Fresh from its Michener awards showing, the Indy seems to be back where it should be this week with the first issue in a long while that had interesting stuff in it that no one else covered or covered in as much detail.
The story that caught my eye was one by a newbie so new that his name couldn't make into the online version of the story.
Quote - "“If we are able to do it on our own, then absolutely. I'’m sure the people of the province would like to have it as a totally owned, operated and built project by the province that'’s not an option that has been ruled out",” Williams tells The Independent. - end quote.
Ok.
That sounds nice, doesn't it? We get to own what is ours unlike that nasty Upper Churchill contract.
And how would we finance it?
Well, presumably the provincial government - read you and me - would combine our offshore money with some borrowing. The story openly discusses that diea coming straight from the Premier's lips.
Ok.
Well, that blows the $2.0 billion on a project that will take upwards of 15 years to build according to Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro chairman Dean MacDonald. He's Danny's buddy by the way.
It also would involve borrowing about $3.0 billion to make up the gap between the cash we have and what it would take to build the Lower Churchill on our own.
Now that is a curious suggestion for a Premier who last year said we were teetering on the verge of imminent collapse with our huge deficit and crushing debt.
Danny Williams has gone from deficit demon killer to debt's best friend.
Personally, I think this is an abysmal idea in every possible respect. I draw you back to my observation after the budget was released that the Williams' government seems to be planning on running up the debt to record levels - peaking at a time when the province can least afford to service it.
At the time, the economy will be out of its growth phase and the dependent population (the Baby Boomers) will be much bigger than the number of people earning an honest living. Growing bills. Shrinking income. Recipe for disaster.
I can hear the strains of an old campaign theme song that never was: "We're here for a good time//Not a long time//So have a good time//The sun won't shine everyday."
The Premier also said something else in the Indy I'd like to find out more about: new potential long-term customers. There are really only a few likely long-term customers. We'd never get cash from the banks on our own, by the way; Customers are the key to securing the loans needed to build the project. Who exactly are the new customers considering that the customers we could likely sell it to have all stepped up to express an interest?
Are these new customers real customers, or is this just Tobinesque hype?
Oh yes. Speaking of Tobin for the second time (guess which was the first?):
Anybody else notice Brian Tobin's recent appointment to the board of Aecon, a compnay that specializes in large construction projects? I'd lay money that Aecon is either one of the 10 bids that complied with the Lower Churcill expression of interest call (i.e. covering everything from generate to construction to sale)
or
it was one of the non-compliant bids that would normally get tossed in the bin, except that in this case they fuel Danny Williams' plan to cut a deal of his won and develop the Lower Churchill through Hydro
or
Aecon will be prepared to have the new director cut a deal with Tobin's old golfing buddy on said local option.
That last bit isn't in the Indy, by the way. The local politicos and the political junkies like me have all been thinking out loud since the silver job-surfer's picture showed up in the papers. Everyone of us came to the same conclusion so I thought I'd just put it out there for everyone else to share.