Doubling our population with the Tories and convenient Liberal policies regarding Labrador.

Doubling our population

$1000 and a chair in daycare ought to do it!!

If the Premier wants to double the population of this province he had better rethink his policies regarding Labrador resources.

If we doubled our population to a million - how would we energize the houses?
To double our population we would have to substantially increase industry and business - how would we energize that?
If this type of industrial development is going to occur - how are we attracting them - with our hydro-power?

There is no doubt Labrador could triple its population relatively quickly - just enact a law that hydro-power will not be exported and let industry know if they want to use that resource they have to come here to get it.

Williams might also be pleasantly surprised when he realizes that necessary infrastructure in Labrador would come quicker if industry moved in. Further the resources in Labrador - renewable power - is likely to keep industry here longer than non-renewables such as oil and gas.

After making a statement like that to the media - the media MUST ask him about his energy plan (pamphlet).

Convenient Liberal policy on Labrador Resources

Listening to Karen Oldford - Liberal candidate Labrador West - on Bill Rowe now - she has seen the light - we should use Labrador power to attract industry there. You don't say Karen - because the Liberal team for the past 15 years did not see it that way. Always good to jump on a "Sue's" bandwagon when the policy flies. Was not that long ago that your buddies were trying to privatize Newfoundland and Labrador hydro - then after the people stopped it - your buddies - ie. Danny Dumaresque seen the light. Remember too Karen that both Brian Tobin and Roger Grimes were looking at exporting power to Quebec.

Let me tell you what I've learned about Liberal Policy - they don't like to acknowledge where it came from - they love stealing it - after the work has been done to promote it - then they drag out a bunch of Johnny come Lately's to espouse it. Looks good on you. The same way medicare came to be - so goes the Liberals.

I remember Karen Oldford saying - when she chose the Liberals over the NDP in the bye-election - she looked at the Liberal policy before making a final decision. Hey Karen, what are you looking at now for Energy Policy? The Liberals would not do an energy plan - and never held public consultations for that purpose.

Whatever sells - whatever gets us elected is the order of the day.

I for one am sad to see the Labrador Party pull back - though I understand the purpose - the only thing the party supporters should do now is get a written commitment from the Liberals and the NDP as to what the energy policy will be regarding the Lower Churchill.

What is an opportunist??? Whose knocking on your door???

D'oh D'oh D'oh Jim Baker has to go....

There is an interesting topic being discussed re: the Labrador Party - Globe and Mail online - participate and read the comments....

Labrador West is not in good hands with Jim Baker. This PC MHA is toeing the "Danny" line to the peril of Labrador development.

What is this nonsense he speaks about - raising money on the bond markets without customers for Lower Churchill Power - and then excusing the energy plan (pamphlet) failing to provide clean hydro power to other regions in Labrador.

Jim - listen up - whether the customer is a couple of smelters in Labrador or Ontario - it does not matter. Here's the problem - when you ship the power out - even on recall - it is not coming back - industry will go where it is being shipped. Industry will pay a little more for it in Ontario because they will net that cost off the cost of developing supporting infrastructure in Labrador. Then Labrador is left with nothing but whatever revenues St. John's decides to give it for infrastructure they see fit. That's worked really well with the Upper Churchill right?

Here's the choice - make them come to Labrador and use it - and they will - or ship it to places like Ontario where it will be used by industry that will then never come to Labrador - recall or not.

If transmission does not go to other regions of Labrador now - it will not go there in the future as the economies will decrease as industry which could have been attracted to these areas will have already laid roots where the power is exported. Notwithstanding this if you can afford a line to the Island to take off 500 MW's of dirty power - Labrador should not tolerate being left off the grid.

Jim have a look at the line proposed to Newfoundland and see where it stops in Labrador - and you can't take it to the coast? Hogwash! Labrador will be permanently disadvantaged if this energy plan (pamphlet) goes forward.

Labrador West is a success story with industrial projects but there is much more to accomplish both in Lab West and the rest of Labrador. Do not let them export this most valuable resource to other Provinces or States which will use it to power their economies.

And Jim's last argument is the best - Labradorians and Newfoundlanders who oppose this export and lack of transmission in Labrador are just trying to pit one part of the province against the other. Jim - if this plan goes ahead - you will ensure there will never be a united Newfoundland and Labrador.

I wonder Jim - if Danny is so bent on maximising the dollar for the treasury instead of maximising industry in communities adjacent to the power - what will he do when negotiating an extension of the current power contracts for your already existing industry?

There is an interesting topic being discussed re: the Labrador Party - Globe and Mail online - participate and read the comments....

The smell of "Old Liberalism" cannot be masked by expensive perfume...

What is it with the Liberals? They describe themselves as left of center on their web-page (at least it did until they updated it today)- while going right of Williams and the Tories on energy policy.

The answer is Rex Gibbons - if the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador continue to follow the strategy of this man on energy - the Liberals will fail - politically.

Yesterday Gerry Reid was telling university students that equity in oil projects would not happen under a Liberal government. In defense of this position - Reid said that Alberta does not do it - so if that energy powerhouse does not do it - why should we?

Two answers to that Mr. Reid - and you would see them if Gibbons would stop advising for a little while.

1. Alberta owns it oil and gas resources. We do not. When Alberta develops it can say - you may develop this parcel if we receive this amount in royalties and we get a refinery or other petro-chemical industry in Alberta to process the resource. We are not allowed to refine our own oil until the refineries in Eastern Canada are fully satisfied. Do you understand this? Have you read the Atlantic Accord recently? Rex has - and Rex knows. Rex was the Minister of Energy - he made the deals on oil and he attempted to privatize Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. His policies failed and he has not been re-elected since.

2. Who cares if Alberta or other Canadian provinces do not take equity? I don't - I do not need Alberta to guide us on what we as our own jurisdiction should or should not do. We can have independent policy choices. Further - Reid should know that many other jurisdictions in the world do seek and achieve equity positions - such as Norsk Hydro.

Then there is the Liberal policy on wind development. Once again Rex (Clyde) rares his head and Gerry spews a suggestion regarding private wind generation.

Here is the situation Gerry - if Hydro guarantees to buy the output of such generation then you and me Gerry will pay for it via our electric bill. When that is paid - who do you prefer a portion be returned to - our provinces treasury or let's say the Government of Italy. This creeping in of private sector energy developments is back-door privatization of a resource we own outright. Further Gerry - you should ask Rex what happens when you have multiple players in the generation sector inputting into an electricity grid. You should ask him why Ontario had the big blackout when Quebec did not. You should ask him how we guarantee maintenance with a group of private generators and the cost of not having that control. You should ask him what happened with the joint use of utility poles - and what happens when one group maintains the poles a little more or less than another.

Until the Gerry Reid's "New Liberalism" stops depending on failed "Old Liberalism" policies - the party will continue to enjoy falling polls. It's time to let new thinking take over from Rex Gibbons - Clyde Wells - and past Minister Walter Noel. There is no perfume they can buy to make these policies smell good.



And as for Labrador energy policy - both the Liberals and the Conservatives fail - and they will get a sense of that as they crawl and slither around Labrador looking for a vote (the right to exploit Labrador to benefit the Avalon).

As I write this - back comes John Efford - dipping his toes in the political ocean - John - even if we can get past all the spending scandal and you were as pure as the driven snow in the administration of your constituency allowance - you are the one who told us to take or leave a lesser deal on equalization.

I close with this observation. If Williams does not win 3 of 4 seats in Labrador - he will not have a real mandate to develop the Lower Churchill under less than "best" terms for the Big Land. This is something I hope Labradorians will consider.

There's only one way to vote in Lab West

What an opportunity to demonstrate democracy in a real way. A vote for the Labrador Party does two things - one it tells all three parties that people are not satisfied with the spending scandal in the House of Assembly - including the passage of prohibitive legislation - barring the Auditor General (unless invited) as well as pay and allowance increases on a regular basis.

You see if the Telegram story - Behind Closed Doors - does not make you mad - very mad - these guys and gals will be encourages to continue the same pattern.

The second and more important reason to vote for the Labrador Party is the need for Newfoundlanders - more particularly in St. John's - to be educated on the importance of Labrador and the real value of that region. We need to hear about the lack of investment over the decades - and the cost of that negligence to all of us. Infrastructure that could have attracted major industry to Labrador - such as a proper highway and enhanced rail services.

The future is in Labrador and all of us need to understand what a great potential and opportunity that is.

Now is the time to send a real message for both democracy and for Labrador on behalf of us all.

I'm for the Labrador Party

As I listened to one employee of the iron ore company express reasoned support for Ron Barron of the Labrador Party in the upcoming by-election in Labrador West - I was genuinely jealous. In a positive way of course.

I would love to see Mr. Barron pull it out and become the first Labrador Party MHA - it would be a great victory for Labrador. A party not affiliated with any of the federal lot and not the typical Tory - Liberal townies or Islanders leading policy direction.

It would be a real plus for Labrador if they elected 4 LP MHA's in the next general election. It would turn the House of Assembly on its behind and force the legislature to consider the "big land" in everything it does.

If it is true that St. John's and environ will boom from oil - it is safe to say that Lab West will lead the way in tremendous economic growth over the next couple of decades for virtually every other resource. Labrador will become the hub of growth and it is only right that the region enjoy the benefits of resource development.

When I think of our future - I think of Labrador - and the sooner that is generally known the better. It will help to break down the barriers built by the political Island mentality toward this great place.

I can only imagine Question Period in the HOA where everybody gets to see the politically unfettered questions from Labrador. The logic of investing heavily in Labrador - from transportation infrastructure to secondary processing of resources - will become clear. That in turn will make the province much stronger - economically and culturally.

This time I hope Labrador wins.

Simms misses the point in Telegram article

NEW POLITICAL PARTIES MIGHT BE THE SOLUTION

Randy Simms began his preamble this morning talking about a story in the Telegram - Saturday. He described the story almost perfectly. Tuning Out - MUN prof worries about scandal impact on coming election - talks about the growing concern that October may see voters staying home instead of voting because of the HOA scandal and the way politicians are responding to it.

Randy went on to talk about what poli-sci professor Michael Temelini had to say about finding a solution. He pretty much read the piece paragraph by paragraph and asked callers to weigh in on what was said.

Only problem is Randy left out one very important sentence - and one which would generate response from the audience. Here it is from the Telegram

Temelini said if the province’s constituents are so incensed with the involvement of the existing political parties in the constituency overspending scandal, maybe they should look at establishing new parties.

The problem in Newfoundland and Labrador has been the absence of other political parties - ones without federal ties. The other issue is the failure of the NDP to make significant gains in the province regardless of the situation. They are crippled more when people like Leo Puddister (ex NAPE boss) says he would like to run for Danny and Ron Smith (paperworkers union in Grand Falls-Windsor) has announced he is seeking the Tory candidacy in that area.

In Newfoundland and Labrador the Liberals and the Tories are pretty much the same - with the big corporate donors from the resource sectors such as fish - forests - oil and gas - and mines with the balance coming from the bankers and construction giants - picking the next savior for one side or the other. When Danny's star fades a bit more there will be names popping up as the future leader - propped up by the corporate elite with subtle messages.

This election might tell if the Labrador Party has any legs - it came pretty close last time around against Lake Melville MHA John Hickey.

The people may be ready for another party now - but I for one would like to hear what more have to say on the matter. It is also time for public finding of elections where the party receives so much cash for every vote they get. This has allowed - on the federal scene - the Green Party to have some money to build and the ability to put out their message. In a democracy - knowledge is important - and the more groups we have distributing policy suggestions and vision - the better off we are.

With the apathy in the voting public - partially because the electorate does not want to support any of the parties - the suggestion the professor made might be a good one. The question is why Randy did not mention this important part of the story. Think about it - as a talk show host - that would bring comment - pro and con.