Premier Prepared to Punish People of Marystown?

Watching Kathy Dunderdale threaten Kiewit on the news the other night would be laughable if not so terribly serious.

The Premier suggested that she or "we" would not be held hostage to a company - and if the company did not back off - she would shop the contract outside the province.

If she punishes Kiewit and builds a ferry or ferries outside the province - who does she think will hurt?

How much did Kiewit pay for the shipyard?

Yes how much indeed - that was after Friede Goldman Newfoundland filed for bankruptcy protection after themselves buying the yard for a buck from the province.

This government seems hell-bent on punishing our people or at other times local companies.

Where was this punitive position when Kiewit dropped our chance at 20 billion in work from the feds?

As I recall the government particularly the Premier and Minister for Business thought it was wonderful as that meant Kiewit was so busy with work in the province that they could not entertain billions of dollars in federal work.

The Premier now seems determined to get rid of that problem and maybe move that work offshore.

From the Hansard April 12th 2011 

MR. DALLEY: Mr. Speaker, the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy has been ongoing for a number of years. Our government and my department have been fully engaged with Peter Kiewit Sons through a series of meetings, discussions, and very open communication. We were advised late last week that Peter Kiewit Sons has decided to withdraw from the process.


They have cited publicly that their reason for withdrawing is the fact that they have too much work. They are not in a position right now to focus on the bid. As a result of securing some recent contracts and as a result of opportunities that are coming up in the Province, Peter Kiewit Sons feel they want to focus on that work, focus on hiring Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and, Mr. Speaker, we are very pleased with the decision. 
PREMIER DUNDERDALE: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was a young woman growing up in Burin when Marystown Shipyard was constructed. I understand the importance of that facility to all of the people on the Burin Peninsula.

Mr. Speaker, is it not a wonderful thing that Kiewit can walk away from a thirty-five year contract bidding because they are so overwhelmed with work? There is so much going on right here in this Province that they do not have the capacity to take on more work.

What happened to all that love I wonder? Now it's a threat and she may very well remove the work from Marystown.

We are being ripped apart rural community by rural community, industry by industry, resource by resource. 

NS 4 - NL 0 Please Premier Dunderdale may I ask a question now?

If this was the score of a hockey game - many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians would be disappointed. Unfortunately this is not a game or a short-term result - this is Nova Scotia politicians and corporate leaders giving us a severe trouncing on public policy and long-term vision.

Tourism

Well Marine Atlantic has crucified us again by increasing the cost for our Trans Canada Highway across the gulf - effective in February.

Over 2 million visitors in Nova Scotia in 2010.

1/2 million visitors to Newfoundland and Labrador 2010.

Ship Building

Nova Scotia 25 billion dollars Federal Contract 12,000 jobs - for over 25 years

Newfoundland and Labrador (Marystown) 0 dollars Federal Contract 0 jobs

Energy

Muskrat Falls

Nova Scotia gets all the cheap power long-term industrial and energy jobs

Newfoundland and Labrador pays for it and also sees its rates go up as much as 100% short-term construction jobs

Fishery: on the way to the Maritimes - watch

We have no reason to feel cheated right?

I would like to ask Premier Dunderdale - when is it appropriate for us to ask questions or criticize?

Kathy and Peter - will we say SOLD THE SHOP?

Penashue is not only a failure he is a disgrace. I knew that he might be favourable to some decent advances for aboriginal peoples - he did not however have to sell off the rest of us to achieve that.

Between Dunderdale and Penashue our province may suffer the worst treatment by the federal government since confederation.

Both of these individuals appear extremely arrogant, ignorant, and less than patriotic. Both seem self-indulgent and full of self-importance at the expense of the people they were elected to serve.

As an MP representing Labrador there is no doubt Penashue should deliver for the people of the Big Land but as a member of the Federal Cabinet he is expected to protect the province's best interests.

As the MHA for Virginia Waters Dunderdale has committed to represent the people of that district - as the Premier she is charged with protecting this province and her people from the Canadian wolf.

The two of them together are overseeing the theft of natural resources, the reduction of services, and generally the diminishing of our province by the feds.

1. Muskrat Falls for everybody else by paid for by us.

2. The shipbuilding contract to Nova Scotia - in line with the giveaway of our power to them.

3. The loss of the marine communications sub-centre.

4. Loss of Fisheries money for science.

5. Loss of public service jobs.

6. ACOA reduction.

and as you know the list goes on.

This at a time when Quebec is compensated for upset by HST funds and more seats in the House of Commons. This at a time when Ontario is rewarded with more and more seats while our voice diminishes even more.

What a complete and utter failure these people are and it has and will continue to hurt this province.

They make a mockery of public service and democracy.

All this under the Johnny come lately media. 

Not much sense to complain about Ross Reid and Len Simms now - Sue's Blog pointed this cavalier patronage out DURING the election.The media have yet to deal with Len Simms not being removed from the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing website after he resigned and throughout the campaign.

We don't stand a chance.

Ross Wiseman sent out to Ease the Pain - in yet another attempt to COVER-UP

Well who knew? Ross says everything is A-Okay in Newfoundland and Labrador. Hard to know how long he was on the air - after I spoke of the shipbuilding fiasco. 

Amazing to what lengths a fellow Newfoundlander and Labradorian will go to cover-up ineptness and the loss of our resources to benefit another province. 

I can assure you they have no pride and do not give a damn about what happens here. 

If either of the shipbuilding contracts goes to Nova Scotia the Emera deal must be stopped.

If either of the shipbuilding contracts goes to Nova Scotia our politicians should be fired out. 

We will actually have to take to the streets or allow a few millionaires to rob us blind. 

The purpose of Wiseman's call was to talk to us about how good we have it. Just because we lost two paper mills and lost the fishery - and we are about to giveaway Muskrat Falls - we should all be happy. 

Just because we will be fuelling the Nova Scotia economy instead of our own - we should all be happy. What about Old Harry or the Romaine River?

We continue to be the only place that loses population and loses most of our youth to other provinces. 

Ross Wiseman - bury your head in shame. History will do it if you won't.

Ross Wiseman your job is not to spin to protect your party and yourself - your job is to advance our province for our people.

Garbage and Pride - A measure of Dunderdale's success!

How many of you notice the garbage everywhere - in ditches, on the streets, in the woods, stuck to fences, hanging off trees, and flying in the air?

First of all - most of this garbage is from adults - not from kids. Tossing stuff out of the car window and commercial vehicles driving along the outer-ring road spewing unprotected waste - on the way to the dump. Then there are retail parking lots - or just outside their borders - the mounds of waste; branded as applicable. I'm starting to wonder if they consider tens of thousands of Tim Horton's cups decorating our landscape as good advertising?

I'm wondering if there is a way to keep the Colonels boxes penned in - the chickens are far more controlled than the litter is.

Then my favorite, washing machines dumped in the woods just outside of the city boundaries, car wrecks here and there, bits of metal, remains of transport truck tires providing a slalom course on the Trans Canada highway.

More disgusting than all of this are children being tasked to pick up the garbage as a volunteer effort.

So what makes adults toss their waste all over the place; anywhere other than the dump or garbage container? What makes adults desire to live, drive, walk, and run amidst the flying debris?

The answer is a lack of pride. There is no pride left. It has been stripped from our population by lazy, incompetent, disinterested, or ignorant elected representatives.

When you sit in your own garbage - you must feel there is no hope.

Whole communities lost - families moved away - youth leaving everyday - industries dismantled and closed.

Husbands or wives leaving for months on end to other provinces for temporary work. Elderly parents left without family, children without regular presence of one parent or another.

So the leaders that are looking once again for your vote - are asking it - without having performed.

Make no mistake - if success can be measured by companies being interested in stripping us of our resources - without commitment to processing - or secondary industrial development - Newfoundland and Labrador is king. We are at the top of the heap. That was and remains our problem.

Let me give you a sample of good news in our province.

1. We have lost the Abitibi mill in Grand Falls-Windsor - and apparently that's a good thing. We can diversify and expropriate assets and sue people.

2. We have lost the Abitibi mill in Stephenville - and apparently this also is marvelous - to be complimented with the continued downgrading of the Stephenville Airport and Port.

3. Our groundfish stock has not recovered - in twenty years - but this too is an opportunity to do aquaculture.

4. We are going to haul the oil up out of the banks at record levels - this is great because we can spend like drunken sailors during an election. Those valuable non-renewable resources are best taken now - so that our children and grandchildren will not have to worry about their development and use. They could not possibly be smarter than the crew we have elected now - right?

5. We are going to develop the Lower Churchill - oops we mean Muskrat Falls - and in this way we can lower costs to Nova Scotians and green Canada up. We will have the privilege of paying double for this wonderful development - that will ensure Hydro Quebec's success and the inevitable failure of Nalcor. The good news is - somebody is waiting in the wings to buy it from us. Privatize it!

6. The loss of shipbuilding is great - maybe this will open new opportunities for those assets. Perhaps we can be a subsidiary of Irving. Kiewit and Sons -poof - gone. While we are at it oops there goes another fishplant. That's okay - now we can "rationalize" the sector.

7. Last but not least - with loss of population or at best no growth - loss of industry after industry - our power needs are going to go up. Yes sir - we had better get that Muskrat working to protect us from relying on Holyrood. Oh yes Tom Marshall has us heavily relying on that facility. No odds - the fact that the statement is untrue does not matter. What matters is that Tom - thinks he is doing a great thing by imagining we are growing. 


So what have we learned?

Have we learned to do more secondary processing of our fish? NO!

Have we learned to do more secondary processing of our oil? NO!

Have we learned to do more secondary processing of our hydro? NO!

These inept - self-serving or weak politicians are bankrupting us resource by resource. With that - so goes pride - and with that we will agree to sit in our own garbage.

Now VOCM, Kathy Dunderdale, and Ed Martin want it all to go to Nova Scotia?

     

 For the link on what VOCM supports CLICK HERE

This is posted on top of the VOCM website today. I want to express that VOCM owned by NewCap is proudly supporting the bid by Irving for the multi-billion dollar federal contract for shipbuilding.

This is the same contract that Peter Kiewit and Sons pulled out of leaving Marystown without any hope of getting this work.

Please go the site that VOCM is supporting and read about the hopes and dreams of those in NS and NB in getting the work and being able to build a house and start a family in these provinces.

What is to become of Marystown and our people?

I have selected a few quotes below from the Nova Scotian website. For the full story CLICK HERE.

Workers hope ship comes in

Every week, Ryan Prendergast puts $10 into his lottery pool at the Halifax Shipyard. But these days, the 23-year-old sheet metal worker dreams of another big financial prize, one that could come from the federal government. “It means a secure job, a secure future. You can start a family, buy a house,” the Glace Bay native says of Ottawa’s $35-billion shipbuilding procurement plan.


Married and with a baby on the way in November, he has almost finished his apprenticeship after 3½ years at the yard. “It’s definitely important to a lot of people — younger people, anyway,” the Cape Bretoner says during a break in a lunchroom. Such a long-term contract would also benefit older workers, many of whom are set to retire in the next five years or so, Prendergast says.

About 700 tradespeople are working at the yard, 250 of them apprentices. In all, the Halifax Shipyard has roughly 1,000 people at its waterfront complex.

A single mother, Morris is anxious to land long-term work. Because she has a three-year-old daughter, she’d prefer not to leave the province to find it. With so much riding on the contract, it’s usually the topic of conversation in the lunchroom, Morris says.

“I could see us hiring another 1,000 workers over the period of the contract, at its peak,” says Risser, whose father, brother and an uncle work at the shipyard. “You could see us hit levels that we’ve never seen before.”


About half the yard’s hands are between the ages of 19 and 35 and would benefit the most from having 30 years of contracts waiting, Risser says.

Having read above - how do you feel about your future. While we are at it - how about Ed Martin, Kathy Dunderdale, and VOCM all get together and pump the Lower Churchill project with Emera. That way we can send our industry, power, and people to that province. 

Well done!

Dunderdale does not support the Rally - Triple D instead of Triple P

As a follow-up to my post earlier - I add the following after listening to Kathy Dunderdale on the local CBC Radio newscast.

1. The Premier does not think we should upset Harper right now.

2. The Premier talks to people who know people who know Harper.

3. The Premier is at Harper's beck and call as she waits for a phone-call from the PM.

4. The Premier does not think its nice to throw rocks. (at least not at Harper)

5. The Premier does not think the time is right to yell at Harper.

In other words - the Premier does not support the rally and once again as with the federal election - Dunderdale stands apart from the people and province she has sworn to represent. 

Question to Premier Dunderdale - what are you willing to give up to get a loan guarantee for a project which is inferior, harmful, and otherwise ruinous to our future?

While we are at it - do you think you can be "all over" the Marystown file? Due Diligence Dunderdale! Triple D instead of Triple P. Try not to trip-le over any more files please.

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?

Here comes the truth on the ship building contract! What was the excuse again Premier?

Please read the story below from Metro News in Halifax.

I have highlighted the areas of importance.

One thing is for sure - something stinks or somebody is incompetent. Madame Premier - which is it?

Hurry up Premier Dunderdale - if Quebec gets the contract - we will have to giveaway Muskrat to Nova Scotia to help them through the loss. If Irving gets it - MacKay did a great job. Poor old Kiewit - see if you can find them some engineers then go for an extension.

Just last week, all three parties in the Nova Scotia legislature were aligning themselves behind Irving Shipbuilding’s bid to obtain a lucrative national shipbuilding contract.

Yesterday, in another rare display of crossing party lines, the governing NDP and the third-place Progressive Conservatives teamed up to attack the federal Liberal’s position on the issue.

The parties were reacting to news reports that quoted Denis Coderre, a high-profile Liberal MP from Quebec, as saying a Liberal government would extend a key deadline to allow the Davie Shipyard to compete for the $35-billion, 30-year contract.

“In power, the Liberal Party will issue a directive, so that Quebec can also apply for this important contract,” Corderre told Le Journal de Levis.

PC MLA Chuck Porter said the federal Liberal position would threaten Irving’s chances.

“(Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff’s) plan is one that could push the Halifax Shipyard out of contention contract,” said Porter.

Premier Darrell Dexter agreed with Porter, saying he was “very shocked” to read Coderre’s comments.

“I have asked my staff, on my instruction, to draft a letter to the leader of the federal Liberal Party expressing our disappointment in his comments,” said Dexter.

“If this was to be in fact the position of the federal government, it runs the risk of stunting the growth of Atlantic Canada.”

No project is too challenging or unique, too big or small says Peter Kiewit & Sons

Something is wrong with this picture and most certainly the advertising. Peter Kiewit and Sons

So the Premier is delighted that Kiewit has withdrawn from a 30 year multi-billion dollar deal for Marystown and Newfoundland and Labrador. She is thrilled that Kiewit is too busy to bother with this.

Please read the statements from Kiewit's own website and ask yourself - does something seem a little off with this. The media of this province and the Opposition parties need to really dig this out.

Is there another deal made here? Does it have anything to do with the Lower Churchill? Is it to appease Quebec or Peter MacKay? Did the province not provide enough support? What does the Premier know?

One thing is for certain Newfoundland and Labrador and her people got taken again.

Just doing a cursory review of Kiewit history tells one that something just is not right.
No project is too challenging or unique, too big or small...

We've completed projects from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf of Mexico. The highway, the tunnel, the dam, the airport, the energy plant and the high–rise—no matter how complex the project...

We're consistently ranked as one of the top 10 contractors by Engineering News-Record...

Kiewit has one of the highest percentages of graduate and registered engineers in the industry, and our senior operations managers have been with us an average of 25 years...

Our projects include highways, bridges, mass transit, mine site development and open pit operations, hydroelectric powerhouses, wind-power plants, dams and industrial...

oh yes and then work with Hydro-Quebec
    
...largest and most challenging projects, such as the LA-1 and LG-1 powerhouses in James Bay...

...Our unique network of decentralized offices, backed by a multi-billion dollar organization, allows us to tackle projects of any size, in any market...

What's up Premier? Will the media do the digging and ask the questions?