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19 September 2007

An abundance of optimism

There's a great story in the Wednesday Telegram assessing the possible performance of the Hebron royalty arrangement compared to the generic regime.

Sometimes, though, one gets an uneasy feeling when the same people who scream "no more give-aways" step forward to say "trust me", but then don't release any details of the deal.

And it's not like the major deal that the "no more give-aways" crowd use as a goblin to frighten people wasn't greeted with an abundance of enthusiasm when it was announced in May 1969. [Aside: That's right, Bill Rowe. May 1969. When you were in cabinet.]

From the Telegram, May 30, 1969 in a story by John Carter:
Fears that Newfoundland came out on the short end of the stick in the agreement to develop Churchill Falls appear to be unfounded.

In fact, Newfoundland fares quite well, although it may appear otherwise on the surface.

...

The $950 million project in Labrador has been a long time coming. However, it probably would have come earlier had it not been for Premier J.R. Smallwood's uncontrolled outbursts of provincialism...
There are references to name calling, of Smallwood referring to keeping the project from the "clutches of Quebec" and things that sound eerily familiar.

Sadly, there is no electronic copy of the text, just these two scans.

Maybe the Telly will add them to their website.

-srbp-