TOP TEN 2015 POSTS (PLUS EDITOR'S PICKS),

1. THE PHOTOS NALCOR DON'T WANT YOU TO SEE

(Photo essay, Muskrat Falls Integrated Cover System (the “Dome”) reduced to loads of junk     
steel. The Dome was the brain child of Astaldi. Most of which was never used. $120 million    
was budgeted plus the cost of demolition and removal. The steel was hidden in the back 
woods of Happy Valley-Goose Bay - but not away from the camera ready sleuths who thought the 
public might want to see how their money is being wasted.)  

2. DONNY DUNPHY: ANYTHING LESS THAN A JUDICIAL INQUIRY IS   

    UNACCEPTABLE 
(The title says it all.)

3. ENGINEERS BREAK SILENCE ON PROBLEMS AT MUSKRAT FALLS 
(A group of professional engineers, connected with the Muskrat Falls project, weigh in on how they   would “fix” the problem of “slippage” and address increasing cost overruns and other issues.  
These engineers were “at their wits end” over how the project is managed.)

PREMIER BALL RIGHT TO CALL FOR HUMBER VALLEY PAVING INQUIRY

Guest Post Written by Ches Crosbie

Newly installed Premier Dwight Ball went on record back in 2014, saying he wanted to see a judicial inquiry called into the Humber Valley Paving debacle.  And reassuringly, in December 2015, upon being sworn in as Premier, he issued a mandate letter to his new Minister of Justice instructing him to call an inquiry into the Humber Valley Paving “situation”. 

The deeply troubling spectacle of  Humber Valley Paving saw the Department of Transportation forgive Frank Coleman and his paving company up to $20 million in contracting liabilities, and release two bonds in the same amount, as Coleman was about to become the Danny Williams-anointed (and unopposed) candidate for the PC Party leadership and premiership of Newfoundland and Labrador. 

THE LIBERALS AND THE ODOUR OF AMATEUR

Supporters of the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal Party must be shaking their heads in disbelief at the political naivety witnessed during the first few days of the Dwight Ball Administration.

Most have to be wondering, between the Premier, the Ministers of Natural Resources and Finance, and the Premier’s Chief of Staff, if there is a single political neuron in the “on” position.

I have never witnessed the likes of it.

But I have a scenario of what occurred in the early hours of the new Administration; one, I think, worth sharing:

NOTES - MORNING SHOW INTERVIEW WITH ANTHONY GERMAIN

Notes - CBC Morning Show Interview, December 22, 2015

            Host: Anthony Germain

E&Y Review not a Review of Muskrat Falls project.

·       Not conducted because people in NL are concerned about cost overruns, or that they might have to sacrifice programs and services.

·       THIS IS ABOUT “comfort” for Bond Rating Agencies, given the amount of borrowing to be conducted.  About Opening the tap on maximum debt....

·       The Government wants to be sure it can borrow all the money Nalcor needs, not whether the project is managed by competent people or whether it makes financial sense. 

DISINGENUOUS OR DUMB (OR BOTH): EARLY DAYS OF THE NEW LIBERAL GOVERNMENT

Perhaps, it is too early to begin any assessment of the new Liberal Administration. While there have been no obvious faux pas, as in the first moments after Paul Davis’ Swearing-In ceremony, the Liberals’ transition from Official Opposition status has not been flawless.

It was a sound idea for the new Minister of Justice, Andrew Parsons, to announce the Government would proceed with inquiries into the Don Dunphy shooting, the Burton Winters case, and the Humber Valley Paving affair. 

Yet the reservations the Minister stated regarding their cost, and the resources available to conduct them, seemed ill-suited to their gravitas. Indeed, the cost of all three inquiries likely would not equate with cost overruns at Muskrat Falls for a single hour.

Had not the Minister weighed the paramountcy of these long held commitments against the arbitrary and possibly corrupt decisions of the previous administration?

The Premier, as do many people, must have thought that a politicians’ knowledge is absorbed through a process known as osmosis. Given the Province’s dire fiscal situation, I thought he would stay mum until he had fully digested our fiscal status.

"NORTH SPUR IN A NUTSHELL" A CALL TO ACTION BY CANADIAN HYDRO ENGINEER

Introduction

“North Spur in a Nutshell” is an outstanding piece of work, not just for its conclusions, but also for the clear, evidence based call to action the analysis contains. 

The Quick Clay stability problem is described in the chillingly objective style of an engineer all too familiar with difficult, potentially costly, and project-threatening problems.

In this Piece, just released to the Uncle Gnarley Blog, the renowned Canadian engineer, James L. Gordon, reduces the problem to terms any layperson can understand.

And James.L.Gordon, P. Eng. (Retired), is no ordinary engineer.

FINANCE MINISTER TO MEET FISCAL FREIGHT TRAIN

The government has a huge deficit and debt problem; one surely to shake the Liberal Government out of the pretense everything is fine; it was just those damn Tories.

Even the most rudimentary briefing note prepared by the Ministry will demonstrate how unrealistic (silly) were the Liberals’ Red Book promises; at least, the ones with financial implications.

While the results of the November 30^th General Election ended Premier Davis’ own brief “fantasy”, fiscal reality will hit the new Administration like a freight train.

The Liberals have nowhere to hide.

PREMIER BALL: ADVICE FOR THE FIRST 100 DAYS

Guest Post Written by "JM"

The first 100 days is a time when a new leader will implement their vision and strategy for the organization they are about lead.  It has become part of “leadership culture” with countless books and articles written on the subject.  But the concept originates from Franklin Roosevelt’s first term as president when, after taking a resounding victory over Hubert Hoover, he inherited a country in a deep economic depression. 

The concept of the “first 100 days” is simple; a leader must quickly implement their strategy in a clear and demonstrable manner when their authority and mandate is the strongest.  Roosevelt’s actions in his first 100 days of office set the scene for the gradual recovery of the US economy from the Great Depression.

Although it is not strictly fair to compare our present day economy to the great depression, the current downturn in the oil economy is accelerating the financial crisis in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

BEWARE A CHILL IN THE POLITICAL WIND THAT BLEW IN THE LIBERALS

The two cousins of conversation, politics and weather, seemed to converge for Monday’s vote as the wind that blew the Liberals into power possessed a bite that may be felt for a long time.  

Disenchantment with the Tories ought to have caused the popular vote to soar when the biggest surprise of the night was that it declined.

Even the Liberal sweep the Polls had forecast, found the mechanism of reverse polarity the very instant the Party had something to say.

The idea of saving $380 million without costing a public service job contained the logic of a former a former Premier promoting hydro at a New England Governors Conference.