JUST DON’T TELL THE NEWFOUNDLANDERS

The decision of Nova Scotia's Utility and Rate Review Board (UARB),  on Muskrat Falls, was a good example to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians of how a full independent review can play a key role in giving protection to the public.

The UARB’s job was to ferret out whether there was a justification for the Maritime Link (ML) proposal, and whether the project made sense in terms of the cost per KWh, to NS ratepayers.

In every sense, the UARB’s narrative is inextricably linked to the entire Muskrat Falls Project.   Nalcor and the Provincial Government have had a hard time, from the very beginning, justifying the investment.  The independent UARB analysis has cut a trail to certain fundamental reasons (untruths) which made their job so difficult.       

Whether one agrees with the conclusions of the UARB or not, it has provided a far more independent glimpse of how essential facts have been altered to obtain Newfoundland’s approval than is likely to emerge from any other source.  

THE END OF THE BEGINNING FOR MUSKRAT FALLS

Monday, July 22, 2013 will go down in infamy as the date on which the wheels finally began coming off the Muskrat Falls Project. 

Some would rightfully argue that the wheels, on this Project, were never properly attached anyway. Who, except Kathy Dunderdale, Ed Martin, Jerome Kennedy and Cathy Bennett would disagree.

Likely, at this very moment, the Dunderdale crowd, in Confederation Building, are enjoying the relaxation of summer; the House of Assembly is closed, Ministers are off to their country places and the oppressive heat, wrought by an angry public and pesky Pollsters, is a distant memory for a battle weary Government.  I doubt that a single one of them appreciate that the Dunderdale train just got side tracked and is now hanging over a very steep political and financial precipice.