OVERSIGHT, TRUST AND THE PROVINCE'S REPUTATION

“Reckless” is not normally a word ascribed to governments in Canada.  Increasingly, though, it is how people refer to the NL Government of Premier Kathy Dunderdale. 

Her rejection of pleas, from her former Finance Minister, for an “Oversight” Committee on the Muskrat Falls Project is bewildering; it is not how responsible governments act.  (See: DID JEROME KENNEDY BITE HIS TONGUE?)

Jerome Kennedy is a major figure in the oversight issue but only because he can still influence the outcome.  He may still be biting his tongue, but I believe the public would like him to do more. 

DID JEROME KENNEDY BITE HIS TONGUE?

If the departure of Jerome Kennedy, from the Cabinet, had been marked with the silence that normally follows any Minister’s return to private life, who would want to invoke his name now? 

Well, it seems Mr. Kennedy did not go silently; he seems to have ‘bitten his tongue’ as he left Confederation Building.  His name still resounds within the halls of high office.  As his vehicle left the parking lot, very senior people acknowledged, to each other, that he ought to have explained himself differently than he had.

That comment strikes at the heart of the question: why did Mr. Kennedy resign? 

Source: The Canadian Press

Whether certain disturbing issues weigh heavy on him, only he can answer.  If the information this scribe has received, is correct, which has been corroborated by three additional sources, Mr. Kennedy may wish to re-consider anything he may have omitted from his exchange with the media, justifying his departure.

What is the issue?

It seems that Mr. Kennedy’s resignation was occasioned, less by a desire to return to his law practice, than to deeply felt concerns over certain financial aspects of the Muskrat Falls Project, specifically involving Nalcor.  Just two years ago he sought election for a full term.

A Cautionary Note to EMERA On Muskrat Falls

If Emera sanctions the Muskrat Falls (MF) Project, its ‘sweet heart’ $600 million deal on the Labrador Island Link (LIL) will not just be plain sailing from here.  Yes, Bruce Huskilson, Emera’s President and CEO, is likely mesmerized with phone calls from NL’s Minister of Natural Resources Minister, Jerome Kennedy, demanding an immediate decision.  That is what politicians do.  Projects, like MF, are but ‘playthings’ for governments. 

Huskilson should be unavailable, for the next year or so, at least, until the NS UARB has rendered a decision on the Maritime Link (ML).  Why? Emera’s sanction of the LIL does not guarantee sanction of the ML.  The advantages which Emera’s skilful negotiators won, against Nalcor’s bureaucrats, could be all for naught.