRCUIT...MAYBE IT'S JUST GOING HAPPEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ELECTION.
The most interesting sentence in this Release is:
"Negotiations between FPI and these two companies are ongoing, and there is no certainty that definitive agreements and transactions will result."
CLICK HERE FOR THE NEWS RELEASE
ATTENTION POLITICIANS - TIME TO COME OFF THE BBQ CIRCUIT...MAYBE IT'S JUST GOING HAPPEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ELECTION.
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