The Sir Robert Bond Papers
The real political division in society is between authoritarians and libertarians.
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Churchill Falls and Muskrat Falls - Background
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29 November 2012
Oh for God’s sake, just get a room #nlpoli
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If you want to read a strongly worded condemnation of a provincial politician, take a gander at the Telegram’s editorial on Yvonne Jones fr...
28 November 2012
Save yourself a bundle #nlpoli
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A couple of decades ago, Greg Malone made a living lampooning an actor who decided to get into politics. Now the actor and comedian has de...
The Steve Kent Rule #nlpoli
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The MFers seem to be testy these days. They like to challenge people who aren’t keen on Muskrat Falls about something called facts. Fac...
10 Things for First Time Blog Writers #nlpoli
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So you are thinking about starting a blog. Great! Before you go any further, go vote for SRBP as the Best Political Blog in Canada. Th...
27 November 2012
Jerome’s Jawbone of an Ass #nlpoli
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Last week Premier Kathy Dunderdale told the House of Assembly something that was patently not true. She said that the public utilities boa...
Controlling Our Own Resources #nlpoli
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A chance re-read of the Labrador Hydro Project Exemption Order last week led your humble e-scribbler to a surprising discovery. The power...
26 November 2012
Harper pushing for larger DND role at Goose Bay #nlpoli
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According to the Ottawa Citizen’s David Pugliese , the prime minister’s office directed defence minister Peter MacKay to “find a new role...
Cabot Martin’s paper on Natural Gas #nlpoli
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Few people have the depth of experience in the province’s energy policy and history than does Cabot Martin . From the mind-1970s until the...
23 November 2012
Gil Bennett won’t re-tweet this post #nlpoli
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After a few weeks’ break, Telegram editor Peter Jackson had another go Thursday at the water management controversy involving Nalcor and t...
Who Does Number Two Work For? #nlpoli
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The House of Assembly on Thursday was sounding a wee bit like a cheesy remake of Austin Powers. Liberal leader Dwight Ball asked for an u...
22 November 2012
Standing up for what he believes in #nlpoli #cdnpoli
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In this photo, beleaguered federal Conservative cabinet minister Peter Penashue rises to vote against a Liberal bill that would strengthen p...
It’s a Comprehension Thing #nlpoli
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Kathy Dunderdale told the House of Assembly on Wednesday something rather curious about the public utilities board review of Muskrat falls ...
Lobsters and rules #nlpoli
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Seems that the post about the recreational lobster fishery got Jamie Baker over at the Navigator thinking about a bunch of things. The b...
It’s a Confidence Thing #nlpoli
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The public utilities board is good. The public utilities board is bad. She said.. He said. Confused aren’t you? Well, there’s no s...
The Secret of Their Distress #nlpoli
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Not content with just one round of fascinating public opinion information, NTV decided to unleash a second evening of news about how the pub...
21 November 2012
If it’s on the Intertubes… #nlpoli
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Keith Hutchings is the Minister of Twitter. At least that is what the Wikipedia entry for the Newfoundland and Labrador cabinet minister s...
If NOIA advocated for offshore development… #nlpoli
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Bob Cadigan is president of the association that represents the province’s offshore supply and service companies. He thinks that there’s m...
Support but lacking sufficient information - the NTV/MQO Poll #nlpoli
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The more questions you ask, the more information you get. The more information you have, the more accurate a picture you can draw of anythin...
20 November 2012
Kennedy’s Krazy Kost Kalculations #nlpoli
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One of the hardest things to do is keep track of the numbers the provincial government uses to justify their plan to double the province’s d...
Your future is in his hands: Russell again #nlpoli
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Provincial Conservative Keith Russell is at it again, back in the news over allegations about his behaviour. As CBC reports , Hockey Newfo...
19 November 2012
Final Round of Voting for Best Political Blog in Canada #nlpoli
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SRBP is in the race for the Best Political Blog in Canada for 2012. Please take a moment and show your support. Just click the pick to...
On the value of legislative hearings #nlpoli
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United States senator John McCain (Republican – Arizona) thinks that Parliament should hold hearings into the prospective purchase by the C...
18 November 2012
He’s not that into you, either #nlpoli
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Some reporter decided to ask Paul Antle if he was interested in the Liberal leadership now that Dean MacDonald has decided he had better th...
17 November 2012
The 2011 Muskrat Falls Referendum #nlpoli
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Some people want a referendum on Muskrat Falls. In an enthusiastic support of democracy, some other people don’t want to have a referend...
16 November 2012
A friendly audience #nlpoli
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Kathy Dunderdale defended the Muskrat Falls project at a speech on Wednesday night, according to cbc.ca/nl’s story . That’s an odd phrase ...
15 November 2012
The Original Nalcor Technical Briefing #nlpoli
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After all this time, some of you will find it interesting to go back and look at some slides from the original Nalcor “technical briefing” o...
14 November 2012
Time to Rescind the Pork Appointment #nlpoli
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Last December , the federal cabinet appointed intergovernmental affairs minister Peter Penashue’s campaign manager in the 2011 to a plum sea...
13 November 2012
Politics and Misinformation #nlpoli
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If you haven’t done so, take a few minutes and listen an interview CBC’s David Cochrane did with Mark Dobbin for this week’s edition of On ...
12 November 2012
Your Future is in Their Hands: Political Definition #nlpoli
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Voters in Newfoundland and Labrador have a new political definition: to crummell: to have one's opinion completely reversed in a nan...
Some Thoughts on Politics, Myth, and Identity #nlpoli
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Your humble e-scribbler saw a couple of comments last week that said the NDP town hall on Muskrat Falls was a good argument against having a...
11 November 2012
Remembrance Day 2012
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Master Corporal Darrell Jason Priede, killed in a helicopter crash at approximately 2100 hrs 30 May 2007 near Kajaki, Helmand Province, A...
10 November 2012
Self-massaging the message #nlpoli
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The Telegram’s Pam Frampton has a neat column this weekend on Jerome Kennedy, Muskrat Falls, and the provincial government’s problems with...
09 November 2012
Recreational Lobster Fishery #nlpoli
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Lots of people in Newfoundland and Labrador fought for and continue to bitch about the recreational cod fishery. They bitch because they c...
08 November 2012
How Darin Could Have Succeeded on the Debate #nlpoli
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Darin King failed miserably in his first encounter with the opposition parties. He didn’t have to.
We get the message just fine, Jerome #nlpoli
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“No, I don’t think that we have done a great job of communicating this,” natural resources minister Jerome Kennedy told the Telegram editor...
Muskrat Falls propaganda a no-brainer #nlpoli
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From the latest issue of the Irish Loop Post , Craig Westcott’s editorial “You won’t strain your brain reading government’s last minute batc...
07 November 2012
Numbers and stuff #nlpoli
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Most of you are likely dissecting the American presidential election or hopped up to talk about the House of Assembly. Well, there’s plenty...
06 November 2012
Thy Redeemer Liveth #nlpoli
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Tuckamore Capital made a single political donation during the 2011 general election. The company gave $1500 to Keith Hutchings, who ran ...
Cost Per Vote: General Election Years #nlpoli
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Last winter we took a look at the idea of cost per vote. Basically, you compare the amount of money a campaign spent with the number of vo...
05 November 2012
The Mystical Lords of Mu’skr’at Fa’alls #nlpoli
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The water management controversy flared briefly at the end of last week thanks to Geoff Meeker’s blog at the Telegram and a couple of inter...
Kathy Dunderdale, give-aways, and the resource curse #nlpoli
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Ontario has been interested in Gull Island since at least the 1990s. We didn’t need Kathy Dunderdale to say that again as part of the adve...
The Fifth of November returns once more #nlpoli
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“I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? … There were a myriad of problems which conspired to cor...
04 November 2012
The Disney Empire Strikes Back #nlpoli
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Lots of anguish and lots of humour attend the news that George Lucas has sold out to Disney. A sample of the fun: And another: -sr...
02 November 2012
Water Management Controversy Hits Nova Scotia #nlpoli
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Okay so the locals might call it Information Boring, but CBC’s morning Halifax radio show took a look at Muskrat Falls this week. The inte...
Windy #nlpoli
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Anyone with half a clue knows that you cannot develop a reliable, efficient electricity system built on type of generation only. You need ...
Labrador Mines and Muskrat Falls #nlpoli
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One of the things everyone is learning this week is that a consultant who accepts all the assumptions Nalcor used to arrive at its conclusio...
01 November 2012
Creature from the Black Lagoon and other stuff
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Oh, man they have got a Creature from the Black Lagoon in development at Moebius . It might not hit the shelves until January 2013, though...
C.H.U.R.N #nlpoli
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The first day of a new month and Premier Kathy Dunderdale is continuing to set new records of turn-over in the senior ranks of the provinci...
Muskrat Potpourri #nlpoli
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The skinny on cost overruns – Des Sullivan Bringing energy efficiency to the equation – Winston Adams The need for power isn’t ...
King Kop. Kennedy Kop. #nlpoli
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Expect to hear a lot more in the next couple of days about a comment Jerome Kennedy made on CBC Radio’s Crosstalk on Wednesday. The reaso...
31 October 2012
Calculators #nlpoli
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Nalcor’s new marketing website for Muskrat Falls includes a little feature that supposedly shows you what your electricity bill will be wit...
The DG 3 Dog and Pony Show #nlpoli
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Big Show. Room full of people all there because they have a direct interest in the project. Live streaming by the news media. And all ...
30 October 2012
Getting ready for the onslaught #nlpoli
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Some things to bear in mind as the provincial government starts its latest information offensive on Muskrat Falls: These aren’t “final”...
29 October 2012
The Self-Inflicted Wound #nlpoli
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When did the companies involved in the Hebron project sanction it? Anyone? Don’t google it. When did ExxonMobil and all those companie...
Darin King and the Tory Charm Offensive #nlpoli
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A couple of the exceedingly small changes in the recent cabinet shuffle came out of the Bill 29 fiasco. Felix Collins went from the relativ...
27 October 2012
Moebius’ Skipjack
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Here are some views of Moebius’ 1/72 scale USS Skipjack held together with green painter’s tape. Skipjack was the first nuclear-powered ...
26 October 2012
Muskrat Falls Trends #nlpoli
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Just for the fun of it, here is a graph of the frequency of searches for the term “Muskrat Falls” in Canada since November 2010. Accordi...
25 October 2012
From wonderment to bereavement #nlpoli
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The decline in the quality of public life in our province over the past decade is matched by a decline in other places across Canada and in ...
The Business Case for Muskrat Falls #nlpoli
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All sorts of business people in Newfoundland and Labrador love Muskrat Falls. Funny thing is that they don;t talk about risk, profits, cas...
24 October 2012
Muskrat Falls – The Importance of Transparency #nlpoli
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Nalcor will install new generating capacity at Portland Creek in the mid-2030s despite having about 1200 gigawatt hours of electricity avai...
23 October 2012
Peckford Book Signings #nlpoli
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Because some people have asked, here is a list of upcoming book signing opportunities by Brian Peckford for his memoir Some day the sun will...
When engineering becomes imagineering #nlpoli
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Nalcor issued a news release on Monday to correct inaccurate statements about the water management agreement between Nalcor and Churchill F...
22 October 2012
The Separated at Birth Comparison
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Mark Quinn, the guy who reports the news on CBC. Stuart Bloom, the guy who owns the comic book store on everyone’s favourite show. ...
Hydro’s Problem Questions #nlpoli
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As the Telegram reported on Saturday, the Public Utilities Board has suspended consideration of Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro’s 2013 capit...
One fine Friday afternoon, or change versus more of the same #nlpoli
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A little over a week ago, Kathy Dunderdale told the provincial Conservative annual meeting that her administration is overspending. Dunderd...
19 October 2012
Stephen Harper and Principle #nlpoli
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Premier Kathy Dunderdale, from her unscripted speech at the Tory party annual meeting, via the Telegram’s James McLeod: We didn’t sup...
Sally’s Cove, Labrador #nlpoli
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During the last federal election two polling stations in the riding of Labrador closed for two hours after an Elections Canada worker drove ...
18 October 2012
The Dangers of Being a Mythbuster – 50 is the new 70 #nlpoli
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Look around and anyone can find a huge amount of information about Muskrat Falls and electricity in Newfoundland and Labrador. For all tha...
The Challenge of Perspective #nlpoli
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From Kathy Dunderdale’s unscripted speech to Conservative party delegates at the 2012 annual meeting: Only the people who love us very...
17 October 2012
Loyola Sullivan and conflict of interest #nlpoli
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From the report by federal conflict of interest and ethics commission into certain actions by former fisheries ambassador Loyola Sullivan: ...
The Dangers of Being a Mythbuster – More Thermal than Thermal #nlpoli
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The issue of Holyrood and the future cost of thermal generation is a big part of the argument for Muskrat Falls. What’s so amazing about i...
The Power of Delusion #nlpoli
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Kathy Dunderdale gave a speech to the hundreds of Conservatives who gathered in Gander last weekend for their annual convention. The Teleg...
16 October 2012
The Dangers of Being a Mythbuster – Transmission Lines #nlpoli
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As a rule, any commentary that purports in its title to bust myths usually winds up perpetuating a myth or two of its own. Corollary: if i...
Conventional Wisdom #nlpoli
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After a wild weekend in Suburbia in the Woods, the province’s ruling Conservatives turned up all over the talk radio shows going on about ho...
15 October 2012
Dunderdale hits new record #nlpoli
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Premier Kathy Dunderdale made a record-setting change to the senior ranks of the provincial public service on Friday with the appoint of Pet...
The Language of Newfoundland Politics #nlpoli
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Some of you may have noticed a couple of words turning up in any discussion of Muskrat Falls. One is “confused”. The other is “tired” as...
The Simple Litmus Test #nlpoli
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by JM There has been a new group of business people who have been formed in support of the Muskrat Falls Project. I would ask that these i...
14 October 2012
Same Old New Energy! #nlpoli
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Thanks to the Telegram’s James McLeod and his Twitter feed from Gander, take a look at two of the resolutions from the Progressive Conservat...
13 October 2012
There’s always more to see if you look #nlpoli
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Watch the raw video of the Thursday news conference in which Premier Kathy Dunderdale, natural resource minister Jerome Kennedy, and financ...
12 October 2012
Christmas will arrive early this year
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Word from the hobby shop Thursday is that the USS Skipjack is on the way. In 1/72 scale, this is going to be one big submarine: -sr...
Vote SRBP for Best Political Blog in Canada #nlpoli #cdnpoli
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Sir Robert Bond Papers is in the running for Best Political Blog in Canada for 2012. Round 1 voting is open and I respectfully ask for you...
How much was that principle in the window? #nlpoli
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Sending the third topsides module from Hebron outside the province was “ absolutely unacceptable ” to Premier Kathy Dunderdale back in June....
11 October 2012
Exploring the AIMS Commentary #nlpoli
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Premier Kathy Dunderdale might cavalierly dismiss Gordon Weil’s commentary on Muskrat Falls but others – more thoughtful types – will find ...
Equalization Changes and Hydro-Electricity #nlpoli
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The federal government is considering changes to the Equalization program and the way it assess revenue from hydro-electricity, according to...
10 October 2012
Remittance Work and the Newfoundland Economy #nlpoli
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For those who have been following the issue, SRBP and others were talking about remittance work back in 2007. It remains a key part of th...
Another sign of the democratic deficit #nlpoli
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If you have a few minutes to spare, flip through the provincial government’s 2012 budget . Look for the work “donation”. You won’t find ...
Muskrat needs full review: AIMS #nlpoli
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By any reasonable standard, Gordon Weil would count as an expert. In business. In the energy business. An expert. As much as she sai...
09 October 2012
Free-Fall from space
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-srbp-
Muskrat, Martin, and Meaning #nlpoli
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Note the number of times Ed Martin says “open” or “transparent” within the first five minutes of his weekend interview for On Point with Da...
06 October 2012
Dunderdale on track for 100% #nlpoli
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Premier Kathy Dunderdale tied the record on Friday for senior executive changes in the provincial public service. She appointed an acting ...
The Last Refuge #nlpoli
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Call them the Dam One Percent. Call them Dan-Dam Style. Call them Millionaires for Muskrat. Call them MFers, with tongue firmly in ch...
05 October 2012
Masters of our debt-ridden domain #nlpoli
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Premier Kathy Dunderdale confirmed on Wednesday that companies looking to develop Labrador mines have been getting good results from their ...
04 October 2012
David Vardy on Muskrat Falls #nlpoli
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-srbp-
Kathy Dunderdale’s World #nlpoli
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Remember the World the Old Man Lived In ? Apparently, Kathy Dunderdale lives in the same place. -srbp-
The First Casualty in Dunderdale’s War #nlpoli
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As she launched the first salvo in the final battle of the War for Muskrat Falls, Premier Kathy Dunderdale decided to prove the old maxim co...
03 October 2012
Random observations #nlpoli
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What Kathy Dunderdale said in 2012 about wanting to be Premier : “If you live your life more in the moment, the rest of it will work it...
02 October 2012
GovSpeak Translator #nlpoli
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A “ forgivable loan ” is another way of saying that a private-sector company is getting a free gift of public-sector money. -srbp-
The Enduring Principle of Newfoundland Mining Development Policy #nlpoli
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If you want to understand the provincial government’s mining policy, look no further than Joe Smallwood and a speech he gave to the local c...
01 October 2012
Labrador Mining and Power Rates #nlpoli
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In her scrum with reporters last week, Premier Kathy Dunderdale answered questions about possible rates offered to new mining companies in ...
Muskrat Timelines slide back #nlpoli
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Here’s what VOCM reported after Nalcor chief executive Ed Martin delivered a speech to St. John’s Rotary earlier this year: Ed Martin ...
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