Sunday, December 21, 2008

NALCOR replaces Abitibibowater on the partnership agreements for export of our water & hydro resources

If....Atantica-NALCOR-Lower Churchill-NAFTA and Abitbibowater-NALCOR-FortisENEL strung together don't beg the question "is there more to this than meets the eye?", i'll be damned!!

This happening is NAFTA big alright. It also deals with cross Canada energy happenings, Atlantica partnership deals, and a provincial energy departments legal meanderings.

ABH is making a big play to sell its hydro assets Canada-wide, with all sorts of complicated legal fandangling (including the highly contested star lake hydro partnership with ENEL/CHI). Check out this video. WOW!! There he is laying it out.

williams is trying to thrwart the manouver locally by using the terms of the 99yr lease non-renewable lease agreement, which is also under Bill 27, and now Bill 75's legislative authority, to boot ABH out.

what everybody seems to be confused about is the status of all the leases and charters which ABH is under, and what exactly just happened with the land, water and infrastructure owned by this American Corporation.

to sum it all up...NALCOR now sits where ABH did in the partnerships entered into with Fortis and ENEL over the past decade or so. this includes rights to water and hydro around the red indian lake lease (associated with the chartered land in 999yr in-perpetuity lease), associated Star Lake assets, and down river facilites at bishops falls and those in buchans (see bill 75 for specifics).

this is the future people. the guys in suits are gonna do it to us again if we don't wake up soon! just follow the money, its easier to see then.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

N.L. to expropriate Abitibi assets

Its about time, and like George MacDonald says 'I guess we're gonna see how much cash they do have'. EPIC!!

ABH Bankruptcy: Implications for NL's water and forests

Currently mulling over the situation with the pending ABH bankruptcy, and the natural resources tucked under their arm.

What happens if ABH goes under? Do we automatically get our forests and water returned to us? I hope so. It wouldn't be so great to have those things floating around on the open market. Does Danny have plans to get in a bidding war (with Hydro-Quebec or some other mafia group) with his new Nalcor creation on these assets?

Where does the law sit with this? Anybody out there have an idea? Cause I sure don't.

In ABH's case, I'm guessing there's more profit in not paying out severance, environmental fees or retirement packages and continuing to operate hydro assets and export raw fibre than operating a pulp mill at a loss, but there are 'bigger ego's' than mine sorting all this out in the back rooms, I hope (NOT!!!LOL!).

Does it all have to do with Atlantica, and getting as many of the 'main assets' as possible under one corporate roof before all that goes down? Its anybodies guess at this point, unless you sit at one of the 'tables'.

If the wholesale export of Canada's natural resource capital continues at the rate it's been going, we'll soon be pushed off the continent for greener pastures just like our forefathers were from europe a century and more ago. Either that or we all go back to being serfs.

Here's a coupla links to mull over...

Industry Canada page providing some background info
http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cilp-pdci.nsf/eng/cl00063.html

The Marxist-Leninist Daily has a different take on the situation. This link deals with Stelco, Abitibi and US bankruptcy dealings, and is quite relavent.
http://www.cpcml.ca/Tmld2004/D34181.htm

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Tribune bankruptcy filing may hurt AbitibiBowater

Here is yet another way we can lose our shirts! Thanks globalization!

Just as AbitibiBowater pulls up stakes in NL, this happens. Oh well, at least the worst is over!

Saturday, November 08, 2008

What does the rejection of the amended AbitibiBowater deal amount to? Far more than meets the eye.



Above is the tenure breakdown on 2/3's of our Islands forest resource. 1/3 Abitibi Bowater, 1/3 Kruger, and what's left (not shown) is Crown controlled. The brown section is the Chartered land around Red Indian Lake which AB has a 999yr lease on! WHOA EH??!! Who signed that deal?

With the union members at the mill in GFW recently rejecting the amended 'secret' offer to 'restructure' the operation, the rest of us are left wondering...What are they not telling us? Why so secretive? Who's going to benefit off our backs this time? Where are they gonna dump the body (the new 'best deal' they're gonna release to the rest of us one day shortly)?

There are a few key points which aren't being discussed in the mainstream media. The most obvious being the hydro rights associated with their milling operations. Now, there are other issues associated with that hydro power that make it even more of a hot topic amongst those studying the issue of industrial water users on this side of the border, and I may get time to go into those, but for now we'll deal with AbitibiBowater and their current negotiation with our government and the national unions representing the mill employees.

Some of the key points missing from the media debate, which first focused on the 170 jobs and has since moved onto the 1100 jobs that are actually at stake along with the towns only economic engine, are;

1) 999 year lease on District 12, or Red Indian Lake (known as chartered land).
2) Star Lake Hydro (issue includes NAFTA and private power companies owning hydro facilities).
3) NAFTA chapters 6 & 12 coming into play when the power corridor gets put in from Labrador (NL Hydro, Fortis, NL Power, Churchill Falls / Lower Chirchill Development, NL's new power corporation etc. all are part of this picture).
4) Bill 27 (http://www.assembly.nl.ca/business/bills/Bill0227.htm) and its clause whcih forces the company onto an open public debate on their 100 year timber lease over 1/3 of Newfoundland's forest.
5) Where has this company been investing its money? Directly into their power facilites, not into their mill! That should be 'the tell' for everybody on this!
6) The demand for clean water and clean energy in the US. Where are the closest undeveloped resources that can feed this real and increasing demand? Who is in control of their development?
7) Think about the link between security corridors (ie Atlantica), hydro energy, and freshwater.

So...what we need to do is become informed, and demand that our politicians inform us of what really is at stake here.

To talk about 170 jobs alone should be considered a criminal act, and not be tolerated in todays world.