The latest report from the Auditor General into travel claims and other expenses by the province's Citizen's Representative (CR) makes it pretty clear that, among other things:
- there is a lack of control over cellular telephones within the Office of the Citizen's Representative resulting in large bills for cellular use outside normal office hours; and,
- the CR's problems with providing accurate travel claims is much worse than originally presented, including a claim for travel across the province to Port aux Basques when cellular telephone records indicate the cell phone was in Nova Scotia and St. John's.
In the ordinary course of things - that is had Mr. March owned up to the obvious problems - these specific claims might not warrant removing the CR from office. They would warrant a reprimand and imposition of much tighter controls on spending public funds within the CR's office.
However...
Fraser March's aggressive - and excessive - attack on the Auditor General and others have raised this issue to a much greater level. His unwillingness to be bound by legitimate rules is too much to tolerate any further. The public deserves better.
Mr. March's credibility is now in doubt, as is his fundamental commitment to spending public money appropriately and with proper accountability. His earlier attacks confirm that Mr. March is unwilling to be accountable while supposedly holding others to account for their actions as he is charged with doing as the citizen's representative.
There is no room in public office for any level of hypocrisy, let alone that embodied in Mr. March's behaviour as the citizen's representative.
Period.
There has been enough of this matter strewn across the news media.
Now is the time to end it.
If Mr. March has an ounce of integrity, he will resign immediately and without further explanation or equivocation.
If he will not resign, then he should be fired forthwith with no expectation of severance or other compensation beyond the minimum provided in his employment contract.
If anyone needs an ethical benchmark here, look at Boeing or check out the federal government standards. Heck when it comes to real accountability, the whole provincial government here could do well to copy the example set in Ottawa.
There is no excuse for further delay.
07 March 2005
04 March 2005
More by-election bull****
Hot on the heels of the announcement by defence minister Bill Graham that the feds are spending $10.0 million to resurface the Goose Bay airfield, Stephen Harper flopped into town with a promise of his own.
I'll leave it to you to judge which is more pathetic: an old-fashioned grab for votes with pavement or total bullshit promises that the politician making them knows he can't keep?
Here's the CBC Radio version of the story and Harper's commitment:
"Goose Bay should have a long-run military operational purpose and we'd obviously consult the town and DND on what that would be," Harper said.
Problem is, Stephen, there isn't an operational purpose for Goose Bay within the Canadian Forces.
Not a sausage.
Bugger all.
Even with the Cold War raging in the 1980s the major mission for Goose Bay was training somebody else's air force. Since then far bigger brains than yours and mine, Stephen, have tackled this problem and failed to find a Canadian operational need for Goose Bay as a military base.
So go ahead and consult, Stephen. Everyone in Goose Bay knows your promise is worth less than a pile of pine marten dung.
While we are at it, let's give you some more good advice.
CBC quotes Harper saying this: "The base doesn't need asphalt," he [Harper] said.
Talk about a Homer Simpson moment.
D'oh.
The base does need pavement, Stephen. I know what your speechwriter was trying to say, but he or she failed miserably. The statement as you read it shows quite clearly that you have absolutely no idea what is going on in Goose Bay at all, in any meaningful way. Now certainly Con and Tory partisans will accuse me of all sorts of heinous crimes - like being a Liberal - but, d'uh - why not accuse me of being a guy while you are at it - , and more importantly, what does that have to do with Harper's fumble?
Harper should have just pledged to work with the community to identify new opportunities in Goose Bay. He could have talked about something modest but workable, like making Goose the centre for extreme testing and training.
He could have done anything except mouth the vacant words he littered on the cracked tarmac.
Which is more pathetic when it comes to politics?
Which breeds greater cynicism among voters?
You make your own choice.
For me, at least I know that when the Liberals are done, the runways, ramps and taxiways at Goose Bay will be ready for another 20 years of aircraft movements.
Something tells me I can't get the same practical mileage from Harper's speech no matter how finely I shred the paper on which it was scribbled.
I'll leave it to you to judge which is more pathetic: an old-fashioned grab for votes with pavement or total bullshit promises that the politician making them knows he can't keep?
Here's the CBC Radio version of the story and Harper's commitment:
"Goose Bay should have a long-run military operational purpose and we'd obviously consult the town and DND on what that would be," Harper said.
Problem is, Stephen, there isn't an operational purpose for Goose Bay within the Canadian Forces.
Not a sausage.
Bugger all.
Even with the Cold War raging in the 1980s the major mission for Goose Bay was training somebody else's air force. Since then far bigger brains than yours and mine, Stephen, have tackled this problem and failed to find a Canadian operational need for Goose Bay as a military base.
So go ahead and consult, Stephen. Everyone in Goose Bay knows your promise is worth less than a pile of pine marten dung.
While we are at it, let's give you some more good advice.
CBC quotes Harper saying this: "The base doesn't need asphalt," he [Harper] said.
Talk about a Homer Simpson moment.
D'oh.
The base does need pavement, Stephen. I know what your speechwriter was trying to say, but he or she failed miserably. The statement as you read it shows quite clearly that you have absolutely no idea what is going on in Goose Bay at all, in any meaningful way. Now certainly Con and Tory partisans will accuse me of all sorts of heinous crimes - like being a Liberal - but, d'uh - why not accuse me of being a guy while you are at it - , and more importantly, what does that have to do with Harper's fumble?
Harper should have just pledged to work with the community to identify new opportunities in Goose Bay. He could have talked about something modest but workable, like making Goose the centre for extreme testing and training.
He could have done anything except mouth the vacant words he littered on the cracked tarmac.
Which is more pathetic when it comes to politics?
Which breeds greater cynicism among voters?
You make your own choice.
For me, at least I know that when the Liberals are done, the runways, ramps and taxiways at Goose Bay will be ready for another 20 years of aircraft movements.
Something tells me I can't get the same practical mileage from Harper's speech no matter how finely I shred the paper on which it was scribbled.
Rompkey and missile defence
Bill Rompkey is still pushing an X band radar system for Goose Bay.
Bravo, Bill.
In this CBC Radio story, defence minister Bill Graham even says kind things about the idea, like"we'll look at it seriously."
[Psst, Mr. Harper. Pay attention to how politicians speak to local audiences before a by-election.]
Having already pumped out a raft of stuff about x band radars and Goose Bay, let me just frame up this scenario for you and see if it works for you:
The Americans haven't made a formal proposal to put anything at Goose Bay because.... well...they don't need Goose Bay.
NORAD doesn't really need an X band system at Goose Bay since they can access data from Thule and Fylingdales Moor (two BMEWS sites in Greenland and the UK).
But.....
Canada needs to be seen to be doing something for North American defence...
and...
there isn't much else they can see doing at Goose.
Therefore,
the feds will spend time and energy studying Rompkey's suggestion. If it looks like it might have an impact on the Americans or we need to give the zoomies some consolation prize for not buying new planes to fly, we'll drop the $500 million on the new facility and operate it largely ourselves through the Canadian Forces.
If it doesn't matter a row of beans, then we will at least have kept people busy thinking about the possibility of maybe building a new radar system. By that time, something might have come up for Goose Bay.
Bravo, Bill.
In this CBC Radio story, defence minister Bill Graham even says kind things about the idea, like"we'll look at it seriously."
[Psst, Mr. Harper. Pay attention to how politicians speak to local audiences before a by-election.]
Having already pumped out a raft of stuff about x band radars and Goose Bay, let me just frame up this scenario for you and see if it works for you:
The Americans haven't made a formal proposal to put anything at Goose Bay because.... well...they don't need Goose Bay.
NORAD doesn't really need an X band system at Goose Bay since they can access data from Thule and Fylingdales Moor (two BMEWS sites in Greenland and the UK).
But.....
Canada needs to be seen to be doing something for North American defence...
and...
there isn't much else they can see doing at Goose.
Therefore,
the feds will spend time and energy studying Rompkey's suggestion. If it looks like it might have an impact on the Americans or we need to give the zoomies some consolation prize for not buying new planes to fly, we'll drop the $500 million on the new facility and operate it largely ourselves through the Canadian Forces.
If it doesn't matter a row of beans, then we will at least have kept people busy thinking about the possibility of maybe building a new radar system. By that time, something might have come up for Goose Bay.
03 March 2005
Local soldiers train at Fort Pickett, Virginia
Approximately 140 reserve soldiers from St. John's left today for a training exercise in Fort Pickett Virginia.
The soldiers are from First battalion Royal Newfoundland Regiment, 56 Field Engineer Squadron, 36 Service Battalion and 728 Communications Squadron. Some local news media have also taken the chance to accompany the soldiers on the exercise.
Fort Pickett is an integrated manoeuver training area. The Newfoundland soldiers will be reportedly focusing their training on operations in urban environments. Like most major army training areas these days, Fort Pickett has a large, purpose-built section of streets to give soldiers realistic experience in working in urban areas.
While there are live fire ranges available as well, the Newfoundlanders will have the chance to work with weapons effects simulators, which have been used in the US military for the past 20 years but which are only now coming into service in the Canadian Forces.
The biggest value of this training will come from the variety of equipment available and the experience of soldiers with actual operational experience overseas.
For those wanting more information on Fort Pickett, here are some links:
1. fortpickett.net is an official site containing a comprehensive overview of the base, its facilities and the types of training possible. There are plenty of pictures and maps.
2. Global Security maintains a profile of the base as well.
The soldiers are from First battalion Royal Newfoundland Regiment, 56 Field Engineer Squadron, 36 Service Battalion and 728 Communications Squadron. Some local news media have also taken the chance to accompany the soldiers on the exercise.
Fort Pickett is an integrated manoeuver training area. The Newfoundland soldiers will be reportedly focusing their training on operations in urban environments. Like most major army training areas these days, Fort Pickett has a large, purpose-built section of streets to give soldiers realistic experience in working in urban areas.
While there are live fire ranges available as well, the Newfoundlanders will have the chance to work with weapons effects simulators, which have been used in the US military for the past 20 years but which are only now coming into service in the Canadian Forces.
The biggest value of this training will come from the variety of equipment available and the experience of soldiers with actual operational experience overseas.
For those wanting more information on Fort Pickett, here are some links:
1. fortpickett.net is an official site containing a comprehensive overview of the base, its facilities and the types of training possible. There are plenty of pictures and maps.
2. Global Security maintains a profile of the base as well.
Sino Energy timelines and national security
Since it is now past Wednesday, last weekend's Independent is available online and this week the format has caught up with the hardcopy version.
There's a story by Jeff Ducharme called "Pulling the plug" that argues, among other things, that sanctions against a member of the Sino-Energy consortium may bar that group from developing the Lower Churchill, if there was to be any hope of selling the project's electrical power to the United States. Under a deal signed with the provincial government, Sino-Energy has access to any and all information held by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro related to the Lower Churchill project.
As Jeff notes:
**The China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation [CMEC] is part of the Sino Energy consortium that has expressed interest in developing the lower Churchill and its total 2,824 megawatts of electricity. The province signed a memorandum of understanding with the consortium in 2004.
The Chinese state-run company has been sanctioned by the U.S. government for selling components used to make and develop weapons of mass destruction. [Actually, it was guidance systems and other components related to ballistic and anti-shipping missiles. EGH]
“There’d only be an issue if this could possibly be construed as an import into the United States that (the Chinese company) produces,” the State Department official tells The Independent on condition of anonymity. “We’d simply bar the import of that product into the United States.”**
Some of you may recall that the sanctions were revealed locally by The Telegram where reporters did a simple search of the Internet. In a reaction comment, the Premier speculated about mysterious leaks from Sino-Energy competitors. Sinister plots are sometimes part of Danny Williams' stock effort to deflect attention away from an issue, in this case the complete failure of anyone in the provincial government to google CMEC and see what emerged. These conspiracies usually turn out to be figments of his imagination and in this case, having spoken with the reporters who broke the story, I am confident there was no leak nor was there any plot. According to Ducharme, a request for a copy of the report from a Montreal law firm to investigate the issue is being withheld by the government under a claim of solicitor-client privilege.
That background makes humourous the comment by natural resources minister Ed Byrne in Ducharme's piece that the government will exercise "due diligence" when evaluating proposals to develop the Lower Churchill. Proposals are due no later than 31 March 2005.
That aspect to one side for a moment, no one else seems to have noticed that, if everything worked out the right way for the provincial government on the Lower Churchill and efforts to attract the Americans to Goose Bay, there would be an extremely significant security issue in Labrador. Imagine having a Chinese state-owned enterprise with its own personnel coming and going right next to a key radar system in the American ballistic missile defence system.
Here's a link to a report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) on foreign espionage in Canada in 2003. I'll exerpt the bit that is referring, obliquely, to countries like China:
"Several sectors of the Canadian economy are considered sensitive and likely targets of foreign interest, including: aerospace, biotechnology, chemicals, communications, information technology, mining and metallurgy, nuclear energy, oil and gas, and environmental technologies. Certain foreign governments direct their departments, state-owned corporations and intelligence services to engage in economic espionage against Canada."
China is well known as a country which engages extensively in economic espionage. China was also a key arms supplier to both Iraq and the former Yugoslavia. It is highly likely that sensitive intelligence gathered during the 1991 Gulf War by Iraqi air defence was relayed through China to Yugoslavia and resulted in the shooting down of an American F-117 aircraft during operations related to Kosovo in 1999. That's a whole other story, but there should be no doubt that China is a country of significant interest to Canadian security officials. Since the BMD system is directed at countering weapons systems owned by countries that are customers of Chinese defence industries, any opportunity by China to gather hard intelligence on the system would surely be welcome. What better excuse to provide cover than to be working on a hydro-electric project right next door, in a remote part of Canada, far from North Korea or Iran.
All this leads me to a simple set of observations, since Ducharme makes a couple of errors in dates in his piece as to when the Sino-Energy deal was signed and when it was made public.
Let's start with a simple timeline I pulled together last fall, solely related to Sino-Energy. It is based on the documents released by government at the time, contemporary media interviews by the Premier and Minister Byrne and comments by ousted hydro director Danny Dumaresque in October. Here it is, in point form:
January 2004
- Government begins discussions with Sino-Energy consortium.
20 May 2004
- Ed Byrne is asked in a House resource committee meeting if "any discussions" are underway related to Lower Churchill. Byrne responds: “No”.
21 May 2004
- Byrne signs confidentiality agreement with Sino Energy. No representative from Hydro signs the agreement.
?? June 2004
- Government signs MOU with Sino Energy allowing disclosure of all information related to Lower Churchill. CEO Bill Wells signs on behalf of Hydro.
- No public disclosure of MOU. Confidentiality agreement provides government can disclose existence of MOU at its discretion.
25 June 2004
- Hydro board receives request for $1.8 million for Labrador Hydro Project office as a last minute addition to the agenda. Money is to cover costs up to end August 2004. No other information on the purpose of the request is provided as the LHP office reports directly to the Premier. Board advised LHP office can continue to operate until that period without additional money since it has funds left from FY 2003.
- Hydro Board defers decision; instructs Chairman to write to Min Natural Resources seeking further information.
- No information provided to Board on Sino Energy by CEO Bill Wells, according to Danny Dumaresque.
18 July 2004
- Letter to Min Byrne from Board Chairman
28 July 2004
- In a surprise move (since none of this was yet in the public domain), Premier discloses during media scrum that government has signed MOU with an unnamed company to explore development of Lower Churchill using a route that does not include Quebec. (MOU makes no reference to this aspect.)
August 2004
- Two new members named to Hydro Board. No information on Sino Energy provided to Board.
20 September 2004
- Premier publicly announces appointment of two new board members to Hydro as well as a new chairman (Dean MacDonald). Announces two members removed from Board.
- Premier releases Sino Energy MOU and Confidentiality Agreement
- Premier releases draft agreement with Quebec negotiated by Grimes government.
Let me be absolutely clear about one thing. I am not stating nor am I implying that there is anything criminal in all this. I just find the entire matter of Sino Energy to be shrouded in a certain level of misinformation that seems highly unusual, if not peculiar.
Second, it is astonishing if not appalling that no one in the provincial government appears to have made any inquiries regarding CMEC. The google search is a minor thing. Provincial officials can easily make confidential inquiries of the police and security services, especially when dealing with a state-owned enterprise from a country known to engage in industrial and other types of intelligence gathering. CSIS does have an office in St. John's, the last time I checked.
Third, it is also astonishing that this confidential agreement could have been signed and kept secret for two months. There was no compelling reason for the Premier to unveil the memorandum of understanding when he did; that he did so raises questions as to why he did it then and not several months beforehand.
Fourth, given that Ed Byrne told the House resource committee in May 2004 that government intended to solicit proposals on the Lower Churchill later that year, it is extremely odd that the provincial government would provide Sino Energy with extensive information - access to anything on the project - and months of lead time to prepare a proposal.
Ducharme's story only touched the very surface of this story. Maybe somebody will dig a bit deeper. Either there is more to the Sino Energy story than meets the eye or I am having an Emily Litella moment (Oh, never mind.)
I just can't shake the sense that something is missing from this Chinese puzzle.
There's a story by Jeff Ducharme called "Pulling the plug" that argues, among other things, that sanctions against a member of the Sino-Energy consortium may bar that group from developing the Lower Churchill, if there was to be any hope of selling the project's electrical power to the United States. Under a deal signed with the provincial government, Sino-Energy has access to any and all information held by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro related to the Lower Churchill project.
As Jeff notes:
**The China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation [CMEC] is part of the Sino Energy consortium that has expressed interest in developing the lower Churchill and its total 2,824 megawatts of electricity. The province signed a memorandum of understanding with the consortium in 2004.
The Chinese state-run company has been sanctioned by the U.S. government for selling components used to make and develop weapons of mass destruction. [Actually, it was guidance systems and other components related to ballistic and anti-shipping missiles. EGH]
“There’d only be an issue if this could possibly be construed as an import into the United States that (the Chinese company) produces,” the State Department official tells The Independent on condition of anonymity. “We’d simply bar the import of that product into the United States.”**
Some of you may recall that the sanctions were revealed locally by The Telegram where reporters did a simple search of the Internet. In a reaction comment, the Premier speculated about mysterious leaks from Sino-Energy competitors. Sinister plots are sometimes part of Danny Williams' stock effort to deflect attention away from an issue, in this case the complete failure of anyone in the provincial government to google CMEC and see what emerged. These conspiracies usually turn out to be figments of his imagination and in this case, having spoken with the reporters who broke the story, I am confident there was no leak nor was there any plot. According to Ducharme, a request for a copy of the report from a Montreal law firm to investigate the issue is being withheld by the government under a claim of solicitor-client privilege.
That background makes humourous the comment by natural resources minister Ed Byrne in Ducharme's piece that the government will exercise "due diligence" when evaluating proposals to develop the Lower Churchill. Proposals are due no later than 31 March 2005.
That aspect to one side for a moment, no one else seems to have noticed that, if everything worked out the right way for the provincial government on the Lower Churchill and efforts to attract the Americans to Goose Bay, there would be an extremely significant security issue in Labrador. Imagine having a Chinese state-owned enterprise with its own personnel coming and going right next to a key radar system in the American ballistic missile defence system.
Here's a link to a report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) on foreign espionage in Canada in 2003. I'll exerpt the bit that is referring, obliquely, to countries like China:
"Several sectors of the Canadian economy are considered sensitive and likely targets of foreign interest, including: aerospace, biotechnology, chemicals, communications, information technology, mining and metallurgy, nuclear energy, oil and gas, and environmental technologies. Certain foreign governments direct their departments, state-owned corporations and intelligence services to engage in economic espionage against Canada."
China is well known as a country which engages extensively in economic espionage. China was also a key arms supplier to both Iraq and the former Yugoslavia. It is highly likely that sensitive intelligence gathered during the 1991 Gulf War by Iraqi air defence was relayed through China to Yugoslavia and resulted in the shooting down of an American F-117 aircraft during operations related to Kosovo in 1999. That's a whole other story, but there should be no doubt that China is a country of significant interest to Canadian security officials. Since the BMD system is directed at countering weapons systems owned by countries that are customers of Chinese defence industries, any opportunity by China to gather hard intelligence on the system would surely be welcome. What better excuse to provide cover than to be working on a hydro-electric project right next door, in a remote part of Canada, far from North Korea or Iran.
All this leads me to a simple set of observations, since Ducharme makes a couple of errors in dates in his piece as to when the Sino-Energy deal was signed and when it was made public.
Let's start with a simple timeline I pulled together last fall, solely related to Sino-Energy. It is based on the documents released by government at the time, contemporary media interviews by the Premier and Minister Byrne and comments by ousted hydro director Danny Dumaresque in October. Here it is, in point form:
January 2004
- Government begins discussions with Sino-Energy consortium.
20 May 2004
- Ed Byrne is asked in a House resource committee meeting if "any discussions" are underway related to Lower Churchill. Byrne responds: “No”.
21 May 2004
- Byrne signs confidentiality agreement with Sino Energy. No representative from Hydro signs the agreement.
?? June 2004
- Government signs MOU with Sino Energy allowing disclosure of all information related to Lower Churchill. CEO Bill Wells signs on behalf of Hydro.
- No public disclosure of MOU. Confidentiality agreement provides government can disclose existence of MOU at its discretion.
25 June 2004
- Hydro board receives request for $1.8 million for Labrador Hydro Project office as a last minute addition to the agenda. Money is to cover costs up to end August 2004. No other information on the purpose of the request is provided as the LHP office reports directly to the Premier. Board advised LHP office can continue to operate until that period without additional money since it has funds left from FY 2003.
- Hydro Board defers decision; instructs Chairman to write to Min Natural Resources seeking further information.
- No information provided to Board on Sino Energy by CEO Bill Wells, according to Danny Dumaresque.
18 July 2004
- Letter to Min Byrne from Board Chairman
28 July 2004
- In a surprise move (since none of this was yet in the public domain), Premier discloses during media scrum that government has signed MOU with an unnamed company to explore development of Lower Churchill using a route that does not include Quebec. (MOU makes no reference to this aspect.)
August 2004
- Two new members named to Hydro Board. No information on Sino Energy provided to Board.
20 September 2004
- Premier publicly announces appointment of two new board members to Hydro as well as a new chairman (Dean MacDonald). Announces two members removed from Board.
- Premier releases Sino Energy MOU and Confidentiality Agreement
- Premier releases draft agreement with Quebec negotiated by Grimes government.
Let me be absolutely clear about one thing. I am not stating nor am I implying that there is anything criminal in all this. I just find the entire matter of Sino Energy to be shrouded in a certain level of misinformation that seems highly unusual, if not peculiar.
Second, it is astonishing if not appalling that no one in the provincial government appears to have made any inquiries regarding CMEC. The google search is a minor thing. Provincial officials can easily make confidential inquiries of the police and security services, especially when dealing with a state-owned enterprise from a country known to engage in industrial and other types of intelligence gathering. CSIS does have an office in St. John's, the last time I checked.
Third, it is also astonishing that this confidential agreement could have been signed and kept secret for two months. There was no compelling reason for the Premier to unveil the memorandum of understanding when he did; that he did so raises questions as to why he did it then and not several months beforehand.
Fourth, given that Ed Byrne told the House resource committee in May 2004 that government intended to solicit proposals on the Lower Churchill later that year, it is extremely odd that the provincial government would provide Sino Energy with extensive information - access to anything on the project - and months of lead time to prepare a proposal.
Ducharme's story only touched the very surface of this story. Maybe somebody will dig a bit deeper. Either there is more to the Sino Energy story than meets the eye or I am having an Emily Litella moment (Oh, never mind.)
I just can't shake the sense that something is missing from this Chinese puzzle.
02 March 2005
The smell of a by-election ...
in Newfoundland and Labrador is often the smell of new pavement.
Over at VOCM, they are reporting what I said a few days ago: an announcement at Goose Bay smells like pavement. Well today, Defence minister Bill Graham announced a project to resurface the runways, taxiways and ramps at Goose Bay with a reported cost of $10.0 million.
The work is definitely needed. But it is still pavement or asphalt or tarmacadam, as was sometimes used for airfields. (Now you know where the phrase "tarmac" comes from, as in "the plane is on the tarmac".)
There is a by-election coming up.
And so far, no one has come to grips with the problem of future economic opportunities at Goose Bay.
The sarcastic bugger in me would suggest a clock factory so everyone can keep hearing time tick away.
Over at VOCM, they are reporting what I said a few days ago: an announcement at Goose Bay smells like pavement. Well today, Defence minister Bill Graham announced a project to resurface the runways, taxiways and ramps at Goose Bay with a reported cost of $10.0 million.
The work is definitely needed. But it is still pavement or asphalt or tarmacadam, as was sometimes used for airfields. (Now you know where the phrase "tarmac" comes from, as in "the plane is on the tarmac".)
There is a by-election coming up.
And so far, no one has come to grips with the problem of future economic opportunities at Goose Bay.
The sarcastic bugger in me would suggest a clock factory so everyone can keep hearing time tick away.
Flogging a dead horse... err...Goose
A faithful reader of these electronic scribblings has brought my attention to a website containing a listing of news stories related to the ballistic missile defence project.
It would seem that events last fall have knocked Goose Bay off the list of likely sites for a new radar installation. That is, off the list unless Canada wanted to pick up the tab on its own. Briefings reported in stories by David Pugliese in the Citizen yesterday and today may actually be nothing more than sales pitches by Raytheon, not official US government proposals. (If this is true, then people have really been getting worked up for nothing. )
The Yorkshire (UK) Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament chapter deserves thanks for keeping everyone informed. Here's the link to their homepage.
Then try the campaign page of news articles devoted to missile defence in Scandinavia.
One story, dating from last August notes that the US and Denmark have updated the 1951 Defence of Greenland Agreement to include installation of new radar systems at Thule (pronounced thoo-lee) to support the ballistic missile defence program. Interestingly, this agreement may give the US the right to install interceptor missiles at Thule. The plan is reported to involve installing x-band radar systems.
Another story from Nunavut quotes a Canadian Forces officer as saying this decision makes it almost certain that no BMD systems will be built anywhere in northern Canada. (Take that, Bembridge scholars.)
There are several radar systems involved in this including upgrading of the existing BMEWS (ballistic missile early warning system), pronounced like "be muse". An earlier posting on the Yorkshire CND site covers this. This link to Raytheon gives a very brief description of the BMEWS upgrade.
Nostalgia moment: all these acronyms and talk of ballistic missiles takes me back to my undergraduate thesis on Soviet defence policy.
It would seem that events last fall have knocked Goose Bay off the list of likely sites for a new radar installation. That is, off the list unless Canada wanted to pick up the tab on its own. Briefings reported in stories by David Pugliese in the Citizen yesterday and today may actually be nothing more than sales pitches by Raytheon, not official US government proposals. (If this is true, then people have really been getting worked up for nothing. )
The Yorkshire (UK) Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament chapter deserves thanks for keeping everyone informed. Here's the link to their homepage.
Then try the campaign page of news articles devoted to missile defence in Scandinavia.
One story, dating from last August notes that the US and Denmark have updated the 1951 Defence of Greenland Agreement to include installation of new radar systems at Thule (pronounced thoo-lee) to support the ballistic missile defence program. Interestingly, this agreement may give the US the right to install interceptor missiles at Thule. The plan is reported to involve installing x-band radar systems.
Another story from Nunavut quotes a Canadian Forces officer as saying this decision makes it almost certain that no BMD systems will be built anywhere in northern Canada. (Take that, Bembridge scholars.)
There are several radar systems involved in this including upgrading of the existing BMEWS (ballistic missile early warning system), pronounced like "be muse". An earlier posting on the Yorkshire CND site covers this. This link to Raytheon gives a very brief description of the BMEWS upgrade.
Nostalgia moment: all these acronyms and talk of ballistic missiles takes me back to my undergraduate thesis on Soviet defence policy.
Tobin: poor man's Rambo
Check out a CanWest story today on memoirs of a senior federal official involved in the turbot confrontation with Spain a decade ago.
It's also in the Telly under the title "Memoir reveals the war behind the Turbot War".
The account here sounds about right. I heard Brian Tobin recounting this whole affair a year or so after he came back to Newfoundland. He was definitely getting off on enthralling his mostly youngish audience the tale. In the way Tobin told it at the time he seemed to feel like the whole thing gave him some macho leader image.
Fact is, he was nothing of the sort; his whole presentation was more like the juvenile posing of some kid retelling the gory bits of some Rambo movie than the story of someone who had been there. "Oh man, you should have seen it. Blam. Blam. Powy. It was gross, man. Cool."
At the time Tobin was pumping himself up, I had friends of mine who had shot at others and been shot at in anger. A bunch more were set to go overseas and even today, I have friends in different, dangerous parts of the globe. Over the years, I have talked at length to people who have been in real danger and the people who sent them there.
The last thing any of them do is whoop and pose and thump their chests. Often they are closer to tears with the gravity of the situation they faced.
The only thing that came clear to me hearing that story was an unshakeable conviction that Tobin wasn't the real thing. He gave absolutely no sense at all of appreciating the seriousness of the situation at the time, of the very real possibility that the orders being given would lead to closed caskets being delivered back to small towns in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Maybe Tobin has changed with age, but that episode has stayed with me for almost a decade.
It's also in the Telly under the title "Memoir reveals the war behind the Turbot War".
The account here sounds about right. I heard Brian Tobin recounting this whole affair a year or so after he came back to Newfoundland. He was definitely getting off on enthralling his mostly youngish audience the tale. In the way Tobin told it at the time he seemed to feel like the whole thing gave him some macho leader image.
Fact is, he was nothing of the sort; his whole presentation was more like the juvenile posing of some kid retelling the gory bits of some Rambo movie than the story of someone who had been there. "Oh man, you should have seen it. Blam. Blam. Powy. It was gross, man. Cool."
At the time Tobin was pumping himself up, I had friends of mine who had shot at others and been shot at in anger. A bunch more were set to go overseas and even today, I have friends in different, dangerous parts of the globe. Over the years, I have talked at length to people who have been in real danger and the people who sent them there.
The last thing any of them do is whoop and pose and thump their chests. Often they are closer to tears with the gravity of the situation they faced.
The only thing that came clear to me hearing that story was an unshakeable conviction that Tobin wasn't the real thing. He gave absolutely no sense at all of appreciating the seriousness of the situation at the time, of the very real possibility that the orders being given would lead to closed caskets being delivered back to small towns in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Maybe Tobin has changed with age, but that episode has stayed with me for almost a decade.
BMD flap overblown
Two things are making me a little cranky today and neither of them has to do with the fact I am not getting enough fibre in my diet.
The first thing irritating my irk is the ongoing chatter about the Stunnel. NTV, the local CTV affiliate even ran a story last night on the idea of a trans-Atlantic tunnel. Now look, people, the idea of a giant hole bored through from New York to Portsmouth may promote rhapsody in people who like their science fiction a la Jules Verne, but these megaprojects are just what engineers do instead of ogle Kate Winslet on the internet when they are all alone in their cubicles.
We are now at the stage where people think we have a shot at dating Kate.
The transAtlantic tunnel is feasible. BUT and pay attention to this: the frickin thing will cost trillions of dollars and take the better part of 100 years to construct. On this last point, note that one estimate of the practical limitations of the concept was that the project would tie up every single yard in the world capable of building pre-fabricated tunnel sections for that entire century!
The same practical limitations apply to the Stunnel. The one part that Keirans and Williams can't escape is that the project makes absolutely no business sense, nor does it make a public policy purpose. There is no more compelling reason to build a tunnel to Labrador than there is to build a tunnel from Bell Island to Portugal Cove.
We know we can do it; but why should we do it?
By way of that digression I arrive at the major irk of the day: the constant nattering about US Canada relations and the rejection of active participation in ballistic missile defence.
I am going to go out on a limb here and predict that in a few weeks, maybe a few months, Condoleeza Rice will visit Canada and everything will be ok.
In the world of the Grown Ups, much of the public appearance of diplomacy masks the reality behind the scenes. Sometimes it is messy. Sometimes it consists of a series of postures designed to play to political realities. Behind the scenes, the grown-ups still talk and the world continues to revolve undisturbed.
Apparently I am the only person who watched CBC national news last night and noticed the interviews from Washington. The only people talking about a crisis were members of the Conservative Party. The rest of the writing on this, including Paul Wells on his blog , seems to be drilling into the superficial posturing on this issue of Canadian participation.
I've turned into a faithful reader of his stuff, but in the same way he can get spun by those evil Liberals on defence budget increases - I am still rolling on the floor knowing he wasn't spun - Paul seems to be looking for some problem here that other evidence might lead you to believe doesn't exist.
Well, surprise of surprises, they are finding all sorts of holes in the logic of the public posturing. Maybe the conclusion to draw is not that the PMO is having difficulty working the phones to Washington, Paul et al., or that the Americans are really super-pissed at us now, but maybe that the whole thing is a bit of a charade.
If the Americans were really that upset, if they really felt that put-upon by our refusal to join in active ballistic missile defence, then we'd see some real signs of their grievance. The language would be much harsher. Trade deals would be cancelled, not threatened. Exchange officers with the US military would be sent home.
What did we actually get?
Condi Rice has a schedule conflict.
Paul Celucci says something about our sovereign national interest.
And?
And?
Well, that's it.
Celucci has said harsher things to his Canadian gardener.
Let's look at some other factors that need to be weighed here:
1. The Americans would have been dead if they didn't see the public statement coming that Canada would not participate in BMD. Therefore, I suspect they had alternative plans in the works all along.
2. We pay more for staying out temporarily; the Americans lose nothing. We lose business opportunities. We sort of lose a seat at the table. Other than that, there isn't an issue. The US builds the system. We get to tuck under it once its up and running.
This is not like the US is building a coalition against Iraq. This is a system for defending the US alone. We happen to benefit anyways whether we are in or out of the actual program. Unless I am completely misreading this, it is NO biggie. The Post can trot out all the retired air force generals they want but truthfully, this is not a crisis akin to walking out of NORAD. The zoomies might want to opt into cutting-edge American air programs for their own service interests, but in the national interest, we can get to the goal without letting the Canadian air force send exchange officers to the MDA. One less air force career billet on the way to general won't wreck the country.
3. We can still opt in at some point in the future. We didn't give the Americans precise directions on how to manually insert the BMD program in some orifice. We politely declined. Two years from now, a majority government can opt in following a quiet offer and away we go.
4. Look at David Dreier. A senior Republican congressman from California was quoted on CBC saying the whole thing was a minor issue and we could all get past it. Hello. Wake up people. Belinda Stronach does not represent George Bush (She was quoted in the same report predicting nasty things would be happening soon.) As much as Belinda is the leader the Cons should have chosen if they had really wanted power last year, I'd put bags more faith in Dreier's opinion being the same as that of the Bush administration.
At some point, these two things will blow over. I just have to picture a calm blue ocean until they do.
That and get ready for my date with Kate.
The first thing irritating my irk is the ongoing chatter about the Stunnel. NTV, the local CTV affiliate even ran a story last night on the idea of a trans-Atlantic tunnel. Now look, people, the idea of a giant hole bored through from New York to Portsmouth may promote rhapsody in people who like their science fiction a la Jules Verne, but these megaprojects are just what engineers do instead of ogle Kate Winslet on the internet when they are all alone in their cubicles.
We are now at the stage where people think we have a shot at dating Kate.
The transAtlantic tunnel is feasible. BUT and pay attention to this: the frickin thing will cost trillions of dollars and take the better part of 100 years to construct. On this last point, note that one estimate of the practical limitations of the concept was that the project would tie up every single yard in the world capable of building pre-fabricated tunnel sections for that entire century!
The same practical limitations apply to the Stunnel. The one part that Keirans and Williams can't escape is that the project makes absolutely no business sense, nor does it make a public policy purpose. There is no more compelling reason to build a tunnel to Labrador than there is to build a tunnel from Bell Island to Portugal Cove.
We know we can do it; but why should we do it?
By way of that digression I arrive at the major irk of the day: the constant nattering about US Canada relations and the rejection of active participation in ballistic missile defence.
I am going to go out on a limb here and predict that in a few weeks, maybe a few months, Condoleeza Rice will visit Canada and everything will be ok.
In the world of the Grown Ups, much of the public appearance of diplomacy masks the reality behind the scenes. Sometimes it is messy. Sometimes it consists of a series of postures designed to play to political realities. Behind the scenes, the grown-ups still talk and the world continues to revolve undisturbed.
Apparently I am the only person who watched CBC national news last night and noticed the interviews from Washington. The only people talking about a crisis were members of the Conservative Party. The rest of the writing on this, including Paul Wells on his blog , seems to be drilling into the superficial posturing on this issue of Canadian participation.
I've turned into a faithful reader of his stuff, but in the same way he can get spun by those evil Liberals on defence budget increases - I am still rolling on the floor knowing he wasn't spun - Paul seems to be looking for some problem here that other evidence might lead you to believe doesn't exist.
Well, surprise of surprises, they are finding all sorts of holes in the logic of the public posturing. Maybe the conclusion to draw is not that the PMO is having difficulty working the phones to Washington, Paul et al., or that the Americans are really super-pissed at us now, but maybe that the whole thing is a bit of a charade.
If the Americans were really that upset, if they really felt that put-upon by our refusal to join in active ballistic missile defence, then we'd see some real signs of their grievance. The language would be much harsher. Trade deals would be cancelled, not threatened. Exchange officers with the US military would be sent home.
What did we actually get?
Condi Rice has a schedule conflict.
Paul Celucci says something about our sovereign national interest.
And?
And?
Well, that's it.
Celucci has said harsher things to his Canadian gardener.
Let's look at some other factors that need to be weighed here:
1. The Americans would have been dead if they didn't see the public statement coming that Canada would not participate in BMD. Therefore, I suspect they had alternative plans in the works all along.
2. We pay more for staying out temporarily; the Americans lose nothing. We lose business opportunities. We sort of lose a seat at the table. Other than that, there isn't an issue. The US builds the system. We get to tuck under it once its up and running.
This is not like the US is building a coalition against Iraq. This is a system for defending the US alone. We happen to benefit anyways whether we are in or out of the actual program. Unless I am completely misreading this, it is NO biggie. The Post can trot out all the retired air force generals they want but truthfully, this is not a crisis akin to walking out of NORAD. The zoomies might want to opt into cutting-edge American air programs for their own service interests, but in the national interest, we can get to the goal without letting the Canadian air force send exchange officers to the MDA. One less air force career billet on the way to general won't wreck the country.
3. We can still opt in at some point in the future. We didn't give the Americans precise directions on how to manually insert the BMD program in some orifice. We politely declined. Two years from now, a majority government can opt in following a quiet offer and away we go.
4. Look at David Dreier. A senior Republican congressman from California was quoted on CBC saying the whole thing was a minor issue and we could all get past it. Hello. Wake up people. Belinda Stronach does not represent George Bush (She was quoted in the same report predicting nasty things would be happening soon.) As much as Belinda is the leader the Cons should have chosen if they had really wanted power last year, I'd put bags more faith in Dreier's opinion being the same as that of the Bush administration.
At some point, these two things will blow over. I just have to picture a calm blue ocean until they do.
That and get ready for my date with Kate.
SBX off Labrador? More background info
Yesterday, I raised the prospect that the United States might opt to place some its ballistic missile defence assets at sea off Labrador rather than try and locate them at Goose Bay. The more I think of it, the more I realize this is a viable option.
Those who read David Pugliese's story in yesterday's Ottawa Citizen know that he didn't say the x band radar at Goose Bay was a dead project; he said it was wounded.
I am just speculating on another scenario in which the Americans build another sea-based radar like the one they plan to position off Alaska. They could locate it close to the Canadian territorial sea or, if the sea conditions and weather permit, they could put it beyond the 200 mile exclusive economic zone. Either way they get the radar they need and it is beyond Canadian jurisdiction.
Following are some links to more information:
1. Global Security. Very similar to the Federation of American Scientists site, Global Security has a comprehensive page on the sea-based x band (SBX) radar project right down to contract numbers. Prime contractor on the project has been Boeing. Raytheon is developing the radar system. The whole project involves the adaptation of a CS-50 type semi-submersible rig. Working on the project are Kavaerner and Kiewit, companies well-known in the local offshore industry.
2. Missilethreat.com. A provocative name, but this site has some simple background information, some good cross links and a set of references to other sites and published articles.
3. Hull construction. Over at the BMDS Integration Data Center they have a series of photographs of the platform under construction in the Vyborg shipyard near St. Petersburg.
4. Raytheon. The radar company has an excellent site listing its products as well as a nice computer generated image of the SBX system.
5. Prowl the Aker Kavaerner site to see if there are any more subcontracts like this one supporting the SBX.
6. Ditto for this site listing the award of a US$73 million contract to modify the platform.
7. Here's a site for MOSS, listing some alternative uses for their platforms. The SBX is mounted on a CS-50 type platform, as noted earlier, a rig base that has been in use for decades. This company, along with Boeing, Energia and Kavaerner is also exploring the idea of using a rig as a mobile platform for launching payloads into orbit.
8. You can find the website for Russian shipyard Vyborg here, in Cyrillic of course. This is the yard that built the platform being used to mount the SBX. Topsides work, including installation of the radar system was undertaken around Corpus Christi, Texas.
Take a close look at this site though; it has bags of information on the yard and its operations. The site is in Russian but Cyrillic is not that hard to read, once you get used to it. Try using a simple table of comparison like this one if you get into trouble.
Ya strudom gavaryu pa russki. And my Cyrillic to Latin transliteration likely has problems too.
Those who read David Pugliese's story in yesterday's Ottawa Citizen know that he didn't say the x band radar at Goose Bay was a dead project; he said it was wounded.
I am just speculating on another scenario in which the Americans build another sea-based radar like the one they plan to position off Alaska. They could locate it close to the Canadian territorial sea or, if the sea conditions and weather permit, they could put it beyond the 200 mile exclusive economic zone. Either way they get the radar they need and it is beyond Canadian jurisdiction.
Following are some links to more information:
1. Global Security. Very similar to the Federation of American Scientists site, Global Security has a comprehensive page on the sea-based x band (SBX) radar project right down to contract numbers. Prime contractor on the project has been Boeing. Raytheon is developing the radar system. The whole project involves the adaptation of a CS-50 type semi-submersible rig. Working on the project are Kavaerner and Kiewit, companies well-known in the local offshore industry.
2. Missilethreat.com. A provocative name, but this site has some simple background information, some good cross links and a set of references to other sites and published articles.
3. Hull construction. Over at the BMDS Integration Data Center they have a series of photographs of the platform under construction in the Vyborg shipyard near St. Petersburg.
4. Raytheon. The radar company has an excellent site listing its products as well as a nice computer generated image of the SBX system.
5. Prowl the Aker Kavaerner site to see if there are any more subcontracts like this one supporting the SBX.
6. Ditto for this site listing the award of a US$73 million contract to modify the platform.
7. Here's a site for MOSS, listing some alternative uses for their platforms. The SBX is mounted on a CS-50 type platform, as noted earlier, a rig base that has been in use for decades. This company, along with Boeing, Energia and Kavaerner is also exploring the idea of using a rig as a mobile platform for launching payloads into orbit.
8. You can find the website for Russian shipyard Vyborg here, in Cyrillic of course. This is the yard that built the platform being used to mount the SBX. Topsides work, including installation of the radar system was undertaken around Corpus Christi, Texas.
Take a close look at this site though; it has bags of information on the yard and its operations. The site is in Russian but Cyrillic is not that hard to read, once you get used to it. Try using a simple table of comparison like this one if you get into trouble.
Ya strudom gavaryu pa russki. And my Cyrillic to Latin transliteration likely has problems too.
01 March 2005
Goose Bay and BMD
There's a story by defence writer David Pugliese in the Ottawa Citizen today concerning the impact the Prime Minister's decision not to participate in active ballistic missile defence might have on Goose Bay. The story is also carried in The Telegram, but it isn't on their website.
Here is some additional information and some observations.
Background information on X band radar systems can be found here at the Federation of American Scientists site.
The official Missile Defence Agency website is here. This is an awesome site which gives basic information on a technical subject in a language any twit like me can understand.
While you are there, click on the BMD basics button on the top menu, then on the sensors button on the left menu. Then scroll down to the file on a floating X band radar system being developed for deployment off Alaska.
This takes the radar system and mounts it on a modified semi-submersible drill rig. It is scheduled to be deployed off Alaska.
This started me thinking. Is it possible this same system could be deployed on the east coast? In some respects, it would depend on how important the Americans viewed having their sensors covering the northeast of North America. Were they to consider it vital to their national security, I suspect they'd play relatively hard and float the rig out there.
Legally, the Canadian territorial sea extends 12 nautical miles: that's it. After that it is an exclusive economic zone. Foreign vessels have a right of innocent passage under international law and it becomes a bit of a question as to whether or not the Canadians could legally force an American defence system like this to deploy outside the 200 mile exclusive economic zone.
Under the Law of the Sea Convention, the rights conferred on a coastal state for an exclusive economic zone apply explicitly to economic rights, not ones for national defence. The economic rights cannot interfere with other well-established international rights like, say,m self-defence. In some respects it becomes an issue of how far would Ottawa be prepared to push this issue since the structure would be miles out at sea and therefore invisible.
The system would be totally under American control and with the exception of some rights to use nearby port facilities for service and support, it doesn't impact on the coastal state. If the Americans haven't completely abandoned their Atlantic Charter rights to bases in Newfoundland and Labrador (lawyers start your searching), then they might just be able to do something without Canada's active support. At the very least, the Americans can resupply from bases in Maine and simply use Canadian ports like St. John's as they currently do.
All that said, I did make a distinction earlier that Canada is not participating in active defence, that is shooting down missiles. However, we are staying in NORAD which has a huge passive component, namely radars, to detect attacks.
Generally, I would agree with those who argue that the Prime Minister is trying to have his cake and eat it too, when he argues that the Americans would have to ask before shooting down a missile in our airspace despite our rejecting active participation in ballistic missile defence (BMD).
But on the other hand, I just don't think that we can get past NORAD and the integrated nature of North American defence; that's why I think the feds are walking a fine line here trying to find a balance between national security interests and the public attitude in Canada against BMD.
The X band radar Pugliese is talking about could still come to Goose Bay under the guise of NORAD as a passive sensor. The fact that its data might be used to target missiles physically located in Maine or offshore on ships is the head of a pin on which federal mandarins can dance. We already play these sort of clever games now in NORAD when it comes to the issue of nuclear weapons release. I seriously doubt that the Canadian NORAD deputy commander has actual authority in the American National Command Authority chain in the event of hostilities; but it looks good on paper and we have been looking good on that point since 1957.
Then again, the radar might just wind up floating offshore.
Any chance we could get a repair and refit contract for Bull Arm or Marystown in the meantime?
Here is some additional information and some observations.
Background information on X band radar systems can be found here at the Federation of American Scientists site.
The official Missile Defence Agency website is here. This is an awesome site which gives basic information on a technical subject in a language any twit like me can understand.
While you are there, click on the BMD basics button on the top menu, then on the sensors button on the left menu. Then scroll down to the file on a floating X band radar system being developed for deployment off Alaska.
This takes the radar system and mounts it on a modified semi-submersible drill rig. It is scheduled to be deployed off Alaska.
This started me thinking. Is it possible this same system could be deployed on the east coast? In some respects, it would depend on how important the Americans viewed having their sensors covering the northeast of North America. Were they to consider it vital to their national security, I suspect they'd play relatively hard and float the rig out there.
Legally, the Canadian territorial sea extends 12 nautical miles: that's it. After that it is an exclusive economic zone. Foreign vessels have a right of innocent passage under international law and it becomes a bit of a question as to whether or not the Canadians could legally force an American defence system like this to deploy outside the 200 mile exclusive economic zone.
Under the Law of the Sea Convention, the rights conferred on a coastal state for an exclusive economic zone apply explicitly to economic rights, not ones for national defence. The economic rights cannot interfere with other well-established international rights like, say,m self-defence. In some respects it becomes an issue of how far would Ottawa be prepared to push this issue since the structure would be miles out at sea and therefore invisible.
The system would be totally under American control and with the exception of some rights to use nearby port facilities for service and support, it doesn't impact on the coastal state. If the Americans haven't completely abandoned their Atlantic Charter rights to bases in Newfoundland and Labrador (lawyers start your searching), then they might just be able to do something without Canada's active support. At the very least, the Americans can resupply from bases in Maine and simply use Canadian ports like St. John's as they currently do.
All that said, I did make a distinction earlier that Canada is not participating in active defence, that is shooting down missiles. However, we are staying in NORAD which has a huge passive component, namely radars, to detect attacks.
Generally, I would agree with those who argue that the Prime Minister is trying to have his cake and eat it too, when he argues that the Americans would have to ask before shooting down a missile in our airspace despite our rejecting active participation in ballistic missile defence (BMD).
But on the other hand, I just don't think that we can get past NORAD and the integrated nature of North American defence; that's why I think the feds are walking a fine line here trying to find a balance between national security interests and the public attitude in Canada against BMD.
The X band radar Pugliese is talking about could still come to Goose Bay under the guise of NORAD as a passive sensor. The fact that its data might be used to target missiles physically located in Maine or offshore on ships is the head of a pin on which federal mandarins can dance. We already play these sort of clever games now in NORAD when it comes to the issue of nuclear weapons release. I seriously doubt that the Canadian NORAD deputy commander has actual authority in the American National Command Authority chain in the event of hostilities; but it looks good on paper and we have been looking good on that point since 1957.
Then again, the radar might just wind up floating offshore.
Any chance we could get a repair and refit contract for Bull Arm or Marystown in the meantime?
Owen Myers, Etchegary and overfishing
Too bad the Express didn't link Owen Myers column on the fishery last week.
He made some interesting comments about overfishing practices by local companies like Fishery Products during the 1980s. According to Myers, FP issued orders that its vessels couldn't bring back any fish less than 16 inches long. That's called highgrading and involves dumping millions of tons of dead fish that fall below the size standard set not by international regulation but by corporate policy.
Oddly enough that was the same time Gus Etchegary was a senior official at the private sector FPI and then the company rescued with tax dollars.
This is the same Gus Etchegary who maintains that it was foreigners who destroyed the fishery and that Canadian fleets were so heavily regulated they couldn't do anything wrong. Questions about Etchegary's past behaviour have been raised before, but Gus just comes out swinging whenever his past surfaces. I especially like Gus' threat against DFO at the end of that link to The Independent.
It pays to read all the news media sources out there, not just listen to Open Line. (Hint hint for political types on the Hill)
He made some interesting comments about overfishing practices by local companies like Fishery Products during the 1980s. According to Myers, FP issued orders that its vessels couldn't bring back any fish less than 16 inches long. That's called highgrading and involves dumping millions of tons of dead fish that fall below the size standard set not by international regulation but by corporate policy.
Oddly enough that was the same time Gus Etchegary was a senior official at the private sector FPI and then the company rescued with tax dollars.
This is the same Gus Etchegary who maintains that it was foreigners who destroyed the fishery and that Canadian fleets were so heavily regulated they couldn't do anything wrong. Questions about Etchegary's past behaviour have been raised before, but Gus just comes out swinging whenever his past surfaces. I especially like Gus' threat against DFO at the end of that link to The Independent.
It pays to read all the news media sources out there, not just listen to Open Line. (Hint hint for political types on the Hill)
28 February 2005
The Stunnel is feasible! - updated
But only with government money. Which means it isn't really feasible at all.
You read it here first and NOT at a cost of a $100, 000 of public funds.
The pre-feasibility study is finally in the public domain, courtesy of a provincial government release today.
The highlights:
- The link can be built. (Engineers can reinstall the backside in a cat given enough time and money.)
- A bored tunnel running an electric train system (a variation on the Keirans Stunnel concept) is the one that can be built easily and most cheaply.
- The Stunnel would cost an estimated $1.7 billion to build.
- The Stunnel would take 11 years to bore.
- The annual operating cost would be $7.4 million dollars.
- The Stunnel would require a government investment of $1.4 billion to build. (That's 82% of the total project cost, in case your calculator is on the fritz.)
Now here are a couple of observations:
1. The Premier was pretty quick to dismiss the idea of going to Ottawa looking for cash for this project of tremendous significance. That's because he knows his approach to the Atlantic Accord burned a lot of previously fixed links to Ottawa that need to be rebuilt.
2. The consultants report (Chapter 7) makes it pretty clear that there is no business case to be made for the Stunnel, hence the requirement for public sector spending instead of a private sector initiative.
The consultants admittedly optimistic projections are based on an assumption that existing sea-based links to the mainland will continue and will retain a competitive advantage in some instances.
Surface ferries will still have to be used both at Port aux Basques and in the link to Labrador. Both services require provincial and federal government subsidies in order to operate.
Here's a great quote from the conclusions chapter (p. 127) couched in the very best bureaucratese:
"The analyses, developed by considering traffic diversion from existing services, growth in service and facility demands, the impact of both construction and operating jobs, and the inclusion of potential revenue from incorporating electrical transmission cables in the tunnel, showed that a fixed link would not attract private sector financing under normal economic and business case criteria. Using relatively optimistic diversion and growth assumptions resulted in negative rates of return and less than unity cost benefits ratios over the period of the study. This result, however, may be considered not atypical in the realm of public transportation infrastructure." [Emphasis added]
Pay close attention to those highlighted words.
- "Negative rates of return" is code for money loser.
- "Less than unity cost benefits ratios" means, in plain English, that there is no reason on God's green Earth to sink money into this idea - the costs outweigh the benefits.
Consider that the consultants apparently did not include subsidies to existing surface ferries in their calculation of annual Stunnel operating costs when they reached their conclusion.
For those who missed it, go back and have a look at my previous post on this issue. My version may not be as pretty, costly or lengthy, but it winds up in the same spot.
Outside the box: The Stunnel
And, as before with the Atlantic Accord, remember that you read it here first!
Addendum:
Here's the CBC story on the Premier's comments. Apparently, he thinks the price is reasonable.
Uh huh.
Right.
Try reading Chapter 7, Premier.
Surely your old business senses would cut in here and warn you that this project might just be feasible (in an engineering sense like arses back in domestic felines are "feasible") but that it might not be practical or even sensible.
Something tells me that if we were talking about the Premier investing his own cash in this venture the words "negative rates of return" would be enough to convince the Premier this entire scheme is anything but reasonably priced.
Perhaps the Premier used that phrase after looking at the chart the consultants provided in Chapter 8 on other similar projects. The Confederation Bridge for example only cost $1.0 billion dollars.
Sheesh. Ours isn't that bad by comparison.
Then there are a string of road construction projects - surface roads (!!!) - and a 152 metre bridge in Manitoba. That one only cost $15 million. Interestingly the cost per kilometre is the same as for the Stunnel, as proposed.
Then they mention the Chunnel between France and Great Britain. 21 kilometres long. Between two economic powerhouses. Estimated at one point to cost 7.5 billion pounds sterling; final cost more than 16 billion pounds sterling. (For those sans abacus that's more than double the original estimate. )
Now compared to that, the bored Stunnel would be reasonable and something worth pursuing. After all, we can surely learn the lesson from the Brits and the French.
Are there other projects?
Oh yes. But not in the consultants report.
Take for example, the Big Dig - Massachusetts Turnpike Authority's rebuilding of Boston commuter traffic for a mere $15 billion and a decade's worth of work.
Btter yet, here's a site for Bent Flyvbjerg, the Danish social scientist who examined megaprojects in a recent book.
Among his conclusions (surprise, surprise):
- Cost overruns for megaprojects of 50% are common and 100% are not uncommon.
- Claimed benefits never appear.
- Environmental and other problems are seldom as minor as proponents claim.
All I can do is point everyone back to Chapter 7 of the consultants' report on the Stunnel.
The provincial and federal governments just spent more than $100, 000 to buy the same conclusion reached in a book that could be bought at Chapters for the reasonable price of CDN$20.96.
You read it here first and NOT at a cost of a $100, 000 of public funds.
The pre-feasibility study is finally in the public domain, courtesy of a provincial government release today.
The highlights:
- The link can be built. (Engineers can reinstall the backside in a cat given enough time and money.)
- A bored tunnel running an electric train system (a variation on the Keirans Stunnel concept) is the one that can be built easily and most cheaply.
- The Stunnel would cost an estimated $1.7 billion to build.
- The Stunnel would take 11 years to bore.
- The annual operating cost would be $7.4 million dollars.
- The Stunnel would require a government investment of $1.4 billion to build. (That's 82% of the total project cost, in case your calculator is on the fritz.)
Now here are a couple of observations:
1. The Premier was pretty quick to dismiss the idea of going to Ottawa looking for cash for this project of tremendous significance. That's because he knows his approach to the Atlantic Accord burned a lot of previously fixed links to Ottawa that need to be rebuilt.
2. The consultants report (Chapter 7) makes it pretty clear that there is no business case to be made for the Stunnel, hence the requirement for public sector spending instead of a private sector initiative.
The consultants admittedly optimistic projections are based on an assumption that existing sea-based links to the mainland will continue and will retain a competitive advantage in some instances.
Surface ferries will still have to be used both at Port aux Basques and in the link to Labrador. Both services require provincial and federal government subsidies in order to operate.
Here's a great quote from the conclusions chapter (p. 127) couched in the very best bureaucratese:
"The analyses, developed by considering traffic diversion from existing services, growth in service and facility demands, the impact of both construction and operating jobs, and the inclusion of potential revenue from incorporating electrical transmission cables in the tunnel, showed that a fixed link would not attract private sector financing under normal economic and business case criteria. Using relatively optimistic diversion and growth assumptions resulted in negative rates of return and less than unity cost benefits ratios over the period of the study. This result, however, may be considered not atypical in the realm of public transportation infrastructure." [Emphasis added]
Pay close attention to those highlighted words.
- "Negative rates of return" is code for money loser.
- "Less than unity cost benefits ratios" means, in plain English, that there is no reason on God's green Earth to sink money into this idea - the costs outweigh the benefits.
Consider that the consultants apparently did not include subsidies to existing surface ferries in their calculation of annual Stunnel operating costs when they reached their conclusion.
For those who missed it, go back and have a look at my previous post on this issue. My version may not be as pretty, costly or lengthy, but it winds up in the same spot.
Outside the box: The Stunnel
And, as before with the Atlantic Accord, remember that you read it here first!
Addendum:
Here's the CBC story on the Premier's comments. Apparently, he thinks the price is reasonable.
Uh huh.
Right.
Try reading Chapter 7, Premier.
Surely your old business senses would cut in here and warn you that this project might just be feasible (in an engineering sense like arses back in domestic felines are "feasible") but that it might not be practical or even sensible.
Something tells me that if we were talking about the Premier investing his own cash in this venture the words "negative rates of return" would be enough to convince the Premier this entire scheme is anything but reasonably priced.
Perhaps the Premier used that phrase after looking at the chart the consultants provided in Chapter 8 on other similar projects. The Confederation Bridge for example only cost $1.0 billion dollars.
Sheesh. Ours isn't that bad by comparison.
Then there are a string of road construction projects - surface roads (!!!) - and a 152 metre bridge in Manitoba. That one only cost $15 million. Interestingly the cost per kilometre is the same as for the Stunnel, as proposed.
Then they mention the Chunnel between France and Great Britain. 21 kilometres long. Between two economic powerhouses. Estimated at one point to cost 7.5 billion pounds sterling; final cost more than 16 billion pounds sterling. (For those sans abacus that's more than double the original estimate. )
Now compared to that, the bored Stunnel would be reasonable and something worth pursuing. After all, we can surely learn the lesson from the Brits and the French.
Are there other projects?
Oh yes. But not in the consultants report.
Take for example, the Big Dig - Massachusetts Turnpike Authority's rebuilding of Boston commuter traffic for a mere $15 billion and a decade's worth of work.
Btter yet, here's a site for Bent Flyvbjerg, the Danish social scientist who examined megaprojects in a recent book.
Among his conclusions (surprise, surprise):
- Cost overruns for megaprojects of 50% are common and 100% are not uncommon.
- Claimed benefits never appear.
- Environmental and other problems are seldom as minor as proponents claim.
All I can do is point everyone back to Chapter 7 of the consultants' report on the Stunnel.
The provincial and federal governments just spent more than $100, 000 to buy the same conclusion reached in a book that could be bought at Chapters for the reasonable price of CDN$20.96.
The Independence of Dependence
This won't take long, but just follow the train of thought.
First, the whole Atlantic Accord deal was sold on the basis of making the province more independent and self-reliant. Here's the kick though: it was based entirely on getting more federal transfer payments, though, in the form of Equalization or something that looks a lot like Equalization. It wasn't about actually increasing provincial government revenue earned from offshore oil and gas.
Second, Term 45 of the Terms of Union was designed to help the new Province of Newfoundland overcome its lack of basic technical information on local resources by using federal expertise. In the years since Confederation, that expertise now exists in departments like Natural Resources (forestry, agriculture, mining, oil and gas) and Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Now Ed Byrne is waging war on Ottawa to force the feds to keep an agriculture research station in the province (in his district, incidentally) based on Term 45.
I am seeing a pattern here.
In order for the province to be independent and self-reliant, we have to get.... more and more cash and other help from Ottawa.
"A word shall mean what I want it to mean..."
I know you've heard it before.
First, the whole Atlantic Accord deal was sold on the basis of making the province more independent and self-reliant. Here's the kick though: it was based entirely on getting more federal transfer payments, though, in the form of Equalization or something that looks a lot like Equalization. It wasn't about actually increasing provincial government revenue earned from offshore oil and gas.
Second, Term 45 of the Terms of Union was designed to help the new Province of Newfoundland overcome its lack of basic technical information on local resources by using federal expertise. In the years since Confederation, that expertise now exists in departments like Natural Resources (forestry, agriculture, mining, oil and gas) and Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Now Ed Byrne is waging war on Ottawa to force the feds to keep an agriculture research station in the province (in his district, incidentally) based on Term 45.
I am seeing a pattern here.
In order for the province to be independent and self-reliant, we have to get.... more and more cash and other help from Ottawa.
"A word shall mean what I want it to mean..."
I know you've heard it before.
What fiscal imbalance?
This weekend in the Globe, Andrew Coyne had a great column on federal spending including transfers to the provinces. Here's a link to it posted to his blog.
While you hunt that down, have a look at Paul Wells' blog entry on the same subject for Feb 26 "Je fais tout pour ne pas me souvenir". He is riffing on some comments from Le Devoir, a newspaper which I would highly recommend people in this province start reading.
This comment in particular had me rolling on the floor:
"One more thing. Courtemanche complains about the "maintenance at an unjust level of... equalization payments." And it's true that the total value of equalization payments hasn't particularly risen in the past decade. This would sort of make sense if you understood that the point of equalization payments isn't to increase provincial revenues from year to year, it's to bloody equalize their fiscal capacity from province to province."
This basic point would seem just...well...obvious. Apparently though the country is beset these days with a raft of provincialist politicians and journalists who have an ongoing struggle with basic principles.
Never before has there been such a powerful case for making every single university graduate in the country suffer through one basic introductory course in Canadian politics.
While you hunt that down, have a look at Paul Wells' blog entry on the same subject for Feb 26 "Je fais tout pour ne pas me souvenir". He is riffing on some comments from Le Devoir, a newspaper which I would highly recommend people in this province start reading.
This comment in particular had me rolling on the floor:
"One more thing. Courtemanche complains about the "maintenance at an unjust level of... equalization payments." And it's true that the total value of equalization payments hasn't particularly risen in the past decade. This would sort of make sense if you understood that the point of equalization payments isn't to increase provincial revenues from year to year, it's to bloody equalize their fiscal capacity from province to province."
This basic point would seem just...well...obvious. Apparently though the country is beset these days with a raft of provincialist politicians and journalists who have an ongoing struggle with basic principles.
Never before has there been such a powerful case for making every single university graduate in the country suffer through one basic introductory course in Canadian politics.
More defence-related quickies
The budget this week had some new capital acquisitions listed.
Here is a quick and dirty look at a couple of the proposed purchases.
1. New amphibious ships. The federal Conservatives got overly excited last summer talking about ships that were basically way more than Canada needed.
Canada needs ships that can carry about a battalion of soldiers plus equipment (700 soldiers plus wheeled vehicles) and get them ashore by helicopter and landing craft. This is part of a revamping of Canada's strategic lift capability.
The Royal Navy just finished buying a new Ocean and Albion class landing ships. These are too small for Canada's purposes and are not significantly better than the multi-purpose support ship being considered by the Canadian navy as a replacement for its existing fleet replenishment ships. They can't do the replenishment task, at least as built.
The Americans have the most sophisticated inventory of amphibious ships. While some of the smaller types fit the bill for transporting personnel and vehicles, they don't have the ability to serve as fleet replenishment ships for refueling and resupply at sea.
The solution here - short of a costly redesign and rebuild - might wind up being a purchase of two new vessels. The navy could buy off-the-shelf amphibious vessels and look at an existing or proposed commercial design adapted for the replenishment task.
2. Medium lift helicopters. The Canadian Forces (CF) lost a major helicopter lift capability in the early 1990s when the CF sold off its Chinooks to the Dutch. Now we are looking to regain the same capacity.
Options include:
- new or rebuilt Chinooks;
- the EH-101 already in service as the Cormorant;
- a military version of the S-92 just purchased for the navy;
- something Russian like the Mi-8 or Mi-17.
Here is a quick and dirty look at a couple of the proposed purchases.
1. New amphibious ships. The federal Conservatives got overly excited last summer talking about ships that were basically way more than Canada needed.
Canada needs ships that can carry about a battalion of soldiers plus equipment (700 soldiers plus wheeled vehicles) and get them ashore by helicopter and landing craft. This is part of a revamping of Canada's strategic lift capability.
The Royal Navy just finished buying a new Ocean and Albion class landing ships. These are too small for Canada's purposes and are not significantly better than the multi-purpose support ship being considered by the Canadian navy as a replacement for its existing fleet replenishment ships. They can't do the replenishment task, at least as built.
The Americans have the most sophisticated inventory of amphibious ships. While some of the smaller types fit the bill for transporting personnel and vehicles, they don't have the ability to serve as fleet replenishment ships for refueling and resupply at sea.
The solution here - short of a costly redesign and rebuild - might wind up being a purchase of two new vessels. The navy could buy off-the-shelf amphibious vessels and look at an existing or proposed commercial design adapted for the replenishment task.
2. Medium lift helicopters. The Canadian Forces (CF) lost a major helicopter lift capability in the early 1990s when the CF sold off its Chinooks to the Dutch. Now we are looking to regain the same capacity.
Options include:
- new or rebuilt Chinooks;
- the EH-101 already in service as the Cormorant;
- a military version of the S-92 just purchased for the navy;
- something Russian like the Mi-8 or Mi-17.
Is the Goose cooked?
Some quickie observations on Goose Bay:
1. VOCM is reporting an announcement coming up for Goose Bay. I smell pavement but not much more than some repairs and improvements to existing infrastructure. If there was anything substantive on the new training infrastructure (air maneuvering data collection systems) there'd have been a major announcement or some hint already.
2. The decision this week by the Government of Canada to pass on a chance to become involved in active missile defence means that Goose Bay has no prospect of becoming more involved in that project as an alternative to low altitude flight training.
3. There's still not much sign that the concerned citizens committee is producing any ideas outside the box. They may be talking about some new ideas but so far the only things in the public domain have been the sort of things that Goose has always done.
Ok. The headline was deliberately provocative. I am still optimistic that with some serious effort there is a military future for Goose Bay.
The Goose isn't cooked.
Yet.
1. VOCM is reporting an announcement coming up for Goose Bay. I smell pavement but not much more than some repairs and improvements to existing infrastructure. If there was anything substantive on the new training infrastructure (air maneuvering data collection systems) there'd have been a major announcement or some hint already.
2. The decision this week by the Government of Canada to pass on a chance to become involved in active missile defence means that Goose Bay has no prospect of becoming more involved in that project as an alternative to low altitude flight training.
3. There's still not much sign that the concerned citizens committee is producing any ideas outside the box. They may be talking about some new ideas but so far the only things in the public domain have been the sort of things that Goose has always done.
Ok. The headline was deliberately provocative. I am still optimistic that with some serious effort there is a military future for Goose Bay.
The Goose isn't cooked.
Yet.
27 February 2005
Constitutional tomfoolery, Part 2
Expect to hear more guff this week about the supposed constitutional guarantee in Term 45 of the Terms of Union protecting the Brookfield Road agricultural research station.
The argument is pure horse manure, appropriately enough.
Term 45 provides as follows:
“Economic Survey
45. (1) Should the Government of the Province of Newfoundland institute an economic survey of the Province of Newfoundland with a view to determining what resources may profitably be developed and what new industries may be established or existing industries expanded, the Government of Canada will make available the services of its technical employees and agencies to assist in the work.
(2) As soon as may be practicable after the date of Union, the Government of Canada will make a special effort to collect and make available statistical and scientific data about the natural resources and economy of the Province of Newfoundland, in order to bring such information up to the standard attained for the other provinces of Canada. "
These paragraphs are pretty clear.
Prior to Confederation, Newfoundland had done very little to assess its own natural resource potential. Term 45 (1) commits the federal government to make available its technical staff to assist in the work. Since 1949, the federal government has both supported provincial government efforts and undertaken independent assessments of the type carried out anywhere in the country. The feds deployed the Dominion Geological Survey to accurately map the Churchill Falls area in support of that development in the 1960s.
Term 45 (2) was intended to commit the federal government to undertake data collection of a type simply not done by the Newfoundland government before 1949. Note the time frame: "as soon as may be practicable...". That certainly cannot be taken to mean an ongoing process.
It would take a monumental redrafting of history to stretch this section out to cover agricultural research of the type done on Brookfield Road. Perhaps using the constitutional guarantee argument is a sign the provincial government hasn't got another argument - that is, a convincing one - to bolster its case.
On the whole, the constitutional guarantee argument sounds as credible as the Great Aviation Giveaway myth.
The argument is pure horse manure, appropriately enough.
Term 45 provides as follows:
“Economic Survey
45. (1) Should the Government of the Province of Newfoundland institute an economic survey of the Province of Newfoundland with a view to determining what resources may profitably be developed and what new industries may be established or existing industries expanded, the Government of Canada will make available the services of its technical employees and agencies to assist in the work.
(2) As soon as may be practicable after the date of Union, the Government of Canada will make a special effort to collect and make available statistical and scientific data about the natural resources and economy of the Province of Newfoundland, in order to bring such information up to the standard attained for the other provinces of Canada. "
These paragraphs are pretty clear.
Prior to Confederation, Newfoundland had done very little to assess its own natural resource potential. Term 45 (1) commits the federal government to make available its technical staff to assist in the work. Since 1949, the federal government has both supported provincial government efforts and undertaken independent assessments of the type carried out anywhere in the country. The feds deployed the Dominion Geological Survey to accurately map the Churchill Falls area in support of that development in the 1960s.
Term 45 (2) was intended to commit the federal government to undertake data collection of a type simply not done by the Newfoundland government before 1949. Note the time frame: "as soon as may be practicable...". That certainly cannot be taken to mean an ongoing process.
It would take a monumental redrafting of history to stretch this section out to cover agricultural research of the type done on Brookfield Road. Perhaps using the constitutional guarantee argument is a sign the provincial government hasn't got another argument - that is, a convincing one - to bolster its case.
On the whole, the constitutional guarantee argument sounds as credible as the Great Aviation Giveaway myth.
Constitutional tomfoolery Part 1
Since it isn't available online, see if you can track down a story from the Saturday edition of the Telegram debunking the anti-confederate myth that claims Newfoundland and Labrador has lost billions in fees for use of the airspace over the province since 1949.
This is one of those fantasies claimed by anti-confederates like retired lawyer Jim Halley and others. The most recent version of the fable appeared in The Independent during its multi-part cost/benefit analysis of Confederation.
According to the Telegram, a provincial government assessment prepared for the Premier notes that until relatively recently, regulation of airspace was a money-loser for the federal government. Even today, the fess collected by aircraft traveling through Canadian airspace are used to support things like air navigation. Gee, what a big surprise.
The most important thing the anti-confederates missed in their analysis is that the Terms of Union generally provide that the British North America Act would apply to the new province of Newfoundland except as specifically provided in the Terms. That's pretty simple.
Therefore, regulation of airspace was and is a federal responsibility. There are no grounds on which the new province could have claimed this jurisdiction without altering the constitution for all provinces. More to the point, even had Newfoundland somehow managed to maintain control over airspace, it would have also been responsible for paying the cost of air navigation and associated regulations. That would hardly have been a windfall for the new province, which according to another opinion piece in Saturday's Telly was hard-done by the economic aspects of the Terms anyways. More on that piece in another post.
Some have gone so far as to claim that Newfoundland lost an economic powerhouse by surrendering control over Gander airport. I have heard an argument made that compares the economic potential of Gander with the potential of Malton (now Pearson) airport noting that the latter prospered while Gander has struggled.
On the face of it, an airport in the middle of the woods can hardly be compared to a national hub located next to the industrial heartland of the country. The whole "airspace" myth has been built around shoddy analysis and logical fallacies. Developments in aircraft technology quickly made post-war Gander much less important for international travel than it had been during the 1940s.
There's another anti-Confederate myth successfully debunked.
For those who wondered about the validity of the Independent's cost/benefit analysis, I think you now have cause to doubt all their conclusions and any further claims they make based on them.
This is one of those fantasies claimed by anti-confederates like retired lawyer Jim Halley and others. The most recent version of the fable appeared in The Independent during its multi-part cost/benefit analysis of Confederation.
According to the Telegram, a provincial government assessment prepared for the Premier notes that until relatively recently, regulation of airspace was a money-loser for the federal government. Even today, the fess collected by aircraft traveling through Canadian airspace are used to support things like air navigation. Gee, what a big surprise.
The most important thing the anti-confederates missed in their analysis is that the Terms of Union generally provide that the British North America Act would apply to the new province of Newfoundland except as specifically provided in the Terms. That's pretty simple.
Therefore, regulation of airspace was and is a federal responsibility. There are no grounds on which the new province could have claimed this jurisdiction without altering the constitution for all provinces. More to the point, even had Newfoundland somehow managed to maintain control over airspace, it would have also been responsible for paying the cost of air navigation and associated regulations. That would hardly have been a windfall for the new province, which according to another opinion piece in Saturday's Telly was hard-done by the economic aspects of the Terms anyways. More on that piece in another post.
Some have gone so far as to claim that Newfoundland lost an economic powerhouse by surrendering control over Gander airport. I have heard an argument made that compares the economic potential of Gander with the potential of Malton (now Pearson) airport noting that the latter prospered while Gander has struggled.
On the face of it, an airport in the middle of the woods can hardly be compared to a national hub located next to the industrial heartland of the country. The whole "airspace" myth has been built around shoddy analysis and logical fallacies. Developments in aircraft technology quickly made post-war Gander much less important for international travel than it had been during the 1940s.
There's another anti-Confederate myth successfully debunked.
For those who wondered about the validity of the Independent's cost/benefit analysis, I think you now have cause to doubt all their conclusions and any further claims they make based on them.
25 February 2005
Before Mr. Byrne goes to Ottawa...
Ed might want to check this story from cbc.ca: (The link is actually to a longer story).
"Ottawa closing experimental farm
WebPosted Feb 25 2005 05:44 PM AST
CBC News
OTTAWA - The federal government says it's shutting down an experimental farming operation in Nova Scotia to save money.
The Crops and Livestock Research Centre in Nappan is closing this fall, as Ottawa gets out of the business of running experimental farms. Three others - in Ontario, Newfoundland and Manitoba - will also close.
Bruce Archibald, assistant deputy minister for Research, Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada in Ottawa, said it would have cost $11 million to refurbish the Nappan centre.
He said some researchers will likely be offered work in a newly refurbished facility in Fredericton.
Nappan was one of the first five agricultural research stations set up by the federal government in 1886."
So far no one in Nova Scotia has decided to man the barricades.
Seems the aggy station in St. John's is not the only one in the country being shut down, with jobs transferred to other places. The closure of the four facilities across Canada will save Ottawa about $1.5 million, according to the CBC story and - get this - the Brookfield Road facility would cost $11 million to refurbish if it was maintained.
Now for all Ed Byrne's comments and the poking he is taking from the Opposition, I just want to see if this scenario makes any sense to anyone.
Consider that for its entire operating life, the cool crop centre on Brookfield Road was a joint facility operated by both the feds and the province. A few years ago when Brian Tobin decided to sprinkle a few provincial government salaries around the province just minutes before he returned to federal politics, he shifted the provincial aggy research out to Corner Brook.
Given that the feds weren't consulted on that and weren't interested - I gather - in a complete shift across the province of their own, they soldiered on with the Brookfield Road facility for a few more years. Now, in a round of re-organization, they are going to shift their efforts elsewhere and find another way to provide the research support to local farmers. If I could save $11.0 million under those circumstances, I'd probably shut down Brookfield Road too. After all, if the provincial government isn't interested in the place, and they decided to make intergovernmental research co-operation just a bit more difficult a few years ago, why should the feds keep a place they don't really need?
From what I have heard, the feds have been trying to offload the site since the relocation of provincial resources to Corner Brook. Makes you wonder what might have happened if Mr. Tobin hadn't wanted to go back to Ottawa in 2000. I certainly don't see Ed Byrne coming forward with some cash to subsidize the refurbishment.
Better yet, Ed should buy up the place with some of the January oil money, hire the guys about to be relocated and put provincial researchers to work there. He can even bring the crowd back from Corner Brook. I am sure Danny won't mind losing some of his voters.
Ed Byrne tossed up an argument this afternoon about this being the only province without an aggy research station. Ok, Ed. I accept your point. Now tell me why that matters. Last time I checked there wasn't a naval base in every province either yet somehow Saskatchewan still manages to turn out sailors. The galloping gimmes or "me too, me too" is an argument for five-year-olds. Tell me why I as a taxpayer should fork out $11.0 million of my cash on a building that may not be needed.
"Ottawa closing experimental farm
WebPosted Feb 25 2005 05:44 PM AST
CBC News
OTTAWA - The federal government says it's shutting down an experimental farming operation in Nova Scotia to save money.
The Crops and Livestock Research Centre in Nappan is closing this fall, as Ottawa gets out of the business of running experimental farms. Three others - in Ontario, Newfoundland and Manitoba - will also close.
Bruce Archibald, assistant deputy minister for Research, Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada in Ottawa, said it would have cost $11 million to refurbish the Nappan centre.
He said some researchers will likely be offered work in a newly refurbished facility in Fredericton.
Nappan was one of the first five agricultural research stations set up by the federal government in 1886."
So far no one in Nova Scotia has decided to man the barricades.
Seems the aggy station in St. John's is not the only one in the country being shut down, with jobs transferred to other places. The closure of the four facilities across Canada will save Ottawa about $1.5 million, according to the CBC story and - get this - the Brookfield Road facility would cost $11 million to refurbish if it was maintained.
Now for all Ed Byrne's comments and the poking he is taking from the Opposition, I just want to see if this scenario makes any sense to anyone.
Consider that for its entire operating life, the cool crop centre on Brookfield Road was a joint facility operated by both the feds and the province. A few years ago when Brian Tobin decided to sprinkle a few provincial government salaries around the province just minutes before he returned to federal politics, he shifted the provincial aggy research out to Corner Brook.
Given that the feds weren't consulted on that and weren't interested - I gather - in a complete shift across the province of their own, they soldiered on with the Brookfield Road facility for a few more years. Now, in a round of re-organization, they are going to shift their efforts elsewhere and find another way to provide the research support to local farmers. If I could save $11.0 million under those circumstances, I'd probably shut down Brookfield Road too. After all, if the provincial government isn't interested in the place, and they decided to make intergovernmental research co-operation just a bit more difficult a few years ago, why should the feds keep a place they don't really need?
From what I have heard, the feds have been trying to offload the site since the relocation of provincial resources to Corner Brook. Makes you wonder what might have happened if Mr. Tobin hadn't wanted to go back to Ottawa in 2000. I certainly don't see Ed Byrne coming forward with some cash to subsidize the refurbishment.
Better yet, Ed should buy up the place with some of the January oil money, hire the guys about to be relocated and put provincial researchers to work there. He can even bring the crowd back from Corner Brook. I am sure Danny won't mind losing some of his voters.
Ed Byrne tossed up an argument this afternoon about this being the only province without an aggy research station. Ok, Ed. I accept your point. Now tell me why that matters. Last time I checked there wasn't a naval base in every province either yet somehow Saskatchewan still manages to turn out sailors. The galloping gimmes or "me too, me too" is an argument for five-year-olds. Tell me why I as a taxpayer should fork out $11.0 million of my cash on a building that may not be needed.
The Government of Canada: Working for you!
No, I am not being sarcastic.
Here's a release today from provincial health minister John Ottenheimer announcing $16.8 million in new money for early learning and child care.
Here's the lead sentence:
"Investing in the province’s children today will help them realize their promise for tomorrow," said Health and Community Services Minister John Ottenheimer as he today unveiled new investment plans for three areas in early learning and child care."
At last, a modest but very important investment by the provincial government in a social program that is much needed. Must be part of the big January offshore dividend.
Not frickin likely.
You have to get to the third paragraph before you realize this is all federal government money.
Three provincial cabinet ministers are quoted in the release praising the program.
Maybe the words Government of Canada are in some kind of invisible ink that you need a secret decoder ring to see.
As the last paragraph states:
"The $16.8 million supporting this initiative is Newfoundland and Labrador’s share of the 2003 federal-provincial and territorial framework for early learning and child care aimed at improving access to affordable, quality, regulated early learning and child care services for children under six years."
Never forget that federal politicians have been complaining for years through umpteen administrations of both red and blue stripe that Ottawa never gets credit for the money it spends.
Read this release and you will have no problem figuring out Ottawa's image problem.
With all the nationalist and separatist sentiment coursing through the province in the wake of the offshore deal, you would think the feds would be anxious to have a flag tattooed on every available rump in the province. An investment like this in our children solely by the Government of Canada surely warrants some acknowledge of the feds' role in it all.
It doesn't require a big advertising campaign, a bunch of neckties and some fridge magnets to get the word out that "Government of Canada" is not just a Figure 11 target.
Here's a release today from provincial health minister John Ottenheimer announcing $16.8 million in new money for early learning and child care.
Here's the lead sentence:
"Investing in the province’s children today will help them realize their promise for tomorrow," said Health and Community Services Minister John Ottenheimer as he today unveiled new investment plans for three areas in early learning and child care."
At last, a modest but very important investment by the provincial government in a social program that is much needed. Must be part of the big January offshore dividend.
Not frickin likely.
You have to get to the third paragraph before you realize this is all federal government money.
Three provincial cabinet ministers are quoted in the release praising the program.
Maybe the words Government of Canada are in some kind of invisible ink that you need a secret decoder ring to see.
As the last paragraph states:
"The $16.8 million supporting this initiative is Newfoundland and Labrador’s share of the 2003 federal-provincial and territorial framework for early learning and child care aimed at improving access to affordable, quality, regulated early learning and child care services for children under six years."
Never forget that federal politicians have been complaining for years through umpteen administrations of both red and blue stripe that Ottawa never gets credit for the money it spends.
Read this release and you will have no problem figuring out Ottawa's image problem.
With all the nationalist and separatist sentiment coursing through the province in the wake of the offshore deal, you would think the feds would be anxious to have a flag tattooed on every available rump in the province. An investment like this in our children solely by the Government of Canada surely warrants some acknowledge of the feds' role in it all.
It doesn't require a big advertising campaign, a bunch of neckties and some fridge magnets to get the word out that "Government of Canada" is not just a Figure 11 target.
Now here's a label to question
Never let it be said Paul Wells is not an eclectic sort of fellow. His Friday blog contribution is a discussion of a typology US political leaders. I'll let you wander over and read it.
He found a test and your dedicated electronic scribbler decided to take it. Well here are the results. I will leave it others to judge the accuracy of this test. My wife is just shaking her head - yet again, mind you; the last question on the test asks to pick a hero among Hilary Clinton, Steven Spielberg and Homer Simpson. I picked Spielberg. Guess which one she thinks is more appropriate for me?
Talent: 78%
Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.
He found a test and your dedicated electronic scribbler decided to take it. Well here are the results. I will leave it others to judge the accuracy of this test. My wife is just shaking her head - yet again, mind you; the last question on the test asks to pick a hero among Hilary Clinton, Steven Spielberg and Homer Simpson. I picked Spielberg. Guess which one she thinks is more appropriate for me?
I'm a Talent!
You're a risk-taker, and you follow your passions. You're determined to take on the world and succeed on your own terms. Whether in the arts, science, engineering, business, or politics, you fearlessly express your own vision of the world. You're not afraid of a fight, and you're not afraid to bet your future on your own abilities. If you find a job boring or stifling, you're already preparing your resume. You believe in doing what you love, and you're not willing to settle for an ordinary life.
Talent: 78%
Lifer: 11%
Mandarin: 41%
Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.
The backstory on Flo
In any news story there is the obvious detail about what happened.
In the case of Florence Delaney's resignation, we have the basic elements of what occurred.
The former treasury board secretary was told she was being moved to Environment. Rightly considering the move a demotion, she elected to resign apparently less than two years short of her pension.
That's the frontstory.
Government has dutifully denied this will have any impact on anything and in their version of things, Delaney had differences of opinion with the Premier on budget priorities. They have stuck with this media line - one of their series of statements about an event - as the story now enters day three.
In handling the frontstory, government is trying to kill it off quickly, end any inquiry into the matter and move on to something else. Their whole media line is the equivalent of the English bobby from the movies: "Alright then. Move it along. Nothing to see here."
Problem is the foot of the corpse is sticking out from under the white sheet and people just can't help but peek.
As noted a couple of days ago, differences of opinion don't normally spark this sort of situation - either the demotion or the resignation. So that alone makes the government's media line a little suspicious and largely ineffective as far as those who know government would be concerned. The news media may drop the issue but reporters won't necessarily forget; nor will senior public servants.
More importantly, if you could strip off that white sheet from the medical examiner's office, you'd likely see a lot more than the tragic and unnecessary end of an otherwise exemplary public service career. The real story here isn't even the ease with which the Premier dismisses those who disagree with him, apparently.
The substantive story lurking under the covers is the apparent difference of opinion in the upper reaches of government on government financial plans for the next few years.
In the e.e. cummings tribute speech on January 5 and in the subsequent budget, the Premier made it quite clear that the province's financial state made it necessary to embark on a process to fix it that would take years. Aside from the layoffs and the wage freezes, government embarked on a program review to restructure government and make it more efficient.
From the events this week, it seems that some within government, including some cabinet ministers - Loyola Sullivan maybe? - want to continue with those reform initiatives. They want to hold the line on spending. They want to take the measures recommended by the Gourley report from PriceClubWaterHouseCoopers and by David Norris in his paper to the Vic Young Royal Commission.
Would that mean we are in for a Dark Age lasting until 2012 or so? Not at all. But it does mean that there will be the kind of calls to Open Line shows we haven't heard since last year. The calls are ones that are a lot less enthusiastic in the praise of the Premier than he has seen now for the past six months. Those are the kind of calls that lead the Premier to joke about quitting politics or to tell reporters, as he did last year at the peak of the budget flap, that he regretted entering politics every single day. In a less personal sense, though, that approach is a lot less flashy, a lot less massaged than the one we have seen in recent weeks.
The alternative in this cabinet disagreement is likely something akin to the Tobin pattern from the 1990s. Recall that Tobin entered the Premier's Office, brought in a budget that laid off 1500 people and consequently fell drastically in the polls and popularity. He grabbed an issue that boosted his popularity and thereafter worked to find every nickel he could in one-time payments to make sure that he never again had to say anything that was vaguely unpleasant. Tobin also started living on the Open Line shows all as part of a program aimed at keeping his personal polling numbers up as high as possible. Every issue was tackled as a one-off and slowly the government lost any sense of strategic direction.
The financial circumstances are different this time though. Even without the January Deal, the provincial government was actually in good revenue shape nd will be for some time. As it turned out, high oil prices helped push the province along like an ice boat in a hurricane.
Here's the thing: there are some long-term issues that need to be tackled. The time to do it is now. The Voice of Doom speech may have been as grossly overblown as it was grossly delivered but at its core was a streak of fiscal commonsense that people bought into. Take a look at the reaction to the ad campaign among the Fair Deal crowd to get a glimpse of that commonsense. And not tackling those long-term issues - unfunded pension liability, for example - now while we have the cash would be as unforgivable as a Tobinesque spending spree.
What seems to emerge from the backstory of the Delaney departure is a government that lacks a coherent strategic vision; it seems to lack a Plan. The January Deal simply isn't big enough to cause a fundamental shift in government fiscal strategy in light of the "reality" Loyola Sullivan has been relentlessly pushing since last year. Yet here we have a huge racket on a fundamental strategic issue fully 18 months into this administration.
The government could only now be locked in some fundamental disagreements of the type mentioned in the government's own media line if it was moving from issue to issue without an underlying plan or philosophy.
If the disagreements are deep enough to cause the untimely demise of a top civil servant, then we on the outside must indeed wonder what lies under the sheet.
In the case of Florence Delaney's resignation, we have the basic elements of what occurred.
The former treasury board secretary was told she was being moved to Environment. Rightly considering the move a demotion, she elected to resign apparently less than two years short of her pension.
That's the frontstory.
Government has dutifully denied this will have any impact on anything and in their version of things, Delaney had differences of opinion with the Premier on budget priorities. They have stuck with this media line - one of their series of statements about an event - as the story now enters day three.
In handling the frontstory, government is trying to kill it off quickly, end any inquiry into the matter and move on to something else. Their whole media line is the equivalent of the English bobby from the movies: "Alright then. Move it along. Nothing to see here."
Problem is the foot of the corpse is sticking out from under the white sheet and people just can't help but peek.
As noted a couple of days ago, differences of opinion don't normally spark this sort of situation - either the demotion or the resignation. So that alone makes the government's media line a little suspicious and largely ineffective as far as those who know government would be concerned. The news media may drop the issue but reporters won't necessarily forget; nor will senior public servants.
More importantly, if you could strip off that white sheet from the medical examiner's office, you'd likely see a lot more than the tragic and unnecessary end of an otherwise exemplary public service career. The real story here isn't even the ease with which the Premier dismisses those who disagree with him, apparently.
The substantive story lurking under the covers is the apparent difference of opinion in the upper reaches of government on government financial plans for the next few years.
In the e.e. cummings tribute speech on January 5 and in the subsequent budget, the Premier made it quite clear that the province's financial state made it necessary to embark on a process to fix it that would take years. Aside from the layoffs and the wage freezes, government embarked on a program review to restructure government and make it more efficient.
From the events this week, it seems that some within government, including some cabinet ministers - Loyola Sullivan maybe? - want to continue with those reform initiatives. They want to hold the line on spending. They want to take the measures recommended by the Gourley report from PriceClubWaterHouseCoopers and by David Norris in his paper to the Vic Young Royal Commission.
Would that mean we are in for a Dark Age lasting until 2012 or so? Not at all. But it does mean that there will be the kind of calls to Open Line shows we haven't heard since last year. The calls are ones that are a lot less enthusiastic in the praise of the Premier than he has seen now for the past six months. Those are the kind of calls that lead the Premier to joke about quitting politics or to tell reporters, as he did last year at the peak of the budget flap, that he regretted entering politics every single day. In a less personal sense, though, that approach is a lot less flashy, a lot less massaged than the one we have seen in recent weeks.
The alternative in this cabinet disagreement is likely something akin to the Tobin pattern from the 1990s. Recall that Tobin entered the Premier's Office, brought in a budget that laid off 1500 people and consequently fell drastically in the polls and popularity. He grabbed an issue that boosted his popularity and thereafter worked to find every nickel he could in one-time payments to make sure that he never again had to say anything that was vaguely unpleasant. Tobin also started living on the Open Line shows all as part of a program aimed at keeping his personal polling numbers up as high as possible. Every issue was tackled as a one-off and slowly the government lost any sense of strategic direction.
The financial circumstances are different this time though. Even without the January Deal, the provincial government was actually in good revenue shape nd will be for some time. As it turned out, high oil prices helped push the province along like an ice boat in a hurricane.
Here's the thing: there are some long-term issues that need to be tackled. The time to do it is now. The Voice of Doom speech may have been as grossly overblown as it was grossly delivered but at its core was a streak of fiscal commonsense that people bought into. Take a look at the reaction to the ad campaign among the Fair Deal crowd to get a glimpse of that commonsense. And not tackling those long-term issues - unfunded pension liability, for example - now while we have the cash would be as unforgivable as a Tobinesque spending spree.
What seems to emerge from the backstory of the Delaney departure is a government that lacks a coherent strategic vision; it seems to lack a Plan. The January Deal simply isn't big enough to cause a fundamental shift in government fiscal strategy in light of the "reality" Loyola Sullivan has been relentlessly pushing since last year. Yet here we have a huge racket on a fundamental strategic issue fully 18 months into this administration.
The government could only now be locked in some fundamental disagreements of the type mentioned in the government's own media line if it was moving from issue to issue without an underlying plan or philosophy.
If the disagreements are deep enough to cause the untimely demise of a top civil servant, then we on the outside must indeed wonder what lies under the sheet.
24 February 2005
Never NeverLand
Two other little Peter Pan things:
1. The dog in the original story was a Newfoundland called nana. The first link is to the online version of the book Peter Pan; the second link is to a United Kingdom club for owners of the breed. For some inexplicable reason, Disney decided to turn nana into a Saint Bernard for the animated movie.
Please note, the Newfoundland dog is the only living creature than can acceptably be called a newf or newfie. While the matter may be debated in some circles, most people I know consider that applying either of these terms to humans born in Newfoundland is akin to using the other n-word.
2. A regular reader of these electronic scribbles has already pointed me to obvious proof that Peter Pan is a matter of public policy. The sound you hear is my head pounding against a nearby wall at the extent of things that are legislated. The intent of this section of legislation is noble however it is limited or appears to be limited to proceeds from the stage play. Could one argue that an adaptation of the book is exempt from the provisions of the statute quoted below? Second year law students and those with way too much time on their hands may now begin the search for relevant case law.
Under the Copyright, designs and patents Act, 1988, c. 48, the United Kingdom Parliament has provided as follows in Part VII Miscellaneous and General, paragraph 301:
"The provisions of Schedule 6 have effect for conferring on trustees for the benefit of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London, a right to a royalty in respect of the public performance, commercial publication, broadcasting or inclusion in a cable programme service of the play 'Peter Pan' by Sir James Matthew Barrie, or of any adaptation of that work, notwithstanding that copyright in the work expired on 31st December 1987."
1. The dog in the original story was a Newfoundland called nana. The first link is to the online version of the book Peter Pan; the second link is to a United Kingdom club for owners of the breed. For some inexplicable reason, Disney decided to turn nana into a Saint Bernard for the animated movie.
Please note, the Newfoundland dog is the only living creature than can acceptably be called a newf or newfie. While the matter may be debated in some circles, most people I know consider that applying either of these terms to humans born in Newfoundland is akin to using the other n-word.
2. A regular reader of these electronic scribbles has already pointed me to obvious proof that Peter Pan is a matter of public policy. The sound you hear is my head pounding against a nearby wall at the extent of things that are legislated. The intent of this section of legislation is noble however it is limited or appears to be limited to proceeds from the stage play. Could one argue that an adaptation of the book is exempt from the provisions of the statute quoted below? Second year law students and those with way too much time on their hands may now begin the search for relevant case law.
Under the Copyright, designs and patents Act, 1988, c. 48, the United Kingdom Parliament has provided as follows in Part VII Miscellaneous and General, paragraph 301:
"The provisions of Schedule 6 have effect for conferring on trustees for the benefit of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London, a right to a royalty in respect of the public performance, commercial publication, broadcasting or inclusion in a cable programme service of the play 'Peter Pan' by Sir James Matthew Barrie, or of any adaptation of that work, notwithstanding that copyright in the work expired on 31st December 1987."
NeverLand
Ok.
Strictly speaking, Peter Pan is not a public policy issue.
Politics sometimes resembles a fantasy world and yes, there are more than a few male politicians who seem like boys who never grew up but that is a digression.
Over on John Gushue's blog he noted that today is the anniversary of the sinking of the S.S. Florizel in 1918. For people not from here, the Florizel was a steamer running between New York and St. John's. Due to an error in navigation the ship went onto the rocks at a place called Cappahayden with a loss of 94 lives.
Shortly after the sinking a statue of Peter Pan was erected at Bowring Park in St. John's as a memorial to a girl who was drowned on the Florizel.
Anyways, John mentions that the statue is one of several in the world. There are at least five. The original is in Kensington Gardens, London. There's another in Bruxelles (Brussels), one in Camden New Jersey, another in Liverpool and then there's the one in St. John's. Check this link.
More than a few local children went to see the movie Hook a few years ago and wondered when Robin Williams had been here filming at Bowring Park. Older children, like say...me... have been wondering lately how we might possible persuade Kate Winslet to visit here but that would be an entirely different story.
Strictly speaking, Peter Pan is not a public policy issue.
Politics sometimes resembles a fantasy world and yes, there are more than a few male politicians who seem like boys who never grew up but that is a digression.
Over on John Gushue's blog he noted that today is the anniversary of the sinking of the S.S. Florizel in 1918. For people not from here, the Florizel was a steamer running between New York and St. John's. Due to an error in navigation the ship went onto the rocks at a place called Cappahayden with a loss of 94 lives.
Shortly after the sinking a statue of Peter Pan was erected at Bowring Park in St. John's as a memorial to a girl who was drowned on the Florizel.
Anyways, John mentions that the statue is one of several in the world. There are at least five. The original is in Kensington Gardens, London. There's another in Bruxelles (Brussels), one in Camden New Jersey, another in Liverpool and then there's the one in St. John's. Check this link.
More than a few local children went to see the movie Hook a few years ago and wondered when Robin Williams had been here filming at Bowring Park. Older children, like say...me... have been wondering lately how we might possible persuade Kate Winslet to visit here but that would be an entirely different story.
A closer look at the defence increase
The federal government's budget news releases correctly highlighted the increase in defence spending as being the largest injection of new money into the Canadian Forces in two decades.
It is interesting, though, to take a closer look at what was mentioned in the budget announcements and what wasn't mentioned. Here are a few from a quick reading -
Increases:
- $3.0 billion to permit expanding the Regular Force by 5, 000 members and the Reserve Force by 3, 000. This commits money to fulfill a long-standing government promise to reduce the burden on an already heavily burdened force. Several problems have been identified in meeting this requirement beyond available cash. They include lingering problems in the recruiting system and in the reserve force some ongoing difficulties with retention.
There is a marketing and human resource management problem underneath this all. DND needs to have a closer look at who they want to recruit, especially in the Reserve component, and then design a set of HR policies and a promotional campaign to reach those people. There was a pretty clever recruiting program a few years ago, the first in decades, but something just didn't click with target audiences. I'd venture that DND needs to look again at the issue and strengthen its advertising and public affairs teams to keep DND in the public eye.
In all of Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, there is not a single military public affairs officer (MOC 66), either in the Regular or Reserve component. The one full-time PA position is located in Goose Bay and that was recently turned into a civilian job. That is in a province where DND recruits a huge chunks of its annual quota, where it has an operational and training presence and where there is a strong likelihood DND will be involved in local civilian emergency response.
Here's a thought - either contract out the work to civilian agencies, even on a local basis. If there is a problem in hiring people to wear a uniform, there is enough expertise in the civilian community to fill the gaps at home.
In the interests of full disclosure, I am a PR consultant and I served as a DND reserve PAO for six years. If they want to tender the work, I'll gladly bid. As much as I'd love the work, as long as the process is fair, I really don't care who gets the job.
Meeting the recruiting targets will take more than cash.
- $3.2 billion for readiness including training, ammunition, spares and repairs. One of the hardest hit areas of the defence budget in the past decade has been available stocks of ammunition for training and operational uses. There has been some innovative use of simulators but for soldiers, there is nothing quite like the experience of tossing a hand grenade or firing a live round from a howitzer.
- $2.7 billion for new equipment. There is a need for new wheeled logistic vehicles, in addition to the Iltis light trucks that are currently being replaced. There is also a need for new light aircraft to replace the Buffalo, a Hercules replacement, as well as new logistics ships.
Typically, DND major procurement decisions fall victim to political concerns:
- Chretien cancelled the EH-101 purchase purely for political expediency, hamstrung the military for a decade and then wound up spending more money keeping the old aircraft flying and ultimately buying fewer new aircraft.
- In advance of the 1993 election, the outgoing Tory government acquired an Italian-designed knock-off known in the Canadian Forces as the LSVW. A high centre of gravity and constantly squealing brakes are just a few of the problems with the vehicle.
- The Griffon helicopter was acquired in an untendered contract worth about $1.2 billion under a minister of national defence fond of classical music and wearing capes. The decision was made solely for political purposes since the helicopter has repeatedly shown it can't do the jobs it was supposed to do. Don't take my word for that one; ask the Auditor General.
Military procurement needs to be based on a few simple requirements:
1. It must be the right piece of kit for the task.
2. It must allow for the maximum compatibility with our major allies, thereby reducing acquisition and operating costs. Simplest way to do that is buy stuff they use.
3. It must represent value for money. Canadian Forces members deserve the best equipment at the most reasonable price regardless of where it is made.
4. It must be acquired in sufficient numbers to meet immediate training and operational requirements as well as provide a surge capacity for international crises.
5. It must be as flexible and adaptable as possible.
6. Buy it quickly. No procurement should take 15 years unless we are inventing some whole new technology. Off-the-shelf means just that.
Overall, procurement needs to be driven by operations. What do the people need? How fast can we get it to them? If it doesn't work, get rid of it and find something that does.
Personally, I don't think most soldiers would care if their rifle was made in Burlington or Bhutan as long as they knew it was the best thing available and could do the job they need.
Defence Policy 1994 committed to buying more off-the-shelf items although this hasn't really been followed. Sure the army bought some camping equipment and multi-purpose tools but major items like weapons effects simulators, combat clothing, helmets and most major capital purchases have gone through lengthy (decades long) processes that are inherently inefficient and costly. Weapons effects simulators are one of my favourite examples - the project started when Chretien came into office and final delivery is anticipated this year. WES gear has been in wide use among our allies for almost 25 years.
DND history is replete with examples of poor procurement decisions. An opportunity to acquire 5 ton logistics vehicles from the US would have ensured compatibility with a major ally, tons of available and cheap spares and a lower unit cost based on the much larger US acquisition. DND passed on the chance. Likewise, in 1990 an offer of free armoured vehicles - brand new tanks and personnel carriers was nixed, reportedly by treasury board based on anticipated life-cycle costs.
When time came to replace the Iltis light utility truck, DND decided to acquire two different vehicles for the Reserve and Regular component. The Regular Force got a German-built truck known colloquially as the G-wagen. The Reserve Component got a bunch of civilian Silverado pick-ups trucks that really shouldn't be deployed outside Canada. Repeated opportunities to acquire HUMMVs have simply slipped by.
I could go on and on, but the stories are getting tired and old.
As I noted in another post the Canadian Forces has changed. Under General Hillier I would expect to see some smart decisions that focus on what his soldiers, sailors and airmen need to do their jobs.
Let's hope the politicians can stay out of his way. If you pay the guy big bucks, then let Hillier deliver results like we know he can.
Otherwise, Canadian taxpayers will see further billions wasted because the politicians really wanted a monkey as Chief of Defence Staff rather than an accomplished professional.
Bill Graham never struck me as an organ grinder.
It is interesting, though, to take a closer look at what was mentioned in the budget announcements and what wasn't mentioned. Here are a few from a quick reading -
Increases:
- $3.0 billion to permit expanding the Regular Force by 5, 000 members and the Reserve Force by 3, 000. This commits money to fulfill a long-standing government promise to reduce the burden on an already heavily burdened force. Several problems have been identified in meeting this requirement beyond available cash. They include lingering problems in the recruiting system and in the reserve force some ongoing difficulties with retention.
There is a marketing and human resource management problem underneath this all. DND needs to have a closer look at who they want to recruit, especially in the Reserve component, and then design a set of HR policies and a promotional campaign to reach those people. There was a pretty clever recruiting program a few years ago, the first in decades, but something just didn't click with target audiences. I'd venture that DND needs to look again at the issue and strengthen its advertising and public affairs teams to keep DND in the public eye.
In all of Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, there is not a single military public affairs officer (MOC 66), either in the Regular or Reserve component. The one full-time PA position is located in Goose Bay and that was recently turned into a civilian job. That is in a province where DND recruits a huge chunks of its annual quota, where it has an operational and training presence and where there is a strong likelihood DND will be involved in local civilian emergency response.
Here's a thought - either contract out the work to civilian agencies, even on a local basis. If there is a problem in hiring people to wear a uniform, there is enough expertise in the civilian community to fill the gaps at home.
In the interests of full disclosure, I am a PR consultant and I served as a DND reserve PAO for six years. If they want to tender the work, I'll gladly bid. As much as I'd love the work, as long as the process is fair, I really don't care who gets the job.
Meeting the recruiting targets will take more than cash.
- $3.2 billion for readiness including training, ammunition, spares and repairs. One of the hardest hit areas of the defence budget in the past decade has been available stocks of ammunition for training and operational uses. There has been some innovative use of simulators but for soldiers, there is nothing quite like the experience of tossing a hand grenade or firing a live round from a howitzer.
- $2.7 billion for new equipment. There is a need for new wheeled logistic vehicles, in addition to the Iltis light trucks that are currently being replaced. There is also a need for new light aircraft to replace the Buffalo, a Hercules replacement, as well as new logistics ships.
Typically, DND major procurement decisions fall victim to political concerns:
- Chretien cancelled the EH-101 purchase purely for political expediency, hamstrung the military for a decade and then wound up spending more money keeping the old aircraft flying and ultimately buying fewer new aircraft.
- In advance of the 1993 election, the outgoing Tory government acquired an Italian-designed knock-off known in the Canadian Forces as the LSVW. A high centre of gravity and constantly squealing brakes are just a few of the problems with the vehicle.
- The Griffon helicopter was acquired in an untendered contract worth about $1.2 billion under a minister of national defence fond of classical music and wearing capes. The decision was made solely for political purposes since the helicopter has repeatedly shown it can't do the jobs it was supposed to do. Don't take my word for that one; ask the Auditor General.
Military procurement needs to be based on a few simple requirements:
1. It must be the right piece of kit for the task.
2. It must allow for the maximum compatibility with our major allies, thereby reducing acquisition and operating costs. Simplest way to do that is buy stuff they use.
3. It must represent value for money. Canadian Forces members deserve the best equipment at the most reasonable price regardless of where it is made.
4. It must be acquired in sufficient numbers to meet immediate training and operational requirements as well as provide a surge capacity for international crises.
5. It must be as flexible and adaptable as possible.
6. Buy it quickly. No procurement should take 15 years unless we are inventing some whole new technology. Off-the-shelf means just that.
Overall, procurement needs to be driven by operations. What do the people need? How fast can we get it to them? If it doesn't work, get rid of it and find something that does.
Personally, I don't think most soldiers would care if their rifle was made in Burlington or Bhutan as long as they knew it was the best thing available and could do the job they need.
Defence Policy 1994 committed to buying more off-the-shelf items although this hasn't really been followed. Sure the army bought some camping equipment and multi-purpose tools but major items like weapons effects simulators, combat clothing, helmets and most major capital purchases have gone through lengthy (decades long) processes that are inherently inefficient and costly. Weapons effects simulators are one of my favourite examples - the project started when Chretien came into office and final delivery is anticipated this year. WES gear has been in wide use among our allies for almost 25 years.
DND history is replete with examples of poor procurement decisions. An opportunity to acquire 5 ton logistics vehicles from the US would have ensured compatibility with a major ally, tons of available and cheap spares and a lower unit cost based on the much larger US acquisition. DND passed on the chance. Likewise, in 1990 an offer of free armoured vehicles - brand new tanks and personnel carriers was nixed, reportedly by treasury board based on anticipated life-cycle costs.
When time came to replace the Iltis light utility truck, DND decided to acquire two different vehicles for the Reserve and Regular component. The Regular Force got a German-built truck known colloquially as the G-wagen. The Reserve Component got a bunch of civilian Silverado pick-ups trucks that really shouldn't be deployed outside Canada. Repeated opportunities to acquire HUMMVs have simply slipped by.
I could go on and on, but the stories are getting tired and old.
As I noted in another post the Canadian Forces has changed. Under General Hillier I would expect to see some smart decisions that focus on what his soldiers, sailors and airmen need to do their jobs.
Let's hope the politicians can stay out of his way. If you pay the guy big bucks, then let Hillier deliver results like we know he can.
Otherwise, Canadian taxpayers will see further billions wasted because the politicians really wanted a monkey as Chief of Defence Staff rather than an accomplished professional.
Bill Graham never struck me as an organ grinder.
23 February 2005
Rule Number 3?
Remember this one?
Incidentally, the official government news release, issued at 3:00 pm today, goes into a whole raft of other things. There is the appointment of a new assistant deputy minister who brings bags of potential with him. There is the appointment of Len Simms to a patronage job as head of the housing corporation - why not just absorb the corporation into something else as a cost cutting measure? It is hard to fight the drive to note that there are very few former Peckford cabinet ministers who are still alive who haven't received a patronage job in the new administration. (Yes I know, three are in Ottawa; one is reputedly sitting as a Liberal to boot.)
Then there is also an inexplicable game of musical chairs involving the deputy ministers of transportation and works and municipal and provincial affairs. Almost at the last bit, there are some confirmations of assistant deputy ministers (ADM) who have been "acting" until now.
Then lastly there is news that a treasury board ADM will oversee the budget process through the end of the fiscal year. That's all there is.
Now back to the story:
Public servants don't usually toss their teddy in the corner over minor issues or "differences of opinion".
Senior public servants don't usually get demoted unless they have really screwed up badly. In the ordinary course of things, unless Ms. Delaney had flat-out, blatantly refused to follow cabinet direction on the budget there really wouldn't be much cause to shift her to a new job; cause that is, unless there was a larger reorganization of assignments among the deputy ministers.
If Delaney refused direction then it would be cause to demand her resignation or simply fire her for insubordination.
Inherent in the job of being a senior public servant or a senior political staffer is the responsibility - the duty - to state considered opinions forcefully, even if those opinions run contrary to what The Boss wants. Bosses should tolerate some dissent for the health of the government and the decision-making process.
Once the decision gets made, then it is the duty of said staffer or public servant to carry out the orders, irrespective of their own views. Voluntary resignation is something that happens only in the most extreme circumstances, that is, "extreme" in the ordinary workings of government.
That's why this story is likely to unfold in interesting ways over the next 24 hours.
The last paragraph of the CBC story is a bit of a joke, by the way. Premiers are not in the habit of requesting people to do something. "Request" is a polite way of putting it. It suggests one can refuse with impunity: "No thanks, I kinda like it here and my office has a nice view." Uh huh. Sure.
The truth is that the premier assigns people to jobs and from the looks of it, that is what was done here.
For some reason, Ms. Delaney decided to exercise her option under Rule Three: Hand in your resignation.
Therein lies the real story: why did she go?
In closing, here's a poser:
Trivia question: Name the last deputy minister of the provincial government who resigned voluntarily in similar circumstances?
Answer: Truthfully, I can't think of anyone, although, undoubtedly, there have been. Any faithful readers who can come up with a verifiable answer will win my eternal gratitude.
Rule Number One: The Boss is always right.Right now, you should have a look at a CBC Radio story today on the departure of the secretary of treasury board a month before the budget comes down. Florence Delaney has resigned in what is described by CBC Radio as a difference of opinion with the Premier over budget priorities.
Rule Number Two: If the Boss is wrong, see Rule Number One.
Incidentally, the official government news release, issued at 3:00 pm today, goes into a whole raft of other things. There is the appointment of a new assistant deputy minister who brings bags of potential with him. There is the appointment of Len Simms to a patronage job as head of the housing corporation - why not just absorb the corporation into something else as a cost cutting measure? It is hard to fight the drive to note that there are very few former Peckford cabinet ministers who are still alive who haven't received a patronage job in the new administration. (Yes I know, three are in Ottawa; one is reputedly sitting as a Liberal to boot.)
Then there is also an inexplicable game of musical chairs involving the deputy ministers of transportation and works and municipal and provincial affairs. Almost at the last bit, there are some confirmations of assistant deputy ministers (ADM) who have been "acting" until now.
Then lastly there is news that a treasury board ADM will oversee the budget process through the end of the fiscal year. That's all there is.
Now back to the story:
Public servants don't usually toss their teddy in the corner over minor issues or "differences of opinion".
Senior public servants don't usually get demoted unless they have really screwed up badly. In the ordinary course of things, unless Ms. Delaney had flat-out, blatantly refused to follow cabinet direction on the budget there really wouldn't be much cause to shift her to a new job; cause that is, unless there was a larger reorganization of assignments among the deputy ministers.
If Delaney refused direction then it would be cause to demand her resignation or simply fire her for insubordination.
Inherent in the job of being a senior public servant or a senior political staffer is the responsibility - the duty - to state considered opinions forcefully, even if those opinions run contrary to what The Boss wants. Bosses should tolerate some dissent for the health of the government and the decision-making process.
Once the decision gets made, then it is the duty of said staffer or public servant to carry out the orders, irrespective of their own views. Voluntary resignation is something that happens only in the most extreme circumstances, that is, "extreme" in the ordinary workings of government.
That's why this story is likely to unfold in interesting ways over the next 24 hours.
The last paragraph of the CBC story is a bit of a joke, by the way. Premiers are not in the habit of requesting people to do something. "Request" is a polite way of putting it. It suggests one can refuse with impunity: "No thanks, I kinda like it here and my office has a nice view." Uh huh. Sure.
The truth is that the premier assigns people to jobs and from the looks of it, that is what was done here.
For some reason, Ms. Delaney decided to exercise her option under Rule Three: Hand in your resignation.
Therein lies the real story: why did she go?
In closing, here's a poser:
Trivia question: Name the last deputy minister of the provincial government who resigned voluntarily in similar circumstances?
Answer: Truthfully, I can't think of anyone, although, undoubtedly, there have been. Any faithful readers who can come up with a verifiable answer will win my eternal gratitude.
Boosting the military
Media reports on budget day all include the leaks that military spending is expected to be boosted by a total of $12 or $13 billion over the next five years.
Bravo, Paul Martin.
Anyone vaguely familiar with the Canadian Forces knows of need to replace worn-out equipment and develop new capabilities. The complaint of "rust-out" is a common one in Canada, but in the current situation, Canadian soldiers, sailors and aircrew can't be shortchanged.
Just put this into a larger context.
Since taking office in 1993, the Liberal government has cashed in the post-Cold War peace dividend, cutting military spending even though at times the overall operational commitments - troops deployed - increased compared to Cold War days. Pressure has been mounting from NATO generally, not just the United States, for Canada to match its pious words of internationalism with the sinews of a robust military that can take on peace-keeping, and peace-making operations. None of this goes against our foreign policy traditions; rather, since the Second World War, Canada has been an active interventionist in one form or another.
In the relatively lean times, the Canadian Forces has gone through a rebirth of sorts. I experienced some of that as a reservist through the 1990s. The Canadian Forces isn't perfect, but in everything from leadership to pay and benefits the Canadian military today is in many ways a stronger force than it was when there were more people in uniform and they had more equipment.
Expect to see more from the Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier. He is typical of the leaders the Canadian Forces turns out these days. He is practical and aggressive and his practicality likely contributed to the decision to absorb the new cash in stages rather than flood a bunch of money into the military all at once. Hillier is also less likely to be bound by bureaucratic issues and focus more on relating Canada's military forces to national policy objectives. For example, he is unlikely to support new fighter aircraft just because it's the air force's turn to buy something and they like fighters, if the national need is for transport planes.
The context I mentioned above also includes missile defence. Canada is already participating in some ways already though passive things like detection of missiles just as we have done since NORAD was formed in 1958. Ambassador Frank McKenna was right, incidentally. What the Prime Minister will likely announce later this week is that we won't be buying into active missile defence.
But in that overall context Canada could not opt out of missile defence, continue to neglect its own defence forces and continue to expect some influence in the world, particularly NATO. We have been able to do that sort of things at times in the past, but these days, if Canadians actually want to be the "Stern Daughter of the Voice of God" in international affairs, they need to buy a seat at the table. Otherwise, we would be reduced to shrieking through the closed door while someone else makes decisions directly affecting our interests.
The increase in defence spending is a sign Canada is starting to act like a major international player again.
Bravo, Paul Martin.
Anyone vaguely familiar with the Canadian Forces knows of need to replace worn-out equipment and develop new capabilities. The complaint of "rust-out" is a common one in Canada, but in the current situation, Canadian soldiers, sailors and aircrew can't be shortchanged.
Just put this into a larger context.
Since taking office in 1993, the Liberal government has cashed in the post-Cold War peace dividend, cutting military spending even though at times the overall operational commitments - troops deployed - increased compared to Cold War days. Pressure has been mounting from NATO generally, not just the United States, for Canada to match its pious words of internationalism with the sinews of a robust military that can take on peace-keeping, and peace-making operations. None of this goes against our foreign policy traditions; rather, since the Second World War, Canada has been an active interventionist in one form or another.
In the relatively lean times, the Canadian Forces has gone through a rebirth of sorts. I experienced some of that as a reservist through the 1990s. The Canadian Forces isn't perfect, but in everything from leadership to pay and benefits the Canadian military today is in many ways a stronger force than it was when there were more people in uniform and they had more equipment.
Expect to see more from the Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier. He is typical of the leaders the Canadian Forces turns out these days. He is practical and aggressive and his practicality likely contributed to the decision to absorb the new cash in stages rather than flood a bunch of money into the military all at once. Hillier is also less likely to be bound by bureaucratic issues and focus more on relating Canada's military forces to national policy objectives. For example, he is unlikely to support new fighter aircraft just because it's the air force's turn to buy something and they like fighters, if the national need is for transport planes.
The context I mentioned above also includes missile defence. Canada is already participating in some ways already though passive things like detection of missiles just as we have done since NORAD was formed in 1958. Ambassador Frank McKenna was right, incidentally. What the Prime Minister will likely announce later this week is that we won't be buying into active missile defence.
But in that overall context Canada could not opt out of missile defence, continue to neglect its own defence forces and continue to expect some influence in the world, particularly NATO. We have been able to do that sort of things at times in the past, but these days, if Canadians actually want to be the "Stern Daughter of the Voice of God" in international affairs, they need to buy a seat at the table. Otherwise, we would be reduced to shrieking through the closed door while someone else makes decisions directly affecting our interests.
The increase in defence spending is a sign Canada is starting to act like a major international player again.
22 February 2005
Ed Byrne redux
Having had a bit of fun with Ed Byrne over a couple of posts, let's take a closer look at the minister and his portfolio.
At the outset, let me say I have known Ed Byrne for about 20 years. We aren't close buddies by any stretch but when we meet, there's no problem in stopping and having a chat about the goings-on around the district in which I live, and he represents, or in general in the province.
Ed Byrne was first elected to the House of Assembly in the early 1990s and served as leader of the Progressive Conservative opposition through the 1999 general election. Despite what was rumoured to be a difficult term as leader, Byrne led his party to a credit-worthy showing against Brian Tobin. The PC s managed to make it a race in 18 seats and in six, it was touch and go right up until the end for the Liberals. By the end, Byrne and the PCs managed to knock off three Liberal incumbents.
Under Danny Williams, Byrne rose to a more prominent profile, if that was possible and quickly established himself as a strong spokesman for his party. He served, as I jokingly said once, as a better leader after he left the job.
Byrne's reward was a large and important portfolio. Natural Resources encompasses onshore and offshore energy, forestry and agriculture all of which continue to make strong contributions to the provincial economy. Byrne has been publicly acknowledged for his strong support of agriculture, a good thing since Kilbride district has a strong agricultural sector.
Taking all that into consideration, it has been surprising to see Byrne have such a low profile on the offshore discussions, a slightly higher profile on aspects of the Lower Churchill, and, as noted in another post putting out a release soliciting bids for a strategy to explore the prospect of wind power as an alternative energy source.
This latter one is particularly strange because it seems to be an announcement of something already in train. At the same time, the province's long overdue energy strategy - a policy to encompass all energy resources would naturally incorporate a component on alternative sources like wind power.
What's up with that?
Speculation is easy. There is a general impression out there that the Premier has taken the big files - Lower Churchill and offshore - because they are big and have a high profile. That doesn't explain, though, why Loyola Sullivan got a higher profile as a spokesperson on offshore revenues than Byrne did, especially since Byrne's Nova Scotia counterpart was a key player in that province's campaign. There is a logical structure to these things and it seemed natural that Byrne should be part of a team approach and be seen to be part of the team.
There is also a view in the political community that Byrne has been tasked with focusing on his role as government House leader. In that job, Byrne's main effort has been on dealing with the Opposition parties and certainly this interpretation seems to be confirmed by the prominent and largely successful job Byrne has done in counter-attacking and attacking the government's political Opposition.
There has also been growing rumours that Byrne is keeping an eye on federal politics. In one scenario painted by the local speculators, Byrne will run in St. John's South-Mount Pearl once Loyola Hearn either retires or takes on a weakened John Efford in the Avalon riding where Hearn's home is and where he maintains his strongest support.
If that comes true, then Byrne would be a formidable opponent. He is young, experienced, articulate and has a strong political organization. Byrne also matches the demographic profile of the riding making him a natural fit.
But all that is speculation.
In the meantime, there are some major policy issues Byrne could tackle in his current job.
First, he could announce development of a comprehensive energy and energy development strategy for the province. The high profile projects like the offshore and the Lower Churchill need to be put into a larger context. That's been missing for a while now and Byrne could be setting out a policy that relate energy development to other factors rather than just talking about a few windmills. For example, future offshore development and encouraging greater exploration will require an examination of economic, labour, environment and safety policies as well as and tax incentives.
Second, Byrne could clear up policy regarding the province's hydro-electric corporation. In the last election, all three provincial parties talked about turning Hydro into something more than it is now. Now 18 months after being sworn in, the Williams administration hasn't done anything on this policy plank other than switch out some of the directors on the corporation's board.
Maybe it's time to re-examine the idea of privatizing Hydro, thereby strengthening the province's private sector and reducing the debt burden on the treasury. Maybe Hydro can be a productive energy Crown mega-corporation with interests in offshore development. Maybe Hydro can use some of its retained earnings to fund environmental projects of the type the provincial government can't fund directly. There are plenty of options but it seems more productive to engage the public in a debate over the future of Hydro in the Big Picture sense rather than in just a chat about wind power.
Third, Byrne could raise the profile of discussions about ending marketing supports for agriculture. This is an industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the province. Current international negotiations could see an end to market supports to farms across the province and raise the prospect of the industry being swamped by mainland competition. Byrne doesn't have to take one side or the other but he could open up the discussion in the broader public good - better to have participation than to spring something on people. Other provinces have concerns about this issue as well and Byrne could increase the province's visibility on a file most people wouldn't naturally association with Newfoundland and Labrador.
Fourth, Byrne could become a spokesperson for the province's offshore supply industry. They were noticeably invisible during the recent offshore talks except for NOIA's interventions already noted. But the industry needs to be recognized publicly and Byrne is a logical minister to help raise the profile of companies that are helping to make the province the principle beneficiary of offshore development.
Since taking office in November 2003, the Progressive Conservative government has seemed to operate on issues taken in series; first the budget, then the strike, then the offshore, next the Lower Churchill. Given the number of government issues out there, it will take forever to deal with them with government seemingly focused on just one issue after the other.
With capable ministers, it should be possible to manage some files in parallel and get more done in a shorter space of time.
There could be more to Ed Byrne than parrying Liberal and NDP thrusts in the House and in the media.
At the outset, let me say I have known Ed Byrne for about 20 years. We aren't close buddies by any stretch but when we meet, there's no problem in stopping and having a chat about the goings-on around the district in which I live, and he represents, or in general in the province.
Ed Byrne was first elected to the House of Assembly in the early 1990s and served as leader of the Progressive Conservative opposition through the 1999 general election. Despite what was rumoured to be a difficult term as leader, Byrne led his party to a credit-worthy showing against Brian Tobin. The PC s managed to make it a race in 18 seats and in six, it was touch and go right up until the end for the Liberals. By the end, Byrne and the PCs managed to knock off three Liberal incumbents.
Under Danny Williams, Byrne rose to a more prominent profile, if that was possible and quickly established himself as a strong spokesman for his party. He served, as I jokingly said once, as a better leader after he left the job.
Byrne's reward was a large and important portfolio. Natural Resources encompasses onshore and offshore energy, forestry and agriculture all of which continue to make strong contributions to the provincial economy. Byrne has been publicly acknowledged for his strong support of agriculture, a good thing since Kilbride district has a strong agricultural sector.
Taking all that into consideration, it has been surprising to see Byrne have such a low profile on the offshore discussions, a slightly higher profile on aspects of the Lower Churchill, and, as noted in another post putting out a release soliciting bids for a strategy to explore the prospect of wind power as an alternative energy source.
This latter one is particularly strange because it seems to be an announcement of something already in train. At the same time, the province's long overdue energy strategy - a policy to encompass all energy resources would naturally incorporate a component on alternative sources like wind power.
What's up with that?
Speculation is easy. There is a general impression out there that the Premier has taken the big files - Lower Churchill and offshore - because they are big and have a high profile. That doesn't explain, though, why Loyola Sullivan got a higher profile as a spokesperson on offshore revenues than Byrne did, especially since Byrne's Nova Scotia counterpart was a key player in that province's campaign. There is a logical structure to these things and it seemed natural that Byrne should be part of a team approach and be seen to be part of the team.
There is also a view in the political community that Byrne has been tasked with focusing on his role as government House leader. In that job, Byrne's main effort has been on dealing with the Opposition parties and certainly this interpretation seems to be confirmed by the prominent and largely successful job Byrne has done in counter-attacking and attacking the government's political Opposition.
There has also been growing rumours that Byrne is keeping an eye on federal politics. In one scenario painted by the local speculators, Byrne will run in St. John's South-Mount Pearl once Loyola Hearn either retires or takes on a weakened John Efford in the Avalon riding where Hearn's home is and where he maintains his strongest support.
If that comes true, then Byrne would be a formidable opponent. He is young, experienced, articulate and has a strong political organization. Byrne also matches the demographic profile of the riding making him a natural fit.
But all that is speculation.
In the meantime, there are some major policy issues Byrne could tackle in his current job.
First, he could announce development of a comprehensive energy and energy development strategy for the province. The high profile projects like the offshore and the Lower Churchill need to be put into a larger context. That's been missing for a while now and Byrne could be setting out a policy that relate energy development to other factors rather than just talking about a few windmills. For example, future offshore development and encouraging greater exploration will require an examination of economic, labour, environment and safety policies as well as and tax incentives.
Second, Byrne could clear up policy regarding the province's hydro-electric corporation. In the last election, all three provincial parties talked about turning Hydro into something more than it is now. Now 18 months after being sworn in, the Williams administration hasn't done anything on this policy plank other than switch out some of the directors on the corporation's board.
Maybe it's time to re-examine the idea of privatizing Hydro, thereby strengthening the province's private sector and reducing the debt burden on the treasury. Maybe Hydro can be a productive energy Crown mega-corporation with interests in offshore development. Maybe Hydro can use some of its retained earnings to fund environmental projects of the type the provincial government can't fund directly. There are plenty of options but it seems more productive to engage the public in a debate over the future of Hydro in the Big Picture sense rather than in just a chat about wind power.
Third, Byrne could raise the profile of discussions about ending marketing supports for agriculture. This is an industry worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the province. Current international negotiations could see an end to market supports to farms across the province and raise the prospect of the industry being swamped by mainland competition. Byrne doesn't have to take one side or the other but he could open up the discussion in the broader public good - better to have participation than to spring something on people. Other provinces have concerns about this issue as well and Byrne could increase the province's visibility on a file most people wouldn't naturally association with Newfoundland and Labrador.
Fourth, Byrne could become a spokesperson for the province's offshore supply industry. They were noticeably invisible during the recent offshore talks except for NOIA's interventions already noted. But the industry needs to be recognized publicly and Byrne is a logical minister to help raise the profile of companies that are helping to make the province the principle beneficiary of offshore development.
Since taking office in November 2003, the Progressive Conservative government has seemed to operate on issues taken in series; first the budget, then the strike, then the offshore, next the Lower Churchill. Given the number of government issues out there, it will take forever to deal with them with government seemingly focused on just one issue after the other.
With capable ministers, it should be possible to manage some files in parallel and get more done in a shorter space of time.
There could be more to Ed Byrne than parrying Liberal and NDP thrusts in the House and in the media.
20 February 2005
A tale of two cities, Part Three
Ponder, if you will, the President and CEO of NOIA, one Leslie Galway, walking along the St. John's waterfront musing with Peter Walsh of CBC television on the need to increase exploration for oil and gas offshore Newfoundland and Labrador.
A problem was identified, yet no solutions were discussed.
Now ponder an agreement signed on Friday between the Government of Nova Scotia and the Government of Canada to streamline regulations in the Nova Scotia offshore area. Reducing the regulatory burden without lessening environmental and other needed controls has been a concern for the oil industry for some time. Nova Scotia managed to get it done in time for this weekend's Atlantic Energy Forum, held this weekend in Halifax. Here's a link to a news release from the Nova Scotia government on the results of the forum.
Go visit the Newfoundland and Labrador government website and find any mention last week of the forum. It is possible I just missed it.
It does seem odd, though, that this week - in oil and gas week - the whole business of promoting exploration and streamlining the regulatory process has not been played up more by local industry representatives, like NOIA, and the provincial natural resources minister, Ed Byrne.
Incidentally, who is the guest speaker at NOIA's Oil and Gas Week Lunch this year? Loyola Sullivan, provincial minister of finance and president of treasury board.
A problem was identified, yet no solutions were discussed.
Now ponder an agreement signed on Friday between the Government of Nova Scotia and the Government of Canada to streamline regulations in the Nova Scotia offshore area. Reducing the regulatory burden without lessening environmental and other needed controls has been a concern for the oil industry for some time. Nova Scotia managed to get it done in time for this weekend's Atlantic Energy Forum, held this weekend in Halifax. Here's a link to a news release from the Nova Scotia government on the results of the forum.
Go visit the Newfoundland and Labrador government website and find any mention last week of the forum. It is possible I just missed it.
It does seem odd, though, that this week - in oil and gas week - the whole business of promoting exploration and streamlining the regulatory process has not been played up more by local industry representatives, like NOIA, and the provincial natural resources minister, Ed Byrne.
Incidentally, who is the guest speaker at NOIA's Oil and Gas Week Lunch this year? Loyola Sullivan, provincial minister of finance and president of treasury board.
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