Nalcor - Premier - Hydro Quebec Worst is Yet to Come

Hydro-Quebec Document (Current Strategic Plan)

 

What are your experts saying about this?

The Premier's "glass is half-full" translates into a vision "half-baked"

Premier Dunderdale appears to have a whole new concept on "good news". She's taken "the glass is half-full" to a whole new dimension.

Quebec and Ottawa sign deal on Old Harry and the Premier says "this is good news" - now we can fight for it.

Peter Kiewit pulls out of a 30 year 35 billion dollar deal and the Premier says "this is good news" - Kiewit is too busy to bother with it.

It is going to cost the people of Newfoundland and Labrador a fortune to develop and export Lower Churchill Power and the Premier says "this is good news" - we can now avoid Quebec.

Oh and almost forgot, The Abitibi Mill in Grand Falls-Windsor gone the Premier says "this is good news" we can expropriate the assets and the whole town if we want. 

Let's speculate on other good news announcements:

Another fishery has shut down - This is "good news" we don't have wharf upkeep.

Nova Scotia not Newfoundland and Labrador gets an aluminum smelter - This is "good news" don't have to worry about the environment.

Newfoundlanders and Labradorians leave their province to work elsewhere - This is "good news" it will take strain off health care.

Loss of the Stephenville Airport - This is "good news" - we can now concentrate on Deer Lake.

Loss of Kruger paper mill - This is "good news" - the trees can grow back. 

Can you offer some suggestions for the Premier on "good news" announcements to come?

Old Harry - and the French Debate - What are the Premier's thoughts?

Old Harry another potential multi-billion dollar oil-gas reserve off Newfoundland and Labrador's coast is slipping away and is probably gone.

Our Premier - Kathy Dunderdale - is either incapable of dealing with this issue or does not desire to fight it for another reason.

I believe the French Language debate has concluded where her buddy Stephen Harper stands and that is contrary to the best interests of our province.

Let's everybody decide what we can take from this Harper commentary. When asked about Quebec's place in Canada and how the parties were going to win back the hearts of Quebeckers - Harper said:

- we recognized Quebec as a nation within a united Canada
- we gave Quebec a seat at UNESCO
- we have established a new agreement on Old Harry

As Newfoundlanders and Labradorians - do we think the Premier's buddy Harper was misspeaking?

Should we take a long pause and wait for Harper to add - if it is determined that Old Harry is within the Quebec boundaries?

Old Harry is gone unless we get rid of Dunderdale and start fighting for our very existence.

By the way - Duceppe has already started to extend that oil/gas boundary to the fishery and is coming after us on that in short order.


What are the Premier's thoughts?

Due Diligence Drilling Down Right Kathy?

Let me get the wording right - now that Old Harry is speaking up.

We have done our due diligence - drilled down and figured out what we need to do is our due diligence, drill down and do our bloody job.

So let's see now that would be the Romaine River disaster, the caribou slaughter embarrassment, Old Harry, our boundaries generally, the expropriation of Grand Falls - Windsor, the loss of 10 billion on equalization, and the giveaway of our hydro-electric resources. This while the fishery is in a mess, industries are folding, and Nalcor officials are running around at gatherings out of the province talking about our low hanging fruit.

Listen - I went away while the beauty and aura of our Premier captivated the population - I will not allow the government to give away the future of our children. Do you have any idea how sickening it was listening to the rookie MHA's respond to the Throne Speech - speaking about the Emera deal - like they had a clue?

More tomorrow - who's at the trough now?

Deafening silence Premier - after you finish explaining why your anointer won't attend his party's party for him planned by the anointed - answer the question "what happens if Hydro-Quebec buys Emera?"

And now she wants a fight? Now the minions are running here and there making comments about what people not to employ if they want something from government. Essentially improper intereference at the highest level. Lace up the skates as Danny would have said - you have an advantage - I can't skate - nor do I want to from the issues.

Leave it to Old Harry - he can tell you all about the failures of Danny Williams!

Equalization will have to change again - if Ottawa is going to appease Quebec. Unfortunately - it will all be too late for us.

So the feds and Quebec are set to make a deal on offshore oil - in the disputed area between Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. Old Harry as the area is nicknamed will see Quebec receive 100% of the royalties from any oil recovered.

Now the problem - Quebec - who argued that NL should not be exempt from equalization respecting oil revenues - non-renewable resource revenues - will now have to argue that they should be able to keep all the revenues without being penalized by Ottawa.

The Atlantic Accord which was supposed to insure that Newfoundland and Labrador was the primary beneficiary of offshore oil development - did not deliver on that promise. The weakness of the agreement - signed off by our politicians of the time - became evident as we witnessed Ottawa claw back close to 80% of the revenues under equalization. So for years the ranting went on - and finally the Williams administration caught Paul Martin on a weak political moment and righted the historical wrong. The Government of Canada passed over 2 billion which at least partially compensated our province by making us the primary beneficiary of the resource.

Then along came Harper - who promised equalization changes that would remove revenues from non-renewable resources from the formulary - allowing our children to benefit from resources that we were going to expire.

Harper lied - became the Prime Minister and then proceeded to put our province virtually right back to where we were before we made gains. That lie cost our province over 10 billion dollars. Danny started the ABC campaign - Conservatives were not elected in any riding and Fabian went to the Senate.

Problem is Danny was bluffing - there was no consequence to Harper - and then Danny quit. He had the political support but he chose to sit back and allow our province to be screwed - yet again - by Ottawa.

Now what do you think will happen to Quebec - do you believe they will let Ottawa claw back revenues from oil or gas under equalization? I for one am not that stupid. If Quebec ever recovers oil from this offshore parcel - equalization will be changed to accommodate that development. By then our resources will effectively be exhausted and the change will provide minimal to no return for us.

Today the feds and Quebec are set to sign a deal on the deposit ( potential 2 billion barrels of oil and 5,000 billion cubic feet natural gas) with environmental studies set to be complete by 2012.

Then there are the lagging questions - once again left hanging by Premier Williams - who owns the resource, which boundary is correct, if Newfoundland and Labrador opposes it what is the government going to do about it?

So Danny thinks he got one up on Quebec with the Emera deal. What a failure - and what a cost to our people.