Opinion
A GROWING PROBLEM
Chances are, the produce you buy drives thousands of kilometres more than you do. Frozen berries from Chile or Romania, packaged snap peas from China, lettuce and broccoli from California-not to mention meat (pork, ham and beef) that's got more miles on it than an AHL team on a six-game tour-bus road trip.
Thousands of products come into this province (Newfoundland & Labrador) by truck and ferry, and still more make their journey by air-food products that we need in our grocery baskets every day. And every day, money flows out of this province to pay for those products, and-even worse-we surrender a little bit more of our ability to produce our own food, and to feel secure that food will always be available.
It's easy to see why that might be a concern. In winter, grocery stores regularly run low on products that don't make their travel schedules. Recently, one St. John's grocery chain had signs up in its stores saying that the quality of produce was going to be affected by winter temperatures in Florida and Mexico.
It's something to think about as representatives of this province's 558 farms meet in Gander this week. They're talking about security of supply, and how to make Newfoundland produce both affordable and varied.
It's talk that has to happen.
Those who remember Newfoundland and Labrador's status as an independent nation will probably remember something else, as well. For years, this province was self-sufficient in at least one part of the food industry: root vegetables.
They are products that can be successfully grown here (there are many more varieties of produce that can be grown here now), but which have been-like the large-scale pork processing industry-regularly undercut in price by larger, more efficient mainland suppliers.
What it's meant is areas we were successful in supplying are simply gone, priced out of business by larger operations in warmer climes.
When the only thing you consider is price, you run a real risk of buying from the lowest common denominator. And that's a problem, maybe not in the short term, but certainly in the long term.
Well-travelled vegetables aren't good for the Newfoundland economy, and they're not good for the environment either, especially when it takes plenty of diesel to haul them here. Paying others good money to supply basic foodstuffs that we can produce here is bad planning, and both the federal and provincial governments should see the wisdom in supporting local agriculture.
The farmers and others in the industry are being supported in their Gander meeting by a federal-provincial agreement that plans to spend some $30 million developing this province's industry in the next five years.
In a sense, we've been willing to accept "save now, pay later" when we buy foodstuffs from away.
Maybe a move by governments to pay now in agriculture will help us all save later-and protect the security of the food supply in this province as well.
The Telegram 31/03/10
Opinion:
Something to chew on
There are few things more important in life than a dependable food supply, and farmers in this province (Newfoundland & Labrador) are starting to drive home that point.
This week, those involved in the agriculture business in this province took their message about the products they produce to schools in the western region.
Over the last few decades we've changed in this province where food production is concerned.
It wasn't so long ago our grandparents took pride in producing their own food - and more than taking pride, they needed the harvest from their home gardens to get by.
With a more prosperous lifestyle that has developed since Confederation, people in this province have become more and more dependent on food imported from thousands of miles away.
We have forgotten how vital it is to support our neighbours - local farmers - who eke out a living putting food on our tables.
That shortcoming is evident anytime the wind blows and ferries, loaded down with trucks full of produce, are held up crossing the Gulf.
It doesn't take long for some shelves to become bare in supermarkets.
Fortunately, attitudes seem to be changing - for the better.
Problems with imported food safety, new respect for the environment and healthier lifestyles have Newfoundlanders and Labradorians taking a different view of the food we consume.
This province used to be almost self-sustaining when it came to food supplies and we can be again.
All it takes is a return to a more local view when we sit down to eat.
The Western Star 16/03/10
Opinion
BE PREPARED TO BE DISAPPOINTED
By SUE HICKEY
The chances of the Government of Canada - and by association, Newfoundland - winning against AbitibiBowater under the North American Free Trade Agreement are probably not that good, and people should not expect Ottawa and the province to win the battle.
For its part, the provincial government is staying mum for the time being in relation to AbitibiBowater's newest antics.
Natural Resources (Minister) and Acting Premier Kathy Dunderdale has said in the past her department didn't want to offer much comment about the insolvent paper giant's threats to invoke NAFTA, which it has now done. Her explanation is that the ongoing issues with AbitibiBowater are in the legislative process and must move through that before the province can offer detailed comments.
It's a good position to take for the time being, because Premier Williams and company, as well as the rest of the Newfoundland and Labrador public, should be prepared for the worst-case scenario when NAFTA is involved.
Here's what AbitibiBowater is arguing: they say the expropriating of their assets in the province was illegal, arbitrary and discriminatory under international law. They want NAFTA to agree with their demand for direct compensation of $500 million from the province, which Abitibi says is for the expropriation of its assets and rights, plus additional costs and relief as deemed by the Arbitral Tribunal.
That's a big figure, the biggest ever filed under NAFTA - probably equivalent to what megabillionaire Bill Gates probably uses to stuff his pillows - and it certainly announces to the international political and economic stage that the gloves are off. Stubborn Premier Williams and entourage won't give way and at this point, neither will Abitibi, fiercely struggling to keep its head above the churning waters of bankruptcy protection.
In many Newfoundlanders' hearts, and in the hearts of minds of many outsiders who cheered the premier on during his pee-ing match with AbitibiBowater, it's only right, good and moral to let a people have control over their own resources.
But all too often, governments and free trade agreements don't always do what's right, good and moral. If governments did, Canada would have a national childcare program, like many European countries, making this affordable to all. Or a national housing strategy, again like more progressive countries, which could provide for affordable housing.
NAFTA doesn't have a history of rightness and morality, especially with populations like Newfoundland's and indigenous peoples exploited by corporations regularly for their resources. If NAFTA had that history, companies would have to buy their products from sources that don't use cheap labour in Mexico.
Aside from that, according to a political science professor at Memorial University, Abitibi may have a good case against the province and Ottawa. In a recent interview with the Advertiser, Dr. Russell Williams said what's expected under NAFTA is that if you expropriate a foreign corporation's assets, you should pay them compensation. He did add, however, that NAFTA should be changed so people can have control of their resources.
In the long run, if the province loses the Abitibi challenge, some good could come out of it. The Chapter 11 section of NAFTA Abitibi is using is unfair to people like Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and others such as indigenous peoples who want access to their own rich natural resources. It doesn't give them control over what is rightfully theirs and was even underlined in the original 1905 agreement between the Dominion of Newfoundland and the A.N.D. Company: if the mill shuts down, then the resources go back to the people.
Be prepared to lose. But one hopes governments will transform NAFTA into a force for good instead of being the play toy of multinationals.
Advertiser 01/03/10
Opinion:
HARD DECISIONS
It's not a great week to be a worker at Kruger's newsprint mill in Corner Brook (Newfoundland & Labrador). Not so much because of the work, but because of the newest decision everyone there is facing.
Kruger has asked the eight union locals at the mill to vote on wage cuts of 10 per cent, money that would be repaid if the mill returns to profitability before the end of the year.
All eight locals have to agree to the cuts, and even their overall union says it isn't willing to tell them how to vote.
"There is a wage package on the table and each local will decide what's in their best interest, if they want to recommend or just explain what's in the package," said Gary Healey, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union's national representative for Newfoundland.
"It's something that has to be decided personally."
And it's one tough decision.
It's not only the fact that two different Newfoundland paper mills talked about concessions with unions and government, and then closed after no concessions were in the offing.
It's not that many, many paper mills across the country have taken part in "shedding capacity" (that's exectu-tese for closing operations down, usually permanently).
It's not even that the industry is in such a mess, and isn't getting better.
Consider this, from Deutsche Bank just a week ago: "Only considerable capacity curtailments and consolidation in the sector can change our view on papermakers but this is not very likely to happen."
The hard numbers?
The bank was forecasting a 10 per cent drop in newsprint prices in Europe this year.
Now they've forecast prices to slide by a further five per cent to 15 per cent. Newsprint use is shooting up in Asia - especially with newer plants producing recycled newsprint - but it's hard to tell whether that will help eastern mills.
There's even the problem that there are brand-new, higher-tech, high-volume plants coming on stream, further diluting the newsprint sales pool.
In the background to it all, Abitibi-Bowater, North America's largest papermaker and the elephant in any papermaking room, is limping through bankruptcy protection and a welter of court actions.
The offshoot?
Workers in Corner Brook essentially have to decide whether they want to become investors in the future of their own operation, and they have to put up something like five weeks' pay as their investment. You might look at it as putting your money where your mouth is, but at the same time, it's a heck of a time in the industry to be asked to step up as a new investor.
Employees may find a way to return the mill to profitability, and the company has promised to let the employees see the books to make sure everything is on the up-and-up.
Just the same, it's a hard decision for employees to make, and you can only imagine the discussions at dining room tables among families that depend on the mill for an income.
The Telegram 27/01/10
Opinion:
Horror in Haiti: Send help and hope
THE DUST that cast a pall over Port-au-Prince and caked its bewildered inhabitants in chalky residue has settled. What is clear, in the aftermath of the quake that has shaken Haiti to its core, is that a nation of homeless people has been left behind.
The moral responsibility for their welfare now falls to us, as members of the international community, if that term is to mean anything at all. What little infrastructure Haiti had has been destroyed; what semblance of a government it possessed has been shattered. Even the UN stabilization force, its headquarters flattened, is in disarray and more than 100 of its staff remain unaccounted for.
It is hard to imagine how life in Haiti could get unimaginably worse, but it suddenly has. The Red Cross estimates that three million people - one-third of the country's population - have been affected. The preliminary death-toll estimate stands at 100,000.
The people of Haiti, the poorest in the Western Hemisphere, have less than nothing. Their last remaining asset is our compassion, and our willingness to channel it individually and collectively.
Canada has so far risen to the challenge. Among other things, it has dispatched a Disaster Assistance Response Team to the scene and is deploying a Hercules aircraft and a Griffin helicopter today. It has quickly recalled HMCS Halifax to its home port. The frigate and a sister ship, Athabaskan, are to be loaded up with supplies and should reach Haiti's shores by early next week.
The immediate task of rescue and relief, not just to the capital but to the countryside, will mostly fall to other countries with greater means and expertise than our own. One of the most important assets in this effort might very well be the U.S. navy and its fleet of helicopters, which can serve to swiftly evacuate the wounded and stave off starvation in areas that are barely accessible.
Where Canadians can most make a difference is in providing unfailing assistance, long after this catastrophe has faded from the headlines. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians will need shelter and services in tent cities, and permanent housing later. This requires a long-term commitment, not only on the part of our government, but also on the part of donors to relief agencies.
But delivering help is not enough. The international community must also deliver hope, by cancelling the remainder of Haiti's foreign debt and investing in reconstruction. If anything good can come out of this horrifying tragedy, let it be a new Haiti, rebuilt on a more solid foundation.
The Chronicle-Herald 14/01/10
Opinion:
HELPING HAITI
You can't imagine a worse circumstance for an already-damaged country-and more to the point, it's perilously hard to even imagine anything close, especially from the comfort of our lives in Canada
Tuesday night (Jan. 12) just after 5 p.m. local time, after a year of suffering through four separate hurricanes in 2008, Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, was hit by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake.
There weren't many details to start, but there was plenty to be concerned about: telephone service was virtually wiped out, and that alone raised fears about many lives in peril. As a poor country, Haiti's building standards were particularly unlikely to sustain an earthquake of any size - and this particular earthquake's epicentre was mere miles from the 2 million people who live in Haiti's capital, Port au Prince.
By Wednesday morning (Jan. 13), there was more information, and more concern. The United Nations headquarters building, a five-storey structure, had collapsed. So had the presidential palace.
All in all, it's a recipe for a humanitarian nightmare in a country that has weathered everything from dictators to political collapse.
Governments began pledging aid almost immediately, the Canadian government among them, and foreign states began the process of getting resources ready to reach the country. Brazil, Italy, Britain, France, Germany, China and Mexico all pledged help-and the list goes on.
In the coming days, there will be more and more information coming out of Haiti, and chances are, it will bring worse and worse news for those who live there, and for the tens of thousands of former Haitians in this country and others.
It will also bring calls for help from average Canadians - more than anything else, it's likely to bring an appeal for financial help from Canada's charitable organizations.
The International Red Cross's early estimates are that more than 3 million people - one-third of the country's population-will need emergency assistance.
Be ready for that call, and be ready to help: we can count ourselves lucky to have never lived under dictatorships like that of "Papa Doc" Duvalier and his paramilitary death squads, the Tonton Macoute-and luckier still to have never had to regularly face the full brunt of Atlantic hurricanes.
Now, we can count ourselves lucky to not be facing the aftereffects of the most serious earthquake to strike that region in 200 years-in an area particularly unequipped to face that peril. Nearly 70 per cent of Haitians get by on less than $2 a day. We (Newfoundland & Labrador) are a province that has known its share of hard times-but we don't know times as hard as these.
Count your blessings.
And think hard about sharing them.
The Telegram 14/01/10
Opinion:
Biomass power getting a boost
The renewable energy consultation group that's now unveiling its recommendations to the province says it has sought a "pragmatic, low risk, low cost" strategy for Nova Scotia to achieve its green energy goals for 2015 and beyond. Philosophically, at any rate, the approach well suits the new NDP government. The jury is still out on whether this will be a low cost government but certainly Premier Darrell Dexter would not be uncomfortable with the labels pragmatic and low risk.
However, on the energy and environment front - the two are now inextricable - zero risk is no longer an option. The task force, headed by two members of the Dalhousie University management faculty, lays out a bold agenda that the government is going to have to move on very quickly if Nova Scotia is to achieve the stated goal of deriving 25 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2015. That's more than double the current proportion and it is clear now that the push for renewables is going to have to move beyond wind, where so much of the early emphasis has gone.
The Dalhousie group, working for the government, sees biomass power generation as an important element in the mix although the public has misgivings about whether Nova Scotia's forests can sustain as many as five major biomass generation projects along with the addition of some biomass fuel at coal-fired generating plants.
David Wheeler, management dean at Dalhousie, cautions that more discussion will be needed on forestry management and the ecological integrity of the forests as biomass generation develops. But skeptics will note that Wheeler's interim report (to be followed by a final report a week from today) describes biomass as the lowest cost renewable energy source available to the province.
Given the urgency of cranking up renewable power, with low cost, low risk options going first, can the ecological integrity of the forests be protected? Government and industry assure us it can but the province must err on the side of caution in approving major new biomass projects, each costing $150 million or so. Once that kind of money is committed, the plants will have to be fed even if the forests are struggling.
One of the first such projects to go could be the one proposed for the NewPage Port Hawkesbury Corp. pulp and paper operation at the Strait, which could also include a district heating component. The province has already given permission for Crown land biomass to be used for that project, under certain conditions.
Using wood on an industrial scale as an energy source strikes some as primitive but in fact it's one wave of the future. Wood, besides being burned, can be converted into other fuels. In the summer, NewPage's Ohio-based parent discontinued work on a proposed wood gasification project at a Michigan pulp and paper mill, saying the idea may be revisited if the economics improve.
The development of biomass energy has a lot going for it in Cape Breton and this report will confirm that potential. Now industry has to step up and make it happen.
The Cape Breton Post 16/12/09
Opinion
bestofpei just not good enough
It seemed like the perfect time to sow the seeds of a business devoted to made-in-Prince Edward Island products. But the owners just weren't reaping any benefits.
The two bestofpei stores in Charlottetown closed their doors this week, with notices of distress posted to them. They hadn't made money over the last year and a half, owner Bev MacArthur said.
The two shops sold PEI crafts and gifts and the one on University Avenue in the old Frenchy's building also had a market with fresh Island food. It was hoped Islanders would turn from the mass-produced, cross-continent-shipped supermarket groceries and buy from their friends and neighbours.
The University Avenue business, which opened in June 2008, never bore fruit. It's a plight the MacArthurs share with the producers they were buying from. They're all finding you can't make a living feeding Prince Edward Islanders.
Since the bestofpei market opened, the PEI government launched its Made in P.E.I. campaign, the Fall Flavours festival celebrating Island food was born and outfits like the Women's Institute and 4-H started lobbying their membership to buy local. Concerns over tainted pet food in China, salmonella poisoned produce from California and even listeria-tainted meat from a Canadian plant also had people talking about where their food comes from.
Apparently, though, the public isn't willing to put their money where their mouths are.
The main complaint from consumers about the bestofpei store was that they found it expensive.
Unfortunately, choice cuts of beef from locally raised cattle cost more than the two-for-one specials consumers can get at the big box stores on similar cuts from Venezuela. Baked goods made right there in the market in quantities likely to sell to locals are more expensive than those churned out by the Keebler elves.
MacArthur also notes that government paid lip service to buying local, but she never had any orders from hospitals, schools or government agencies. She had hoped, not unjustifiably, that hers was the kind of business the province would boost.
There are still businesses like the Spring Street Farmers Market, the Co-op, the Butcher's Block and Montrose Meats, where Islanders can buy food produced by their neighbours.
Let's dig in.
The Journal Pioneer 28/10/09
Opinion
Farming, from the field out
From a young dairy farmer who chose as his slogan, "Where There's Milk There's Money," to orchard operators and market gardeners, farmers across the province (Prince Edward Island) flung open their farm gates Sunday (Sept 20) to visitors for the annual Open Farm Tour.
They participate because they want to share their love of farming with the world.
In many cases it's not the farm income that brings them their greatest joy, but the lifestyle.
Farmers are their own bosses and they get to spend most of their working hours outdoors.
There are days when the rest of us might envy them, like on a warm summer's day when a nice breeze is blowing, or when a calf or foal is born. And there are probably days, like wet, miserable harvest days, when we are relieved to be free from their worries.
The once-a-year Open Farm Tours provide only a glimpse of what farming is all about. For the most part, visitors see the good side of farming, when things are running smoothly. They don't see the struggles to make ends meet, nor are they required to free machinery mired to the axles in muck.
To get a true sense of farming, one would have to walk in a farmer's boots through the four seasons, in good weather and in bad.
As with any profession, though, farmers take the good with the bad. There are days when it is a real joy to be out in the fields and days when it's a burden.
Some farm days are just not long enough to complete everything that needs to get done and there are days when the weather grinds everything to a halt.
Throughout it all, farmers have the satisfaction of helping crops and livestock grow, and the acknowledgement that their efforts and contributions will help to feed a hungry world.
There will always be a need for farm produce. It's just a matter of whether there will be farmers around to supply it. As satisfying as farming can be, those who produce the food need to be adequately compensated for their efforts and, sometimes, that just doesn't happen.
Just a little more than a generation ago there was no need for Open Farm Day, as most people were familiar with the work farmers did, and quite likely earned some part-time income helping a farmer to bring in a crop.
The Journal Pioneer 20/09/09
Opinion:
BYRNE OUT AND ABOUT
Disgraced politician Ed Byrne is out of jail and wearing a new bracelet. Byrne was sentenced to two years less a day for stealing more than $100,000 from taxpayers while serving as an MHA and spent just 4 1/2 months behind bars.
He is now wearing an electronic monitoring device to keep track of his activities but should be relatively free to move about as he wants.
Not surprisingly, some early online chatter is expressing amazement at the outcome.
One posting wonders why legal officials bothered with a trial at all considering the short time Byrne was locked up.
There are probably many good reasons for letting Byrne go free early but none of those matter to most of the taxpayers of this province.
They feel betrayed and want their pound of flesh.
Citizens elect politicians to look after their interests ... not fleece them ... and Byrne's early release feels like a slap in the face.
Ed Byrne was at the pinnacle of political power in this province and had the duty to improve the lot of every person in this province.
Instead he chose to look after his own interests.
No wonder people are upset.
If the legal system aims to set an example so the same crime won't be repeated-it has missed the mark in Byrne's case.
The Western Star 02/09/09
Opinion:
CAN OTHERS LEARN ANYTHING FROM THE HOG DISASTER?
Successive governments have failed hog farmers over the years, and the latest Conservative announcement does nothing to change the trend.
The politicians and "hog establishment" continue to talk about the perfect storm of high dollar, high feed costs, country of origin labeling and swine flu, and the perfect storm mantra is parroted non-stop by the media as the conventional wisdom. Of course none of these factors have helped the hog farmers, but they are not the actual cause of the catastrophe. Continuing to focus only on these immediate problems perpetuates the blinders that decision makers have been wearing for the last two decades.
There are two longstanding related factors that led hog farmers to the brink and set them up for this long painful fall. And these two factors are very closely related.
The systematic destruction of single desk selling for hogs was the first key factor. By removing the elements of farmer-market power, fairness, and price transparency, provincial governments undercut the hog farmers in the 1990s in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Ontario. Destroying single desk selling by farmers was the government's part of the bargain with the corporate pork industry who promised slaughter plants and unlimited foreign sales. The destruction of the single desk selling was done in each case without a vote of the farmers affected-the hog industry viewed family farm operations as the problem-not the solution. The National Farmers Union spoke out against the undemocratic destruction of single desk selling, but others opted to continue their friendship with the governments instead.
The deal that the governments made with the corporate pork industry clearly ushered in a new era-an era where farmers and governments were supposed to trust and rely on multinational corporations to make all of the key decisions. And the mantra "Get big or get out" immediately replaced any notion of fairness, equity, or price transparency. (This mantra can now be replaced by "Get big And get out.") Interestingly, while decision making power was transferred to the corporate sector, there was no corresponding transfer of corporate responsibility to farmers. Are the multi-national pork traders and retailers lining up to offer grants or low-interest loans to affected farmers? Are the farmers demanding that the corporate interests be part of the solution by ceding some of their incredible market power back to the farmers?
This leads us to the second underlying factor which is the so-called "free trade agreements". The trade agreements are very much related to the destruction of single desk selling in that they are both part of the corporate pork industry wish list-the same companies that demanded the removal of any farmer market power continue to lobby for trade agreements which will further undercut primary producers but will ensure corporations more opportunities to increase profits. The same international agreements touted right now by the industrial players intentionally limit possible aid and programs for farmers-forcing those farmers to go bankrupt or become totally beholden to the corporate interests. Canadian industry lobbyists are still calling for support for a Doha deal that would further cut available Canadian domestic support by 40 to 60%. Put another way, the intent is to open up the Canadian domestic markets, make Canadian farmers reliant on foreign markets and then cut off domestic support to seal the deal. The next time you hear any Canadian promoting the Doha deal ask them what Canadian programs will be reduced by 40 to 60 %.
And this brings us to the latest Conservative government announcement of less than 10% of the request from the Canadian Pork Council. The Conservative government is openly saying that they refuse to sufficiently help Canadian hog farmers because of international trade restrictions put in place by free trade agreements.
With no plan in place, the latest Canadian taxpayer money is to be administered on an ad-hoc basis as sort of a post-mortem attempt at managing the supply of hogs-to kill and not replace part of the Canadian herd. Real supply management systems, supported by the NFU, do not use taxpayer funds to make the system work-Canadian eaters pay fair prices for top-quality farm produce with no boom and bust cycles over time. Unfortunately, Canadian trade boosters advocate the destruction of real supply management in favour of what is now happening to the hog sector.
It was easy for the NFU to predict the crash of the Canadian hog industry. When the system is destabilized by the destruction of single desk selling and the move to total reliance on the corporations and their trade agreements, other day-to-day risks of feed costs, dollar changes, trade barriers and disease cannot be managed by the individual farmers.
The pork sector is the most extreme example of "trying to run farming like a business." The irony is that all those smaller on-again-off-again dispersed low-capital family farm barns gave us a stable, profitable hog/pork sector. The rationalization, industrialization, and corporatization of the process destroyed it. Farming isn't like every other business; the pork industrialization experiment is proving that.
If others cannot learn from the hog industry crash we will all be forced to experience the same family-farm devastation with grain and other livestock. The increasing reliance on the corporations and their trade agreements, coupled with the deliberate shrinking of the government's willingness to act in the public interest will also doom the other sectors of primary food production. The attacks on the single desk selling of grain, the attacks on the Canadian Grain Commission, the captive supply of cattle by Canada's two huge cattle packers, the corporate funded support of the "free trade" agreements, and the "get big or get out mantra" are exactly parallel to the forces that destroyed Canada's family farm hog producers. Let's learn from past mistakes, change direction and move ahead with Canadian policies that work for Canadians.
Stewart Wells
President, National Farmers Union
Opinion
MONEY WELL SPENT
The provincial (Newfoundland & Labrador) government made a wise decision last week. The 250 jobs directly reliant upon the Northern Peninsula's forest industry are worth $10 million.
The announced funding for Roddickton sawmiller Holson Forest Products was the only option for the peninsula's forest industry. Without the planned pellet plant there would be no destination for smaller timber and cutting larger sawlogs would be unfeasible for harvesters.
Private enterprise is what keeps communities alive-without it they become retirement villages. The men and women who cut the trees, transport them, mill them or turn them into pellets will pay income taxes then recirculate their paycheques into their communities. That money will also be taxed as it passes through the hands of other local businesses. The money will come full circle over its years in circulation and return to the government coffers, not to mention that $7 million of the announcement is a loan which Holson Forest Products intends to repay.
It's an example of the offshore oil revenues providing the province with a surplus and then being redistributed to rural Newfoundland.
Some might point out that this isn't the first attempt to find a solution for what used to be referred to as pulpwood on the Northern Peninsula. In previous years the government has invested heavily in both a wood fired electricity generating station and a chipboard plant, both of which now lay idle in Roddickton.
The difference now is that the provincial government is investing in local business people whose connections to the Northern Peninsula go back for generations. They, Holson Forest Products owner Ted Lewis and the many contractors who provide him with trees, have proven their commitment to the area.
While huge multi-national companies have been closing mills across North America and stopped harvesting, these local business owners have fought tooth and nail to keep operating. They weren't asking for a handout and they didn't get one.
They want to work, but they needed capital to change the structure of their industry.
They got that help last Friday (Aug. 21).
Now they can begin harvesting again from a forest which is managed as a renewable resource. Mr. Lewis has proved he is a competent businessman in the past and if he's willing to stick his neck out by taking a $7 million loan, it's because he believes he can make it work.
The contractors have faith in him and have supported him through the long struggle to get to where we are now.
If it does work, we'll all be better off. Wood pellet heat puts less carbon back into the atmosphere. Perhaps more importantly, it could put some certainty into an industry that supports many families on this peninsula.
The Northern Pen 23/08/09
Opinion
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
There's something wrong when Newfoundland and Labrador-which is now a 'have' province thanks to our oil resources-has the highest usage rate of food banks in the whole country.
Lorraine Michael, leader of the NDP, is asking the provincial government to tune into this "unacceptable statistic", that 5.4 per cent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are using food banks, and you can't blame her.
There could be a couple of explanations as to why people are relying so heavily on charity in this oil-rich province.
Is the newfound wealth of the province not reaching all branches of the population and no matter how rich this province becomes, more and more people are forced to scrounge for a meal?
Is the level of abuse on the rise where people are using the food banks to supplement their budgets and freeing up the grocery money for other things such as: drinking, drugs, gambling or even luxury items?
You can bet it's a bit of both and the huge question is how to resolve it. Sometimes there are no easy answers and the issue of poverty has historically stumped people on how it can ever be resolved.
The NDP leader is calling on the Williams administration to offer a universal province-wide school lunch program to ensure children, who make up a big portion of food bank users, get adequate nutritious meals. She says while the School Lunch Program and the Kids Eat Smart Program do receive some government funding, they do not reach most school-aged children.
That is a justified and reasonable request, a measure that should ease our social conscience because we know most hearts bleed for children who have to go to school hungry. These children are the vulnerable whether their parents are too sick to provide what's needed or too fond of playing VLTs to buy groceries, but no normal person would ever want to see any child deprived of basic life needs.
In Labrador West, for example, there have been several occasions when the local food bank had to put out the call for more donations as the stocks were getting low with increased usage.
The economy in Labrador West is probably the healthiest in the whole province and some people would probably even wonder why such a charitable service is even needed.
The sad truth is, no matter how strong any economy is, there will always be unfortunate people, who through sickness or some other form of hard luck, struggle to survive and support their families. These people are found in the largest cities to the smallest outports and they are the ones charitable services such as food banks no doubt focus on.
Food banks and school lunch programs are all great initiatives but they are only band-aid solutions to greater problems. It may be prudent and more effective if Government would employ an educational element for their clients on assisted income, for example. Government should have educational resources readily available for low-income families who struggle to provide for their family; whatever the reasons may be.
Advice on budgeting household incomes should indeed be a parcel of social assistance. If parents are struggling with addictions, there should be an added focus on whether children in the household are getting the proper basic care. If not, then the onus is on Child, Youth and Family Services to see that it is-if the parents can't do it because there is inappropriate spending, then the children have a right to be with caregivers who can provide the basics.
Handouts, alone, definitely does not work; especially for the people who take advantage because of other problems that get in the way of their obligations to their families. It's about educating people, offering options because sometimes it is required.
Raising children is the most complex and demanding job in the world. People are trained for most other jobs, yet there's no real training for parenting.
There's nothing wrong with any government offering some training skills to those who express or display a need for it; that, with the continued financial support for school lunch programs and food banks, may indeed go a little further in the quest to end child poverty.
The Aurora 24/08/09
Opinion:
DEEP THOUGHTS
The latest word in the world of deep ocean studies is Paleodictyon nodosum-it's a deepwater living fossil that may be the oldest living creature on Earth.
Trouble is, no one really knows what it is yet.
Ocean scientists have found signs that the ancient beast is alive and well some two miles underwater-they've found its distinctive footprint, a hexagonal pattern of holes that matches a fossil record hundreds of millions of years old.
But there's a problem. In a sense, the question is whether the fossil record is actually the cause or the effect. The critter looks like one thing, but could actually be something else entirely: the pattern might be holes made by a worm, or it might actually be body parts that grow in a specific way.
Here on the surface in Newfoundland and Labrador, it's municipal election season again, and the word of the week is "pander." And there's the same problem as there is with Paleodictyon nodosum: the candidates look like one thing, but may actually be something else entirely.
There seems to be a strong tradition in municipal politics here - one we don't agree with - that it's acceptable practice to say one thing, and then do something else once the election is over and the actual workings of municipal councils move out of the public eye.
Seriously, though, municipal politics seems to bring out the absolute worst in politicians seeking to align themselves with the views of the largest number of possible voters - regardless of the commitment pretzels the candidates have to twist themselves into in the process.
Only in municipal politics could a politician steadfastly argue that municipal sports operations like Mile One and its sporting teams are money-losers wherever they are built - and then turn around and heartily support building just that kind of operation.
Only in municipal politics could a candidate campaign on a platform that argued against turning a municipal stadium into a supermarket, and then immediately change directions post-election and support the supermarket mere months later.
Only in municipal politics could a mayoralty candidate switch positions often enough to earn the nickname "the waffle king."
Now, to an extent, all politicians are guilty of cashing in on popular positions to try and cadge votes. At the provincial and federal levels, though, the party system at least means that you have an idea of the general direction and philosophy of the candidate in your area, and whether that philosophy dovetails with your own views.
In municipal politics, all you have is what the candidates say, and the fact is that many have proven they'll say just about anything.
Do your homework before you vote: with incumbents, think back and consider not what they've said they support, but how they've actually voted. Tell new candidates that if they expect your vote, you expect them to be accountable to the plans they put forward at the door.
Try and figure out just what's going on in the silty burrows of their campaigning craniums.
But perhaps the comparison we're making just isn't fair.
P. nodosum, after all, is a silt-sucking, darkness-loving, opportunistic bottom-dweller whose true composition is virtually unknown.
And municipal politicians who say one thing and do something else entirely are ...
Wait a minute.
The Telegram 26/08/09
Opinion:
SITE HOLDS REAL POTENTIAL
For those who took the tour up Blanche Brook (Newfoundland & Labrador) to the ancient tree fossil beds on Stephenville Day, it was an interesting event. After a description by the tour guide, those attending-including all ages-quickly realized the tourism potential of the site.
Once explained, it's difficult to fathom these fossils of ancient trees found less than a kilometre from the Hansen Highway date back 305 million years.
For these petrified trees to be preserved in sandstone all that time and survive for us to see today is almost beyond belief.
It's startling to lift a piece of a petrified tree, which looks exactly like a section of a living tree, and feel its weight, and realize it is wood which has turned to stone.
What is also amazing is these trees, about 165 feet in height, grew in an area near the equator and made their way thousands of miles north during a period of millions of years, one inch at a time.
These were the first of the trees to exist on this planet, which at that time had a hostile surface that likely resembled the planet Mars. It's hard to imagine today a planet without trees as we see them today, but this rare ancient tree fossil bed is proof that such trees existed.
The fossils in Stephenville are linked to a major event regarding the evolution of trees around the globe.
The group promoting the site at Blanche Brook as a tourism attraction is moving slowly, and taking it one step at a time. They hope to eventually build an interpretative centre in the town to explain the history of the site.
The right approach is being taken, and if all goes well, eventually thousands of people every year may come to visit the site as well as other locations of geological interest in the area.
The Western Star 07/08/09
Opinion:
EI, EI, UH OH
On Wednesday (Aug. 5) in Adam's Cove (Newfoundland & Labrador), blueberries were ripening and the snarl of a chainsaw was carving up through the valley, the start-stop, start-stop of longers on their way to becoming junks.
Summer was unfolding the way rural summers do in this province, the usual cycle of working when work's available and preparing for the harsher season to come.
Half a country away, in Regina, the country's premiers were arriving at another one of the enduring working facts of Canada's summers: all around the Regina airport, seasonal construction crews are putting in new entrance roads and parking areas, pouring concrete curbs and paving during the only part of the year when road paving crews can actually work.
But the premiers weren't in Regina to take a spell at the unpleasantly hot summer work of raking and spreading hot asphalt to create a uniform ribbon of pavement: they were looking at whether to make something else in the Canadian federation a little more uniform.
And it's something that could deliver another blow to the already-wobbly state of the economy of this province, at least outside the overpass.
As the economy has slipped almost worldwide, the Canadian provinces that have lost the most jobs have woken up to an unpalatable truth: all unemployed Canadians are not treated equally.
There are some 50 different regional sets of rules in this country for employment insurance.
In areas with low unemployment, people need as many as 700 hours of work to qualify for benefits. Areas with high unemployment see a standard of as few as 420 hours.
Now that they have a larger number of unemployed residents, premiers from the usually more successful provinces feel it's time for a change.
Premiers from the west and from Ontario are arguing for a much more homogenized set of EI rules that would apply right across the country. And there are a number of different suggestions. In the past, Western premiers have suggested three sets of qualification periods, one for urban areas, one for rural areas and one for remote areas.
Some, like the federal Liberals, have argued for a uniform national standard of 360 hours, something they suggest would add $1 billion a year to the cost of EI. The Toronto Dominion Bank, in its own analysis, pointed to a national standard that would lift the base number for EI to a minimum of 560 hours- the equivalent of 14 weeks of full-time work with 40-hour weeks.
Add into the equation the fact that the federal Liberals have already said they view changes to the EI rules as something they're willing to go to the polls about, and it's pretty clear that some kind of change is in the offing.
The problem, of course, is paying for changes. While EI premiums aren't bringing in the amount of money they were before, the fund can certainly meet its obligations. Problem is, successive federal governments have interpreted one of those obligations as bringing a surplus into federal coffers.
Any radical economic change brings winners and losers. Like it or not, EI still plays a major role in this province, especially in rural areas.
And things can change drastically, even on slow summer days.
The Telegram 07/08/09
Opinion
MORE MILLS HIT THE SKIDS
There seems to be no end to the misery in the newsprint industry in this country. Last Wednesday (Aug. 5), insolvent AbitibiBowater indefinitely idled two machines at its Thunder Bay mill putting more than 600 people out of work.
The week before, Kruger inc., owners of Corner Brook Pulp and Paper, took summer downtime at two Quebec mills, that following closely on the indefinite shut of a newsprint mill in the city.
Now there is a report AbitibiBowater is planning on reducing its capacity by one third, which will throw affect hundreds of more highly paid workers.
It seems the bottom hasn't been reached in the newsprint industry.
The sad facts are-there are too many mills producing too much paper ad that still has to change.
The newspaper industry is going through a rough patch itself-national advertising and profits are down, which means smaller papers and less newsprint being used. Add to that, in recent weeks the Canadian dollar has been gaining strength.
The newsprint mills in the country count on the exchange with the U.S. dollar to boost their bottom lines.
When the loonie starts to approach parity, it means big trouble for newsprint producers who are already on a razor's edge where profits are concerned. This province (Newfoundland & Labrador) has already seen two mills shut and hundreds of jobs disappear.
The future of the third, in Corner Brook, must be a matter of concern. There isn't much to be optimistic about.
The Western Star 09/08/09
Opinion
UNITING TO MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD
FARM FEDERATIONS IN THE ATLANTIC REGION ARE RIGHT TO FORM A UNITED FRONT
The recent decision by the Atlantic region's federations of agriculture to form a coalition seems like good strategy. The farming population is dwindling, and those who produce our food need to unite their voices to make them heard in Ottawa.
The Prince Edward Island Federation of Agriculture, the New Brunswick Agricultural Alliance, the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture and the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture recently announced they're banding together under the banner of Atlantic Federations of Agriculture. According to Ernie Mutch, president of the PEI federation, the groups have to work together for the benefit of the farming industry.
The idea of adopting a regional voice isn't a new concept. The Maritime Farmers Council for years acted as a regional voice in addressing federal funding issues, and so the federations have resurrected the idea in the newly formed Atlantic federation.
The old adage 'united we stand, divided we fall' applies here. At one time, the farming population in the province and across Canada spoke for itself. As well, even those who didn't farm were well aware of where their food came from and therefore appreciated the need for a strong viable agriculture industry. But today, with the concentration of the population in urban centres across the country, including PEI, and the availability of more imported foods, there has been a disconnect between the consumers of our food and those who produce it. As a society, we've lost our appreciation of the importance of local food production and the struggle it often entails.
Farmers really face two overarching challenges: finding ways to operate profitably in this new century, and creating new ways to engage and educate the public about the importance of their industry.
By joining forces, the Atlantic federations of agriculture stand a better chance of meeting these challenges. They can share whatever resources they have to get Ottawa's attention on their most pressing concerns. But they should also concentrate on mounting a campaign to educate non-farming Canadians about those concerns. Politicians respond to public pressure, and if the Atlantic Federations of Agriculture can win over public support for their causes, our farmers stand a better chance of getting the programs and funding support they need from Ottawa.
The Guardian 05/08/09
Opinion
WHO WILL SAY NO NEXT TIME?
(Newfoundland & Labrador) Premier Danny Williams said last week the process for paying out money to make up for lost compensation to mill workers in Grand Falls-Windsor was moving forward.
The province stepped in to pay the severance when AbitibiBowater, owners of the shut mill, declared bankruptcy and left the workers in the lurch.
Some of the workers were expecting to get in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in severance, but were left with nothing.
The payout by the province could be as much as $40 million.
Few taxpayers would begrudge the jobless workers the money ... but the ruling Tories may rue the day they ever opened this costly can of worms.
Where will help for laid off workers stop, and who will decide who gets help in the future?
From here on, every time an industry shuts or a business goes belly up, there will be a loud cry from workers for government help.
Not that there wasn't already, but politicians could up until now point out that government wasn't responsible for compensating workers in private industry - their former employer was.
That logic won't fly in the future.
Workers will demand government pitch in to help ... and who can blame them?
The province has no moral ground for denying workers compensation when their former employer locks the doors and heads for bankruptcy court.
The former mill workers in Grand Falls-Windsor will get their government cheques in a few weeks and breathe a sigh of relief ... but politicians in this province will have some explaining to do the next time they say no to workers looking for help.
29/07/09 The Western Star
Opinion
MANY ASPECTS TO ENSURING SAFETY
For an extended period last summer, many Canadians were nervous about eating luncheon meats. Following the outbreak of listeriosis, which was ultimately linked to 22 deaths, our guard was on high, but the question is, are people in a position to be more confident now?
The long-awaited report on the outbreak was released Tuesday (July 21). Among main points from appointed investigator Sheila Weatherill was the lack of communication from both industry and government, which lent to the waning assurance of the safety of the food system.
But one key point from the report was that federal inspectors assigned to the Toronto-area Maple Leaf plant responsible for the contamination "appear to have been stressed due to their responsibilities at other plants" and the complexity of the plant.
Communication during such a crisis is crucial, of course, but it's not hard to see that acceptable inspection of food product is only possible with sufficient inspection staff. Eliminating contamination is best achieved through strictly following food safety policy and regular, hands-on inspection.
The investigation revealed, for example, that CFIA conducted only three of the required 12 quarterly audits at the Maple Leaf plant between 2005 and 2007. In 2008, none were completed.
Also in the report is a call for development of easier-to-clean food processing equipment. Plants that routinely test positive for bacteria, as well, should be inspected more often.
From the point of view of frontline safeguards, Bob Kingston, president of the union that represents meat inspectors, had this to note. The most disappointing aspect of the report was that it couldn't identify the number of inspectors or available resources for the meat inspection program.
It's a comprehensive report, focusing on the need to inform people quickly when there is a problem. But it should be clear what is the best way to avoid the problem in the first place. This is the kind of alert people really don't want to hear.
The New Glasgow Daily News 21/07/09
Opinion:
IT'S ONLY A NATIONAL PARK, ANYWAYS
We like nature in Newfoundland and Labrador, we really do. We like it so much that we even build substantial homes in the forest where we could live year-round, and call them 'cabins'.
In the Exploits Valley, we like to think we appreciate our environment: We have the powerful natural resource of the Exploits River, we harvest our forests-or used to, anyway-for timber to make paper and wood, and we have used the area's gift of volcanic-origin base metals to mine for export.
Some of us are passionate about protecting that gift of nature, for environmental and human health.
Because we're connected with our environment in the Exploits Valley, we should be watching what's being proposed for our western neighbours with Gros Morne National Park.
The government is thinking about building 40-metre high transmission towers through the park located in Western Newfoundland to bring power from the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project to the Island.
It seems that our premier, the man who spearheaded severance payments for mill workers because AbitibiBowater wouldn't do it, says he's willing to risk losing Gros Morne's UNESCO World Heritage status if the cost of preserving it is too high.
To their credit, the folks in power are asking Nalcor, the Crown-owned energy company, to prepare an environmental impact statement for the project. But asking Nalcor, a Crown agency, to prepare such a statement for another government branch, is the same thing as asking Wile E. Coyote to babysit the Roadrunner.
Why should we in the Exploits region take interest in what's going on at Gros Morne? For starters, it's a national park. That means that it belongs, in a sense, to all of us, whether we live in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Grand Falls-Windsor or St. John's.
It's even one of two UNESCO World Heritage sites in the province, more than what other parts of Canada have. What makes Gros Morne so special, other than its spectacular beauty with fjords that make Norway look ugly? It's one of the very few places in the world where you can see, in what's called the Tablelands, the inside of the earth: The mantle.
Getting power from Labrador is admirable in one sense, but another route should be considered instead of messing up a national park. Parks Canada doesn't want it to happen.
Premier Williams runs the risk of having something in common with Iran, of all places. Many ordinary Iranians aren't happy about it, but their government is considering construction of a dam near a UNESCO World Heritage site. There could be flooding and a change in humidity could affect the site.
The site in question? It's the ancient city of Pasargadae, where the tomb of one of the ancient world's greatest statesmen, Cyrus the Great, is located. The man in question, who ruled in about 530 B.C., was noted-read Isaiah-for bringing the Jews out of exile and abolishing slavery. He was big on human rights for the time. It goes without saying that honouring Cyrus is not looked on fondly by the present Iranian government. Do you want to be in the same company as that government, Premier Williams?
We should stand in solidarity with the folks out west and voice concerns about what could happen with Gros Morne: If these big transmission towers are built through the park, who's to say such a similar situation can't happen with our own Exploits region?
Oh wait-it already has. Can you say 'Star Lake'?
Sue Hickey, Advertiser 16/07/09
Opinion
PAPER CHASE
Fraser Papers operates pulp mills in Thurso, Que., Edmundston, N.B., Madawaska, Me., and Gorham, N.H.
Two weeks ago, Fraser went into bankruptcy protection in the United States and Canada.
It lost US$16.7 million on sales of US$156.1 million in the first quarter of this year, and hasn't had a penny of profit since the third quarter of 2007. It has massive pension liabilities, and has to come up with $32.3 million in the next 12 months.
Wednesday (June 24), PricewaterhouseCoopers gave their tale of the paper tape. They track 11 pulp and paper and packaging companies in Canada, and of those 11, every single one lost money in 2008. Eight of the 11 lost money in 2007, too.
But it's the size of the losses that's the most staggering. In 2007, the companies had combined losses of $900 million. In 2008, the losses were $4 billion. If you're counting, that's an increase of 355 per cent over the span of a single year.
But the survey is a global one: the top 100 companies worldwide lost a record $8 billion in 2008. Their combined profits in 2007 was $13.8 billion, so it's a change in fortunes of a whopping $29 billion.
Last week, adding to the legion of paper mill shutdowns worldwide over the last year, Catalyst Paper temporarily shut its Snowflake, Ariz., mill. Australian Paper is finishing an industry review that may close mills at Burnie and Wesley Vale in Tasmania. St. Mary's Paper told employees at a Sault Ste. Marie paper mill to expect additional downtime. Aggregate paper production in the Slovak pulp and paper industry fell 16.5 per cent in a single year.
And Corner Brook Pulp and Paper (Newfoundland & Labrador) cut 130 jobs Wednesday (June 24), and announced that paper machine No. 4 will continue to be idled.
It's Corner Brook that most people reading this paper will care about-so why include information about paper mills from as far away as Australia and Slovakia?
Because it's a global industry, and at the end of the current downturn, there will be a handful of (perhaps-temporary) winners and plenty o
