WILL THE PUB GO FAR ENOUGH ON RATE MITIGATION?

Guest Post by David Vardy

The PUB has been asked to make recommendations as to how increases in power rates arising from Muskrat Falls can be avoided, a daunting task indeed, but one for which they have been given a broad mandate.  They have just released an interim report on measures to increase revenues and reduce costs. Their work plan is quite ambitious and covers a wide range of options. The question is how far they will go and how receptive will government be to major changes?

Will they recommend the kind of surgery needed to right-size our electric power industry and to extirpate Nalcor as an unregulated monopoly? Will they go so far as to propose that Nalcor be removed from the power system after Muskrat Falls has been completed?

LAW SCHOOL IGNORES PROVINCE'S FISCAL POSITION

Guest Post by Ron Penney
On March 14th the Board of Regents of Memorial University will have it’s regularly scheduled meeting and it is anticipated that the issue of creating a new Law School at Memorial will be discussed.

The academic governing body of the University, the Senate, has approved the creation of the Law School but the final decision will be made by the Board of Regents, who will hopefully demonstrate more sense than Senate.

It is amazing that the most highly educated body in the Province, the Senate, is totally oblivious to our fiscal situation, which the Parliamentary Budget Officer describes as the most dire in the country.

WHO TAKES ED MARTIN SERIOUSLY, ANYWAY?

When journalists interview Ed Martin, as CBC’s Terry Roberts did a few days ago, it is right to wonder if they go away laughing. 

Unfortunately, the reporter’s interview with Martin is found only on the CBC website, so images of him uproariously slapping his sides can only be imagined.

Terry Robert’s story is about Ed Martin dissing Astaldi. Martin thinks that the Company is “largely to blame for the massive cost and schedule overruns” experienced on the Muskrat Falls project.

FORENSIC AUDIT: NALCOR IGNORED BIG EARLY WARNING SIGNS

The Uncle Gnarley Blog has posted two commentaries on the second Forensic Audit Report of Grant Thornton released today by the Commission of Inquiry into the Muskrat Falls Project. Both articles were prepared by Ron Penney, David Vardy and Des Sullivan who have standing at the Inquiry on behalf of the Concerned Citizens Coalition. 

This piece contains  the key findings of the Forensic Audit. Also posted is a lengthier and more thorough examination of the Report entitled “Evidence of Malfeasance?: A Review of the Forensic Audit Report into the Muskrat Falls Project (Phase II)”.  It is available now at the Link.  - Des Sullivan

HIGHLIGHTS OF SECOND FORENSIC AUDIT REPORT

As was the case with Phase One of the Muskrat Falls Inquiry, the construction phase of the Inquiry has commenced with the release today of the forensic audit conducted by Grant Thornton.

The audit sets the stage for the examination of witnesses crucial to the understanding of how the project went so badly wrong.

SECOND FORENSIC AUDIT REPORT: EVIDENCE OF MALFEASANCE?

EVIDENCE OF MALFEASANCE?: A REVIEW OF THE FORENSIC AUDIT REPORT INTO THE MUSKRAT FALLS PROJECT (PHASE II)

The second Forensic Audit Report prepared by the accounting firm of Grant Thornton has now been released to the public. It will constitute the major focus of Phase II, the “Construction Phase”, of the Commission of Inquiry into the Muskrat Falls Project (MFP).

This Report builds on the main conclusions of the first one released in September 2018, prior to the beginning of public hearings presided over by Judge Richard LeBlanc. It concluded that, at the time of sanction, a “combination of…potential misstatements may have resulted in the Interconnected Island Option (the Muskrat Falls project) no longer being considered the least cost option at the time of sanctioning.” In other words, had the Cumulative Present Worth (CPW) – the present value methodology used to compare the Isolated Island and the Interconnected Island options – been  objectively assessed, the Muskrat Falls Project was probably not then, or ever, “least-cost”.


What had GT uncovered in order to come to that conclusion?

EVERY TOWN SHOULD VOTE A BARD (suggests the Bard of Pynn's Brook)

POET LAUREATES

(Poet Laureate appointee in St. John’s)

Every town should vote a bard

To rhyme events in its backyard,

To laud in lines the district scene

And entertain the tourist keen:

Poet Laureates sot in every bay

And hamlet pitched along the way,

To praise aloud the quaint and saint

And Council deeds heroic paint.

POLL CLEAR AS MUD BUT LIKELY CANCELS SPRING ELECTION

Is anyone surprised that the latest MQO Poll places both the Liberals (44%) and the Tories (42%) in (possibly) a statistical tie? While neophyte PC Party leader Ches Crosbie has had an uninspiring start, which — for the Tories — aligns well with a non-performing Government, why would the public be in anything but a “show me” mood? 


The Premier's approval numbers testify to the legitimacy of the questions. MQO gives Ball’s leadership a “relatively steady… mean score of 5.2 [on a 10 point scale] this quarter”. Crosbie, in spite of his inability to light any fires, oversees a jump in support of 7% as the NDP races to the status of non-entity. 


MQO comments that declining support for the NDP reflects in the Tories' gain, but that is tantamount to suggesting change in the chemistry of oil and water. More likely, a pervasive leadership vacuum is adding room for fluctuation in the popularity of the two traditional Parties, it being left to both mainstream and social media to set the public agenda based on whatever passes as news.

MF COALITION TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING FEBUARY 13

Notice of General Meeting of the Muskrat Falls Concerned Citizens Coalition (MFCCC). Where? The Holiday Inn, 180 Portugal Cove Road, St. John’s (Salon A&B). When? 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, February 13th. Also live stream via Facebook and Twitter. 

David Vardy will make a Presentation. Ron Penney, Des Sullivan and Coalition lawyer, Geoff Budden, will also discuss the Muskrat Falls project and bring Coalition members, and the public, up to date on preparations for the Second Phase of the Public Inquiry.

THE TAIL WAGGING THE DOG

Guest Post by Ron Penney

The Tail Wagging The Dog: 

Reflections on Phase 1 of the Muskrat Falls Inquiry

The Muskrat Falls Inquiry has competed Phase 1 of the hearings, which focused on the events leading up to the sanction of the project on December 17th, 2012.

We hadn’t fully understood before the depths of hatred and contempt towards us arising out of our early warnings about the dangers of the path that we were on.

A senior federal public servant told us in 2011 that the tolerance for dissent in Newfoundland and Labrador was very low and that proved to be the case. So much for the notion that “dissent is the highest form of patriotism”. We were treated as unpatriotic because we opposed what has been turned out to be the worst public policy decision ever made in Newfoundland and Labrador.