When Premier Kathy Dunderdale spoke to a St. John’s Board of Trade last May, she claimed the federal government had tried to tie the federal loan guarantee on Muskrat Falls to the European free trade talks.
There’s no evidence that her claim is true, at least based on the selected documents Dunderdale released last week in the House of Assembly on the negotiations.
The documents actually show something else.
Earlier this year, mining giant Vale was saying they’d start production at the new Long Harbour smelter in 2013, but after a meeting with Premier Kathy Dunderdale in Brazil, the company won’t be ramping up until 2015.
That’s the news from VOCM on the weekend, although they didn’t report the actual news about the delay at Long Harbour. VO just reported that Dunderdale met with Vale officials and that the start-up date was 2015, as if it had always been two years away.
The premier says she went down a few days early to meet specifically with Vale officials to get an update on the Long Harbour development and the Voisey's Bay mine site.
She says Vale officials indicated that Long Harbour will start to ramp up in 2015, while they're looking to go underground at Voisey's Bay.
According to VOCM, the company officials are concerned about power supplies “in the area”. But the story isn’t clear if the power supply problems are in Labrador or at Long Harbour.
What your humble e-scribbler said:
this guy could be an accident waiting to happen.
Wait no longer.
After musing about breaking his major campaign promise to the people of his riding, noob Bloc NDP member of parliament Ryan Cleary decided to inject himself into another discussion on a subject he knows nothing about, namely international trade talks between Canada and the European Union.
The comments turn up on his blog, something he may well be forced by jack Layton to shut down very soon [hotlinks in the original]:
Why should Newfoundland and Labrador be concerned about the Harper government’s secret free-trade negotiations with the European Union?
Because they could screw us to the wall.
The same Europeans nations that fished out/raped the Grand Banks are negotiating a deal with the Government of Canada.
And no one reports to Parliament on the status of negotiations.
In other words, Canada is doing a back-room deal with a group of serial rapists.
How scary is that?
How scary indeed.
Well, it is pretty scary when a member of parliament cannot even report accurately and factually on things that are already well established. This is a guy, after all, who is expected to render thoughtful judgment on all sorts of issues ranging from the taxes you pay to the criminal law in Canada.
So if he doesn’t know basic stuff, then it is a pretty good bet his lack of information has a good chance of coming back to bite you and me on the ass.
The talks aren’t secret. The national media have been reporting it for years. So too did the local media in Newfoundland and Labrador all during the time the former investigative reporter was plying his trade. They even carried a story on it this past March, noting that the provincial government in Newfoundland and Labrador had joined the talks.
Evidently, they weren’t so secret after all.
Then there’s the issue of blaming Europeans for destroying fish stocks on the Grand Banks. That’s a line pushed by Cleary’s buddy Gus Etchegary. The only problem: it is a load of codswallop. The Europeans, Japanese and – you guessed it – Canadian companies including one Cleary’s buddy used to help manage all had a hand in driving cod to the brink of extinction.
As for reporting to parliament, the federal cabinet shows up in parliament every day the House of Commons sits. When Cleary is in his desk in the House, they are all the people to the left, right and immediately behind that fellow the Speaker keeps calling “the Right Honourable the Prime Minister.”
Each day, people around Cleary get to ask questions of those ministers. If they wanted, they could even ask about these talks because – as ministers of the Crown – they are directing the talks. If Cleary wanted, he could ask about them so they could report on the talks. They might not give him intimate details – negotiations are usually confidential – but they will confirm the talks are going on. In other words, they aren’t secret.
And if Cleary and his buddies have a problem, then they can raise their concerns in the House and in the media and maybe provoke some discussion about it.
So in six sentences, Cleary gets off to a rotten start and that’s before we consider the issues that are at stake for Newfoundland and Labrador if the talks fail.
Instead he has opted to shoot his mouth off based solely on an opinion derived entirely from – you guessed it – obvious ignorance.
In the greater scheme of things, the House of Commons has seen its fair share of these self-important blowhards over the decades. Usually, they tend to frequent provincial politics in these parts but every now and then one of the little darlings gets into a position where they can display their profound ignorance on a national scale.
Cleary will likely delight the punters. The tinfoil hat brigade will cheer him on as he rants about things he – and they – evidently know nothing about. So much for looking after the best interests of his constituents and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Bloc NDP may have a few days of embarrassment. But since Cleary has already confirmed your humble e-scribbler’s first prediction, we can go a step farther.
It is only a matter of time before the new Chief Spokesperson of the League of Professional Victims launches into a tirade on another of his favourite targets: the nefarious, perfidious and generally odious crowd from Quebec and their efforts to take control of Labrador and destroy Newfoundland.
Perhaps Cleary will tell his fellow Bloc NDP MPs what he told macleans.ca:
“I don’t think I have a big mouth. I just have something to say and I’m going to say it.”
Oh to be a fly on the caucus room wall after he flings that crap at every fan in sight.
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Newfoundland and Labrador exports more to the United States than any other foreign location. This is a point made in a 2005 post but more recent numbers tell just exactly how important a role the United States plays.
In 2008, total exports peaked at more than $10 billion. Two years later, exports to the United States have only recovered to slightly more than it was in 2005; that’s about $6.4 billion.
In 2010, the next largest export destination was Germany at $734 million, then China at $704 million. It’s a big slide to the fourth largest export destination – the Netherlands – and $120 million in exports in 2010. When you look at those figures, consider how foolhardy it was to ignore free trade negotiations with the European Union.
On the flip side, the largest import source for Newfoundland and Labrador remains Iraq at $1.8 billion. Next is Russia at $595 million followed by the United States at $324 million. The fourth largest import source is Venezuela.
If you are trying to figure out those import sources, think about the largest export destination. Think of oil and you are in the right neighbourhood. Iraq is the chief source of heavy sour crude for Come by Chance and on the flip side, all that refined product is destined for the Untied States.
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Sure, the Premier claimed the provincial government wasn’t participating in the trade talks with the European Union, but Geoff Meeker discovered that over the past 18 months the provincial government has been working with the talks team.
Provincial government officials have been attending regular meetings and they have a seat at the table alongside the other provinces.
Meeker rightly wonders what all the bluster was about earlier this year. Turns out that there may be even more of a dysfunction or disconnect within the provincial government than first appeared.
We might also wonder therefore why the Premier suddenly headed off to Europe last week claiming he was working on the trade talks.
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