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. 

The House of Dis-Assembly - Get your Act(s) Together

Okay now maybe I get it. If the House of Assembly were opened now - the questions would be primarily about closures, downsizing, rationalizing, outsourcing, and generally the disassembling of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

Seal Harvest
Fish Plants
Shipbuilding
Fabrication
Old Harry
New Energy
Old Stephen
New Stephen
Lost Jobs
Lost Communities
Lost Plants
Abandoned Proposals
Federal Cuts
Marine Atlantic
Paper Mills
Aging Population

If Danny were Premier now would he admit the Hip and Coolest Province in this Country today is Nova Scotia? He should - he has been a real part of their growth. Try and compare the headlines over the past year for Nova Scotia and then do the same for Newfoundland and Labrador.

No worries the House of Dis-Assembly has more important things to deal with - like perhaps how much money each side gets to generate no ideas, no questions, and from our government - how low can we go? The reality is - they each have a compliment of staff - plenty to do what is necessary to keep this government in check. Is it fair? No probably not - but get on with it - with the numbers you have there is no trouble challenging this government.

They should remember all the bloggers - most have other jobs - look at the questions they generate, the news stories they cause, the talk shows they fuel and all that for what? Okay Stephen (NL Blogroll) we need you to head up a committee on this. The government spends more time on the local Bloggers sites than searching through the policy papers, News Releases, or studies generated by the Opposition parties.

And finally this recommendation: your new bedtime story should be a Chapter of the Auditor General's Annual Report. Happy Reading.

You want the answer to - why Emera and why Nova Scotia? Today we find out why!

This is the day the millionaires have been waiting for.

This is the day that the shipbuilding contracts will be announced.

This is the day that was stolen from Marystown and our province.

This is what the Lower Churchill speculation was all about.

This is the day we will find out if the Irving shipyard in Nova Scotia is the winner.

This is the day we will watch Nova Scotia get 8500 jobs a year for 30 years.

This is the day that Emera finds out if Nova Scotia needs more power.

This is the day we find out how much the Williams and Dunderdale team will have cost us.

Marystown under Kiewit was part of the huge federal shipbuilding contracts - remember?

Then inexplicably Kiewit withdrew from the process right at the end - remember?

Then there was a delay in the awarding of the two lucrative projects - remember?

Just long enough to get us through an election in Newfoundland and Labrador - remember?

Well today fellow Newfoundlanders and Labradorians we may see the largest fiasco to ever hit our province. 

If Nova Scotia wins one of the two bids - they will employ over 8500 people for over 30 years and the housing and business boom in that province will begin. 

Where will the power come from? Labrador!

We will see today the worth of our politicians, Nalcor, and media. 

We will watch our children flood out - not to Fort Mac - but this time to Nova Scotia. 

If Nova Scotia wins today - we should all be on the streets for the greatest deception ever to be perpetrated on our people. 

You really want to know what the rush is to get power - cheaply to Nova Scotia? 

If Nova Scotia wins today - the Emera project must be stopped - and despite that we just completed an election - Dunderdale and her team should be shamed out of office. 

Dunderdale won't open the House of Assembly right? 

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!

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? 

Ship Building may take big hit - if ship owners get their way!!!

Wake-up Politicians - Canada may kill our ship building sector before we launch...

Our important but still relatively small ship building sector may be in for a major setback if Canadian ship owners get their way.

Canada is currently in free trade talks with some European Nations and South Korea - proposals on the table include the elimination of the 25% tariff places on foreign vessels sold into our market.

Canadian flagged ship-owners are claiming that Canadian shipyards can't deliver the vessels they need - and even with the 25% tariff the foreign built vessels are still cheaper.

First - Canada's ship building policy has not been the greatest and in Newfoundland and Labrador anything we do have - has failed miserably. We get very little in the way of federal contracts - in fact it's hard to keep our own work here. For Marystown and other potentials in the province would be severely if not irreparably harmed if this tariff was removed.

We are just now thinking ships - and being where we are - geographically - the right investments could make this sector boom in the future.

If the Tories scrap the tariff for Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein - we will not have the opportunity to start let alone survive.

The Canadian Shipowners Association is willing to let the 25% remain on refit on foreign turf but they want the building out.

I wonder - with so much future potential at stake - are we "all over this". The bigger more established yards in Canada may survive the hit - Newfoundland and Labrador will be blown out of the water before we even launch.

Although military contracts are not included in the proposal - all civilian work would be.