Refinery marginalia

Natural resources minister counted some chickens before they were hatched Monday with a statement anticipating construction of a second oil refinery in Newfoundland and Labrador.

As she put it:

The initial stages of the feasibility study on a second refinery for Placentia Bay determined that a new refinery can compete effectively throughout the Atlantic Basin marketplace and the proposed project is now in the final stages of that feasibility process

But a few paragraphs later comes this proviso:

A significant amount of work and analysis still needs to be done before a project of this type can be given the green light to proceed, but I am well aware of the tremendous economic spin offs of additional refinery capacity and I'm delighted with the progress to date.

Government "news" releases are always good at keeping us abreast of crucial developments, like progress reports on a minister's mental well-being. It is vital to know that the minister is "delighted".

Let's take a closer look at the project and forget Dunderdale's mental state.

The first quote is lifted almost word-for-word from Newfoundland and Labrador Refining's release from late September, to wit:

The initial economic analysis completed in Stage One of the feasibility study determined that a new refinery in Placentia Bay can compete effectively throughout the Atlantic Basin marketplace...

But, as Bond Papers has already noted, the sanction for this project will come only if the third stage of the feasibility study - not due until the end of the year. As well, a recent announcement by Irving that it will build a second refinery at Saint John, next to its existing 250,000 barrel per day facility puts a crimp in the economics of the second refinery in Newfoundland and Labrador.

When asked about the impact of the Saint John expansion, Brian Dalton, spokesperson for NL Refining said that the site in Placentia Bay was excellent. Unfortunately for Dalton, site won't be the determining factor in whether or not he and his partners go ahead with the multi-billion dollar project.

Site, in this instance, is like Dunderdale's enthusiasm for the spinoff benefits. That won't matter either when it comes to the business decision of investing in a greenfield project in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Curiously, the project is registered with the provincial environment department, een before project sanction has been achieved. There is still no sign of the project on the federal government's environmental assessment registry.

There are a couple of interesting points to note in the provincial environmental department's description of the project:

2) Southern Head (Placentia Bay) Oil Refinery Project
Proponent: Newfoundland and Labrador Refining Corporation (Reg. 1301)

The proponent proposes to construct an oil refinery at Southern Head, between North Harbour and Come by Chance, at the head of Placentia Bay. The oil refinery is proposed to have an initial production capacity of 300,000 barrels per day with the option to expand to 600,000 barrels per day. Primary products of the oil refinery would be gasoline, kerosene/jet fuel, ultra-low sulphur diesel and refining by-products. Infrastructure required would include process facilities, marine terminal, crude and product storage tanks, access road and utilities. Construction will take approximately three years to complete and production is planned to begin in late 2010 or early 2011. The undertaking was registered on October 25, 2006; public comments are due by December 4, 2006; and the minister's decision is due by December 9, 2006.

1. The proposed refinery will handle heavy sour crude. Historically that type of refinery is the one with the lowest margins and hence is one of the most difficult to make a solid profit on in the long haul.

Come by Chance works because the thing was built and paid off decades ago. Because of the low margins, refineries have typically been built close to market to lower transportation costs.

Come by Chance processes imported crude, mainly from Iraq, largely because Vitol has been able to acquire feedstock at good prices.

Currently all Newfoundland and Labrador crude production is light, sweet. Hebron is a heavy sour field but it will likely not be in production before 2015 at the earliest. Thus, the proposed refinery is likely built on the assumption that it will use imported crude.

2. The planned start of operation is obviously an estimate, contingent on completion of the feasibility process. No one should be getting their knickers in a bunch that Arnold's Cove is about to become the second Calgary.

3. This would be a honkin' big refinery. The Saint John project is estimated to be 300,000 barrels per day. The proposal calls for a refinery project that would ultimately equal the output of both Saint John's existing and planned refineries.

4. Without detailed information on the proposed refinery, it will be extremely difficult to assess for environmental impact of this very large refinery within the very short timeframe provided by the provincial government.

Ruelokke takes helm of offshore board

Following is the text of the official announcement on Monday from federal natural resources minister Gary Lunn on the appointment of Max Ruelokke as chairman and chief executive officer of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board. Lunn also announced the appointment of Fred Way as vice-chairman.

Compare the text that follows with the tiny release issued by the provincial government on Friday at 5:10 pm.

Such is the abysmal state of federal-provincial relations that Ottawa and St. John's could not even get together on such a simple thing as a joint news release announcing a joint appointment to a joint board.

Appointments at the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board

OTTAWA - The Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources, today announced the appointment of the Chair and CEO, and of the Vice-Chair, of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (CNLOPB). Mr. Max Ruelokke will hold the Chair and CEO position, and Mr. Fred Way, has been appointed the Vice-Chair.

The announcement follows the July 25, 2005, request by the Government of Canada for the establishment of a panel to select a Chair and CEO, and Vice-Chair, for the CNLOPB.

"Mr. Ruelokke brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the CNLOPB, which will benefit the organization greatly. Mr. Way will serve the Board well given his past work both as Vice-Chair and as Acting Chair and CEO," said Minister Lunn. "I am confident that both of these very accomplished individuals will be able to address and act on key issues that are important to the province and industry."

Mr. Ruelokke was born in Grand Bank, Newfoundland, and has more than 35 years of experience in offshore shipbuilding and support services, engineering design and construction. He has held a number of senior executive positions in industry, most recently serving as General Manager, East Coast Canada, for AMEC Oil and Gas. Mr. Ruelokke also served the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, first as Assistant Deputy Minister (1993 - 94) and then as Deputy Minister (1996 - 98) of the Department of Industry, Trade and Technology.

A member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Newfoundland, Mr. Ruelokke received his Engineering Diploma in 1966 and a Bachelor of Civil Engineering in 1968, both from Memorial University in St. John's.

Mr. Way was appointed Vice-Chair of the CNLOPB in 1999, and served as Acting Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from May 2004 to October 2006. He had a distinguished career with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and served as Deputy Minister for the Department of Mines and Energy with the provincial government from 1996 to 1998.

Mr. Way obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) in 1971 from Memorial University of Newfoundland and continued with part-time graduate studies in Economics at Memorial University between 1972 and 1974.

The CNLOPB manages the petroleum resources in the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore area on behalf of the governments of Canada, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The Board's authority is derived from legislation implementing the 1985 Atlantic Accord between the two governments.

Ignatieff's (and Harper's) folly

From Lysiane Gagnon's column in the Monday Globe:

The irony is that the Liberal Party really won't even benefit from its demagogic U-turn on the national unity file. The Quebec-wing resolution didn't pass the test of Quebec's political class and the overbidding has already started. Many nationalist commentators, including Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Benoit Pelletier, insisted that the only valid recognition of Quebec as a nation should be constitutional. Others said that a "symbolic" constitutional recognition wouldn't be enough if it didn't provide for more powers for the province and explicitly recognize Quebec's "right to self-determination."

As Montreal Gazette columnist Don Macpherson wrote, "even before the federal Liberal convention tears itself apart over the offers [of recognizing Quebec as a nation], Quebec has already rejected them."

Federalists should stop obsessing about the threat of another referendum on sovereignty. First, it's far from sure that there will even be one. Second, if the sovereigntist movement ever grew strong enough to convince a majority of Quebeckers to break away from Canada, it is not a token recognition of their "nation" that would stop the tide.

Iggy's supporters can take Bond Papers off their e-mail lists and his local supporters can stop calling trying to get me to buy a ticket to a luncheon or a breakfast with a guy i have already written off as being the very last person who should ever hold the job of leading the Liberal Party of Canada.

Ignatieff's folly - like that of the Prime Minister during the last election - in playing the Quebec nationalist card should be enough to discount him from further serious contention.

Mad rock?

"'Mad Rock'... I think that's probably my nickname in Ottawa these days," Williams chuckled Thursday in a speech at a conference of maritime emergency officials.

That's from a CTV story on Danny Williams replacing Ralph Klein as Canada's most outspoken first minister.

Word from Ottawa is that while Williams is regarded being a bit out-of-plumb by some at the highest levels of the federal government, his nickname is a bit more earthy:

Danny "F***ing" Williams.

Defence round-up - Afghanistan

1. Al Queda document contains threats to Canada.

Translated by the SITE Institute, the document states, in part: "They will either be forced to withdraw their forces or face an operation similar to New York, Madrid, London and their sisters, with the help of Allah."

Canada is described as having a fanatical adherence to Christianity.

2. New navy helicopters to have troop-lift capability.

Canadian Press is reporting a change to the specs for Canada's new shipborne helicopters. The Sikorsky S-92 variants will enter service in 2009. The change will allow the helicopters to be converted rapidly to carry soldiers.

Chief of Defence Staff General Rick Hillier describes the change as being related to potential use from an amphibious assault ship being acquired for the navy.

3. TF 1-07 drug testing allegedly showed 16-18% used illegal substances; Army questions news reports.

While defence officials are neither confirming nor denying the reports, some news media are reporting that 16-18% of urine samples taken from soldiers currently training for the next rotation to Afghanistan have tested positive for traces of illegal drugs, including amphetamines ("speed"), heroine and marijuana.

4. Roadside blast kills NATO soldier.

One NATO soldier was killed and eight wounded in a roadside blast on Sunday in Afghanistan.

5. NATO change of command.

On Wednesday, Canada will relinquish command of the NATO forces in the Kandahar region to the Netherlands.

6. Canadians continue reconstruction/humanitarian missions in Afghanistan.

The officer pictured is Captain Dave Muralt from the Provincial Reconstruction Team.

At one point, Captain Muralt was the public affairs officer at 5 Wing, Goose Bay.

Also mentioned in the story linked above is Captain Howard Chafe, possibly the same Howard Chafe from St. John's who served with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and, among other things, hosted a radio program aimed at local civilians during a tour in Bosnia. It wouldn't be surprising for that Howard Chafe to turn up in Afghanistan with the PRT.

How many Howard Chafes can there be in the army?

What exactly do we mean by "nation"?

There is always a risk that discussion of national unity or federal-provincial power distribution will cause rampant insomnia, or as with others, a debilitating case of apoplexy.

[Left: At the thought of yet another constitutional debate, Canadians' heads started to explode.]

This is the risk we took yesterday in suggesting people take a gander at Andrew Coyne's column in the National Post.

The risk is well worth it, though, especially when Michael Ignatieff's comments have earned praise from no less a sovereignist than former Quebec Premier Bernard Landry. Landry welcomed Ignatieff's proposal to recognize that Quebec is a nation and then proceeded, as reported by CBC Radio, to point out that it is only logical to wonder why a nation - which as a nation Landry equated in French interviews to sovereign states - would have the same political powers within Canada as Prince Edward Island.

Landry has also been quoted extensively by French language media on the same issue.

[Photo right: La Presse. For a moment, Bernard couldn't remember which finger he needed to raise to Canada.]

To further the discussion, following is the column by Stephane Dion published in the National Post on Thursday, October 26.

Dion will undoubtedly raise the ire of a great many of the local landrys but then again that is a risk we shall have to take. It's either this, Slim Whitman recordings or an mp3 loop of Danny's dirge.

Either will cause the brain of your average sovereignist to pop.


What, exactly, do we mean by "nation"?

Stephane Dion
National Post
October 26, 2006

Before entering politics, more than 10 years ago, I maintained that we Quebecers could be described as forming a nation, in the civic and sociological sense of the term. Last Saturday, however, I voted against the resolution put forward by the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada calling for the party to undertake the necessary steps toward a formal recognition of Quebec as a nation.

Before we ask other Canadians to support such a formal recognition (in the constitution, no doubt) we should first of all determine what we expect from such a recognition. Hiding behind the apparent consensus in Quebec on this question are at least three disagreements.

- First question: Are Quebecers the only nation to be recognized within Canada, or will we accept that other groups, heartened by our example, be given the same recognition? Will the pressure exercised by an undetermined number of groups in Canada, including groups in Quebec, to be recognized as nations lead us to conclude that our own national recognition has been trivialized or diluted?

- Second question: Is this recognition necessary or is it merely desirable? Those who say it is necessary must follow their reasoning to its conclusion: If we Quebecers do not obtain this recognition then we must leave Canada. Indeed, one cannot live without something that is necessary.

Those who say that, on the contrary, this recognition would only be a good thing to obtain should not place it at the heart of the Canadian unity debate. You do not break up a country on account of something that is good but not necessary.

- Third question: Do we want this recognition to be purely symbolic or do we want it to lead to concrete consequences on, say, the division of powers or the allocation of public funds? And how does this approach square with the previous question? It is contradictory to affirm that the recognition of Quebec as a nation is necessary but purely symbolic. But that is the untenable position Michael Ignatieff has decided to advocate. Gilles Duceppe, the Bloc Quebecois leader, and Claude Morin, the former PQ minister, have already responded that if the recognition of Quebec as a nation in Canada is important then it must bring about "something" beyond symbolism.

We've seen this movie three times already. First it was the debate on the constitutional recognition of Quebec as a "distinct society" contained in the Meech and Charlottetown accords. Then came the Calgary Declaration, a 1997 episode which few people remember. The premiers of the other provinces tried to define, for us Quebecers, the type of recognition we wanted. They had their legislatures adopt a declaration that recognized "the unique character of Quebec society." When the declaration landed in Quebec, the province's political class rejected it, stating that this recognition "had no teeth."

So, here is my position: I am proud to belong to the Quebec nation within Canada. The constitutional recognition of such a fact, although desirable, is not necessary because nothing prevents us Quebecers from participating and succeeding in this great endeavour that is Canada, a country we have contributed so much to building.

Nothing can justify our renouncing our Canadian identity. Such a rupture would be a tragedy, for ourselves, our children and future generations. We should not be encouraged to make such a mistake on the basis of a recognition that is desirable but not necessary. That is my position and I am more than willing to debate it because I do not underestimate the importance of symbols and recognition. But I do not believe that we should ask other Canadians for such a recognition until we have clarified what we are hoping to obtain from it.

Although it is an important one, I do not believe this debate is the most important thing we can do to improve Quebec and Canada as a whole. For me, the main priority by far is to ensure Canada is part of the solution, not the problem, to the crucial challenge of the 21st century: how to reconcile humanity with the ecological limits of the planet. That is the vision and the plan of action I am proposing to Canadians in order to combine the three pillars of our success: economic prosperity, social justice and environmental sustainability.

Quebecers have better things to do than to see this movie for a fourth time. We should mobilize ourselves to make our country a pathfinder in the 21st century. Let's contribute all our talents, energies and our own culture, as we have always done in the past, when we have had to respond with other Canadians to great challenges.

Thursday threesome

The Michael J. Fox television spots supporting candidates in the American-terms have garnered a ton of media attention in addition to the impact the spots are likely having in the markets where they are being shown as paid ads.

Offal News has already taken a look at one of them and we linked to it earlier.

There are actually three, each one superbly lit, produced, written an performed. Take a look at all three. Notice, among other things that the core message is the same in all three but the way the message is communicated is radically different. They are quiet and relatively low-key, compared to the negative stuff that is almost cliche.

The Missouri spot is pitched very locally to a state full of independently-minded people.

The Maryland spot is another matter, appealing more generally to voters. It ends with a "respectful" call to action.

The Wisconsin gubernatorial spot starts by connecting with local pride: "Wisconsin holds a special place in my heart..."

Notice, as well, that Fox makes some very specific statements intended to counteract Republican attacks pre-emptively. He also links stem cell research to a variety of medical conditions other than his own Parkinsons.

No wonder the Republicans are literally screaming invective and personal hatred at Fox. These spots are compelling. In states where the races are tight, Fox might tip the balance in favour of the Democrats. In other states - even ones not targeted by Fox - the GOP candidates are having severe troubles with voter anger over everything from scandals involving Republican politicians to the war in what some American reporters call "Eye-raq". Given the buzz around these spots, Fox could tip the balance in races other than the ones he has specifcally helped.


Claire McCaskill (D), Missouri senate race



Ben Cardin (D), Maryland senate race



Jim Doyle (D), Wisconsin gubernatorial race

Two to watch Thursdays

Check out the latest from Offal News on political advertising, specifically on Michael J. Fox's 30 in support of a candidate in a Missouri senate race.

Simon gives an excellent overview of the spot and on the basic idea of political advertising, but here's a little thing for you to notice.

How do Missourians pronounce the name of their state? Mike took the time to get it right. All politics is indeed local.

On a totally different topic, there's Andrew Coyne's observations on Michael Ignatieff and his proposal to recognize Quebec as a nation. Take the time to read the whole thing.

And when you're done - those of you who live in the Secret Nation, that is - ponder how much of what Coyne says about Quebec applies equally to the pretentions of some of our local politicians, old and new.

Williams' PCs only 3 points ahead of Rideout's PCs 17 years later

[Revised: corrected poll numbers; image added]

Despite record high public approval ratings and Danny Williams' strong personal popularity, voter support for the Progressive Conservative party in the province remains only three points above the PC party standings in the 1989 general election or on par with the 2003 general election.

That's one of the conclusions from an assessment of the most recent polling results in Newfoundland and Labrador by NTV/Telelink and Corporate Research Associates.

Bond Papers has already questioned the usefulness of media polls, but leaving aside possible issues of sampling methodology and the limited information gleaned from the polls, some conclusions leap up that do not coincide with media reports, Williams' own interpretation and the assessments of the pollsters themselves.

NTV/Telelink surveyed 1,109 voters in Newfoundland and Labrador. In August, CRA polled 412 voters. The comparison results are provided below, adjusted to reflect percentages of total. CRAs results were reported as a percentage of decided voters on the party support question. Margin of error for NTV/Telelink was given as plus or minus 2.9% at the 95th confidence interval while the comparable figure for CRA was 4.8%.

Party Support (NTV/CRA)

PCP 51.1/59.86
LIB 17.3/14.76
NDP 07.5/05.74
Not vote 02.3/01.64
UND 21.7/18.0

n = 1109/412

Both polls showed satisfaction with the Williams administration at approximately 84%. Approximately 74% selected Williams as best choice for premier in both polls.

The Progressive Conservatives under Tom Rideout [left] received 48% of the popular vote, while still going down to defeat in 1989. Danny Williams' Progressive Conservatives received 58.72% of the popular vote in 2003, with 33.19% voting Liberal.

Danny Williams' recent attacks on Ottawa, launched at the party convention in Gander on 14 October coincided with the NTV/Telelink polling period.

NTV characterized the Progressive Conservatives' popularity as rising since a low point in 2004 after a public sector strike. While that is true - relatively speaking - no explanation has been offered as to why the overwhelming satisfaction with the government and with Williams as premier hasn't translated into equally phenomenal voter support.

While CRA has typically been quick to dismiss undecideds as being irrelevant, the results of both the CRA and NTV polls suggest the undecideds are comprised mainly of traditional Liberal supporters who may be dissatisfied with the current state of the party. This is only a possible explanation since neither poll provides any data on the undecideds except that they did not indicate a voting choice.

Speculation that Danny Williams' party might sweep the election in 2003 is also not founded on past performance with comparable voter choices. In 2003, Williams won 34 seats of the 48 seat legislature with 59% of the popular vote. Liberal Clyde Wells won the same number of seats in a 52 seat legislature in 1989 with 47% of the popular vote. Media polls do not provide any reliable geographical data to allow seat-by-seat projections.

Williams flip flops on INCO; blusters with IOC

Danny Williams continued Tuesday with his efforts to brand the province as an erratic and unpredictable place to do business with comments on Iron Ore Company of Canada and INCO's operation at Voisey's Bay.

INCO's new owners - the Brazilian Companhia Vale do Rio Doce - said Tuesday it plans to speed up development of the Voisey's Bay mine. Williams said he favours the accelerated pace of development which would see the company increase its exports of partially processed ore outside the province, something Williams had previously criticized.

On October 19, Williams expressed concern that INCO would never build a smelter-refinery complex at Long Harbour. Williams offered no explanation for his fears which fly in the face of the precise wording of the development agreement with the provincial government and commitments from both INCO and INCO's new owners.

Williams himself had tried to slow INCO's efforts to relocate the smelter project to Long Harbour from the initially proposed site at Argentia. Williams tried to get the federal government to accept an unlimited liability at the Argentia site, something the Harper administration flatly refused.

Williams sudden support for rapid development at Voisey's Bay may be his way of off-setting losses from the failed Hebron agreement in April 2006. Despite his public comments that the Voisey's Bay deal was riddled with loopholes, Williams may be signaling that accelerated exploitation of Voisey's Bay - with or without a smelter-refinery - would produce increased revenue for the provincial treasury.

Voisey's Bay resource revenues would also net Williams a gain under Prime Minister Stephen Harper's proposed equalization reforms. Again despite Williams public criticism of Harper, the proposed reforms would actually improve the province's Equalization take by hiding half of Voisey's Bay revenue from the Equalization formula. Currently, non-renewable resources from projects such as the Labrador nickel mine are fully counted in determining Equalization entitlements.

In other developments, the Premier rejected out-of-hand a proposal by Iron Ore Company of Canada that the province continue to supply the Labrador West iron ore mines with low-cost energy. Williams likened the proposal to the Upper Churchill contract; the 1969 agreement that guarantees low-cost power to Hydro-Quebec is a favourite bogeyman for Williams.

In comments to The Telegram, Williams also raised another favourite bogeyman noting that:

It would be premature to jump out in front of that and lock in to a half-cent energy price so that every single person that comes to the province, if they don't get a half-cent power, they're going to walk away

Williams said the same thing immediately before offering Abitibi Consolidated a power subsidy larger than the provincial treasury's annual tax haul from the former papermakinoperationon at Stephenville. He also rejected out of hand an energy subsidy for Fishery Products International before committing $10 million annually to help keep power costs at the province's remaining papermaking mills lower.

With IOC, though, Williams may be running against a legal issue that may tax the limits of Premier's legal abilities as have several other recent cases.

The Twin Falls plant provided power to Wabush Mines and IOC's operations in western Labrador. The project was developed by BRINCO in partnership with IOC and Wabush Mines. It supplied power to the Upper Churchill construction project but was closed in order to increase efficiency of the larger hydro-electric project.

According to Philip Smith (1975), IOC and Wabush Mines - as partners in Twin Falls Power Corporation with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro - committed "to take or pay for 280,000 horsepower at a price that averaged to 4.32 mills per kilowatt-hour." Any horsepower above that would cost 2 mills. Discussions on the cost of added power for an expansion in the early 1970s proved to be acrimonious.

Nonetheless, IOC and Wabush Mines have a baseline entitlement to 225 megawatts of power from the Upper Churchill project. That's the capacity of the now-moth-balled facility at Twin falls. The companies could also rightfully expect to see additional power at favourable rategivenne that they voluntarily agreed to shut Twin Falls in order to improve the capacity at Churchill Falls.

Where this will come out, no one can say. However, it is pretty clear that Danny Williams has decided to brand the province as a place where doing business has to be as difficult as it can be.

What he said...about Voisey's Bay

The only thing wrong with this post at Offal News - that's the right the one thing wrong - is that there is no picture of Tom Rideout in the godforsaken toque.

Otherwise, Simon Lono is spot-on...yet again.

MacKay announces Canadian troupe deployment

Foreign affairs minister Peter MacKay announced today that Canada will join other NATO countries in a troupe deployment to Afghanistan.

MacKay whose department title is no reference to his reported romantic entanglement with the American Secretary of State, said that Canada will send Cirque to Soleil to Kandahar province as part of a new effort to bring peace and stability to the central Asian nation.

"This is a deployment of troupes that is involved in interesting and important work to provide security for the development of the work that is undertaken," said MacKay.

MacKay said that in addition to the world-renowned acrobatic group, Canada will deploy the Royal Canadian Air Farce (left). The Air Farce will provide cover for the Cirque, bombing Taliban with boring sketches, semi-racist impersonations of "newfies" and a laugh track that remains the only cue to when something funny is being said.

Sources close to the defence department said that Canada rejected a short-term deployment of Trailer Park Boys fearing that the threesome would actually improve Afghan poppy and heroin production.

In related news, Britain said today it would be sending the cast of Ab Fab, the complete collection of "Are you being served?" DVDs and a Punch and Judy show from Basingstoke as part of the entertainers campaign. France is sending the road company of La cage aux folles, while Italy is sending its entire parliament as part of NATO's humour offensive in the remote mountains southeast of Kandahar.

While not officially part of NATO, Australia is said to be considering a deployment of Dame Edna.

In Brussels, senior NATO officials informally requested that Canada check the availability of Newfoundland and Labrador fish minister Tom Rideout (right). NATO planners were impressed with the gales of laughter created by Rideout's recent "fact-finding" tour of European capitals.

A senior NATO officer (left) who spoke on condition of anonymity said: "If this chap could put the Russkies into the fits, he would be devastating anywhere else.

"Put a funny hat on him, you likely would have a sort of political neutron bomb: all coherent thought would be impossible."

The war with Ottawa

With less than a year before the next provincial election, Danny Williams has declared war on Ottawa.

The anti-politician, the guy who bills himself as bringing a New Approach to politics, is relying on the oldest of old provincial political ploys to pump up his already strong popular support.

When all else fails declare war on the evil occupying government called Ottawa.

Now before anyone starts pointing to the tradition in Newfoundland and Labrador since Confederation, let's make it clear. Smallwood rowed with Ottawa over Term 29 in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Most of the time though, Smallwood had a pretty good relationship with the feds. Ditto Frank Moores..

Even Peckford has his good moments, but he was the first guy who made fighting Ottawa part of his strategic plan.

Clyde Wells had his share of disagreements but he also agreed with the feds on many files. Tobin did too. Roger grimes tried to make Ottawa the evil demon of his dreams, but it took Danny Williams to bring the demagogic rhetoric to Peckfordian levels and garner his tremendous political success solely as a result of fighting with foreigners.

Heck, Williams has raised suspicion of outsiders to an artform. Right now, Danny Williams is vying with Enver Hoxha for Xenophobe of the Century.

[Historical sidebar: Aficionados of dictatorship will recall Hoxha is the guy who pulled a pistol from his desk drawer one day during a meeting with a political rival and shot the guy dead on the spot. The official story is that Mehmet Shehu committed suicide. A lifelong Stalinist, Hoxha was a big fan of state control of everything.]

That said, there is nothing like a war with Ottawa to get the juices flowing in some people, especially the crowd on radio call-in shows who are Williams' key demographic. It can be pretty smart politics for the short-term, but there are more and more people who are privately questioning the Dan-trum approach to life.

In the week and a bit since the Premier kicked the prime Minister squarely in the goolies for something Stephen Harper hasn't even done yet, Williams' administration has issued anti-Ottawa news releases like the following:

1. October 23, 2006: Federal Government to Eliminate Workplace Equity Office Service to be Delivered From Montreal

In a decision that will have a negative impact on some of this country's most vulnerable people and regions, the federal government is closing the Workplace Equity Office in Newfoundland and Labrador and moving the service to Montreal. Offices will also be shut down in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

"This latest salvo from the federal government tells me very clearly that this government appears to have little appreciation for the struggles of women, people with disabilities, visible minorities and Aboriginal people to gain an equal foothold in society," said The Honourable Joan Burke, Minister Responsible for the Status of Women and Minister of Education.

2. October 18, 2006: Ottawa denies request for indemnity for INCO

The federal government has denied the province's request for indemnity for Inco to allow for construction of a commercial processing facility to proceed at Argentia.

"We have taken every reasonable step to ensure that the facility remains in Argentia," said the Honourable Kathy Dunderdale, Minister of Natural Resources. "However, with this latest refusal of the federal government to provide the company with an indemnity, it appears as though we have limited options available."

3. October 17, 2006: National Person's Day Emphasizes Need for Federal Government to Rethink Funding Cuts

"This is an opportune time for the federal government to reflect on their recent decision to cut funding to Status of Women Canada and for women and men in our province and across Canada to send a strong message to Ottawa that these cuts and the elimination of funding for advocacy work may be detrimental to advancing women's issues."

Can you hear me now?

A fire at the local telephone headquarters knocked out internet, telephone, cellular and banking services in Newfoundland and Labrador last Friday night.

The official time is being given as 22:20 hours (10:20 pm) but your humble e-scribbler had it pegged earlier, like say around 22:05. That's when he noticed downloads slowing.

The whole incident points up some problems that need to be addressed.

For example, the back-up systems didn't cut in and it took the service provider about six hours to get most functionality restored.

That shouldn't happen.

For a second example, consider that provincial emergency management boss Fred Hollett was in Port aux Basques on the province's west coast and had to dial 911 from his hotel room to get police headquarters in Corner Brook.

Why couldn't he just go to the local emergency headquarters, like say the fire department, and contact the outside world from their comms system?

For a third f'rinstance, Aliant isn't the only service provider. Did their problem effectively take everyone else out as well?

If the answer is yes, then Al Queda will take note, let alone the local chapter of the Fogo Liberation Front.

All of this will no doubt distract Hollett from another glaring shortcoming of his emergency response system: the complete lack of a province-wide emergency response strategic plan.

So far that one has taken the five years since 9/11 and counting.

Still no plan.

Not since Normandy

Canadian Forces will be moving people out of their existing occupations and into the infantry in an effort to relieve the pressure of rotations in Afghanistan.

The process- known as re-roling - is expected to provide extra soldiers so that the time frame between return deployments to Afghanistan will be longer than six months.

Two quick observations:

1. This is the first time since Normandy that a shortage of recruits has led to stuffing people from other military trades into the infantry. Back then the problem was caused by a combination of heavy casualties and a shortage of recruits. In this instance it is caused by a shortage of recruits.

2. This leads to the second observation, namely that the Conservative's promise in the last election to put battalions in every nook and cranny of the country was - as Bond Papers said at the time - sheer bunk.

Goose Bay take note.

3. As a last point, people should also notice that the move to re-roling also sends a powerful message about the current state of the reserve force and/or the federal government's unwillingness to use its legal powers to draw on more reserve soldiers to fulfill its military obligations.

Everyone take note of that one.

You are Sir Charles Phantom, the notorious Litton

From the "Not my dog" department, comes this example of Peter MacKay [Left, not exactly as illustrated] and his fractured French recently in the House of Commons.

The foreign affairs minister apparently couldn't grasp the meaning of a question from Bloq Quebecois member Vivian Barbot.

Hilarity ensued.

Mrs. Vivian Barbot (Papineau, BQ):

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage answered with a firm "no" when asked if cuts had been made to theatre and dance troupes. Yet, those troupes are telling us otherwise, that they have in fact suffered cuts.

Will the Minister of Foreign Affairs please tell us whether or not cuts have been made to these troupes?

[English]

Hon. Peter MacKay (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, CPC):

Mr. Speaker, obviously, we are involved in this with 36 other countries. This is a deployment of troops that is involved in interesting and important work to provide security for the development of the work that is undertaken. If the member wants to be a little more specific, perhaps she could provide us with that information.

[Translation]

Mr. Maka Kotto (Saint-Lambert, BQ):

Mr. Speaker, the question was not about military troops. It was about theatre, dance and music troupes.

I ask the question again: will the cuts to the public diplomacy fund affect the international tours of dance, music and theatre troupes, yes or no?

...

Thank Heavens no one asked about minkeys.

You know, the Chimpanzee minkeys.

Or the behms.

The exploding kind of behms.

Sunday morning excursion

When I was a kid, the Sunday drive was a big thing. We'd pile in the car and off Dad would drive us to this spot or that spot on what was - at the time - relatively new roadways.

Readers will recall that until 1965 there wasn't a road completely connecting one end of the island to the other. Communities on the coast were not similarly connected to a main road if not to each other. In Labrador, the situation remains for mani communities on the coast.

So on this rainy Sunday in October, let's take a virtual Sunday drive and see what's out there to see.

1. Speaking of Labrador, let's stop in the blog-realm of Wally Maclean. His blog, labradore, has been around since last year and it remains one of the places to find biting, insightful commentary on goings-on related to Labrador.

As an example, take his post on the most cabinet shuffle and the ministry of Business, comparing the whole thing to Underpants Gnomes.

2. Offal News, run by Simon Lono, remains an other favourite stop on the road. Check out his latest series of posts on the Premier's conflict of interest in appointing the guy running his private business to a major position.

3. Peter Gullage did an excellent short piece on the Great War battle at Gueudecourt in time for the October 12th 90th anniversary. Stop here at Veterans' Affairs for the description fot eh battle and the memorial there. It features a genuine - and long recognized - symbol of who we are as a people.

4. On a similar theme, check out the website for Clint Eastwood's latest movie, Flags of our fathers. This one is typical of Clint's more recent films. It takes a well-known subject - in this case the famous World War 2 Iwo Jima flag-raising picture - and gives another take on an otherwise familiar story. Lean and intense, the movie may not be everyone's idea of a night at the cinema. Go. You'll be rewarded by one of the finest movie-makers around.

5. Flip through the website for Flags and you'll see a picture of an extra, playing a press photographer. The flashbulbs apparently cost $15 a go and this guy set of 23 of them during the filming of his scenes.

For current-day news shooters, check out this website, for the eastern Canada news photographers association.

6. There are many ways to picture something. Being an inveterate scribbler, my preferred way is with language.

Check out this website featuring some review for CBC's own Ramona Dearing and So beautiful, her anthology of short stories. Not surprising Ramona is a writer since her work in radio often requires her to draw pictures with sound and words.

Musical interlude

Music has always been a big part of my life.

On my father's side of the family, just about everyone played an instrument. Dad played with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment band for 30 years. His uncles and grandfather played in bands all over St. John's.

At left is your humble e-scribbler taken during the intermission of a performance last week in Grand Falls-Windsor. [Photo: Ron Collins] The Gower Community Band took it on the road as part of our 10th anniversary celebrations. One of the highlights was the first performance of a new piece by Mike Carroll, but more on that in another post.

Just to give you a sense of how deep the musical roots run, take a look at the photo (right) of a Salvation Army band in St. John's, circa 1911.

The band in question is from the Livingstone Street corps, known the Citadel. The mustachioed gent, seated at the extreme left, is my great-grandfather, Thomas Pike. The instrument at his feet is a baritone, similar to a euphonium. There are other pictures from later on when great-grandfather directed the band and his sons and future sons-in-law were playing in it.

Money helps

Advertising and even public relations have a reputation for costing big bucks.

While most times that doesn't have to be true, there are times when money makes all the difference.

Take the Sony campaign for its new high-definition LCD television, Bravia. Sony gained attention with an expensive campaign built around the use of coloured balls as a way of showing the sharp picture and dynamic, brilliant colours its new television displays. Here's the copy from the website:

When you're introducing the next generation of television, you want to make an impact - but that doesn't mean you have to shout at the top of your voice. And it doesn't mean you have to be predictable. To announce the arrival of the BRAVIA LCD and 3LCD range, we wanted to get across a simple message - that the colour you'll see on these screens will be 'like no other'.

Sending 250,000 multi-coloured 'superballs' bouncing down the streets of San Francisco may seem the strangest way to do this, but that's exactly what Danish director Nicolai Fuglsig did for the BRAVIA commercial in July this year [2005]. San Franciscans have seen some unusual things in their time, but even this gave them something to talk about. And we've got the feeling that this commercial is going to do exactly the same thing.

The result was this:



Flip to the Bravia site linked above and you can find the thing in high definition versions as well. There is also some back story on making the long version of the spot.

This year's spot is equally stunning. Rather than balls, Sony's ad company took over an abandoned block of council flats in Glasgow and used pyrotechnics and 70,000 litres of paint to create an equally awesome minute-and-a-bit.

Again, take a look at the high-def version as well as the five minute background piece at the bravia-advert.com site. It's worth the trip especially to appreciate the sound of the paint falling at the end, like rain.

In the meantime here's a version on youtube.com:




What these spots do is use a very expensive set-up to tell a very specific story. But the whole thing fits together as a package that matches perfectly with Sony's brand, with it's reputation for superlative quality.

Advertising doesn't have to be expensive, but sometimes - as in this case - it is the only way to do the job - like the product and the company - like no other.

Our place in Canada

The Fraser Institute report issued on Wednesday contains food for thought.

Bond Papers already noted the information on the share of provincial revenue that is transferred from the federal government. The earlier post contains links to the news release and the report in pdf format.

The report contains a table comparing Employment Insurance (EI) contributions to benefits paid, by province for Fiscal Year 2003. Newfoundland and Labrador generated $233, 000, 000 in contributions.

However, recipients claimed $752, 000, 000 in benefits that year. The total included $540, 000, 000 in regular EI benefits and $212, 000, 000 in special benefits. The latter category includes maternity and parental benefits, compassionate benefits and benefits paid to fisheries workers.

All four Atlantic provinces received more in EI benefits than in contributions generated, but Newfoundland and Labrador was by far the leader. The total (benefits less contributions) for the three Maritime provinces combined was $483, 000, 000.

In some respects, the low level of contribution in Newfoundland and Labrador reflects the relatively low average per capita income. In 2005, the average per capita income was $25, 872 in the province.