WHERE YOU CAN ASK QUESTIONS YOU WON'T HEAR AT THE INQUIRY


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REFLECTIONS ON THE MUSKRAT FALLS PROJECT

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Guest Post by David Vardy Introduction The sanctioning of the Muskrat Falls project in December of 2012 was a huge mistake, one which has spiralled into a major economic and environmental catastrophe.  The warnings of the joint federal provincial panel were ignored, as were those of the Public Utilities Board. These warnings relate to the lack of a business case for the project, the high risk for a small province, the adverse demographic factors, the lack of export markets and the high unit cost. A Gamble that failed In a Telegram article dated May 25, 2013 the Honourable John Crosbie said that �Muskrat Falls is worth the risk�, quoting T. S. Eliot on the subject of risk: Only those who would risk going too far can possibly find out how far you can go. Since then we have sailed on a sea of risk and reaped the whirlwind.  David A. Vardy The challenge now is to prevent the risks from destabilizing the provincial economy. The risks of operating the project may prove to be just as...
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"EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED" PREMIER GOES TO SNC-LAVALIN FOR ADVICE

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The following statement is not correct: �Running at full output, Churchill Falls (CF), would discharge about 2000 cubic metres per second into the Churchill River. Assuming no reservoir draw down, this level of discharge from CF would by itself provide about 630 MW of production at Muskrat Falls. We could run MF at a higher output level for a period of time and draw down the MF reservoir� we could keep it at Muskrat Falls as well as anywhere else.� That was Gil Bennett talking a couple of years ago to law student and political Blogger, John Samms, who is now on staff in the Premier�s Office. Note the word �drawdown� to which I will return. At the time Bennett was telling Samms how Nalcor intended to access surplus power from the Upper Churchill; the amount that exceeded what Bennett erroneously thought was the full contractual power commitment to Hydro Quebec. That assumption didn�t work out too well for Nalcor, the Quebec Superior Court having ruled that Hydro Quebec is entitled to al...
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PUT NAPE DEAL AGAINST A �STUPID� TAX ON BUSINESS

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How does the existential threat of insolvency get catapulted into questions about the �no-layoff� clause in NAPE�s new collective agreement and whether it will be embedded beyond the contract�s expiry date? It is one thing for Gerry Earle to huff and puff and threaten retaliation if business organizations persist in criticizing a deal hatched with a hapless government. But the Board of Trade�s insertion of Howard Levitt, a labour lawyer, as if he were the embodiment of the province�s frustration over its fiscal mess, is tantamount to lunacy.  The province�s debt crisis is not a collective bargaining issue. It is a leadership problem. The government is happy that most cannot distinguish between the two. It gives them cover for dither.  Dorothy Keating - President St. John's Board of Trade Insolvency will have to be resolved, in part, on the backs of labour � and on the backs of everyone else, including business. But describing insolvency as if it were a NAPE issue is, in the v...
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