Dump Denis

First, there was the defence thing.

But this?

And yes, Inkless said it first.

Hearn's complete statement

Find it here, along with a link to the letter to Tom Rideout.

I am concerned about any proposed solution that would see major allocations in the hands of governments rather than in the hands of industry. If this were something that provincial governments and industry wished to consider, it would need to be done in consultation with all coastal provinces, and not as a special deal with one province.

Instead, my approach will enable us to achieve the right balance of allowing Newfoundland and Labrador companies to compete in an increasingly challenging international marketplace while ensuring fish are landed in our province.

Ultimately, this is about people. The lives of thousands of people and their communities have been put on hold for too long as they have waited for this issue to be resolved. As governments, we always need to remember that everything we do is about people, families, and communities.

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Surprise: Hearn refuses to transfer quotas to provincial government

Federal fisheries minister Loyola Hearn's letter today to his provincial counterpart Tom Rideout, right, puts the blocks to the provincial government's plans to acquire - free of charge - groundfish licenses currently held by Fishery Products International (FPI).

Hearn said Thursday he would not agree to Newfoundland and Labrador's demand to take over the groundfish quotas from St. John's-based Fishery Products International, which has reached tentative agreements to sell its plants to two other companies.

"I have always stated that those who fish should hold the quota, not governments or anyone else," Hearn said

"In other words, those who run fishing enterprises, large or small, should not be subject to third parties telling them what to do."

The decision apparently came as something of a surprise to Rideout.

It shouldn't have.

A letter provided to media earlier this week - by Rideout or his office - made it clear that Hearn wanted to "ensure that the federal minister's discretion is not fettered" or perceived to be fettered and that Hearn was "concerned about any precedents that this may have for other fisheries."

What CBC news refers to as federal "conditions" on a quota transfer really don't appear as such. Rather they simply expressions that the federal government would wish to see the FPI matter resolved as quickly as possible, and that a solution to the current FPI problem would ensure, as CBC put it, that "landings stay in Newfoundland and Labrador and that the plan have endurance over time."

Rideout has never clearly explained the public policy behind putting groundfish quotas under control of the provincial government except to ensure that the provincial government could dictate where and how the fish were to be processed. it appears the goal was to enable the provincial minister to spread the quotas out and ensure as many fish plants were kept open as could be supported by the quotas, with the fishplant workers depending on a combination of work and federal employment insurance payments for income.

Under the Rideout scheme, highly lucrative shellfish quotas would stay with the companies purchasing FPI assets.

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A tale of two vidies

Consider the youtube popularity of this video launching the province's awe-inspiring brand compared to this other video.

At time of posting, it was 2314 versus 9062.

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Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra dies at age 84

Wally Schirra, the only astronaut to fly each of the first three American spacecraft died on Wednesday in California. [Photo, right: the-rocketman.com]

Shirra was the fifth American in space, piloting Sigma 7 , left, [Photo: NASA] on a six orbit flight that lasted nine hours. He also served as command pilot on Gemini 6 and on Apollo 7, the first orbital flight of the spacecraft that eventually took men to the moon.

Retiring from NASA and the United States Navy in 1969, Schirra had a successful career in business, finishing his life as a consultant.

Schirra launched a website, wallyshirra.com, in 2005.

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Blind, deaf, mute and no sense of smell

I am amused by the Opposition House Leader’s newly-acquired sense of smell. We do not do things by smell over here; we do them the right way.

Natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale,
on the Joan Cleary affair,
House of Assembly, 12 December 2006

The saga of Joan Cleary, untendered contracts at Bull Arm, her resignation, her $40,000 in severance and now her candidacy for the Progressive Conservative nomination in a provincial electoral district has gone through a bit of an evolution.

What happened depends on when you ask the question, apparently.

For example, try to figure out the circumstances surrounding Cleary's resignation from the patronage job.

Here's the version told last December 7 by Kathy Dunderdale, minister of natural resources:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I will endeavour to find the answers to those questions.

Mr. Speaker, I have been providing information in this House since last Wednesday with regard to the security shed contract. I have maintained, and still maintain, that everything was done within the Public Tender Act, although there were two oversights, which we take very seriously. Because of the uncovering of those two oversights, I instructed my staff to review all recent contracts with the Bull Arm Corporation. As a result of that review, I have found an instance of where work was let at the site and the proper process was not followed, although, I have determined, to my satisfaction, that there was no intentional wrongdoing or political interference. This government is committed to transparency, accountability, openness, and we are fully committed to the Public Tender Act. As a result of the concerns that have been raised on this piece of work, I have asked for and received Ms Cleary’s resignation.

Note that last part. Dunderdale is clear. Let's skip the fact that she blurted out the de facto firing in the question, not as a news release or any other major statement.

Dunderdale's investigation turned up problems, so she asked for Cleary's resignation. Asked for it. That has implications for any severance. If a person resigns, there may or may not be severance, depending on the contract.

If someone is fired for cause, then there wouldn't be severance. And frankly, if your boss asks for your resignation, odds are good you are only a hair's breadth from being punted.

Fast forward to May and here's the story as told on Wednesday by intergovernmental affairs minister John Ottenheimer:

Mr. Speaker, yes, in accordance with the terms and provisions of an employment contract, Ms. Cleary is and was entitled to severance. It was done. It was clear, in accordance with the terms and the provisions of the contract, that she would be entitled to severance. There were some concerns, Mr. Speaker, at the time. Ms Cleary tendered her resignation. Her resignation was accepted by my colleague, who is in Houston today at an oil show. It was accepted by my colleague, the Minister of Natural Resources, and in accordance with the terms and provisions of an employment contract, severance was paid, as she was duly owed.

There's more than a little significance to the missing detail in Ottenheimer's version of events. Dunderdale asked Cleary to resign, at least according to Dunderdale's accounting, and there is no question that Dunderdale took the action as a result of what her officials found in a review of tendering practices at the Crown corporation.

Now, Cleary appears to have just tendered her resignation of her own volition. Of course there were "some concerns", as Ottenheimer soft peddles but those concerns were apparently not too significant, at least by the implication of how Ottenheimer put it.

Why is that important? Well, it may affect the entitlement to severance under the terms of Cleary's contract - if we could see the contract. It also minimises the magnitude of what occurred that triggered Cleary's departure. It would be very important politically for the government running Cleary as a candidate in the next election to downplay the episode or obscure the details.

And, ya know, it's not like they haven't done that before.

Take a look at Dunderdale's answer again.

The trigger for the resignation was "an instance of where work was let at the site and the proper process was not followed". Dunderdale assures us all of government's commitment to the Public Tender Act.

But it took five working days - indeed the next day the legislature sat for Dunderdale to spit out the full story:

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday of last week, we realized that there had not been any pubic call for bids, tenders, or Request for Proposals. That was a very serious situation outside the Public Tender Act. As a result, there were very serious actions taken.

A complete violation of the Public Tender Act. Work done without a contract, as it turned out, let alone a tender. Dunderdale admitted to the legislature that the work had been completed and government lawyers were then trying to write a contract with the company involved after the whole business was ended.

Bond Papers went through the whole sorry business when it occurred. There's a tick tock at the end of one post that traces the evolution of what Dunderdale admitted at what points in time on the Cleary affair.

The story as it finally emerged before Christmas was substantially different from what government disclosed at the outset.

And it is dramatically different than the apparently routine business Ottenheimer described in the House on Wednesday.

Of course, when you read all of the details, as admitted in the legislature over time, go back and consider the other comments Ottenheimer made about Cleary.

It would make one think that government actually does its business by smell. If something smells bad - as this entire Cleary affair does - then they assume the public are not merely without any sense of smell, but, as the phrase goes blind, deaf, and mute as well.

The only thing Mr. Ottenheimer and his colleagues should hope for is that Cleary is soundly defeated for the nomination. Only then will this be truly put to the end it deserves.

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Offshore drillers profits rise on demand surge

Operators of offshore drill rigs are reporting substantial increases in profit in the first quarter of 2007 based on surging demand for rigs.

Net income climbed to $553 million, or $1.84 a share, from $206 million, or 61 cents, a year earlier, Houston-based Transocean said today in a statement. Revenue jumped 63 percent to a record $1.33 billion.

Decima maybe not so rogue

Decima's latest poll results show the Conservatives and Liberals in a dead heat.

Maybe Decima's results the last time they reported weren't such a rogue after all.

Maybe there's something to the latest buzz from the Hill, namely that the Conservatives had a script for a year. Now the script is finished and there is no ability to improvise.

Evidence?

The Afghan story.

There likely won't be a federal election for some time, but the advantage seems to have passed away from the Conservatives. Let's see if they can get it back.

Province to leave lucrative quotas with companies

I never professed to be a business person, Mr. Speaker, have not got a business clue in my body, never paid a payroll in my life, but even my elementary sense of business tells me there was something right about that whole process, Mr. Speaker.

Fisheries minister Tom Rideout, House of Assembly, May 1, 2007.

Deputy premier and fisheries minister Tom Rideout confirmed in the House of Assembly Tuesday that the provincial government is only interested in gaining control of Fishery Products International's groundfish quotas.

The lucrative quotas for shrimp and crab will remain with the company that purchases FPI's assets, likely Ocean Choice and High Liner.

Rideout explained the rationale in a news release:

"The top priority for our government is ensuring that maximum benefits are received," said Minister Rideout. "Unlike shrimp and scallop, which are primarily offshore factory freezer operations, a substantial component of the groundfish sector involves significant onshore employment through processing. Under current DFO policy, any Enterprise Allocation licence holder is not obligated to land their catch in the province and therefore is free to freeze at sea and send this product to other countries for processing. This is a tremendous threat to our province, and our ownership of these quotas will ensure that Newfoundland and Labrador continues to enjoy these benefits over the long-term."

The groundfish quotas produce the largest number of jobs in local processing plants, hence government's interest in them, even though groundfish is considerably less lucrative than the other quotas.

As Bond Papers noted earlier in the FPI debacle, the province is looking to ensure the maximum level of employment in processing plants, irrespective of the long-term financial viability of the operations in an industry that is already oversupplied with plants and plant workers. While Bond may have been more than a bit off in some of the other projections, in the long run that much was right: the groundfish quotas are being retained to make sure that the maximum number of people have sufficient work to qualify for federal financial assistance. That's basically the philosophy the provincial government followed the last time Rideout was fisheries minister and as much as there is evidence of the need for significant change in the fishery, Rideout's plan is to keep things much like they were.

In the legislature, Rideout admitted that he had never run a business and professed to have no specific knowledge of business. Perhaps that explains Rideout's efforts to prevent FPI from exporting undersized fish and why he is so anxious for the provincial government to retain quotas for groundfish, a portion of which simply cannot be processed economically in the province.

There's no small measure of irony - or is it hypocrisy - that for all the talking of retaining what is rightfully "ours" and for all the Premier's interest in FPI's American marketing arm, that portion of the company's portfolio will be sold off to a Nova Scotia company. For all the time Danny Williams and others spent accusing the current FPI shareholders and directors of plotting the destruction of the company, in the end, it was a combination of factors, including provincial government policy that led to the dismantling of FPI and exactly the situation Williams seemed to oppose.

On top of that, consider that changes to the FPI Act made last actually greased the skids. Most observers missed it entirely, and fish minister Rideout continues to spread the myth that the legislature must approve and breakup of FPI. Yet, as Rideout well knows, the power to approve any sale of FPI and its assets was transferred out of the hands of the individual legislators and handed to cabinet.

The deal is already done. And if cabinet hasn't blessed it yet, the crowd in charge are guaranteed to approve the sale at the earliest opportunity. That's why FPI share prices have jumped lately: there's a sign that the tortures are over and the valuable bits and pieces will be sold off.

The debate in the legislature on Bill Number One, already given first reading and so far unseen by the House, will do nothing except set up a new regime for a new company called FPI as already approved by cabinet. If cabinet didn't know the details of the arrangement, they would not have introduced the new FPI bill before any other piece of legislation in the new session.

The end result of this whole FPI mess is actually quite simple to see. A once-proud company has been rent. The marketing arm, which supported the province's fishing industry as whole, has now gone off to Nova Scotia hands. A local company has picked up some of the other assets - the lucrative ones - and the provincial government is stuck holding the poorest piece of the whole pie.

But they have the one which, to an old-fashioned politico like Rideout with nary a business clue, gives them the most political brownie points. What the provincial government actually gets of course, is a prolonged headache that comes from standing in the way of the shifts and changes needed in the fishing industry. All it took was two and a half years of agony for the ordinary workers at FPI, a considerable loss for those who, like Sanford Limited had invested in FPI planning to have it make money, and ultimately the solution it seemed no one in the province had wanted. Later this month, we will be without Fishery Products International, except in skeleton, and with its most lucrative component - the one that produced value for the industry as a whole - controlled by outside interests.

It would seem that Rideout and his supporters have a political clue comparable to his business one.

Council of Federation struggles to be relevant

The Council of the Federation, essentially the provincial premiers meeting as they always have, is trying to fend off criticism that its one day meeting in Toronto on energy and climate change was nothing more than an exercise in optics.

“I’ve got to say — to say that this is a photo-op, I have some trouble with that. I actually find the comment offensive,” said the meeting’s chair, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, when asked if the meeting was seen as a chance for the leaders to bolster their green images.

“If we wanted a photo-op we would be here in front of all the flags all together and smiling. I’m here today to indicate that the premiers are extremely concerned about this problem [climate change], they share that concern with the federal government and with the people of Canada, and we want to find solution.”

According to Williams, [Photo, right: CP, Adrian Wyld] this year's chair of the Council, the meeting served as an "awakening" and gave first ministers the chance to review a 30 page document on best practices to see what each province is doing to deal with climate change.

But as with Equalization, the premiers seem to have found some difficulty achieving any concensus except on the need for further talks. As the National Post reports, the premiers did not issue a climate change action plan as the federal government has done.

Instead, the premiers will work to develop a common energy and energy efficiency strategy, according to ctv.ca. Provinces will likely move individually in the absence of any consensus on a collective approach.

"We're not developing a climate-change plan here," Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams, who chaired the one-day session, said after the talks ended.

"What we're doing as a group of premiers is to try to make a contribution; to try to solve problems; to try to contribute to the national debate on what works and what doesn't work.

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Update: Two things. First, the picture is a new one of the Premier looking grumpy. Take as a n article of faith that every news shooter in the country will be looking for what will become the stock "Danny is grumpy" shot to illustrate future stories when...well...Danny is grumpy.

Second, the Globe story in the morning edition is headed "Climate change divides premiers". The lede sums up the problem for the Premiers:

Canada's premiers emerged divided yesterday over how to tackle climate change, with the leaders of British Columbia and Quebec pushing for a North American solution, Ontario pitching a plan that would be national in scope and Alberta rejecting both proposals.

Ok.

Well, realistically, how is that headline different from any headline ever written about any meeting of the Council of the Federation, let alone its predecessor meetings of premiers?

What doesn't divide the Premiers?

They can't even agree on how much money the federal government should give to the provinces through transfers like Equalization.

GCB launches Terra Nova program to explore new worlds of music

The Gower Community Band of St. John’s celebrates its 10th anniversary this month with two special performances and the establishment of new composition awards at Memorial University’s School of Music.

The first event is a horn recital by Bruce Bonnell, professor of horn at Central Michigan University, on Thursday evening, May 17, at Petro-Canada Hall in the School of Music. Dr. Bonnell will perform works by Mozart, Bozza, Neilson, Turner, Marais, and Glazunov, and will conduct a master-class for horn students on May 18.

Tickets are $10 each, available at Provincial Music, the Music Collection stores, or Gower Street Church Office. All proceeds support the MUN Music Scholarship Fund.

On Saturday evening, May 26, the Gower Community Band will present its 10th Anniversary Gala Concert at the D.F. Cook Recital Hall in MUN Music. The band will perform the World Premiere of a new work by renowned American composer David R. Gillingham, his Concerto for Horn and Symphonic Band, with Bruce Bonnell as soloist. The concert will also include new works by Newfoundland composers and arrangers as well as selections from the standard wind band repertoire. Proceeds from both events will support the GCB’s MUN Music Scholarship Fund.

The Gower Community Band has maintained a focus on the encouragement of new compositions by or for Newfoundland and Labrador musicians since it was formed in 1997. With its musical sibling, the Gower Youth Band, the GCB developed and introduced a series of manuscript concerts which presented original works by Newfoundland and Labrador composers. Last fall, the band travelled to Grand Falls-Windsor for a concert which featured works by central Newfoundland music educators Michael Carroll and Michael C. Snelgrove.

As a special 10th Anniversary project, the band developed its Terra Nova Program to explore new worlds of musical creativity. This program will provide annual awards to composition students at MUN Music, and also create funding for the commissioning of new works.

The development and implementation of this community cultural initiative has been made possible through the support of Petro-Canada. GCB director Edsel Bonnell says the band is “most grateful for this example of significant and effective corporate citizenship which will bring lasting future benefits.”

The Gower Community Band is an adult concert band which follows in the tradition of community service established by the 34-year old Gower Youth Band. The Gower band program was founded and is maintained by Gower Street United Church as a non-denominational community initiative.

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Biographical profiles

Bruce Bonnell, Horn

“Astonishing! … a truly breathtaking performer!”
Hans Graf, music director, Houston Symphony

A chamber music specialist, Dr. Bonnell has enjoyed a successful career as orchestral performer, soloist, clinician and pedagogue on the horn and natural horn throughout North America and Southeast Asia. [Photo: Vieri Bottazini]

Born and raised in St. John’s, he began his instrumental training in the beginners’ class of the Gower Youth Band in 1976 at the age of eight, moving quickly from trumpet to alto horn to French horn. His association with the GYB lasted more than 12 years, during which he served as player and soloist, section leader, instructor, and Associate Director. He received his undergraduate degrees in Music Education and performance from Memorial University and the Guildhall School of Music (London), his Master of Music from Northwestern University (Pi Kappa Lambda) in 1991, and a Doctor of Music at Indiana University in 2003. He was Assistant Professor of horn and theory at Indiana State University in 1997-98, and has been Assistant Professor of horn at Central Michigan University since 2000.

Dr. Bonnell’s orchestral experiences include Second Horn in the Hong Kong Philharmonic from 1991 to 1994, and Principal Horn in the Malaysian Philharmonic from 1998 to 2000 where he earned high praise for his playing from such notable maestros as Kurt Masur, Sir Neville Marriner, Kenneth Jean, David Atherton, Jan Pascal Tortelier, and Hans Graf.

Solo and chamber music highlights include the finals of the 1989 Canadian Music Competition, the 1998 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and recitals throughout North America and Southeast Asia. An enthusiastic performer of new works for horn, Dr. Bonnell premiered David Gillingham’s Baker’s Dozen at the 2001 International Horn Symposium, and Danza Breves for Horn and Percussion by José-Luis Maúrtura at the 2004 Sound Symposium in St. John’s.

As a member of the Powers Woodwind Quintet, he has toured and performed throughout the Midwestern states and received high critical acclaim for the quintet’s 2006 release Brementown Musicians on Centaur Records. His next recording project, a compilation of works for horn and flute with Vieri Bottazini, flute and Newfoundland-born Peter Green, piano is due for release in 2007.

Dr. Bonnell has also performed with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, Ottawa Symphony, Hull Chamber Orchestra, Bloomington Camerata, Pan Asian Symphony and the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra. His teachers include William Costin, Kjellrun Hestekin, Michael Hatfield, Paul Tervelt, Richard Seraphinoff and Richard Bissill.


David Gillingham, Composer

Concerto for Horn and Symphonic Band

David Gillingham earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in instrumental music education from the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh, and the Doctor of Philosophy in Music Theory/Composition from Michigan State University.

Dr. Gillingham has an international reputation for the works he has written for band and percussion. Many of these works are now considered standards in the repertoire. His commissioning schedule dates well into 2009.

His numerous awards include the 1981 DeMoulin Award for Concerto for Bass Trombone and Wind Ensemble and the 1990 International Barlow Composition (Brigham Young University) for Heroes, Lost and Fallen. Klavier, Sony and Summit Records have recorded Dr. Gillingham’s works.

His works are regularly performed by nationally recognized ensembles including the Prague Radio Orchestra, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble, The University of Georgia Bands, North Texas University Wind Ensemble, Michigan State University Wind Ensemble, Oklahoma State Wind Ensemble, University of Oklahoma Wind Ensemble, Florida State Wind Ensemble, University of Florida (Miami) Wind Ensemble, University of Illinois Symphonic Band, Illinois State Wind Symphony, University of Minnesota Wind Ensemble, Indiana University Wind Ensemble, and the University of Wisconsin Wind Ensemble. Also, internationally known artists Fred Mils (Canadian Brass), Randall Hawes (Detroit Symphony) and Charles Vernon (Chicago Symphony Orchestra) have performed works by Dr. Gillingham. Over 70 of his works for band, choir, percussion, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments are published by C. Alan, Hal Leonard, Southern Music, MMB, T.U.B.A., I.T.A., and Dorn.

Recent works by David Gillingham include Sails of Time for massed band and soloists which was premiered at the inaugural Premiering Sydney Festival in the Opera House in Sydney, Australia, a Concerto for Marimba and Wind Ensemble, and a double concerto for cello, viola and orchestra. He is currently working in his Second Symphony for Band.

Dr. Gillingham is a professor of music at Central Michigan University and the recipient of an Excellence in Teaching Award, a Summer Fellowship, a Research Professorship, and the President’s Research Investment Fund grant for his co-authorship of a proposal to establish an International Centre for New Music at Central Michigan University. He is a member of ASCAP and the recipient of the ASCAP Standard Award for Composers of Concert Music in 1996 to 2005.

The Concerto for Horn and Symphonic Band, commissioned by the Gower Community Band, is Dr. Gillingham’s first concerto for horn. His other horn solo works include Baker’s Dozen, which had its premiere in the United States with Bruce Bonnell as soloist.

Domain check

The province's health promotion website, gohealthy.ca.

Great concept.

Great execution.

Who owns the domain?

Not the provincial government.

The domain was registered in early 2006 by The Idea Factory, the company that designed the site and the health project. The registration was updated in January 2007.

The site is linked from the provincial government home page.

Of course, it is. The whole thing is a provincial government initiative.

Looks like someone forgot to the change the registration.

Fair deal of bureaucratic gobbledygook

Update: Sometime after the original post went live, the according2.ca crowd wiped out the website entirely.

There's now just a white page with some black text about a rally at noon on May 11.

The budgetary process thingy is gone (see below) and instead, we are all being encouraged to "Stand-up for Newfoundland and Labrador."

Let's see what happens in the next 10 days.

**********Original post begins:

The Giant Rally in Support of the Great Leader is taking its own sweet time getting off the ground.

If the website is any indication, the whole thing is going to die a slow and painful deal. Tons of pages aren't even up as dummys with an "under construction" note.

Including the "Rally" page itself, which, as of May 1 leads to a "page cannot be found" warning.

Then again, if you look at the objective of the whole thing, then maybe it's just as well. Someone please put the whole thing out of our misery.

Apparently, the Giant Rally is designed "to prove it's place in the Canadian budgetary process."

The "it" in there is Newfoundland and Labrador. While Bond Papers is given to its fair share of typos, it's a one-man affair. The steering committee for the Gumball Rally has produced enough typos on the front page as to be painful to the eyes. Like the objective which is "to prove it is place...".

Arrrgh.

Just think about that goal for a second.

It isn't to secure Newfoundland and Labrador's rightful place in the universe.

Nope.

It isn't aimed at getting the prime minister to fulfill his commitment to this province and to Canadians from coast to coast.

Nope.

Apparently, the steering committee's goal is nothing quite so emotive, quite so edifying.

This bunch of fellows has decided we must all band together to secure our place in something called the "Canadian budgetary process."

Are you getting all tingly yet?

Didn't think so.

Even government's own financial accountants wouldn't get misty-eyed at that idea. Talk about words sucking the life out of something.

Here's a suggestion, if the steering committee is intent on steering this whole thing for a few more days or weeks.

Just set the goal for what it is: "securing Newfoundland and Labrador squarely on the fore-tit of Sow Ottawa."

Meanwhile, while these guys are busily promoting the independence in growing more dependent on federal hand-outs, the rest of us will be figuring out how to get the province's oil and gas industry back on track.

And Steve Harper?

He's likely quaking in his boots just like he did when Sue started the Recall Harper campaign.

That one lasted...what was it?...a month, before it folded under the weight of its own uselessness.

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Update: One of the Gumball rally organizers called Bill Rowe's Crap Talk shortly after this post appeared. Peter Whittle chatted at some length with the host.

Here's a clue Peter. By excluding politicians you have denied the premier his sopabox and the chance to lead the crusade. Therefore, the Pitcher Plants have taken a dim view of your efforts. In case you haven't noticed, Peter, Bill Rowe is a pipeline straight into the Premier's inner circle. If there's a line to be spread, odds are good Bill has it.

Therefore, he is branding your idea silly because it doesn't showcase his patron.

Now the rally is still a waste of time, but at least if you listen to the Premier's unofficial spokesperson, maybe you'd get a clue as to why the whole Rally hasn't been getting much support.

People would come to see Danny.

Would they come to see you, Ward and Ron?

Chavez seizes last private oil fields

Shortly after midnight Monday/Tuesday, Venezuelan soldiers moved in and state oil company workers in hard hats raised the Venezuelan flag over four oil fields in the Orinoco Basin.

In Orinoco, Chavez says the state will take a minimum 60 percent stake in the operations, but he is urging the foreign companies to stay and help develop the fields. They have until June 26 to negotiate the terms, including compensation and reduced stakes.

The companies appear to be taking a tough stand, demanding conditions - and presumably compensation - to convince them that Venezuela will be a good place to do business.

In a related development, Venezuela will be leaving the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as part of Chavez's efforts to move the country away from capitalism. Chavez is also nationaliizing electricity production in the country and has threatened to seize private hispotals if health care costs continue to rise.

There are some limmits to Chavez's nationalisation. The state-owned oil company reportedly needs the continued involvement of private multi-natyions such as Chevron and ExxonMobil since the company lacks the expertise to fully exploit Venezuela's oil fields.

Mercopress, an independent news agency in Latin America, describes Tuesday's developments this way:

But in spite of the bombast, this “nationalisation” is in fact the start of a renegotiation of contractual terms that will more than likely leave PdVSA with a majority stake.

The international oil companies – ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Total, BP and Statoil – are being faced with several key issues: whether they will retain a sufficient stake to make staying worthwhile; how they are to be compensated for their reduced share; and whether they have a hope of exploiting reserves technically owned by Venezuela.

The market value of the companies’ assets in the Orinoco Belt is about $15bn (€11bn, £7.5bn) meaning $4bn-$5bn is at stake, although analysts say compensation is likely to be less given Venezuela’s threat to pay only book value.

Americans open new offshore leases

The United States interior department announced today it had open lease sales on 48 million acres of offshore land in the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Alaska and the central Atlantic continental shelf off Virginia.

Interior secretary Dirk Kempthorne said the 21 parcels could yield as much as 10 billion barrels of oil and 45 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The total estimated potential oil reserves offshore Newfoundland and Labrador is 10 billion barrels.

The official news release described the five year outer continental shelf exploration program as follows:

There is no leasing proposed within 125 miles of the Florida coast or east of the military mission line in the Eastern Gulf. The program includes a Central Gulf sale in 2007 that involves a portion of the Sale 181 area and, as mandated by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006, one lease sale in the Eastern Gulf in 2008.

The Act, signed by President George W. Bush on December 20, 2006, requires oil and gas leasing in a portion of the area known as the “Sale 181 Area,” consisting of 2,574,823 million acres, of which 2,028,730 is in the Central Gulf and about 546,093 acres is in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. The proposed sale area “181 South” consists of 5,762,620 acres. The total of new areas in the Gulf offered under the proposed program is 8,337,443 acres.

The leasing program schedules eight sales in Alaska: two in the Beaufort Sea; three in the Chukchi Sea; up to two in Cook Inlet; and one in the North Aleutian Basin – in an area of about 5.6 million acres that was previously offered during Lease Sale 92 in 1985. There are currently no existing leases in the North Aleutian Basin. These areas would be subject to environmental reviews, including public comment, and extensive consultation with state and local governments and tribal organizations before any lease sale proceeds.

The release included a backgrounder and fact sheet.

While some of the areas included in the interior department program would be new to exploration, the Gulf of Mexico lands are adjacent to a well-established oil and gas producing region with considerable infrastructure. As well, the Gulf Of Mexico is close to some of the largest refineries in the United States.

All of this increases competition for exploration attention in comparison to the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore. The local offshore holds and estimated 0.4% of the world's estimated oil and gas reserves.

An analysis of global trends in exploration were linked in this post on Australian energy development. The new head of Chevron discusses his company's global plans in the story and the podcast linked from this post.

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March-ing toward oblivion

News that former ombudsman Fraser March might run for the Liberals in the next provincial general election should leave the party brass cold, especially in light of this story from Monday's Telegram.

Liberal Party president Danny Dumaresque is quoted in the Telegram saying, among other things, that polls don't bother him at all especially in light of the 1989 general election. He also claims there are a "number of prospective candidates of 'significant stature' who are coming forward for the next election".

Well, if Fraser March is an example of the candidates Dumaresque is turning up, better he focus his attention on something other than media calls. Apparently, the only thing Dumaresque has done so far is cause people to wonder who is actually leading the Liberals.

Normally, the party president is a back room job, a behind-the-scenes organizer. You know. The kind of thing a political party needs a scant five months before an election.

But Dumaresque appears on the airwaves and in the papers seemingly as often as party leader Gerry Reid. In the meantime, no star candidates have emerged. No prospects have been rumoured.

There's a convention coming up in June. So far little has been heard of it. Perhaps Dumaresque could have talked about that as another key step in the road to the fall election, rather than chat about the government's budget. Maybe there was something could have talked about instead of his skill at whistling past the graveyard.

Is March the sort of top notch candidate Dumaresque has in mind? Sadly, there isn't anybody else that Dumaresque has been able to offer up, so most voters will draw their own conclusions.

Bottom line is that Dumaresque talks a lot but his claims produce nothing good.

Results count.

Better for Danny Dumaresque to keep himself out of the news media. Better for him to stay in the back room and sort things out. Let results be the measure of his ability.

So far the combination of Dumaresque's unsubstantiated claims and stories like the March one make people wonder why we are even bothering to have an election in the fall anyway.

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Caped crusader considered for new Quebec LG

At least one report has it that Marcel Masse, a former Progressive Conservative defence minister under Brian Mulroney, has been kicked around as a potential candidate to take on the job of Quebec's Lieutenant Governor.

Masse was known for his love of maple syrup and opera music, as well as his penchant for wearing a cape to work on occasion.

Masse was the minister of national defence when a contract for more than a billion dollars was awarded to Bell Helicopter of Montreal for acquisition of the Griffon helicopter. Numerous, serious deficiencies in the purchase and in the helicopter were noted by the federal auditor general in a 1998 review.

Obviously, M. Masse would be an inspirational choice.

Sask NDP in expense claim flap

The Saskatchewan Party is calling for the resignation of a New Democrat cabinet minister amid allegations a caucus staffer admitted to inflating expense account claims 15 years ago.

NDP caucus chief of staff Jim Fodey resigned Saturday after admitting that he had given NDP House Leader Glenn Hagel incomplete and inaccurate information on the matter. An NDP caucus staffer was accused of pocketing $6,000 by altering expense claims. According to the Globe and Mail,

Mr. Hagel said last week that the party had turned over all of its information to police regarding the investigation.

But Regina Police Chief Cal Johnston says his department wasn't given important documents, such as the cheques or an alleged confession note, until 1994.

"It would appear from our files that we were told in 1992 that there was no cause for concern," Chief Johnston told a news conference Friday evening.

Adult sudden death syndrome?

Apparently it struck a judge being held in jail in China.

Hmmm.

Adult sudden death syndrome?

Bullet to the back of the skull.

Is that a cause, if not in this case then in others?

Falling down a flight of stairs, while handcuffed and shackled?

That would likely cause it, too.

Turns out ASDS is not an usual idea. But it usually manifests in young people and is linked to a previously undiagnosed cardiac condition.

Then again, ASDS could be a clever way of describing an old truism: it's not the flying through the air that kills someone falling off a building.

It's the sudden stop at the end.

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Budget Fibre Questions

Listed in the Estimates for Innovation, Trade and Rural Development (InTRD), is a $10 million line item to "provide for the purchase of fibre optic strands forming part of a new, fully redundant fibre optic telecommunications link along two diverse routes which will connect with national carriers in mainland Canada."

The original estimate for this project was $15 million "over the next two fiscal years", so this line item raises a few questions:

1. Has the amount been reduced to $10 million from the original $15 million? If so why? One of the points raised in the consultant's assessment for this project was that price quoted for the quantity of fibre-optic cable didn't seem to mesh with current market prices.

The consultant recommended increasing the amount of fibre. Buuuuut, the provincial government might have elected to reduce the quantity or bring the price paid in line with the quantity purchased. At the same time they might have opted to increase the quantity of fibre-optic cable being purchased.

2. Has the amount been raised so that the investment will be $10 million this year and an unknown amount next year?

3. Will there be a $5.0 million appropriation next year? It's likely the project is still on track with the original estimate, with two-thirds being committed the first year and the remainder in the last year.