No matter how hard he tries, someone keeps putting out information that undermines Taylor's arguments that the Persona deal is a good investment of public money and had nothing to do whatsoever with helping out political friends.
Even Trevor can't keep out of the contradictions act...
Like, f'rinstance, last week in the House, on 22 November, Taylor said that one third of the cost of the national network connection for Memorial University to participate in a research computer network - one third of the cost for that - had gone into the line between St. John's and Halifax.
Memorial University is the Newfoundland hub for a series of projects, like CANARIE that ships data around among researchers, albeit not along the public Internet per se.
But notice that comment: one third the cost.
Flip ahead to this week and in the course of debate, Taylor said the cost of CANARIE (paid for by the federal government apparently) at MUN was something around $400,000 annually. Public Internet costs were about the same.
Ok.
The budget for CANARIE's CA*Net4 service for 2006 is $22 million. Now even an old artsman like your humble e-scribbler can tell that $400,000 is not 33% of $22 million.
Maybe Taylor misspoke in the heat of debate.
Maybe we misunderstood him.
Maybe, his comments are - to be exact - wrong.
Like the Premier's claim, backed by his ministers, that this Persona deal will put Memorial University on the research map.
Apparently it isn't connected to any computers now, not even the Internet, if you listen to the Premier.
But of course it is.
With a connection that shunts data at 1 gigabit per second.
That little tidbit is important if you recall one of the Premier's justifications for the Persona deal was the need for people at the university and elsewhere to ship data in one second, versus 16 minutes via dial-up.
Premier Danny Williams, Hansard, 21 November 2006:
The previous speeds that can be talked to, you would have to look at about sixteen minutes for a conversation to take place on a dial-up modem. On high-speed, it can take place in one second. So, I would say a word on a dial-up and I wait sixteen and two-third minutes for an answer from the research analyst who is on the other end. When you put this in place, we can talk simultaneously....The Premier - or should we say Gunny MisInformation Highway - is either freeze-dried or been doin' hard time.
Ain't been no dial-up round the university for centuries, man.
Oh yeah. and that's not the only time where Trev said one thing and Gunny Highway said another.
What will the savings be for Memorial on its public Internet service? Taylor pegged the annual costs right now - using 2800 baud modems Danny? - at $400,000.
According to Taylor last week in the House, the savings would be 15% annually.
According to Danny Williams last week in the House the savings would be 50% per year.
That's a pretty big discrepancy. And it isn't a Hansard transcription error. They double check these pesky detail-type thingies.
It gets even worse when you realise that the Premier's number is based solely on a verbal comment by someone from Persona, duly documented as such by EWA-Canada in its hasty assessment of the Persona deal.
That 50% comment and the entire $400 million benefit Premier Dan has claimed will flow from this deal has never been subjected to any independent scrutiny. The original estimate - and the Premier's massive benefits number - were pulled from the same bodily orifice.
The credibility canary laying dead at government's feet should stop us from mining this little deal before it goes any farther.
