Dunderdale gives up fishery for loan guarantee on Muskrat?

In my opinion the Premier traded the fishery for a loan guarantee on Muskrat in November of 2012 - something she said she would not do.

The media - did a fine job talking about Dunderdale's fine negotiating skills. Really?

Where's the journalism now?

Now it's a win for Newfoundland and Labrador - when in November of 2012 it was extortion?

Kathy Dunderdale quote from NTV news story in May 2013:

The premier and the prime minister signed the terms for the loan guarantee in Happy Valley-Goose Bay on Nov. 30, but the deal almost fell apart the night before. Dunderdale says at the last minute Harper demanded concessions in the fishery to get the loan guarantee. He wanted the province to give up minimum processing requirements at local fish plants as part of a free trade deal with the European Union, known as CETA.
“The prime minister wanted a quid pro quo for the loan guarantee, and you know what I told him to do with the loan guarantee: no quid pro quos,” Dunderdale said. “You (Harper) promised it to the people of the province, you said that the only requirement was that it have a sound business plan.
“Well, we’ve produced it, you give us the loan guarantee, and don’t talk to me about the fishery at the 11th hour.”
Dunderdale says Ottawa continued to push for the concession until the Victoria Day long weekend when International Trade Minister Ed Fast came to the province. Again, she said no, making it clear there would be no trade-off between Muskrat Falls and the fishery.
“There is no linkage between those two things,” she told reporters after her speech. “That has been a point we’ve been making since November. The loan guarantee stands on its own.”

The caveat was:  But the fishery issue isn’t quite off the table yet. Dunderdale said she would consider giving up the minimum processing requirements if the public and industry want that, and if the province gets something in return, such as better access to the European market or an early retirement program. But for now, her position is to keep the rules as they are.

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What Ottawa was looking to have tariffs lifted for the fishery it would be in return for lifting minimum processing requirements. In my opinion Dunderdale was trying to make herself look tough - saying that there would be no quid pro quo and the loan guarantee stood on its own. The more likely truth is that Harper won the day in November and gave the Premier time to make it palatable. Time to get the message and spin right - and time to get people on side who could back her position. The EU was not expecting a lift on processing without a lift on tariffs - give me a break. I choose to use my mind - not to have it spun like a web.

In my opinion - the fishery did get traded for the muskrat loan guarantee - and the Premier did nothing to make sure that the "public" wanted in - she just bagged McCurdey and the seafood processors. 

Dunderdale is - in my opinion - either a participant or pawn.

The question the media should get an answer to now - was the EU expecting to have minimum processing requirements lifted without also agreeing to lifting tariffs? My belief and logic says no. This was a straight exchange. Dunderdale needed more time to get the necessary people on side.

What irony that Sullivan's man in Dunderdale's Cabinet just got put into the Department of Fisheries.

Timing is everything...