All the Twitter commentary on Thursday about Muskrat Falls and mining prompted your humble e-scribbler to go back and do some checking about who said what when. Sure enough, the initial announcement did mention that any electricity from Muskrat Falls that wasn’t used in the province would go off to
Continue readingTag: Muskrat Falls
The Sir Robert Bond Papers: What Falls was that, again? #nlpoli
Tim Powers is a local boy who has done good for himself as a lobbyist in Ottawa. Powers is a sharp guy who is very well-connected in Tory circles. The provincial energy corporation employed Powers to lobby the federal Conservatives on behalf of their Lower Churchill project. While he has
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: And he is still wrong #nlpoli
The guy who helped create the monster called Nalcor thinks Muskrat Falls is a great idea. But Lieutenant Governor John Crosbie backs it for a completely wrong reason. Crosbie told CBC: "It’s the only way I can see [in which] we are going to escape from the trap that we’re
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Muskrat Falls Policy Shift: The Audio #nlpoli
You read the post. Now listen to Tom Marshall. -srbp-
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Shifting from non-renewable to renewable #nlpoli
Scan through the official record for the House of Assembly for the spring 2012 session and you will find example after example after example of a variation on this theme: “…our vision for a prosperous future is the use of our non-renewable resources to secure a renewable future.” St. John’s
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Not even close to a Heritage Fund #nlpoli
A few people likely read Cabot Martin’s opinion piece in the Telegram on Muskrat Falls this past weekend and scratched their heads. Open Line show host Randy Simms certainly did. Martin’s piece isn’t available online but here (right) is a screen cap of a chunk of it that had Randy
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Emera waiting on Nalcor for numbers #nlpoli
Wonder no more, dear friends. Stop scratching your chin. Now we know why Nalcor and Emera have not signed a deal now some four or five months after saying they were so close to finishing their negotiations that they didn’t need to set a new deadline. Nalcor hasn’t sent Emera
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Kruger Nexus #nlpoli
As an astute reader pointed out in a n e-mail Tuesday morning, the Hebron-Muskrat Falls connection is not really as important these days as the the connection between the future of the Kruger mill at Corner Brook and the plan to develop the Lower Churchill. Manitoba Hydro International noted that
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The New Hebron-Muskrat Falls Connection #nlpoli
Natural resources minister Jerome Kennedy is right: “There’s obviously an obligation…on any member in this house when presenting a petition to ensure that accuracy, to ensure that statements made to this house are ones that can be relied on … This is a very serious matter." The obligation for accuracy
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Dunderdale rejects Locke’s advice on Muskrat #nlpoli
Sometimes you agree with people. Sometimes you don’t. All it means is that you agree sometimes and disagree at others. Premier Kathy Dunderdale didn’t seem to understand that point when she spoke to the St. John’s Board of Trade back in January: Memorial University economist Dr. Wade Locke, has concluded
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Making bad decisions: the Twitter edition #nlpoli
The Premier’s communications – Glenda Power – sent a couple of twitter messages to CBC’s Curtis Rumboldt on Friday. She was apparently correcting him on the impact closing Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited would have on the Muskrat Falls project. Simply put, that’s not true. SRBP has discussed how
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: How’s that again, Jerome? #nlpoli
Natural resources minister Jerome Kennedy in the House of Assembly on Wednesday explaining some of the financial aspects of Muskrat Falls: The one thing I need to make clear though to the people of this Province that any equity investment in Nalcor is on the basis of the project being
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Comprehension Constant #nlpoli
Premier Kathy Dunderdale seems to have a chronic problem of saying things that are not correct and also saying things she does not mean. This is not just a poor imitation of George W. Bush. Kathy Dunderdale is in a league of her own. Regular readers know some of the
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: How to make bad decisions: The Self-Delusion Problem #nlpoli
Politicians don’t set out to screw up but their good intentions are no proof against making bad decisions. Asked in the House of Assembly on Thursday about the decision by the Nova Scotia government to ask their utilities regulator to conduct an independent review of the Nova Scotian bits of
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: The Difference Between Their Dippers and our Tories #nlpoli
When it comes to transparency and accountability for megaprojects, the New Democratic government in Nova Scotia is light years ahead of the Progressive Conservatives in Newfoundland and Labrador “These are not our PC colleagues in Nova Scotia. We are not one big, happy family in the PC Party in this
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: “A new Sprung Greenhouse”: one year later #nlpoli
Since May 8 was the 25th anniversary of the announcement that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador were going into the cucumber business, it seemed fitting to give a link to a post of April 5, 2011. The title of the old post was “A new Sprung greenhouse in the
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Something to look forward to… #nlpoli
Natural resources minister Jerome Kennedy in the House of Assembly on Thursday: It breaks that geographical stranglehold of Quebec. I do not have time today to address Ed Hollett’s theory that we can send all our power through Quebec and get it back through Quebec, because that is just wrong.
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Why we are Muskrat Fallsing #nlpoli
Natural resources minister Jerome Kennedy explained it all in the House of Assembly on Wednesday: …let’s be clear on why we are developing Muskrat Falls, if we develop it. It is to satisfy our need at home; to allow for a link to Maritime and Eastern US markets; and to
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: Diversifying the economy and slowing things down #nlpoli
Paul Oram was a colourful politician. Well, colourful in the sense that he flamed out very quickly. Regular readers of these scribbles will remember him as the guy who had no idea what had happened in the province during his lifetime. Not long after taking over the health department, Oram
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: How to make bad decisions #nlpoli
Premier Kathy Dunderdale sounded genuinely exasperated last week when she chatted at length with Open Line show host Randy Simms about Muskrat Falls. “Why,” she asked, “would a government want to develop a project that is not in the best interest of the province?” No government would, of course. No
Continue reading