An obviously stressed natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale admitted to the House of Assembly yesterday that there were problems with the provincial government’s hasty seizure of assets belong to AbitibiBowater, Fortis and ENEL.
The paper mill itself – originally supposed to be left out of the deal – wound up being left in. As a result, taxpayers are stuck with a potentially major environmental liability.
CBC puts the Premier’s reaction to the shag-up this way:
Outside the legislature, Premier Danny Williams told reporters he's embarrassed by the turn of events, but he can live with them.
"It was something I wasn't happy with when it happened, but it was an innocent mistake that was made by an official in the department," Williams said. "As simple as that."
That’s bad enough, except adding the mill when you explicitly wanted to leave it out isn’t the only shag up in the whole confiscation.
According to a court decision in Quebec where Abitibi is working through a bankruptcy protection proceeding with its creditors, the Williams administration also forgot to pick up a few of the Abitibi assets in the province that should have been seized as well in the Chavez-esque sweep.
The Legal Genius(es) behind the whole fiasco left out the port facilities at Botwood and the former mill site in Stephenville.
Abitibi closed the mill at Stephenville closed in 2005 after a prolonged battle with the provincial government that included threats by the Premier to expropriate Abitibi’s assets:
"If there's an interested party that can have that mill up and running, we'd be interested in talking to them," Williams said Monday.
"If that requires expropriation, then that's something we'd certainly consider."
In the end no other buyers emerged and the mill closed despite the Premier’s 2003 election commitment that the mill would not shut down on his watch.
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