More proof politicians are clueless
Among the numerous indicators of impending doom several years ago was the then-progressive Conservative government’s decision to ask Manitoba Hydro to review and report on the planned Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project.
At the time, a handful of naysayers and purveyors of negativity opined that this was akin to asking a seven-year-old to guard the cookie jar, i.e., you knew exactly what the outcome was going to be.
And lo, Manitoba Hydro — an outfit that has taken on billions in debt to build dams and transmission lines — concluded it was a terrific idea for Newfoundland to take on billions in debt to build a dam and transmission lines.
The advice-dispensing experts at Manitoba Hydro are apparently encountering problems of their own.
See if any of this sounds familiar.
Faced with high costs it cannot meet, Manitoba Hydro asked that province’s Public Utilities Board (PUB) for permission to raise electricity rates by almost eight (8) per cent per year. But the PUB said Manitoba Hydro was asking for too much from ratepayers, and allowed the utility to raise rates by only 3.6 per cent.
Newfoundlanders, with a 100 per cent increase in rates coming their way soon, can only dream of a mere eight per cent increase, let alone 3.6 per cent.
Although the numbers differ from one province to the other, the underlying cause is dam similar.
According to a Canadian Press report this week, “Manitoba Hydro has been taking on large amounts of debt to build new generating stations in the north and an extensive transmission line to bring the energy south. Hydro has said it will be seeking (annual) rate increases of near eight per cent for the next several years to keep its finances in order.”
And these were the people the Newfoundland government went to for advice.
The province would have been smarter to consult a Grade 6 student who was really good at math.
“How much did you say ratepayers’ bills will go up after Muskrat Falls power comes online?” the kid would likely have asked.
“We won’t know that until four years after the project is approved.” “That’s something my dad would say is bass ackward.”
It is enough to make you believe in reincarnation. Newfoundlanders must have seriously sinned in a previous life, and thus are perennially punished by the governments they elect.
A bit of karma is at work, too, as Newfoundlanders who have been bullied by Liberals and then by Tories and then by Liberals again watch the goings on at the House of Assembly this week and discover — to their amazement! — that the bullies also bully each other.
Of course, none of the alleged harassment and/or bullying has yet been proven in a court of law or acknowledged by the soon-tobe-former premier.
Even so, Newfoundlanders from Logy Bay to Labrador City must have marveled this week at the audacity of former Finance minister Cathy Bennett as she lamented the bullying she was subject to when she was a member of the Liberal cabinet.
Social media — proving yet again it is the best dumbingdown device ever invented — flowed with virtual tears on Bennett’s behalf, the poor woman to have endured such bullying.
Are we talking about the same Cathy Bennett? Is this not the Cathy Bennett who, as Finance minister, bullied thousands of Newfoundlanders with a provincial budget that was pulled straight from the 18th century?
A poll tax. In the 21st century. Hundreds of dollars that many people could barely afford, coming as they did on top of increases to various other taxes and fees. An image of a manor lord bullying his cowering peasants is not too much of an exaggeration.
And yet, despite being the architect who forced additional hardship onto an already burdened citizenry, Bennett apparently sees no irony in her public moaning about having been bullied.
Are we talking about the same Cathy Bennett? Is this not the Cathy Bennett who, as Finance minister, bullied thousands of Newfoundlanders with a provincial budget that was pulled straight from the 18th century?