Skinner was
expressing concerns that possibly the largest single contract, on the Mega
Project, might be awarded to an Italian company. Skinner acknowledged that his
current employer, a Canadian Company called AECON Construction Group, also bid
on the Contract. ”Your level of risk with something going wrong there, I would
argue, is much less than when you bring in a company from Europe”, he was
quoted as saying.
I had no idea!
‘Shawn’, I
thought to myself, as I read the morning rag and sipped on a Starbucks, ‘you
got to tell us this stuff! I have been
listening to you, for months, yammer on about what a great Project is Muskrat
Falls. Only now, you tell me the ‘risk’
is going to get ratcheted up, if things don’t go your way, er…if the contract
goes offshore.
“Shawn”! I
said aloud, and received a few stares. Lowering my voice to near whisper, I added,
“I didn’t even know you used four letter words…like ‘risk’! The way you always came across, on CBC, left no doubt you
were on the side of the angels”.
Source: The Telegram |
As my gullet
received the last dregs of the “Tall Bold”, I felt like ordering another and go
for a caffeine overload, just in case I was not as alert, as I normally try to
be. What was I missing? I wondered.
I had been
watching this guy for months, with his perfect hair, perfect smile, all the
time saying Muskrat Falls was perfect, the best thing since sliced bread; the
experts, at Nalcor, were all great…they would never lead the Province
astray…Muskrat lowest cost option…Newfoundland needs the power, ‘experts’ at
Nalcor…..up their arse, some would say.
And, I started saying to myself, how can someone that perfectly serious,
now discover he was perfectly wrong?
As the
caffeine began to take effect, the realization dawned on me. This is a
different Shawn Skinner.
The Shawn
Skinner, on the CBC, would know that Canada wins contracts offshore and that
other international contractors win some in Canada, too. It happens all the
time. Yes, Shawn would know that, I
thought.
There has to
be another Shawn Skinner. There just has to be.
If you need proof, just look at how many times he swore that four letter
word ‘RISK’. The Shawn, that I know,
does not use “Risk” and “Muskrat” in the same sentence! He just doesn’t, OK?
I read the
article again, from start to finish. I counted the number of times this Skinner
swore, in this one piece. Then I was certain. Take a look at the Telegram
article with me, and read for yourself.
This Shawn says:
“For me it’s
about the level of risk that
Nalcor, in this case, would be assuming,” he said…….
“The level
of risk with a Canadian
company that is familiar with the climate in Labrador, familiar with supply
chain …
“Your level
of risk with something going
wrong there, I would argue, is much less than when you bring in a company from
Europe.”
Skinner said
Canadian-based contractors could hit trouble. But with a Canadian company, I
would suggest, the element of risk
is less. That’s my point,” he said.
Four times
he “swore”.
Can’t be the
same guy! But that photo…it just looks
awfully similar….I just wonder…..
Definitely!
It’s another Shawn. Stay with me on this
one…..
Didn’t
Nalcor recently award a contract to China for the huge turbines and generators
for the Muskrat Falls Project? They don’t
have a solitary soul to oversee the production and make sure what was specified
actually gets delivered. Now, that’s RISK. Risk-free would have been awarding to General
Electric or Siemens. Shawn would understand that, for sure. But, he didn’t even mention it.
Then there’s
the contract for the steel Towers, through which the transmission line will be
strung. Didn’t that go offshore,
too? Didn’t it go to Turkey, actually?
Shawn didn’t
mention that one, either. Now that was an easy one. The Turks will cut
up a whole pile of steel, of different shapes and sizes. They’ll throw it into
a container and ship it to Goose Bay. Like
a Mechano set, they’ll bolt it all together and stick it up. A moron could do it. But, no! No local or Canadian contractor could be
found to cut up steel or put a nut on a threaded bolt. How come the perfect Shawn wasn’t out beating
the drum of Canadian enterprise, on that nice little easy one for Canadian contractor’s
contract?
Do I seem to
digress?
After using
the “RISK” work four times, what
does this Shawn say? He adds:
“These are
legitimate concerns that have happened in other parts of the country and I’m
saying because this is a major project for this province — probably the biggest
one we’ll do for the next however many years — and the warts and all that have
come with Muskrat Falls, let’s make sure we give it every possible chance to
succeed.”
What was
that, again? It must be the caffeine…the Shawn that I know wouldn’t say Muskrat
has warts. He would say Muskrat is, well…perfect. But, this one says: “…and the warts and all
that have come with Muskrat Falls, let’s make sure we give it every possible
chance to succeed.”
Now this
Shawn Skinner is scaring me. There’s a
Shawn Skinner doppelganger, out there. I just know there is!
As for the
fact his own company stands to benefit from his comments? The Telegram
enquired. This Shawn said:
“So all I
can say to that is, yes, they are correct, I have a stake in the game, so to
speak, but more importantly, what about the comments I’m raising?”
Doppelgangers. UMMMM.
Be careful of them.
Who said,
there is no interest like self-interest?