What was John Ottenheimer talking about?

Okay let's go a step further.

After the signing of the 1999 GWAC agreement between CFLCo - which was refused release by government at the time for: "Commercial agreements such as those among Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, CF(L)Co and Hydro-Quebec are confidential. If released, they could compromise ongoing negotiations between Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro and Hydro-Quebec related to the Gull Island development. Commercial agreements of this magnitude cannot be negotiated in public."

Then Minister Paul Dicks alluded to John Ottenheimer's concerns which were:
 "It is most inaccurate for Mr. Ottenheimer to suggest that the new Shareholders’ Agreement gives control to Hydro-Quebec, "Mr. Dicks said. "If Mr. Ottenheimer had inquired, he would have found out that Hydro-Quebec previously had many of these rights under previous contractual agreements and the laws of the Canadian Business Corporations’ Act. The Shareholders’ Agreement, which was executed in 1999, serves to recognize many of these rights that were already held by Hydro-Quebec."

Oh yes - the entire Tory caucus had issues with this GWAC/Shareholders Agreement. They had issues regarding control of our energy future under this 1999 agreement.

Dicks also said: there is no circumstance where Hydro-Quebec could gain control over CF(L)Co or dilute Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro’s ownership interest from the current 65.8 per cent.

Yup - that's true but the concern was of management control not actual ownership.

Where have all those concerns gone? 

What did Quebec get by providing and additional 2 billion dollars of revenue for our hydro - over the life of the contract? What did they get. 
 
 

From HST to Muskrat Falls we continue to Giveaway our Future

Perhaps Premier Dunderdale and her Cabinet should take a message from the quote below.

"More importantly too, I think it sends a message to politicians throughout our country especially that they can't simply do things because it's the will of the premier or the party; that they have to in fact, on issues big as we see it here, consult the people," said Vander Zalm.

Former BC Premier Vander Zalm was referring to the vote on HST - which the government lost. Big issues are big issues and I can assure the reader than the Lower Churchill development is ten times more important to the people of this province - than the HST was to BC.


"They were the ones paying the freight and it was a benefit to the big corporations in our province especially those that are exporting our resources. They should contribute as opposed to getting a refund at the expense of the consumer," said Vander Zalm.

This quote - equally as important shows us that number one we should not be exporting raw resources such as hydro-power and two that we should be dealing with our HST fiasco as well. Currently New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador are the only provinces with the HST in place. It is yet another example of us giving up our sovereignty as a province - by allowing New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to have control over our taxation system.

The HST was put in place by the Liberals (Paul Dicks, Minister) and kept intact by the Tories under Williams and now Dunderdale. It just all represents a continued erosion of our ability to control our own future.

"For a decade, the Liberal Party has shifted the tax burden onto B.C. families. A return to the PST will be good for communities, good for families and good for small business. It will make life a little bit more affordable for working families. It will also ensure that British Columbia has control over its sales tax policy, now and in the future," said Dix. (NDP Leader)

We have given away our future in so many ways:
1. Media
2. Airlines
3. Fishery
4. Upper Churchill
5. Mines
6. Oil (refining)
7. Rural communities
8. Equalization
9. HST
10. Lower Churchill?


We really need to start demanding public process and that power hungry maniacally partisan politicians start to listen to us - the people. We all know our past was riddled with giveaways and we asked why. Now it's our turn to stand up and say NO to the Emera deal and Lower Churchill giveaway.

PRESS HERE to sign petition

Quotes used are from CBC Story HERE

Reason for Apathy in Politics

Senator Lavigne guilty of fraud, breach of trust

11/03/2011 1:28:51 PM

CBC News
An Ontario Superior Court judge has found Senator Raymond Lavigne guilty of fraud related to false travel expenses and breach of trust for having his staff do work at his home.

On the fraud charge, Judge Robert Smith found Lavigne guilty of defrauding the government of $10,120.50.

He determined that Lavigne "knowingly submitted false claims" for reimbursement of expenses for car travel between Ottawa and Montreal. Smith found that Lavigne made claims for costs he had not incurred.

He was overpaid in some reimbursement claims, "thereby affecting the government's pecuniary interest."

Since he was barred from the Senate in 2007, Lavigne has cost taxpayers more than $700,000. 

Bev Oda et al

There's a case against the government for breach of privilege after it refused to hand over detailed cost estimates of its anti-crime agenda, and a minister may have misled MPs, House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken said Wednesday in a ruling reasserting Parliament's authority.

Milliken ruled there was a "prima facie breach of privilege" -- in other words, enough evidence to send two separate motions back to MPs to decide the next step.

One motion complained the government is refusing to give financial information to the House and the other alleged International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda may have misled a Commons committee.

For the first time dealmaker Karlheinz Schreiber sits down in front of television cameras to answer questions about his secretive past and about his relationship with former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Schreiber goes on the record to tell Linden MacIntyre about the $300,000 the former Prime Minister received from him, where that money came from and the fallout, both public and private, that ensued from it.

The program illustrates why their relationship was so controversial and why numerous questions about it have remained unanswered until now.  

The sponsorship scandal tainted members of the Liberal Party and politics in Quebec. In its aftermath, there have been a few convictions and in Parliament, there came a call for the politicians to find ways to govern with accountability.

It all started with rumours and whispers about a fund that had been set up in the wake of the 1995 referendum on Quebec sovereignty to help promote federalism. The money was supposed to be used to raise Canada's profile in Quebec.

• DETAILS: Gomery Report's major findings

But it wasn't clear how the money was handed out: there were no application forms for this fund that was supposed to help pay the costs of social and cultural events and programs. There were rumours that the money was little more than a vehicle to reward loyal Liberal supporters.

By the early spring of 2002, then prime minister Jean Chrétien was forced to address the issue. The Globe and Mail – under the Access to Information Act – tried to find out why the government paid $550,000 to advertising firm Groupaction Marketing for a report that could not be found. No one at Public Works or the company could explain it.

No evidence of remorse: prosecutor CBC

Jim Walsh, a former Liberal cabinet minister in Newfoundland and Labrador, has been sentenced to 22 months in jail for his part in a spending scandal that rocked the province.  

The other former politicians who have already been convicted of fraud-related charges in the spending scandal include:

• Wally Andersen, former Liberal, who received 15 months jail time.
• Randy Collins, former New Democrat, who will be sentenced Jan. 15.
• Ed Byrne, former Progressive Conservative, who was sentenced to two years, less a day.

One member of the Nova Scotia legislature and three former provincial politicians face criminal charges following an investigation into constituency expenses. 

Independent MLA Trevor Zinck and former members Richard Hurlburt, Russell MacKinnon and David Wilson all face charges of fraud over $5,000 and breach of trust. 

Zinck also faces two counts of theft over $5,000. 

British Columbia's premier was fined $913 US (about $1,350 Cdn) Monday after pleading no contest to a drunk driving charge in Hawaii. 

Gordon Campbell was not in the court for the hearing. He was represented by a lawyer, who paid the penalty on his behalf. 

"Mr. Campbell is sufficiently embarrassed and ashamed for what he did, as well he should be," said Maui District Judge Reinette Cooper.

The premier was also ordered to take part in a 14-hour substance abuse program, and undergo an assessment for alcoholism. His lawyer said Campbell has already completed both in Canada. 

Maui police arrested Campbell Jan. 10 as he returned from the home of friends. They said he was speeding and swerving on the highway. Campbell's blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit, according to court records. 

The federal Opposition Liberals are condemning the hundreds of patronage  

appointments handed out by the Conservative government over the past two years.

Liberal MPs Wayne Easter and Alexandra Mendes handed out "patronage awards" to various Conservative MPs, ministers and senators during a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday.

The MPs said Prime Minister Stephen Harper keeps appointing Tory insiders to plum positions despite his campaign pledge to end such practices.

"The message is clear: If you run for the Conservatives, work for the Conservatives and give to the Conservatives, they will reward you with paid gigs backed by taxpayer dollars," Easter said.

Easter cited 386 job appointments since 2008 that went to Tories, which he said represented about a fifth of federal appointments since the last election. 

Premier David Alward's Progressive Conservative government is courting trouble unless it halts the growing numbers of patronage appointments, according to a political scientist.

It's been a steady parade of Progressive Conservatives getting provincial government appointments since the Alward government took power last fall.

Don Desserud, a political scientist at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, said the Tories should put a halt to all the patronage appointments.

"In terms of the public's expectations this is not exactly what they thought was going to happen and therefore there is going to be disappointment," Desserud said. 

When the Tories were on the opposition benches, Alward and his senior MLAs hammered the Liberals for their patronage appointments.

But the Alward government has not backed away from the trend.

The Newfoundland and Labrador government is being accused of old-style patronage for naming an aide to ex-premier Danny Williams to the offshore oil and gas regulator.

Natural Resources Minister Shawn Skinner shrugged off the criticism Thursday, saying Elizabeth Matthews, former communications director for Williams, is a "great" choice for vice-chairperson of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

Opposition parties and environmental observers pounced on the fact Matthews has no obvious environmental or offshore qualifications.

Skinner didn´t deny that lack of experience. Instead, he stressed that Matthews is a communicator who understands the inner workings of government policy.

A former Newfoundland and Labrador cabinet minister has vowed to repay tens of thousands of dollars used to pay for wine, art and other items.

Paul Dicks, a finance and justice minister in former Liberal governments, said in a statement Thursday he will voluntarily pay back sums cited last month in a scathing report by Auditor General John Noseworthy.

Noseworthy found that Dicks had claimed $59,753 in artwork during the 1998 and 2000 fiscal years, and had also claimed over a number of years alcohol purchases — including imported wine — totalling $34,145. 

Dicks's alcohol purchases, none of which involved meals, were by far the largest charges of their kind in Noseworthy's review of 15 years of constituency allowance claims.

The audit found Dicks claimed jewelry, books and a Cartier pen through his allowance. Dicks was one of nine politicians found to have used constituency allowance funds on personal items.

May 31, 2005

---

Premier announces establishment of Business Advisory Board

Identifying the challenges and optimizing the opportunities in the business community are key to the future success of Newfoundland and Labrador, said Premier Danny Williams today as he announced the establishment of the Business Advisory Board. The board will provide advice to the Premier and government regarding matters of economic development and business in the province.

"The establishment of this board will complement the Department of Business and will perform the important function of advising government of the trends of today’s economy and the future possibilities for our economy," said Premier Williams. "I am very pleased that some of Newfoundland and Labrador’s most dynamic, experienced and successful business people have agreed to participate on the Business Advisory Board. Membership consists of a wide cross-section of regions and industries such as IT, tourism, communications and the service industry."

The newly established Business Advisory Board will report to the Department of Business and will meet throughout the year and provide advice and recommendations to government.

 (one of the appointments)  

Dean MacDonald
In August 2004, Mr. MacDonald became President and Chief Executive Officer of Persona Communications Corp., a privately-held company with national outlets in cablevision and Internet services. In the past, Mr. MacDonald has served in the capacity of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Rogers Cable Inc. and President of Cable Atlantic Inc., where he was a Director and minority shareholder for 18 years.

So then what happened - well there was the fibre-optic cash - that the Auditor General just questioned. That was after the two, Dean and Danny under Cable Atlantic benefitted from another government contract when Brian Tobin was in office. 

After both contracts the companies were sold/merged with mainland firms.

Then there are the lies and lies - broken promises etc.

Harper - equalization

Williams - paper mills

Harper - Income Trusts 

Williams - redress the Upper Churchill

Harper - elected senate

Williams - openness and accountability resource developments

Harper - no more patronage

Williams - transparency

On your Ballot - write the words - I want a public inquiry!

I listened to Paul Dicks this week - through a prepared statement doing a few things. They were very similar - in fact too similar to Walter Noel's reappearance a few days earlier. Both of them said I made errors in judgement - both were sorry - then both of them claimed they were within the rules.

Walter Noel and Paul Dicks were Cabinet Ministers - Dicks was Minister of Justice and Attorney General and the Minister of Finance. Noel was Minister of Government Services and Minister of Mines and Energy. Both have premium pensions for their public service. What a pathetic sight they were - either deliberately taking advantage of a flawed system - they were part of controlling - or not possessing the ability until now to determine what they were doing was wrong.

As Ministers what were they responsible for? The two geniuses voted to sell Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro - both were involved in energy planning and Lower Churchill discussions. The finances of the province were in Paul's hands and to make matters worse so was the Department of Justice.

This whole mess is more serious than these two people let on - and they know it. These individuals did make judgements of others and they made decisions on behalf of you and me. How reasoned were those decisions?

Dicks announced last week that he was going to pay back the money spent on art and wine. I am curious - where is the art? Where is the wine? If they were purchased as Dicks claims - as a result of errors in judgement - have these items appreciated? If we were to conclude that Dicks purchased these assets with our money - in a sense a loan - which he now is paying back - where is the interest?

How did "intelligent" men believe that buying art - wine - and Christmas presents out of a constituency allowance was okay? They were sitting MHA's and Ministers - did they not think to ask their fellow MHA's on the Internal Economy Commission about the appropriateness of such spending? Did they not - all on their own - think it might be reasonable to suggest a change in the rules?

Paul Dicks is a lawyer practicing with the firm Benson-Myles and is currently a Director of the Bank of Canada. Is this alright? If these two were in charge of setting rules for corporate spending and later it was determined that they made rules in the best interest of themselves versus the shareholders - what might happen? I don't know but Conrad Black might have part of the answer. Yet Walter insists that while he made an error in judgement - he was only making the same errors as if he was in the private sector. Okay Walter try it out - and we will watch your progress.

A public inquiry must occur so that we can ask these people what exactly they were doing. We can also bring up and sort out the whole sordid affair of booting the Auditor General out of their books - ironically brought about by the AG's concern over expenditures made by Dicks.

Instead these people ride off into the pensioned sunset - living with reputations that have been false - but helped them carry on into private life. Let's say the Dick's spending had become public when he was still in office - would he have received the same opportunities after he left?

Would Junior Achievement of Canada looked at him the same way? Would the Federal Minister of Finance have offered him a board appointment to the Bank of Canada? Would Benson - Myles have offered him a position with that law firm? We might never know the answers to these questions and fortunately for Dicks - enough time had passed before the discovery for him to establish himself financially and professionally. The question now is will he be asked to do the right thing or will he offer to do the right thing and resign from positions he now holds - and like so many others of us - have to start again - and again.

All of this is notwithstanding that Wally Anderson is on the campaign trail with Danny Dumaresque - Randy Collins has taken up a great job again with his union - Paul Dicks is living high on somebodies hog - Walter has shown his head during the federal Liberal leadership contest and in this provincial campaign. If no criminal convictions come out of the current charges - it does not change what the Auditor General found. It does not change the over-spending and inappropriate spending.

For all of this this Danny is still making excuses for these people - Gerry does not even want to talk about it - Tom Rideout says he will repay the bonus constituency payment when he loses or retires out of his severance. Not one of them give a damn that thousands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians do not want to vote - as they are sickened by the whole works of them. Then they come out and ask people to vote - and tell them nothing is accomplished by not voting.

I say to people - go vote - mark the ballot up - send whatever message you want - write in names - scratch off names - or better yet mark in the words - "I want a Public Inquiry".

What are we here anyway? There are people named in the AG report with significant "errors in judgement" who are running again. What have we been reduced to?

Fix This!

While your sniffing perfume - changing underwear - hanging paintings - scratching your lotto tickets - having a puff or a swallow - or making excuses for your spending habits - find a way to fix this!

(numbers are rounded to the nearest 100)

............................1988..................................2006

Total Population 575,000...............................509,700

Years of Age

0-19.....195,500...............................111,700

20-39....195,700...............................132,400

40-59....111,400...............................166,100

60 +......72,500................................98,500

Add to that the estimate of population for 2007 is 506,500

Primary and secondary education costs record level - with 83,800 less students (0-19)
Health costs at record level - with 70,000 less people

People to have the $1000 babies are down 63,300 since 1988 (20-39)

The next generation following to have $1000 babies down 83,800 since 1988 (0-19)

The people who are generally in the middle to late career age up 54,700 since 1988 - and the ones leaving now to find work or joining their adult sons and daughters who have left after graduation.

People who are at the beginning to middle career years down 63,300 since 1988.

60+ up 26,000 people - including retirees who without pension indexing are continuing to have their disposable income deteriorate - and their quality of life diminished.

The fishery was destroyed by Ottawa's mismanagement - yet nothing is done. And now we want to turn our superior hydro energy over to Ontario - the Maritimes - Quebec - or even the New England States. They do not need more industry and their populations are growing.

Now let me make your day!

Here is a headline from today's Globe and Mail online:

Thirty-somethings drive 2005 birth rate to seven-year high...

and this paragraph from the story:

The number of births dropped to a 55-year low in 2000 but, except 2002, has risen every year since — largely because most babies were born to parents belonging to the echo generation (the children of baby boomers) had entered their prime childbearing years as of 2001.

Unfortunately for Newfoundland and Labrador - the thirty-somethings have left or are leaving and the generation following is diminishing to record lows. The price of oil can go to $100 bucks a barrel - and the only thing that will do is stave off our extinction - unless we start doing other things right.

I'll need that other glass of wine now Mr. Dicks.

The Bank of Canada eh???

Sue's Blog will post extensively on the Report of the Auditor General "On a Review of Constituency Allowance Claims" 1989-90 - 2005-06. This is the first of such posts.

As the Report accentuated the abuse of taxpayer dollars by Paul Dicks - I have sent the following to the Governor of the Bank of Canada - where Mr. Dicks sits on the Board of Directors.

Dear Mr. Dodge,

I am writing as a citizen of Canada who wishes to express my concern respecting the previous activities of a member of the Bank's Board of Directors.

Mr. Paul Dicks - a board member and former MHA and Minister of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has been named by the Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador as having made numerous and significant inappropriate expenditures of public money.

Please refer to the Report of the Auditor General 2007 issued as at today's date. Please use the link below to access.

AG Report

I feel the behavior of Mr. Dicks with respect to his fiduciary duties to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador was abysmal.

A fiduciary is expected to be extremely loyal to the person to whom they owe the duty (the people): they must not put their personal interests before the duty, and must not profit from their position as a fiduciary, unless the principal consents.

I trust the information delivered by the Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador would cause concern to any citizen of this province - this country - and the leadership of the Bank of Canada.

Please take the time to review the tabled report and I trust the Bank will take appropriate action.

Best Regards,

Sue Kelland-Dyer