Air ambulance controversy - curious ATIP redaction may hold clue to full story

A briefing note prepared for the province’s health minister in early September 2009 may contain important clues to when a decision was taken to move an air ambulance aircraft from St. Anthony to Goose Bay.

In a section headed “Medical Flight Specialists”, the briefing note points to the problem of putting specially trained medical crews on aircraft outside St. John’s.  That’s the only place a medical flight specialist team exists since the provincial health department created the program in August 2007.  Before 2007, local medical staff accompanied patients being transported to another hospital inside or outside the province by medical evacuation aircraft.

As part of the relocation of one aircraft to goose Bay, the provincial government will train a new medical flight specialist team.  In the meantime, any staff needed for a medical evacuation from Goose Bay would have to originate in St. John’s or travel to St. John’s first and then return to goose Bay.  That’s exactly the problem identified in the September 4, 2009 briefing note regardless of where outside St. John’s the health department based an aircraft.

Note that the final four bullets in that section are deleted.  Three are deleted under a discretionary section of the province’s access to information law  about to advice to a cabinet minister or government body. There’s no indication what that information might be.

But a fourth bullet is deleted because it relates to “plans that relate to the management of personnel of or the administration of a public body and that have not yet been implemented or made public…”.  The province’s access to information allows the head of a department the discretion whether or note to censor that information.  In this case, the department head decided to censor the information.

These deletions are important since they relate to a dispute over when the provincial government decided to move the air ambulance. Both provincial Tories and the Grit opposition have tied the move  - directly or indirectly  - to last fall’s by-election in the district formerly represented by provincial Tory cabinet minister Trevor Taylor.

Taylor resigned unexpectedly last fall.  The provincial Liberals won the by-election held in October. Health care was a major issue in the by-election. In a letter to a local newspaper in the district in May, Taylor tied the by-election to the ambulance relocation.

While the Premier and health minister have denied the connection they have also hinted strongly that further protests by people in Taylor’s former district might lead to other cuts.

Paul Oram, the province’s health minister in September 2009, resigned suddenly in early October, citing ill health.

-srbp-

Enviro minister of denial

Charlene Johnson, by some accounts the province’s environment minister, answering a question in the House of Assembly about a potential oil spill in Placentia Bay where tankers travel daily to a refinery and an oil storage facility:

Mr. Speaker, there is one thing that she has right, and that is that we have the jurisdiction in the Department of Environment and Conservation should the oil, in the unlikely event, that should the oil reach land then it does come under the Department of Environment and Conservation, Mr. Speaker. [Emphasis added]

And there’s no way she’d ever expropriate a polluted paper mill either.

Who ya trying to impress, Charlene?

‘Cause if it’s no one you are doing a fine job.

-srbp-

Working mills versus a catastrophe

As part of its restructuring efforts, AbitibiBowater just announced the company has offloaded four mills and some other wood products plants to another company.

The new owners are excited about using the mill and the timber to make things and employ people.

Just imagine people in central Newfoundland working in the woods industry with a new company that had bought assets from AbitibiBowater.

Perish the thought.

Just imagine the mess there‘d have been if the provincial government hadn’t swooped in and seized all the stuff AbitibiBowater was ready to sell to another company just so they could create jobs with them.

Chaos, for sure.

Thank God the Old Man was brilliant enough to opt for catastrophe instead.

There are gulfs and then there are #oilspill gulfs

labradore explains in graphic detail the gulf between the Old Man’s bland assurances that such things could never happen here and what an oil spill of BP magnitude in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (centred theoretically on Old Harry or a field near it) might look like.

The Premier focused his attention on current production wells which are a couple of hundred miles offshore.

But there is another offshore that isn’t quite so far away.

Bear in mind this isn’t based on an analysis of currents and so forth.  it’s just what you get if you lay a map of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico in another oil rich Gulf.

What opens, as a result, is not so much a gulf but ye olde chasm of credibility that swallows the Premier’s assurances whole.

-srbp-

Harper and Williams and message control: the second parts

The second part of Canadian Press’ expose.

And for good measure, the second part of the 2006 BP series on the local version of the same idea.

-srbp-

Harper and Williams share love of total message control

Steve has Message Event Proposals.

Danny just controls everything.

The first in a series by Canadian Press (h/t @stphnmaher) and a three-parter (here’s the first one) from your humble e-scribbler, circa 2006.

-srbp-

Weekly Top Traffic Drivers: May 31 – June 4

1. Lower Churchill decision up in the air, indefinitely
2. The World the Old Man Lives In
3. Lower Churchill cost estimates skyrocket
4. Lower Churchill costs: now up to $14 billion and counting
5. Rumpole and the Phantom Judges
6. Like we told you:  “Lower Churchill decision…”
7. May Stat Porn
8. How not to do social media
9. The pictures tell another oil spill story
10. Physician heal thyself:  Dunderdale edition

-srbp-

Famous Comments by Telegram editors

1892:  ‘I’m certainly not buying any argument the city will burn to the ground.”

1894:  ‘I’m certainly not buying any argument that the country is bankrupt.”

January 1934:  “I’m certainly not buying any argument that the country is bankrupt.”

1969:  “I am certainly not buying any argument that this is a bad deal with Hydro-Quebec.”

1988:  “I am certainly not buying any argument that this cucumber factory will be a big waste of money.”

2009:  “I’m certainly not buying any argument that government spending is unsustainable.”

2010:  “I am certainly not buying any argument that the Premier should tell us he is having heart surgery.”

2010:  “I’m certainly not buying an argument that the provincial government expropriated the mill, even by mistake.”

2010:  “I’m certainly not buying any argument that NL simply botched its case.”

Plus ca change, as they say.

The tradition continues (read the comments section).

-srbp-

Oil’s down, budget pucker factor up …again

When you project an average price of oil at US$83 and forecast a billion dollar budget shortfall on that basis, having oil at US$71-ish must make the old sphincter twitch a notch tighter than it used to be.

Heaven only knows what other economic news does.

Kinda makes all that effort spent on poll goosing seem…well…a tad bit…silly.

-srbp-

Physician heal thyself: Dunderdale version

Natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale displaying her now-usual level of unjustified arrogance:

I advise the Leader of the Opposition to pipe down now and learn a few things. Hold your tongue and open up your ears and learn something so you can stop making a fool of yourself.

She was trying to explain something she clearly didn’t understand, namely open access tariffs for jurisdictions that sell electricity into the United States.

One thing Kath didn’t notice was a crucial part of the provincial government’s argument in front of the Quebec energy regulator. You see, the provincial government’s energy corporation argued that Hydro-Quebec Transmission didn’t follow the rules. 

And that was the sum total of their argument.

They said it.

As the Regie reported and as NALCOR’s lawyers dutifully translated the French:

[386]…NLH did not call any experts to testify on these technical questions or to contradict witness Deguire.

That’s right.  They did not present a single piece of evidence to support their claim or to refute HQT's witnesses.

Now you have to bear in mind that NALCOR’s argument on this was that HQT had failed to do a complete assessment of the five routes along which they theoretically wanted to ship power and five loads they wanted to ship using a direct current intertie as required by the open access transmission rules.  [paragraph 376]

At the last minute, just as NALCOR’s time to option a route was about to expire, they accused HQT of not doing a complete review because direct current intertie was just a NALCOR preference. [paragraph 379] HQT demonstrated pretty easily with documents signed by NALCOR officials that DC was more than just a preference and that it also made a huge amount of technical sense.

[388] NLH did not any tender [tender any?] technical evidence to contradict witness Deguire. In reply, it restricted itself to arguing that it was not required to submit evidence to establish that
the impact study was incomplete and that it sufficed to refer to the wording of section 19.3 of the OATT for a finding that the study did not contain the essential elements required by that regulatory provision.

Just saying it was supposedly good enough such that no evidence was required.

And what about when HQT was able to show that NALCOR’s argument on some points – like say the issue of DC intertie  - was more than a preference?  Well, that apparently really doesn’t require much comment either.  The foolishness of it is readily apparent.

At this point, sensible people are likely wondering not only why NALCOR was pursuing all this but who allowed the lawyers to make such a weak-assed presentation.

Well, that would be either the folks at NALCOR or folks like Kath and the Old Man or both.

Maybe the next time Kathy gets some idea about keeping mouth shut and learning something, she might want to take her own advice.

Quite frankly, that display of breathtaking incompetence in the Regie hearings has succeeded only in making the people of this province out to be complete idiots, not just mere fools.

And she’s ultimately responsible for it.

-srbp- 

The pictures tell another #oilspill story

Natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale, as quoted in a recent Telegram editorial:

Mr. Speaker, in terms of an oil spill offshore, the greatest vulnerability will exist to the bird population.   Mr. Speaker, based on 40 to 50 years of wind study, it is shown that oil, because of the wave action and the coldness of the sea, Mr. Speaker, breaks up and disperses. ... Mr. Speaker, we had an oil spill in 2004 on the Terra Nova. Mr. Speaker, that oil dispersed, broke up, and went away. Ocean floor studies have been done, Mr. Speaker, there is no evidence of oil from that oil spill on the floor around our Terra Nova project.

From the same editorial, a quote attributed to a Chevron report on drilling in the Orphan Basin:

The report notes a spill could cause 'relatively few' to a 'very large' number of seabird deaths. But overall, it concludes a spill 'will not result in any significant residual impacts' on animals.

And when you’ve digested that, take a look at some pictures from the Gulf of Mexico.

-srbp-

Very lucky indeed

The Old Man Hisself, in the House of Assembly this week, speaking of the $14.7 billion Lower Churchill project, arguably one of the most expensive hydro megaprojects on the drawing boards of North America today:

…from an economic perspective we are in a situation where we have enough information to really sit down and talk with any industrial developer at any point in time.

Yes, NALCOR is ready to talk about building this project any time at all, just as they have before now.

And just for comparison sake, from last fall, energy analyst Tom Adams has a different take:

Just as natural gas from the Mackenzie delta is now recognized as uneconomic in light of foreseeable market conditions, the factors that have driven down power prices in Northeastern North America make the economics of Lower Churchill development unviable for the foreseeable future. Newfoundlanders are lucky that Nalcor, their Crown energy company, is not out in the market the trying to sell high cost power right now. [Emphasis added.]

Yes, the people of this province are lucky indeed to have people looking after the Lower Churchill who’d be smart enough not to try and flog a project estimated at upwards of $15 billion in a depressed energy market.

-srbp-

Enviro minister trades with the enemy

Sometimes it’s hard to know which is funnier:  environment minister Charlene Johnson’s repeated attempts to be arrogant and condescending even when she is completely shagging up or her admission that her answer to the mounds of used tires in the province collected under a recycling program is exactly the same answer used by her Liberal predecessor.

I can get the exact details for him on the cost for shipping to Quebec. Certainly, under their failed attempts in the past that is where the tires went as well, so I imagine it would be somewhere in line when you had to ship them to Quebec as well. Mr. Speaker, shipping tires to Quebec is certainly, we know, the cheapest option for the tires.

Yes, folks, the tires are being shipped to Quebec.

Charlene Johnson is trading with the enemy.

-srbp-

Williams party support drops nine points

Support for the Danny Williams Conservative party dropped nine points in three months according to the latest poll results from the provincial government’s pollster.

Corporate Research Associate’s quarterly poll showed that 58% of respondents indicated they would vote for the provincial Conservatives party if an election were held tomorrow.  That’s down from 67% in February.

The numbers are likely grossly inaccurate even with the correction presented here. The orange line shows the actual percentage of eligible voters who voted Progressive Conservative in the last provincial general election in October 2007. The blue line is CRA’s number, adjusted to remove their artificial inflation of Tory support.

The provincial government’s pollster doesn’t report the numbers this way, though.  CRA routinely inflates Tory support by as much as 28% by only reporting the percentage of decided voters.

These corrected figures also don’t account for the provincial government’s deliberate efforts to skew CRA’s polling numbers. As Bond Papers noted in late 2006, the Williams administration times its communications activities to correspond with their own pollster’s polling periods. probably one of the most significant examples of this would be the Premier’s disingenuous “have province’ announcement during the November sweeps month.

Local news media also routinely report CRA polls inaccurately by accepting at face value the CRA news releases.

Even allowing for problems with CRA’s polling, and for the government’s organized poll goosing efforts, that’s the largest quarterly drop CRA has reported for the Williams Tories since early 2005.

-srbp-

Lower Churchill costs: now up to $14 billion and counting

According to Premier Danny Williams, the Lower Churchill project – which he estimates at a cost of up to $12 billion -  is “ the lowest cost , the cheapest hydroelectric project in all of North America.”  Dead link to CBC story June 1, 2010 quoting Williams]

That’s more than a bit of a stretch, even for the Old Man and his legendary love of absurd comments bordering on the ridiculous.

A simple comparison of costs based on information in the public domain demonstrates that the Premier’s claims in this case are once again nothing short of ridiculous.

For example, a 1998 cost estimate of the project elements to develop both Lower Churchill dam sites and the transmission infeeds (one to Quebec and the other to Soldier’s Pond, just west of St. John’s) put the cost at $10.5 billion.

Now we can add to that the costs of getting the power across to Nova Scotia, for example and then down into the United States.

According to the Chronicle-Herald, a study done for the Nova Scotia government put the cost of connecting from Newfoundland to Cape Breton between $800 million and $1.2 billion.  Hooking to the US would add another $2.0 billion to $3.0 billion to that.

The only thing we’d be missing at that point is a connection from Deer Lake to Port aux Basques or where ever the line would go to connect with Nova Scotia.

Even at that, we’d be looking at between $2.8 billion to $4.2 billion on top of the $10.5 billion to use the so-called Atlantic route.

That puts the grand total at between $13.3 billion and $14.7 billion.

Not bad for a project that the current administration touted in 2005 as costing about $3.3 billion.
But since Danny Williams said it is the lowest cost hydro-project in North America we can be pretty much assured he was talking through his hat.

Maybe he was talking in relative terms, like say as a measure of how much it would cost to get the power up and out to market for every megawatt produced;  it’s called, not surprisingly, a cost per megawatt calculation.

Well, the Lower Churchill’s 2800 megawatt project would come out as follows.  For good measure, there’s a comparison with the La Romaine project in Quebec which is already under way.

Cost	Cost per megawatt	Notes
$10.5 billion	$3.75 million	1998 projected cost, includes connection Quebec and Newfoundland only (currently under enviro assessment)
$12.0 billion	$4.285 million	2010 Williams upper-end estimate of project costs, link to Newfoundland and Quebec only. [Update]
$13.3 billion	$4.75 million	Low-end estimate to connect to NS and US
$14.7 billion	$5.25 million	High-end estimate to connect to NS and US
$6.5 billion	$4.195348 million	Hydro-Quebec’s La Romaine, 1550 MW

British Columbia’s Site C dam will deliver 900 megawatts for an estimated $6.0 billion so that will more expensive on a cost per megawatt basis.  That’s over $6.6 million per megawatt.  Another power project in Ontario will add 440 megawatts of power to an existing hydro structure for a cost of $2.0 billion or $4.5 million per megawatt.

By comparison, wind power projects run about $3.5 million per installed megawatt, according to a wind industry website.

-srbp-

North Amethyst pumps first oil

A few things to note about the news that the White Rose extension field – called North Amethyst – pumped its first oil this week;

1. It took only four years to go from discovery to production. reducing the time from discovery to production is huge for the future of the offshore industry.
2. Tiebacks.  Expect to see more of them as Terra Nova dries out, for example.  Floating platforms are the most cost-effective way to exploit the numerous small fields that have already been discovered offshore. The gang at Terra Nova and eventually at White Rose can just float their hulls around, hook up to underwater pipes and pump the crude cheaply, efficiently and in a way that should be as environmentally sound as oil production can be.
3. An established royalty regime is a key part of promoting development.  That’s what worked for this deal and helped speed up development. Thankfully, while the 2007 energy plan called for a complete overall of the royalty regime, the generic regime is still in place.  Given the rate the current crowd do things, we wouldn’t see a royalty regime to replace the current one for decades.  As it is, the existing, pre-2003 royalty regimes – not the Old Man’s tweaks – are producing the lion’s share of offshore cash these days.

-srbp-

How not to do social media

Kudos to the City of St. John’s for adopting a great way to build strong effective relationships with citizens.

"It's important that we communicate with people in ways that they want to be communicated to, and it's about getting the message out to the broadest range of people that we can," Coun. Danny Breen told Monday evening's council meeting.

Spot on, Danny!

But unless the City has its claims already staked to the most common or likely variations on the City’s identity at both Twitter and Facebook, the smartarse brigade will be there ahead of them.

That’s why you wait to unveil your strategy rather than say we are going to be doing this in a while.

AFAIK, @cityoflegends is available as of this moment.

-srbp-

May Stat Porn

From May 1 to May 31:

• 13,508 visits.
• 19,427 page views.

Top 10 pages:

1. The World the Old Man Lives In
2. Lower Churchill:  Imaginary project.  Imaginary News Stories.
3. How our system doesn’t work
4. So long.  It’s been good to know you.
5. Reach for the Screech.
6. Tail-gunner Bob:  equality is not a “realistic philosophy”
7. 2001 Moonbus from Moebius in April
8. Potato, potato:  hydro version
9. AbitibiBowater files reorg plan
10. Court docket now online

By far and away, the most popular specific page in the past month has been the chart of the paranoid world described by the Premier’s statements about Quebec.

The other stories represent a mixed bag ranging from a discussion of our weakened political system in the province to a post about the Provincial Court docket.  Speaking of older posts, the docket one continues to be a popular item for search terms hits.  Ditto the 1/55th scale moonbus model from Moebius.  It’s been a sought-after item since 1969 when the old Aurora issued it for a single season.

-srbp-

Like we told you: Lower Churchill decision up in the air indefinitely

The nugget of news buried in a front page story in Saturday’s Telegram [not online] turns out to be dead on: there is no timeline to sanction the Lower Churchill.

 Bond Papers reported it on Sunday and in the House of Assembly Premier Danny Williams said the same thing. CBC has the story complete with comments from the scrum after Question Period.

That’s a gigantic change from just a few years ago when the pledge was to sanction the project by 2009, start construction in 2010 and then get it pushing power by 2015.

Williams has been pushing back the timelines on the project since 2007 but Monday marks the first time he has tossed the calendar out the window.

None of this will come as a surprise to BP readers.  The problems with the project, including the lack of markets, are old news around here.

In that context, it’s a bit funny to hear Williams complaining about paying for transmission through Quebec.  That’s something your humble e-scribbler noted as long ago as 2007:

The go-it-alone option now being pursued by Williams means that Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro may now have to eat the costs of grid upgrades in Quebec and will certainly bear the cost of the underwater cabling to use the Maritime route. The cheapest estimate for the Maritime route would add an additional $1.5 to $2.0 billion to the project cost.

No word on what all this means for Williams’ personal political future, something he’s linked repeatedly to his continued life in politics.

If the Lower Churchill is off -  indefinitely – then by his own assessment, there’s really nothing holding Williams in politics. 

-srbp-

Lower Churchill cost estimates skyrocket

Touted in 2004/05 at under $4 billion, Premier Danny Williams referred to the Lower Churchill in the House of Assembly on Monday as a “a $6 billion to $12 billion project.”

Williams insisted though in other comments in the legislature that from “a perspective of the cost, I can tell you that this particular project is the lowest cost, the cheapest hydro-electric project in all of North America.”

In another response he repeated the claim:

Mr. Speaker, I just said it before and I will say it again. This is the lowest cost hydro-electric project in all of North America. That is equivalent to – could deal head on with La Romaine or any other projects that come on stream from Quebec.

That’s an odd statement since Hydro-Quebec’s La Romaine project, announced is 2009, is estimated to cost $6.5 billion.  The Lower Churchill has not yet been sanctioned and the provincial government’s energy company is still picking its way through cost estimates and route analyses.

The original expressions of interest package for the Lower Churchill - released by the provincial government in 2005  - is no longer available online from either the provincial government or its energy company but the government’s estimated cost  - $3.3 billion - is contained in a report compiled by TD Economics at the time.

The provincial government cancelled the expressions of interest process in 2006, preferring to “go-it-alone”.  With the cancellation of the EOI process, the provincial government effectively rejected a joint proposal from Hydro-Quebec and Ontario Hydro to develop the project in co-operation with the province.  That proposal included upgrades to transmission capability to Ontario which would have been borne by the Ontario and  Quebec partners.

Once Williams rejected the proposal Hydro-Quebec turned to Plan B.  That involved development of about 4,000 megawatts of wind energy within Quebec and another 4,000 megawatts of hydro power from new projects all within Quebec.

The go-it-alone option also didn’t turn out that way even after Williams rejected the proposal.  As natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale revealed last September, Danny Williams and others spent five years in secret talks trying to lure Hydro-Quebec into a deal on the Lower Churchill.  In the process Williams abandoned his previous commitment that he wouldn’t cut a deal with Hydro-Quebec on the Lower Churchill unless it involved redress for the 1969 deal that led to the development of Churchill Falls.

-srbp-

Rumpole and the Phantom Judges

Don Singleton never sat as a Provincial Court judge, not even for a single day.

But he has an e-mail address and an entry in the provincial government’s electronic telephone directory.

 

Absolutely astonishing, isn’t it?

James Igloliorte, the retired judge who sat on the Blame Canada commission almost a decade ago has an e-mail address and a telephone number.

Ring the number and you will get a telephone at the Child and Youth Advocate’s Office.

But wait:  it gets better.

David Peddle, a justice of the supreme court since December 2008, still has an entry on the provincial government’s directory giving an e-mail, telephone and facsimile address. 

His number gets you to his replacement, Mike Madden.

And if that all wasn’t bad enough, there are even a couple of judges listed in the directory who passed away within the past decade.  Your humble e-scribbler has screen caps of the entries for posterity but since there problem here is with the people maintaining the directory, there’s no need to reveal the names of the deceased individuals.

Given that the department responsible for the telephone directory just overhauled the whole site, it seems odd they didn’t manage to delete names of people who are retired or dead or both.

But what’s more, given all the controversy that surrounded Don Singleton’s appointment, plus the fact he resigned the appointment before he ever got to the job, how did the guy ever get a government e-mail address and a listing in the directory in the first place?

Not surprising of course.  After all, if you can expropriate a mill by mistake…

-srbp-

Lower Churchill decision up in the air, indefinitely

The provincial government’s energy plan  - released in 2007 - committed to a sanction decision by 2009 and first power by 2015 but in an interview with the Telegram published in the Saturday edition, premier Danny Williams said he has no idea when he might be in a position to decide on whether the project goes or not.

Asked for a firm timeline on when the provincial government will decide how to move forward with the project, Williams said:

I can’t give you that.  That’s a question that I ask as well with NALCOR and we’re not there yet.

The Telegram story follows up on comments in Friday’s Telegraph-Journal by new Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham that the cost of Lower Churchill power is a factor in whether or not his provincial energy company will buy from the Lower Churchill .

The Telegram quotes New Brunswick energy minister Jack Keir:

My view would be: show us your business case.  Show us what it would be to get here and when that’s going to be…

It could be 10 years, it could be 15 years.  And maybe 16 cents at that point is a great number.  Who knows?

That’s the first time anyone has given any hint of the sort of prices NALCOR may have floated in talks with any potential power customer.  Williams told the Telegram that NALCOR has had preliminary talks with New Brunswick.

That’s also the first time that anyone has publicly acknowledged what many know privately, namely that the Lower Churchill is at least a decade or more away from construction and may well be held up even longer.

So much for juice by 2015.

Williams also confirmed to the Telegram that NALCOR isn’t ready to talk seriously about an energy sale from the Lower Churchill with any potential customers.

We can only sell that power when we’ve got it – when we’ve built the generation and built the transmission.

He admitted, for the first time, that the province’s energy company is still working on project cost estimates.  Power purchase agreements are crucial to securing enough financing for the $10 billion energy megaproject.

This information also confirms why NALCOR balked at making a firm commitment to run power through Quebec for the Lower Churchill.  If there is no project, then there’s no reason to commit provincial cash to building  billions of dollars in transmission lines or buying up space on the Quebec grid.

-srbp-

Fact Check: CBC and political party leadership

In the House is not a home, former opposition leader Erik Neilson pointed out that the news media had a habit of calling him the interim leader. 

That is, of course, completely wrong:  Neilson was the opposition leader in the Commons, full stop.

Now cbc.ca/nl has pulled a similar gaffe:  “The [provincial Liberal] party hasn't had a full-time leader since the last provincial election in 2007.”

The Liberal Party has had a full-time leader since 2007.  The leader’s name is Yvonne Jones.

-srbp-

Principal beneficiary

Newfoundland and Labrador’s royalty take from the offshore in 2009 (entirely based on 1985 Atlantic Accord and deals negotiated pre-2003): $1,826.3 million

Federal government take from Hibernia 8.5% share:  $107 million. 

That’s not bad for a bunch that supposedly couldn’t negotiate deals.

-srbp-

Every nickel counts

Officially, the Old Man noticed the thousands of people affected by the nine-month old strike at Vale Inco.

So he calls his buddy the Premier of Ontario.

Danny of NewfoundlandLabrador and Dalton of Ontario are concerned.

"I am extremely concerned with the impact these strikes are having on the women and men employed by Vale Inco and their families during these frustrating labour disputes," said Premier Williams. "Both strikes have gone on far too long, and the impacts are truly devastating and can be felt throughout the communities involved. It is time for both parties to reach a fair deal for those involved so that the hard-working employees can finally return to work and resume their lives.

And that’s true.  It’s been tough.

A month ago, Kathy Dunderdale was in charge of the file.

Now the Old man Hisself has it.

Things must be bad.  Not just for thousands but for millions.

The Vale Inco strike continues to be a major kick in the financial ghoolies for the provincial government. And at a time when oil prices are heading down instead of the hoped-for up, every nickel counts.

Mining royalties for 2010 are already forecast to be half what they were in 2009 and about 20% of what the provincial government raked in during 2008. Dropping to $60 million from over $300 million in a couple of years isn’t financially pretty.

So while no one should doubt the Premiers’ sincerity and their concern for the families of the striking workers, not to mention all those who depend on the companies for business, the provincial governments have a pretty wicked financial stake in this one as well.

Maybe Danny will expropriate Vale Inco’s holdings in the province if they don’t comply with his demand to end the strike immediately.

According to him, it worked before.

-srbp-

Are you smarter than a cheese grater?

You have to wonder sometimes how the province’s natural resources minister might fare if she had to go up against a crowd of fifth graders in the popular television game show.

Wednesday people were agog at her blinding ignorance about when the provincial government negotiated major offshore oil deals that delivered all the cash she and her colleagues have been spending the past seven years.

On Thursday, she pulled not one, not two, but three enormous gaffes at the same time in an exchange during Question Period:

Mr. Speaker, let me say it is very difficult to have a discussion with the Leader of the Opposition about responsibility for the environment when she demonstrated in the House earlier the week she does not even understand what level of government environmental responsibility for the offshore comes under. She was attributing to the Minister of Environment and Conservation, who has no responsibility beyond the high water mark.

It is really disturbing, Mr. Speaker, when it comes from a former Minister of Fisheries for the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador who should have understood that her responsibility did not go any further than that either as far as the offshore was concerned. [Emphasis added]

1.  The federal jurisdiction adjacent to coastal provinces is the low water mark, not the high water mark on the shore. 

2.  Of all the provincial governments in Canada bordering water only one has a jurisdiction which goes beyond the low water mark.  Hint:  It’s Newfoundland and Labrador.

Under the Terms of Union, and as affirmed by Supreme Court decisions on the offshore, the boundary of Newfoundland and Labrador extends out to sea a distance of three miles, the territorial sea recognised by international law in April 1949.

3.  Now that doesn’t mean the provincial fisheries minister can suddenly regulate cod stocks inside three miles.  The reason is that fisheries regulation is a federal responsibility.

But – and here’s where Dunderdale made her third gigantic shag-up – the conservation and environment minister can exercise her responsibilities out to three miles. Johnson can and certainly should take an interest in a variety of environmental issues related to offshore oil operations.  After all, the provincial government manages the offshore jointly with the federal government through the appropriately named Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.

The federal government may have the law-making power for the offshore but under the 1985 Atlantic Accord  - that is, the real Atlantic Accord - it has a right and responsibility to exercise co-management on behalf of the people of the province. Johnson and her officials can work with their colleagues on matters of local concern.  It isn’t just up to the feds, as Dunderdale seemed to be saying on Tuesday.

It is no surprise that the current administration lacks a fundamental understanding of the powers and responsibilities it does have under the land-mark 1985.  They demonstrated that ignorance before in the argument over unilateral changes to  Equalization offsets under the 1985 Accord. So profound is the ignorance of the current crowd on these subjects, by the way,  that no less a person than Witch-Hunt Willie Marshall  - he of the sooper sekrit investigations squad - made an oblique and derogatory remark during recent events marking the 25th anniversary of the Accord signing about his successors not understanding the powers they have.

Now to be fair, the average fifth grader anywhere in Canada isn’t likely to know these things about the local offshore oil business.

But then again, the person hand-picked by the Premier’s to sub for him when he is under anaesthesia is supposed to know these things. We’d imagine that the person the Old Man felt is the best one to tackle what is arguably the second most important portfolio in the provincial cabinet after health care, would display a much greater level of knowledge about the fundamentals of so important an issue as the offshore than Dunderdale has shown.

Dunderdale is surrounded by an army of bureaucrats and lawyers all of whom are supposed to know these things and who are obliged to keep her briefed.  Either they aren’t doing their job or Dunderdale just isn’t up to hers. 

Given her track record, from the Joan Cleary fiasco in 2006 through the Abitibi fiasco to this latest bundle, odds are good is isn’t the bureaucrats who are a wee bit slack in doing their jobs.

Nope.

It’s the Old Man’s choice who is slack in the jaw.

Of course, by extension, you’d have to wonder about the Old Man’s judgement on this and other similar choices.

But that’s another story.

-srbp-

May 28 - fixed typos "grater' and fare", deleted a wayward period and added another one that went missing.

Williams to address Canadian Club in Ottawa

June 9 at the Chateau Laurier.

Topic: The Province We Are; The Province We Aspire To Be

Mel Gibson Update:  The World the Old Man Lives In is about to get weirder than usual.

One of the sponsors of the Premier’s luncheon speech in Ottawa will be none other than Ogilvy Renault.  Now for those who may have missed this little detail, OR is one of the law firms who’ve been helping the evil conspiracy – in this case fronted by AbitibiBowater – to thwart the aspirations of no less a personage than the Old Man Hisself.

Arguably, Ogilvy Renault is itself part of the gigantic, possibly global conspiracy centred in Quebec.

Now this should all make things very interesting if the Old Man’s speech includes his recently offered opinions about “Quebec lovers”. 

Incidentally, Ottawa news media may get hand-out copies of the speech.  But if they don’t, copies are available under the province’s Access to Information laws for a not so-nominal nominal fee.

According to a recent decision by the Premier’s Office, backed by the access commissioner, copies of speeches delivered publicly must be first read and redacted – you cannot make this stuff up -  with all the applicable charges for editing and deleting sections from speeches which were delivered in public.

One recent requestor found himself on the receiving end of an initial estimate of $10,000 for copies of the Premier’s public speeches since 2003.  Williams even bitched about the request during a scrum. And no, they aren’t available for free download from the government website.

Such is the World the Old Man Lives In.

-srbp-

The Search for Meaning Challenge

In this case, the challenge is to find any place in either the official French or unofficial English versions of a recent decision by the Quebec energy regulator that says that NALCOR can’t wheel electricity through Quebec.

Anywhere.

Either language.

Or words that say the Regie turned down an application to wheel power through Quebec.

Bonus points if the person presenting the information works for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation which persists in claiming that’s what the decision says.

-srbp-

Make Shit Update (May 28):  CBC adds to the list of its unfounded claims with this one:

Nalcor, Newfoundland and Labrador's Crown-owned energy corporation, has been developing the $6.5-billion Lower Churchill project in central Labrador, but does not yet have a route to bring the energy to market.

There, in fact, two major routes.  The first is overland through Quebec.  it still exists, hasn’t been wiped off the map by anyone.  The second is the technically feasible but financially problematic route down through Newfoundland into Nova Scotia.

Within Quebec, there are at least five specific overland routes to five specific targets.  They are neatly listed in the Regie decision in both the English and French versions.

The problem for NALCOR isn’t a lack of routes to markets.

It’s a lack of markets.

So long. It’s been good to know you.

If Danny was sticking around, Steve likely wouldn’t be leaving.

When long-serving staffers take a hike from a political office it usually means others will follow, including the Old Man Hisself.

And when junior staffers get promoted to senior jobs, it’s the sign of an office not keen on renewal or reinvigoration.  Today’s announcement from the 8th floor screams of a crowd just killing time until the movers arrive.

-srbp-

There’s crap. There’s bullshit…

And then there’s natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale:

Mr. Speaker, when the members opposite sat over here they certainly had no expertise in developing deals, negotiating contracts, as we saw on a number of occasions in the fourteen years of their mandate.

Of course not, Kathy.

After all, Hibernia, Terra Nova and White Rose didn’t happen in those 14 years.

And they didn’t produce every single nickel of the billions that have raised the public treasury to unprecedented heights since 2003.

No.

And it’s not like those original deals not negotiated by Dunderdale’s boss will produce the bulk of the money she claims will come from Hisself’s efforts:

…three major oil deals that we have negotiated with a value to this Province over the life of those projects, Mr. Speaker, of $35 billion.

Let’s not even remind Kathy that the figure $35 billion is pure fabrication.

All Dunderdale did today in the legislature was confirm her profound, undeniable, astounding ignorance.

There’s no other word for it.

 

-srbp-

Don’t mention the war

It could be an episode of Fawlty Towers.

Then again mentioning Germans and industrial development in Newfoundland and Labrador is more likely to conjure up images of the numerous colossal failures of the Valdmanis/Smallwood industrialization program from the 1950s.

The Germans are coming to central Newfoundland.

As natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale told the House of Assembly on Tuesday:

I am happy to say that we have had an Expression of Interest from Germany last week, principals in, looking at what we have to offer in Central Newfoundland. We are very hopeful about that prospect, Mr. Speaker.

Well, maybe.

Outside the House, though, Dunderdale was somewhat less enthusiastic.  As the Telegram reported:

Outside the House, Dunderdale told reporters the company was a reputable pulp and paper company.

But she cautioned people in the province — especially those in central Newfoundland — not to get their hopes up.

Dunderdale said even though the company has seen the former mill and gotten some information about operating a pulp and paper operation in this province, it’s too early to tell if the company will submit a proposal to set up shop in the province.

That’s pretty much the state of things in central Newfoundland these days where the provincial government keeps insisting its expropriation of Abitibi assets was not a disaster yet has a hard time proving otherwise.

There are Germans coming but no one should count on them.

Such a bizarre concept:  perfidious Germans.

It’s like the shifting definition of “assets”.  In December 2008, the assets were the hydroelectric generating stations and the transmission lines.  The rights to the land and the timber leases all reverted back to the provincial government anyway once Abitibi stopped making paper.

Fast forward two years and the assets now include all the land.  As Danny Williams put it on Tuesday:

By way of example, and this is a very simple example, the land that we recovered, the land alone that we recovered for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador - forget the water rights, forget the timber rights - is three times the size of Prince Edward Island.

Of course, as Williams knows, the water rights and the timber rights  - as well as the mineral rights he didn’t mention – are what make the lands themselves valuable.  Their size is irrelevant.  The fact he is now citing them as assets to offset liabilities for environmental damages is likely to turn up being used by Abitibi’s smart lawyers to further demolish whatever defence Williams and his apparently not-quite-so-swift lawyers try to fend off Abitibi’s claims against the provincial government over the expropriation.

This danger – that his words will colour the legal action -  is something Williams is acutely aware of, of course, since just before he identified the land as an asset he cautioned New Democrat leader Lorraine Michael that “anything that I may say in answer to that question would only help the Abitibi case in the NAFTA dispute.”

So he carried on and gave them something just as juicy to use against him. 

This is the essence of this entire matter:  a hasty decision followed by bungling, then excuses and then unsubstantiated claims.  Laced through it all is the lecturing and condescension from the premier and his ministers.  none of that really comes off, of course, since the entire gaggle of them have shown they have a very tenuous grasp on most of the facts of these matters themselves.

Here one need look no farther than the hydroelectric assets which people have been led to believe have some means of generating cash for the provincial government or, more particularly, its energy company. 

Turns out that, as Dunderdale told a legislature budget committee recently, there isn’t enough demand on the island to warrant generating power from these hydro sites.  Meanwhile, on the island east of Sunnyside (on the Isthmus of Avalon), there is demand.  Unfortunately, the existing transmission lines are at capacity.  NALCOR has no plans to add more transmission capacity unless the Lower Churchill goes ahead.  As a result, the central Newfoundland hydro assets won;t be shunting power to Long harbour and the Vale Inco smelter. That is going to be powered by, among other things, the Holyrood thermal generating plant and its oil-fired generators.

So much for closing Holyrood as a public policy goal.

So much too for fears the hydro assets would benefit the whole province rather than keeping them tied to central Newfoundland.  Some people thought that the cash from the hydro power would be a nice nest egg for economic development. They were concerned about the benefits flowing outside the region.

Once upon a time, back before the rest of us learned of the mill expropriation fiasco, the provincial government refused to tie the hydro assets to local economic development funding in central Newfoundland. As industry minister Shawn Skinner put it:

“However, as with any investment, the collective impact on the province as a whole must be measured as these resources are provincially owned."

Well, now that everyone knows there really isn’t any use for the hydro facilities – and hence they have no revenue-generating ability at the moment – the provincial government is going back to its old line that the hydro assets will be used to lure potential new industries to the region.  As Dunderdale said in the House on Tuesday:

Mr. Speaker, we are not writing off Central Newfoundland. We may not have an industrial customer at the moment looking for that power, but that day will come, Mr. Speaker. When that day does come, we will have the assets to do something with, to drive economic development in that part of the Province, Mr. Speaker, once again.

Assets are not assets. 

Non-assets are, in fact, assets.

There are Germans, unnamed but apparently respectable, but they can’t be counted on to deliver the goods.

And we predicted everything but couldn’t predict disaster, which of course it isn’t because the current situation is the one we foresaw after examining all the potential outcomes, but we didn’t really foresee it at all. The whole thing is unfolding as we knew it would but in completely unpredicted ways. 

Just imagine the mess if we hadn’t done what we’d done to produce the mess in the first place.

And for God’s sake, don’t mention the war.

In next week’s episode, more hilarity ensues.

-srbp-

Hail poetry, that heav’n-born pain

Christopher Lockett writes:

…all language is rhetorical. All language is designed to convince us of something. In moving from political oratory to poetry, I hoped to illustrate how that "something" is not necessarily specific, and can in fact possess a multiplicity of meanings—and [in?] that very multiplicity resides an exercise in reimagining the world.

That is the value, and necessity, of poetry to the contemporary moment: poetry is the antithesis of propaganda. The same can of course be said of literature more broadly, but poetry is the most overt expression of this principle….

How superbly put.

After all, what is life without a touch of poetry in it?

-srbp-

That’s gotta hurt, too: oil prices edition

The provincial government’s 2010 budget – due to pass the House of Assembly by next Monday – is based, in part, on crude oil average about US$83 a barrel for the entire year.

Just to make sure everyone is keeping a sharp eye on the unsustainable Tory financial ball, the budget forecasts a cash deficit of about $1.0 billion. That would eat up just about all the surplus cash on hand.  As a result, the net debt, which was hidden from prying eyes by all the surplus cash would spring back into full view in all its $10 to $12 billion splendour.

And if the following year’s budget needed some propping up, the provincial government would be back in the markets looking for some bank will to see the public debt balloon even larger.

But oil is trading this past week down in the neighbourhood of US$70 an the dollar is still pretty close to par.  Production is slightly below last year’s so there doesn’t seem to be much hope extra production would generate extra cash.

Oil is now the major source of provincial government income by quite a margin.  It’s about twice the amount the government gets from federal transfers which  - when piled together is the next biggest source of income at about $1.2 billion.  Oil royalties, forecast at $2.1 billion is about two and a half what personal income tax, the next largest provincial government’s own revenue source, brings in.

There are a couple of things to take away from all this.

First of all, when Danny Williams talks about putting the province’s finances in order such that there is less dependence on Ottawa, he’s pretty much jerking everyone in the province around. 

Nothing – and let’s say that again for good measure – n-o-t-h-i-n-g, not a single, solitary, flipping thing Danny Williams and his cabinet have done in provincial government spending since 2003 has put the provincial government on a secure financial footing.  To the contrary, they have put the provincial government in an incredibly precarious financial position even compared to when they took office.

The facts on this speak eloquently for themselves in both the fragility of the economy and unsustainable level of public spending. When he announced in early March that balanced budgets were no longer a target for his administration he pretty much confirmed that none of his claims about sound fiscal management were close to being accurate.

Second of all, bear in mind if oil stays at current prices, the cash deficit is more likely than not going to be about $1.0 billion and we are yet again staring at the prospect of one of the largest if not the largest cash deficits in provincial history.

Put all the faith you want in people who forecast triple digit oil prices as the way of the future.   Oil is not going to be the saviour of this province if its government keeps spending the way it has been spending.

It’s that simple.

So as all things out there go sour for the current administration, as it faces the prospect of hundreds of millions of dollars in costs from the Abitibi expropriation fiasco, as investment interest in the province dries up, the parlous dependence of the provincial budget on oil prices just adds to the pressure.

Imagine what things will be like a year and a bit from now when voters troop to the polls.

-srbp-

The Week’s Toppers: May 17-21

For those who missed them, here are the top 10 individual posts at Bond Papers for the past five days:

1. The World the Old Man Lives In (with larger picture) 
2. Reach for the Screech
3. Tail-gunner Bob:  equality is not a “realistic philosophy”
4. Protocols of the Elders of Laurentia
5. Cartoon U (might not be what you think it’s about, mainlanders)
6. Buchans Saga Deepens:  Johnson claims credit for Abitibi Work
7. All we want is fairity
8. The Old Man defines The Solution
9. Tie:  Resting on his laurels and hardys and Lower Churchill:  Imaginary Project. Imaginary news Stories.

Some of these were one day wonders.  Kevin O’Brien’s masterpiece of political hara kiri took  the idea of “fairity” to number one with a guffaw but that was just on the day it appeared.

Ditto Charlene Johnson and her nonsense about Buchans.

The Lower Churchill post – tied for number nine – is one that is still drawing hits a week or so after it first appeared.

This week, the Premier and his wing man managed to score a series of multi-day hits.  The Premier’s contemptible effort to scapegoat the people of an entire province and his despicable use of language in the process scored multiple hits over multiple days.

By far and away the biggest was the chart in “The World the Old Man Lives In”.  Sometimes things just line up right:  there was no way of knowing that was the day he would chose for his appalling display.  But it fit and it resonated with readers like very little else ever has.

Here’s the way your humble e-scribbler put it in a comment on one of the posts:

When political leaders attempt to smear entire groups of people based on their ethnicity or language, to use them as scapegoats then we are headed for a very dangerous place.

We have already seen too much of this sort of extremist language - "traitor" and "quisling" for example - over the past few years. Over the past couple of days the language has sunk to a whole new level particular in the extent of the scapegoating, the mocking use of French, and the claims about some gigantic ethnic conspiracy against people who live in this province.

Something say that people weren’t reading those posts because they agree with the Premier’s views.

Not to be outdone, the Premier’s parliamentary secretary went on a commie hunt during his speech on the budget.  Not to be limited, though, he also took the chance to let us all know that while equality is a nice idea, it just isn’t “realistic” in the society in which we live.

It’s a good thing that after seven years, Ridgeley finally gave us some insight into his own political philosophy.  It would be interesting to see him knocking doors in the next general election defending that idea, but your humble e-scribbler is going out on a limb here to predict that Tail-gunner Bob won’t be running again.

You have to wonder, though, if these two in their views – the Premier and his wingman – really do represent the views of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, as the Premier once claimed?

-srbp-

Cartoon U 4 – the fishery (part the second)

By the time this cartoon appeared, the thing was a full-blown scandal.

And…

Murphy had learned to draw Walter Carter so he didn’t look like Jim Morgan.

-srbp-

Local company inks Latin America contract

The release:

The world's largest advertising database will now include data from 13 countries in Latin America as well as introduce global content to Latin America

St. Johns, NL (May 20, 2010) - Newfoundland-based Global Ad Source has signed a strategic agreement with IBOPE Media to launch and market a new portal including data from 13 Latin American countries. The Creativos Global portal will be a Spanish language interface to the Global Ad Source database and will be marketed to Latin American ad agencies and advertisers via IBOPE Media throughout the continent. The subscription based service will allow users to review metadata associated with global advertisements as well as access high-resolution version versions of the ads.
"We are very excited about our alliance with IBOPE Media. They are clearly the leader in the Latin American advertisement and media measurement services and have a fantastic roster of blue chip clients. We feel our unique content set will be well received by IBOPE clients and allow a deeper insight into global advertising and creative strategies," explained Ed Clarke, President of adfinitum, the developer of Global Ad Source.

"CreativosGlobal.com users will have access to over 7 million high resolution advertisements from over 50 countries. At our current rates we fully expect to surpass the 10 million ad mark by the end of this year. This content will enable users to research and plan with competitive marketing intelligence from all over the globe," added Clarke.

Additionally, IBOPE will offer through Global Ad Source, Latin American data to clients in Europe, North America and Asia. IBOPE's data currently includes over 100,000 ads and 5,000 new ads are expected to be uploaded monthly.

"This is another market driven action by IBOPE. Globally, companies are growing more and more interested in Latin America. Parallel to the recent economic growth in the region, both the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic games will be hosted in Brazil during this decade which always serves to create a bullish environment. We are also very excited about IBOPE being able to offer its clients a unique look into the global advertising trends." added Antonio Wanderley, Regional Director, Business Development, IBOPE Media.

Media contact:  Ed Clarke      Tel:   +1 709 753 1000  or +1 709 749 9928

-srbp-

The Old Man defines The Solution

Hisself, on May 20, in the House of Assembly:

Quebec lovers, if we could only keep the Quebec lovers quiet, Mr. Speaker, it would be nice.

Such is The World the Old Man Lives In.

-srbp-

Cartoon U 3 – the fishery (part the first)

Specifically a gear replacement program funded by the provincial government and used by many fishermen as a subsidy to help them upgrade their equipment.

Walter Carter, the newly-appointed fisheries minister, holds up a stinky left-over from his two predecessors, John Crosbie and Harold Collins.  All three men held the fisheries portfolio in succession in 1974.  It used to be an important department.

Children and those with very short-term memories will notice that in those days cabinet ministers could actually operate without instructions from the Old Man of the day.

-srbp-

Fortis and Enel getting special treatment from Williams gov under expropriation bill

At least two of companies whose long-term power purchase agreements were ripped up under the December 2008 expropriation bill will still get all their cash under long-term power purchase arrangements, according to natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale.

Abitibi is not included in the arrangements, apparently.

Dunderdale told the House of Assembly on Thursday that:

…we made a commitment to both of those companies [Fortis and ENEL] that regardless of what happened with Abitibi, at the end of this process we would ensure that they were kept whole, that they were properly compensated for fair market value for the assets. The PPAs that they have with Abitibi would also be honoured, Mr. Speaker.

Dunderdale said that the provincial government’s energy corporation  - NALCOR  - is still discussing arrangements with the two companies. The power purchase arrangements date from 1997 and 2001. The exact duration is currently unknown to your humble e-scribbler but would typically be in the range of 20 to 30 years.

ENEL partnered with Abitibi on the Star Lake project to supply electricity to Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. Bill 75 seized all the generating and transmission assets of the Star Lake partnership and revoked all the agreement related to it, as listed at Annex E of Bill 75. 

Dunderdale made no reference to the other companies also affected by the seizure:

• Clarica
• Sun Life Assurance
• Mutual Life Assurance
• Standard Life Assurance, and
• Industrial Life Assurance.

Fortis – the other company Dunderdale discussed – was a partner in the Exploits Hydro Partnership.  Under a long-term power-purchase agreement, Exploits partnership sold power to Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.

Dunderdale also admitted what Bond Papers readers already knew:  the provincial government is paying for a long-term loan for the Exploits partnership.  The outstanding balance on the loan is $59 million.  The provincial government paid the 2009 instalment.

The hydro-electric assets are likely the only ones seized in 2008 that could generate any reliable revenue to offset the costs of environmental clean-up at former Abitibi sites in the province.  Payment of loans and royalties to the companies other than Abitibi as if the expropriation never happened would significantly reduce any revenue NALCOR could gain from the assets.

Dunderdale’s admission today could also further undermine any legal cases the provincial government is pursuing.  One of the problems government faced in recent Quebec court decisions on the Abitibi bankruptcy protection proceedings is that its environmental clean-up actions appeared to be aimed solely at Abitibi and were not part of the routine administration of provincial environmental laws.

Dunderdale’s admission makes it pretty clear that the government is treating some of the companies affected by the expropriation very differently from Abitibi.

Colouring the expropriation as aimed solely against Abitibi could also colour the move and undermine any defence of Abitibi’s NAFTA challenge.

-srbp-

Special oversight for deep water drilling offshore Newfoundland and Labrador

From the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Regulatory Board:

“It is prudent practice for a regulator to conduct an internal review following an incident like the one in the Gulf of Mexico to determine if more can be done from an oversight perspective to address concerns about the risks of offshore drilling. Chevron’s plan to drill the Lona O-55 exploration well in the Orphan Basin, which was spudded on May 10, 2010, has undergone two levels of environmental assessment in accordance with C-NLOPB’s requirements and the company has met the regulatory requirements for drilling in the Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area. However, in light of the situation unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico and heightened public concern over drilling operations currently underway in the Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Area, the C-NLOPB has taken the following measures for overseeing well operations at Chevron’s Lona O-55 well. We have met with Chevron in St. John’s and advised them of these measures, which are in addition to requirements contained in the Drilling and Production regulations and associated guidelines. Chevron has confirmed that they will facilitate the C-NLOPB’s oversight.

A team has been established within the C-NLOPB to provide regulatory oversight of Chevron’s operations. This team is comprised of the Chief Safety Officer, the Chief Conservation Officer, members of the Board’s Management Team and selected senior staff with extensive experience in the regulatory oversight of drilling programs. Chevron is expected to ensure the timely posting of daily reports (seven days a week) so that up-to-date information is always available to this team.

Chevron is required to meet with the C-NLOPB’s oversight team every two weeks to review matters of interest. The Board’s Chief Safety Officer will chair these meetings.

Chevron is required to provide the C-NLOPB’s Well Operations Engineer with copies of the field reports prepared in respect of the following: testing of the blowout preventer (BOP) stack; function test of the acoustic control system; function test of the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) intervention capability and function test of the automode function (AMF) system, together with an assessment of the readiness of the ROV system in terms of equipment, procedures and spare parts.

Chevron is expected to monitor developments at the Deepwater Horizon incident and provide periodic assessments on the impact of any lessons learned from that situation to operations at Lona O-55, in particular any lessons learned with respect to well operations, BOP equipment or spill response readiness.

The frequency of audits and inspections onboard the Stena Carron will be approximately every three to four weeks. Normally, audits and inspections are conducted on offshore operators every 3-4 months.

Prior to penetrating any of the targets, Chevron must hold an operations time-out to review and verify, to the satisfaction of the Chief Safety Officer and the Chief Conservation Officer, that all appropriate equipment, systems and procedures are in place to allow operations to proceed safely and without polluting the environment.

Prior to penetrating any of the targets, Chevron should assure itself and the C-NLOPB that all personnel and equipment for spill response identified in its oil spill contingency plan are available for rapid deployment.

Chevron must also make arrangements for a representative of the C-NLOPB to be onboard the Stena Carron to observe the cementing operations of the last casing string set prior to entering any target zones. The observer will also be present to witness the BOP testing, well control drills, and results of the pressure test of the cementing job.

In the case of the BOP testing, a representative of the Certifying Authority will also be present.

In due course, Chevron must provide, for review and assessment by the C-NLOPB’s oversight team, a copy of the proposed well termination program to be issued to field personnel for implementation.

Chevron must also make the necessary arrangements for a representative of the

C-NLOPB to be onboard the Stena Carron to observe the well termination program.”

-srbp-

The Protocols of the Elders of Laurentia

In Hisself’s own words, in the House of Assembly, dutifully and accurately recorded by Hansard, the Old Man describes the nefarious forces that circle around him.

In response to this question about the Abitibi expropriation  - “Are you planning to seek leave to appeal this court loss to the Supreme Court of Canada at this time?” – he begins:

Mr. Speaker, let’s do a little history lesson first of all, and what this is all about. This goes back to the late 1960s when we had the best project in the world that we wanted to develop but we could not do it on our own because we were a poor Province - because of what happened as a result of Confederation and everything else. We were the poor and the weak sisters of Canada. So, we basically entered into a partnership with Quebec in order to develop that particular project. For that, they acquired at least one-third of the company which developed that particular project.

Then, when it got down to the short strokes and we were months away from concluding it and we were out of money, the company was basically out of money, they squeezed us. That is when they squeezed us for another twenty-five years on a contract that already was a complete giveaway of a very valuable hydro resource. They squeezed us for another twenty-five years at a lower price -

So based on that history, Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, particularly this Newfoundlander and Labradorian, and all these Newfoundlanders and Labradorians here and all the people in this Province, feel very, very strongly about the way Quebec has treated us. So if we have to fight them in the courts or fight them at the Régie, or if I personally got to get down and go toe to toe or roll around on the ground with them to fight them, we will do it.

…

And then after discussing Churchill Falls for all that time he answered the Abitibi question:

…we are now reviewing it.

But he couldn’t just state that simple answer to a simple question without further embellishment:

We are looking at asking for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. I think that, as a Province, we have to keep fighting Quebec because if we don’t they will take away everything we have.

In response to the second, simple question - What is the recourse for the Province to now be added to the list of unsecured creditors? – came a further rant:

Of course, what we are dealing with is obviously a very biased court.

When you look at the Quebec courts, you look at the decision that was given here. The opinion, of course, that we have from our solicitors on this is that the court dodged a central legal and policy issue. So we had constitutional and factual arguments and the Court of Appeal completely and totally avoided that. In addition, they completely ignored the same rationale which has been used by the Ontario Court of Appeal, B.C. Court of Appeal, the Alberta Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. So, basically, these courts are doing whatever they can to try and stop us.

The same thing with Judge Gascon, we just saw the Régie ruling which came out of Quebec, which is one of the most horrendous, absurd rulings that I have ever seen. They ignored facts. They said that what Hydro-Quebec was doing was discretionary. They ignored the evidence - a complete abuse of process. So, throughout this process we will just keep hammering away.

Yes, folks, there was a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox where they kept the  strawberry ice cream.  The only thing missing was the ball bearings in his hand.

At that point, opposition leader Yvonne Jones asked exactly the same question over again (The Old Man didn’t come close to answering it the first time, after all).  There followed another diatribe in which the Premier noted the holding company set up to deal with the two properties the provincial government didn’t expropriate:

Instead, Mr. Speaker - if I may have a moment -of what they have done in Botwood and Stephenville, put those assets in a shell company so that they could go bankrupt so that we get nothing.

Not exactly what happened, nor does the Premier explain why his lawyers consented to the arrangement, but that’s another issue.

At that point, the question of costs deflected off to justice minister Felix Collins.

A question about an English translation of the decision by the Quebec energy regulator brought Hisself to his feet once more to fulminate about Quebec:

Mr. Speaker, I said it last week, and I can say it again in all honesty today, I have not seen an English copy of the Régie decision. We are waiting on the Régie to provide us with an English copy.

It is really interesting, too, when you go on their Web site, pretty well everything that they have is always in English and French, but on this particular one we have not been provided an English copy. That tells me a lot about the Régie, the attitude of Quebec against Newfoundland and Labrador.

Basically, while the Premier’s parliamentary assistant is on a hunt for Commies, the Premier himself is fighting against the evil machinations of the seething nest of anti-Newfoundland conspiracy that is Quebec.

To conclude, some simple observations:

• The chart was not an exaggeration, as anyone can plainly see. The World the Old Man Lives In is populated by enemies everywhere, linked together by secret ties.
• This is not the way Danny Williams felt for the five years he tried  - entirely out of the public eye, one might add - to interest Hydro Quebec in taking an ownership stake in the Lower Churchill, without any redress for the 1969 contract.

You could not make this stuff up if you tried.

-srbp-

Resting on his Laurels and Hardys

Danny Williams in the House of Assembly today:

Mr. Speaker, 93 per cent is a lot of confidence. That is the kind of confidence I think people have in this government as a result of our performance so far.

Let’s see what those numbers look like after this month and more of non-stop problems for Williams’ beleaguered administration.

After all, gentle readers, it is polling month and the gang that couldn’t shoot straight can’t even seem to find fairity let alone stick with a consistent line on the Abitibi expropriation mess or agree on a simple policy on closing down Holyrood.

Williams had a nice tan, though, on his first day in the legislature in a while.

-srbp-

Cartoon U 2

The thoughtful fellow on the right is Robert Wells, then the newly appointed health minister in 1975 in Frank Moores’ administration.

Wells left politics in 1979, wound up on the bench and retired not so long ago after a distinguished career.  He is currently heading up an inquiry into offshore helicopter safety.

The fellow on the left is Dr. A.T. Rowe, at the time the member of the House of Assembly for Carbonear and outgoing health minister. he left politics in 1975 and took up a post at Memorial University’s School of Medicine where he headed the family practice department from 1978 to 1985.

-srbp-

Williams admits taxpayers stuck with bill for his expropriation mess

While his embattled environment minister blustered and stuck to the old line during Question Period, outside the legislature Premier Danny Williams admitted to reporters today that the taxpayers of the province will be stuck paying for the environmental cleanup from his expropriation mess.

CBC.ca/nl has a version of the story that’s worth checking out.

The cost of the clean-up, legal fees, any NAFTA penalties for the expropriation and the cost of compensation for seized assets belonging to three companies could reach $500 million or more based on the provincial government’s own estimates.

More to follow.

-srbp-