Can the People Stand up to Mighty Muskrat?
Finance Minister Cathy Bennett is telling the people of
Newfoundland and Labrador that “everything is on the table,” but is that
actually the case? Premier Ball has continued to reject the idea of public
service layoffs, and most recently Natural Resources Minister Siobhan Coady
clearly stated that the Muskrat Falls mega-project was most certainly “off the
table.” This statement came on the heels of two former Liberal Premiers , Brian
Tobin and Roger Grimes, advising Premier Ball to take a hard look at Muskrat
Falls and possibly postponing it or scrapping the project altogether.
As Brad Cabana pointed out in his recent post; “The Muskrat
Liberals,” the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador has been in favor of
the project since the very beginning. It should come as no surprise then that
they seem determined to hold on like the Captain going down with the Titanic.
Speaking of going down with the ship, Danny Williams and Kathy Dunderdale were
smart enough to jump off the boat just before the iceberg hit. They may be the
ones that the public direct their ire towards right now, but it won’t be long
before Dwight Ball and his Liberals will own what will probably go down as the
biggest mistake in Newfoundland history. At least Joey got investors to pay for
building the dam at Churchill Falls.
You can’t read a blog post or listen to an open-line show these
days without hearing about the seemingly endless issues with the Muskrat Falls project.
If Siobhan Coady is so sure that full steam ahead is the only course of action,
then maybe she should explain to the people of the province how this project is
still the best cost option. She should also be forthcoming with what the actual
ramifications would be if the project were to be scrapped. It seems that nobody
at Nalcor, the DNR, PUB or the media has access to that particular information.
There has been no shortage of analysis and fact checking by
expert bloggers such as Uncle Gnarley and the Sir Robert Bond Papers. They have
taken on the cause of real openness and transparency for the project from the
very beginning. The case has been made many times that Nalcor has not been
honest with the people and it continues even now as they are trying to justify
a rate hike with the PUB in order to meet increased thermal generating needs.
Hearing former premier Tom Marshall stumbling his way
through a CBC Crosstalk show this week, talking about the benefits of the
profits from Muskrat Falls, was downright embarrassing. The fact that the
former premier was still willing to talk publicly about profits is astounding.
The best estimates of the amount of revenue we could earn by selling “spot
power” on the open market is around $80 Million. When you compare that with the
interest payments that could end up being in excess of $300 Million annually,
it really makes one question the logic of the argument. Then there is, of
course, the fact that any actual profit that the province makes from Muskrat
Falls power will come through rate-hikes for the residents of Newfoundland and
Labrador. The ten cents a kilowatt hour people are paying in Newfoundland now
will double at the very least, but will most likely be in excess of thirty
cents by the time all cost overruns, first power delays, and interest payments
are factored in.
I won’t even delve into the issues of the North Spur or the Methyl
Mercury concerns. Those issues are being written and talked about by people who
have much more knowledge on those particular topics than I do. These issues are
not going to go away though. Sooner or later someone is going to need to step
up and address these legitimate concerns. In particular, an evacuation plan for
downstream residents needs to become a priority for the current government. If
the North Spur does fail, and no contingency plan is in place, the possible
loss of life and property will become a noose around the neck of those in
charge. It is very easy for people to talk about the benefits of the project
when they don’t live in Mud Lake.
Just when you might be thinking, WOW, that is quite a bit to
take in, we must also consider the implications of the court battle with Quebec
for water management rights of the
Churchill River. If the courts rule in favor of Quebec, and they probably will,
it is quite likely that we will have to compensate them for use of the water
flowing through Muskrat Falls. It may also affect how much power is able to be
generated at Muskrat if the current trend that is leaving our reservoirs at
all-time low water levels (according to Nalcor) continues. This could result in
the loss of any ability we might have had to turn a “profit” from the project,
and most likely power rates will rise even more to pay the folks at
Hydro-Quebec who will be laughing all the way to the bank, again.
So what can the rest of us do? How can we lowly citizens
make a difference in the face of billions of dollars and thousands of
bureaucrats? No amount of grassroots action will be able to stop the project
now. That ship has long sailed. But maybe if the people start to speak up
together we can at least get some honesty from the people in charge. Issues
like Methyl Mercury and the North Spur need to be addressed. The implications of us losing the water
management rights case also needs to be addressed. And more importantly we need
to examine the process by which the project was sanctioned in the first place.
We might not have the power to stop the mighty muskrat from being built, but we
do have the power to demand the hard truth of what this project is going to
cost the people of this province for generations to come.
Many Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans that so willingly
drank the Muskrat Kool-Aid are finally waking up to the reality of the
magnitude and bad timing of this boondoggle.
It seems that we are finally seeing the writing that has been on the
proverbial wall for a long, long time. If the calls to open-line shows are any
indication of public opinion regarding the project, it is clear that people are
beginning to take notice. If they are not paying attention now they certainly
will be as soon as the first wave of power rate-hikes start making a noticeable
difference in their household bottom line.
Can we harness this powerful public sentiment and force the governments to
act on the issue? Maybe, but only if people are willing to take the power into
their own hands and act collectively.
People are desperately looking for someone to take
leadership on this issue. The Consumer Advocate and the PUB have repeatedly
dropped the ball by failing to act in the best interest of the public and with
Minister Coady’s recent statements, it is clear that the provincial government
has decided to follow the path of their predecessors by keeping their heads buried
firmly in the sand. At one point during the election campaign last fall, Dwight
Ball said that he believed in the Muskrat Falls project, but that there needed
to be changes in the management of the project. For those who noticed, it might
have seemed a contradiction when the premier told the public that he had the
utmost confidence in the management of Ed Martin, Gilbert Bennett, and the rest
of the team of top decision makers at Nalcor. It makes you wonder who is really
pulling the strings when a premier can have such a major change in opinion in
just a few short weeks.
It has always been difficult to get people together in this
province to take on the powers that be, but when needed the will of the people
has been able to stop bad decisions in their tracks. Just look to Clyde Wells’
plan to privatize Hydro. If we fail to act now how many generations of our
children will have to pay for this colossal mistake? We need to stand together
to send a loud and clear message to the Premier that if he wants to have his job
long enough to get comfortable, he is going to have to listen up and do better.
He ran on “real change” and “a stronger tomorrow” and the people of this
province will accept nothing less. If Dwight does not have the might then it is
our duty to take back the power in the name of the people. We can do it. I’m
ready. Who‘s with me?
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