Image Source: Charles Leblanc
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In Response to somment on the Bruce Report - Graham to Williams: Butt out!
# Alec Says: November 19th, 2009
Okay, Dan. You go with that. More “power” to you my friend. Looking forward to meeting you on the bread lines when this deal doesn’t go through. After all if, as you imply, my interests are feathered, I should be rich. I’m not.
As for Williams, a little history might serve.
The fantastic premier of NF/LA was never willing to “lease” the transmission lines. In fact, he was willing to cut a deal for transmission of Churchill power through New Brunswick — not unlike the one the Graham government has just (tentatively) signed with Hydro-Quebec.
Split the hairs any way you want, but NB Power is, has been, always will be an asset in play. Williams lost to his nemesis (Quebec). Again!
That’s it. That’s all she wrote.
And, BTW, how can a gargantuan liability also be “one of our best assets”? That’s a little like saying if my grandmother had a mustache, he’d be my grandfather.
This underpaid, entirely underappreciated “puppet” still says: Good for you Graham. Well done!
(Comment on Graham to Williams: Butt out!)
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# Dan Fitzgerald Says:
Fair enough - I guess you'll be able to say 'I told you so'.
The only feathering on your part I've seen is some occasional fluff in Irving's papers. It was still pretty good considering your constraints. On this power deal though, I'm not so sure.
That NB's Bermudan overlords get major cutbacks on the few taxes they deign to pay, discount loans, free generators, bloated contracts and drastically lowered power rates while Shawn Graham or Bilderberg McKenna play Pinocchio with their noses clipped is undeniable.
Forgive me if I get the impression that the corporate / establishment leaning and funded NB bloggers (i.e. David Campbell, Philip Lee) are also playing the half-hearted approval / disinterested part rather poorly. If you're going to support the deal, do it with some heart - if it's really what you think, please try to convince us earnestly.
You used to seem pretty angry back in the day when tax rates were lowered for those who didn't need it, banks were bailed out while home 'owners' were turned under water - and the globalist corporations got everything they could ever want while the people get nothing (see repeated pledges for NB welfare reform). Is freezing your power rate temporarily really enough to get you on board for this?
Furthermore, you talk as if this NB Power give-away was right on the tip of everyone's tongue for years and you've thoroughly weighed the decision. I'd argue strongly that the former is untrue while the latter is impossible. The tendrils of a power company run through every part of our community and economy, the long-term ramifications of this sale are enormous.
My gut and head say this is a bad deal (and I'd give you a break if the opposite seemed true on your part), it was certainly conducted in the shadiest of manner. No public consultation occured prior to a signed 'MOU' (sounds like what cows do) to sell it all (just consider the massive stretches of land) to Quebec and the banksters.
Like throwing a baby (NB Power) out with the bathwater (fake fiat debt) - your argument is the baby is so messed up from a possessed ex-wife (NB Government) that we should hand it over to a white slaver (TD Bank/Quebec), who promise to take good care of it and cover most of your baby expenses.
I don't know about you, Alec - but I don't want my baby being a slave for the rest of its wretched life just to personally get out from under a difficult but entirely self-inflicted situation.
The pro-sell out crowd keep asking for alternatives - so here's one: How about we throw McKenna's bunch out and transfer our debts to the people's bank of New Brunswick?
We bail out our power plant with some funny money (maybe NFLD could help us out with initial reserves) and we lease the lines to Quebec and give Williams his corridor at the same time? Everyone is happy, except the banksters.
Seriously though, the only good argument I see for selling it now is that nobody could be worse at running it into the ground. The Irving puppets (of both parties) who have fiddled about while the dams were literally cracking certainly don't show any inclination to try and fix or even address the problems.
Lastly, that the notorious Bermudan-NB mafia dropped our new nuclear turbines in the ocean right before this bombshell announcement makes me certain there is little on the up and up with any of this story - it's a scam, pure and simple. It'll definitely be interesting to see what songs and dances go on before the people finally and firmly reject this shady deal.
