Canadians to join Newfoundlanders in misery
Reminders of Newfoundland’s impending doom are everywhere.
A recent Canadian Press headline proclaimed, “Manitoba Hydro unable to estimate how long some customers will be without power.”
A few years hence, there will be a similar headline: “Nalcor Energy can’t estimate how long its customers will be without power.”
Premier Dwight Ball and his Liberals continue to cling to the fantasy that $178 million can be saved annually by closing the Holyrood Thermal Generating Station, and the funds put toward “rate mitigation.”
Don’t believe the foolish fiction that a backup power supply won’t be needed when Muskrat Falls power is turned on. The 1,100 kilometres of transmission lines from Muskrat Falls to St. John’s are guaranteed to create headlines and cold houses.
But back to stormy Manitoba … “the amount of snow has meant crews are having trouble assessing how much damage has been done, let alone beginning to fix it,” the Canadian Press reported.
A Manitoba Hydro spokesman “said in some cases they’re dealing with broken transmission towers which he stresses are not quick fixes.” Broken transmission towers. The phrase must prompt everyone except Dwight Ball to wonder if such could conceivably happen in Newfoundland, given its vicious blizzards, snowstorms, wind, freezing rain, etc.
In some parts of Manitoba, “people should prepare to be without power for an extended period,” CP reported.
On an unspecified date in the not-too-distant future, these headlines will be about Newfoundland. Unfortunately, the Muskrat Falls boondoggle isn’t merely about money. It is also about heat and light, i.e., the heat and light Newfoundlanders won’t have for weeks at a time if they allow Dwight to dump Holyrood.
Speaking of our minority-governing premier, his pal Justin Trudeau didn’t deliver during his visit to Newfoundland. The province’s impending power problems were predictably a topic of discussion. Apparently, somebody expressed concern about enduring another episode of “Dark NL,” and poor Justin thought it meant everyone would wear blackface.
Oh, and about that $200 million per year of federal money that Ball has budgeted as part of his “rate mitigation” plan, Trudeau — like the firm, decisive leader his father taught him to be — promised to “continue to work hard” with the province.
These days, political leaders rely on banal euphemisms to avoid answering direct questions that call for either a “yes” or a “no.”
Trudeau didn’t have the courage to say what a good leader should have said: “No, I can’t ask Canadian taxpayers to subsidize a mistake of Newfoundlanders’ own making.”
But then, saying that could cause enraged Newfoundlanders to return only six Liberal MPS to Ottawa rather than seven.
Over in the Conservative camp, Andrew Shear-public-services was equally non-forthright.
Asked about the annual $200 mill that some Newfoundlanders have convinced themselves that the feds morally owe due to giving a loan guarantee so the province could borrow cheaper money to build the boondoggle, Scheer also opted for politico-gab, saying he would work “in a collaborative and constructive way to address the issues facing the people of the province.”
Translation: “I don’t have the guts to say so, but no, I can’t ask Canadian taxpayers to subsidize a mistake of Newfoundlanders’ own making.”
At last, Canadians have something in common with Newfoundlanders. Both can look at their assembled leaders and leaders-to-be and wonder what they ever did to deserve such a bunch.
Finally, mainlanders can have a taste of Newfoundlanders’ misery.
An important difference, of course, is that Newfoundland suffers from generations-long, self-imposed economic misery (see: Muskrat Falls, public support for), while Canadian misery will be merely political.
No cold and dark houses will result from Canadians choosing either Trudeau or Scheer as prime minister, but, oh, what a decrepit state for a nation, that these are the choices it presents for itself.
As Canadians suffer the ignobility of either Prime Minister Scheer or (again) Prime Minister Trudeau Jr., Newfoundlanders will enjoy a temporary reprieve — the Labrador-island Link is reportedly three years away from completion, so even if Muskrat Falls’ expensive juice is ready to flow in 2020, it will have nowhere to go.
Yes, the bill still has to be paid, but what the heck, our grandchildren will be good for it.
Brian Jones is a desk editor at The Telegram. He can be reached at brian.jones@thetelegram.com.