Lucien Beauregard on Churchill Falls
Posted by Kevin on 3/5/2005 @ 10:50 am
A Quebec engineer has been talking about the unfairness of the Churchill Falls deal to anyone who’ll listen. This week he got his chance to tell it to the people who really matter.
Lucien Beauregard first came to Newfoundland to work at the Come by Chance oil refinery three years ago - and that’s where he heard about the contract the province has with Quebec involving Churchill Falls power. He’s decided to make it his mission to try to get the deal renegotiated - to give this province a better deal. On Tuesday, Beauregard argued his case before a parliamentary committee in Quebec that’s studying energy needs.
I haven’t been able to track down more information on Beauregard; anybody hear anything else on this?
Lucien Beauregard first came to Newfoundland to work at the Come by Chance oil refinery three years ago - and that’s where he heard about the contract the province has with Quebec involving Churchill Falls power. He’s decided to make it his mission to try to get the deal renegotiated - to give this province a better deal. On Tuesday, Beauregard argued his case before a parliamentary committee in Quebec that’s studying energy needs.
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Quebec warms to idea of national power grid
But province would expect compensation for use of transmission lines, official says
By RHÉAL SÉGUIN
Thursday, March 3, 2005 - Page A5
QUEBEC – Under the right conditions, the Quebec government would participate in Ottawa’s proposal to develop an east-west power grid that would feed clean power to most of Canada, a provincial official said yesterday.
…more at
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050303/POWER03/TPNational/Canada
AND Canadian Press
Engineers urge Quebec to renegotiate ‘obscene’ hydro deal with …
… Two Quebec engineers accused the provincial government Tuesday of having signed “an obscene, inequitable and exorbitant” deal with Newfoundland and Labrador …
http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050301/CPA/21508018
Comment by Greg Locke — 3/6/2005 @ 11:14 amThe Telegram also had an article a couple of weeks regarding the stance of the two Quebec engineers.
Comment by Phil — 3/6/2005 @ 2:16 pmAs far as I’m concerned Canada is nothing more than a pathetic dry joke to our neighbors south of the border. Can you imagine the French quarterly in New Orleans forming their own bloc Quebecois and attempting to prevent a power corridor thought the state of New Orleans to benefit other states or even the their own country. They would have their Asses kicked back to France.
The naive Smallwood government was SCAMED into handing over Churchill Falls, which they did in good faith, basically did the French a huge financial favor (know wonder Labradorians are still pissed). Just so they wouldn’t separate as they clamed, what a bluff. Now it’s our turn to receive a favor from the french but all we get in returned is the finger. Hmmmm French rudeness and greed at it’s best, Lascar de tabernacle.
You don’t have too much of a rocket scientist to realize our federal government and all of it’s departments are held together with shoestrings manufactured in Quebec. Let me ask for whoever can answer - How much French influence is their regarding Newfoundland and Labrador issues?
Comment by FVH — 3/6/2005 @ 3:58 pmIt’s nice to see that there are two honourable men in Quebec fighting for the justice of a Fair Deal for which the Federal government of the day abandoned N AND L. It is even more telling that people across our whole country are finally starting to see the travesty of many examples of the unfair treatment and abuse of N AND L.
It is issues like these that we must focus on to garner the support of the grassroots focus we had with the Fair Deal Campaign! This is the real type of issue that demands our focus and should force us away from in-fighting.
Let us contact M. Beauregard and his associate to lend our support. Let us provide a series of Grassroots efforts to the deal-makers and breakers in both official languages so that there are no communication loopholes. Let us avoid name-calling and try to work to a mutually “benefiscal” recovery. Let us see if Quebec wants to play Fair in 2005 and into our futures! Let us see…
Fred from CBS
PS Let us see if WJM can join constructively with ideas for NL instead of just dissecting and parsing our good intent and positive steps forward!
Comment by Fred Harris — 3/6/2005 @ 10:15 pm“They would have their Asses kicked back to France… did the French a huge financial favor… from the french… French rudeness…How much French influence”
Yet more proof that Newfoundland nationalism and francophobia go hand in hand.
Are Newfoundlanders “the English", too?
Comment by WJM — 3/7/2005 @ 10:28 amCouldn’t pick any of the positive, eh WJM? Ya just had to jump straight past the constructive and straight on to the controversial…
I should have expected no less.
Fred from CBS
Comment by Fred Harris — 3/7/2005 @ 10:09 pmWJM:
Comment by Joe — 3/8/2005 @ 6:53 amYou are such an A-HOLE.
Fred Harris: “Couldn’t pick any of the positive, eh WJM? Ya just had to jump straight past the constructive and straight on to the controversial…”
If you want this thing to turn into a me-too wankfest, that can be arranged. I won’t be taking part, though.
Joe: “You are such an A-HOLE.”
I love you, too.
Do you have any additional comments?
Comment by WJM — 3/8/2005 @ 2:07 pmWJM, Your a sad, pathetic, petty little man. A legend in your own mind no doubt. I can see you sitting there with a little smirk all full of yourself at how you can so easily interject your petty comments and believe some how that you are the enlightened one and you have just discredited everything that is said. Fortunately, anyone who has been on this blog for any length of time has got you figured out. You’re as easy to read as a dime novel. If only you would use your powers for GOOD instead of EVIL. As far as I can tell everybody here feels the same way.
As for the wankfest part, not everyone here agrees with each other, that is welcomed and expected, but your a horse of a different color. I’d say your having your own wankfest because nobody wants to play with you, wank away.
Comment by B. Scaplen — 3/8/2005 @ 3:30 pmB. Scaplen: “WJM, Your a sad, pathetic, petty little man….”
So, in not disagreeing with the line I drew between Newfoundland nationalism and anti-francophone prejudice, are you agreeing?
Comment by WJM — 3/8/2005 @ 4:24 pmWJM, I would certainly agree that there are a lot of anti-francophone attitudes in N&L and around the rest of Canada. I would suggest that a lot comes from an emotional place rather than anything based in fact. Rightly or wrongly a lot of N&L’ians are bitter over such things as the Grand River hydro deal and other events, peoples preceptions are their own reality whether they are true or not. Whether there is a connection between anti-francophone and Newfoundland nationalism is debatable. Nationalism does not have to come at the expense of other people (I’m sure that comment will hale a reaction)we should be able to be pro N&L without being anti-francophone or anti-anything. Like most we seem to blame the collective, however we can find the indiviual not to be so distastefull. You have said it before and you’re right we (Newfoundlanders) have got to stop the blame game and get on with the business at hand and work together on what ever the issue of the day is for a stronger N&L and that inturn will make a stronger Canada, francophones included.
Comment by B. Scaplen — 3/8/2005 @ 4:55 pmB. Scaplen: “Whether there is a connection between anti-francophone and Newfoundland nationalism is debatable.”
I don’t think it’s debatable at all. Remember “Confederation means British Union with French Canada"?
BS: “Nationalism does not have to come at the expense of other people (I’m sure that comment will hale a reaction)we should be able to be pro N&L without being anti-francophone or anti-anything.”
Should, but unfortunately, Newfoundland nationalism – I repeat, NEWFOUNDLAND nationalism – too often does.
Comment by WJM — 3/8/2005 @ 4:58 pmWJM, it’s not to hard to see that your a very wrong person. You say “Confederation means British Union with French Canada"? You think the French were the first. Pal, you better go back to the history books and see who were really the first. It wasn’t the French!
As for B.Scaplan and Fred Harris, I agree, we should try our best to ignore this imbecile with nothing more to say than just worthless words.
Let this blog and it’s relevent issues proceed at heart and to use this open fourm to voice our opinions and crusade forward to build a stronger tomorrow.
Comment by Frank_Hollahan (aka) FVH — 3/8/2005 @ 8:28 pmFH: “WJM, it’s not to hard to see that your a very wrong person.”
I didn’t know a person could be described as “wrong” in quite that way, but…
“You say “Confederation means British Union with French Canada"? You think the French were the first. Pal, you better go back to the history books and see who were really the first. It wasn’t the French!”
Go back to YOUR history books, and find out what that phrase means in the context of Newfoundland history, and esp. Newfoundland nationalist history.
“Let this blog and it’s relevent issues proceed at heart and to use this open fourm”
Open being the operative word.
Why the (obviously failing) effort to silence any particular point of view, then?
Comment by WJM — 3/8/2005 @ 10:08 pmOnce again, instead of conceding ANY point and joining in on a constructive position started from within Quebec itself you feel the need to trivialize. I was only trying to bolster support behind M. Beauregard and his associate, I was NOT seducing your fealty or applying for a wankfest. (Is that your personal preference or how everybody in a red jacket at a sponsorship scandal party gets their freak on?) If you believe that getting vulgar with your comments is something that will empower your anti-Newfoundland AND Labrador as-a-province-position, I recommend that you try engaging someone with less experience than I have at ripping the likes of you a new one without even breaking into a sweat. You have demonstrated continuously an absence of position regarding the purpose of this blog from the beginning and in shallow form always return to your self-proclaimed pious little platform designed to eliminate the new approach our blog has arrived at here to call for public servant accountability of representation.
You don’t want focus. You don’t want any combined effort to strengthen the resolve of people in this blog. You don’t want us focusing on serious questions to pose to our provincial AND federal leaders.
You insist on trying to cultivate a teeny-tiny splinter group who are not even sure they follow your disruptive behaviour in this blog. You only destroy; you don’t provide constructive guidance or suggestions. You only sling mud at people rather than trying to solicit their ability to provide real solutions. The people in here are trying to make a difference whereas you are either a paid interloper who is sabotaging a coordinated effort from within this blog or worse you are just a cranky old fart making his last swing for the fence. You suffer from an inadequacy, which leads me to believe that you’re wanking party and it is the social activity you have planned that you’ll get this year.
Spare me the parsing. I’m hoping that Kevin will soon provide us with a method of suppressing unfocused counterproductive “posts” with an upcoming revamping of this blog. Then you can pound away with the 2-3 people who are actually buying what you are selling, and I can just close or dump the WJM-fest.
While I personally recognize that there are problems with the way Labrador is currently treated in our province, your incessant rants have pushed me farther and farther away from caring. You are not a good spokesperson for your self-appointed subject matter, you have burned out your audience with unfocused topics, bad timing and a whine-fest that makes Doug and Wendy Whiner (SNL) seem like favourable alternatives…
Have you even heard? The remainder of the hard working fisheries people may not even qualify for EI this year in the crab industry. Or did you miss that in your last few days of dissecting some solid points in this blog?
Good bye, and please consider my questions rhetorical. Unless by some miracle I finally shook some sense into you, I don’t really need your comments. I already know what you’ll say by looking back on three months of repeats…
Fred from CBS
Comment by Fred Harris — 3/8/2005 @ 11:22 pm“While I personally recognize that there are problems with the way Labrador is currently treated in our province, your incessant rants have pushed me farther and farther away from caring”
Comment by Robert — 3/9/2005 @ 10:06 amWhat are you talking about Fred,problems with how Lab is treated every second day there is an anouncment of more money being poured in that part of the province the Fed’s have poured Millions into keeping a Airbase there that serves no purpose but to supply jobs for a handfull of people and to build highways that are 30 feet under the snow in the winter.
I wonder what the dollar figure would be if you had to figure out what has been spent on Lab in the last 20 years concidering the population,i bet you would get the supprise of your life.
WjM is the only one crying about how bad Lab is being treated and he doesn’t even live there.
No one from Lab is bitchin with all the money thats is being poured in there.
Robert: “What are you talking about Fred,problems with how Lab is treated every second day there is an anouncment of more money being poured in”
Every second day, eh?
“people and to build highways that are 30 feet under the snow in the winter.”
They wouldn’t be under the snow if cheapskates like Tom Rideout would spend the money to plow and where necessary rebuild the one small segment of the road that has this problem.
But it’s just Labrador; who needs a plowed road, anyway…
“I wonder what the dollar figure would be if you had to figure out what has been spent on Lab in the last 20 years concidering the population,i bet you would get the supprise of your life.”
You would. The federal government has spent a lot of money in Labrador for its population. The provincial government has spent very little, not only for the population, but for what the provincial treasury extracts from Labrador. Labrador is, fiscally, just short of being the Fourth Territory.
“WjM is the only one crying about how bad Lab is being treated”
No, I isn’t.
“No one from Lab is bitchin with all the money thats is being poured in there.”
All what money, exactly?
Comment by WJM — 3/9/2005 @ 11:46 amI bet WJM is nothing but a bloody Frenchman!
Comment by Frank_Hollahan (aka) FVH — 3/9/2005 @ 5:13 pmFH: “I bet WJM is nothing but a bloody Frenchman!”
Est-il honteux, être un “bloody Frenchman"?
A good many Labradorians, myself included are at least in part “bloody Frenchmen", you prejudiced jerk. Michelin, Perrault, Hamel, Lemare, Fequet, Jacque, Jourdain, Lavallee, and that’s just the old-stock coastal Labrador.
Comment by WJM — 3/9/2005 @ 6:03 pmListen up WJM, or whatever letters you hide behind. If all your conserned about is slinging mud in this blog, so be it,lets rock and roll. As much as quebec wants Labrador they’ll never get it. It will never happen, so stop dreaming. If Labrador was part of quebec the french would have turned the region into a golf course a long time ago just like they tried to do with the natives in Oca. Your best off sticking to your poutine ‘n’ gravy and watching Blu Nuwe…TAG…YOUR IT!
Comment by Frank_Hollahan (aka) FVH — 3/9/2005 @ 9:27 pmFrank: “Listen up WJM, or whatever letters you hide behind.”
I don’t “hide behind” any letters.
“If all your conserned about is slinging mud in this blog, so be it,lets rock and roll.”
I’m not the one who referred to “bloody” anybody. That was you, mudslinger.
“As much as quebec wants Labrador”
Quebec doesn’t especially want Labrador.
Nor, for that matter, does Newfoundland. Newfoundland just wants Labrador’s resource revenues. All the benefits of “ownership", with none of the obligations.
“they’ll never get it. It will never happen, so stop dreaming.”
Speaking of dreaming, or hallucinating, or whatever… YOU’RE the one who seems to think I want Labrador to be part of Quebec.
God, is all you have to do merely UTTER the word “Quebec", and you become some merger-maniac?
I don’t think Labrador should be part of Quebec. Where did you come up with that idea?
“Your best off sticking to your poutine ‘n’ gravy and watching Blu Nuwe…TAG…YOUR IT!”
I haven’t had a poutine in about five years, and I don’t get those channels.
Now, you’re it!
Comment by WJM — 3/9/2005 @ 9:53 pmListen,
When you were feeling me out for who I was and what type of stakeholder I was in the grand scheme of things I forgot to tell to that I am first and foremost a member of the human race. I love all of my brothers and sisters of this planet, no matter what colour, no matter what god, no matter what language they speak and no matter where they are from. Everybody who has a stake in their “home” (the place we choose to live or the place we are from and still choose to maintain a connection) tends to get a little over the top and passionate from time to time. The scattered time we accidentally say something we didn’t really mean trying to get the other persons goat. Calling government idiots and having a few tirades amongst the INDIVIDUALS who have bizarre, monotonous, exciting, boring, etc. ideas in a blog are all acceptable behaviour. Disagreeing and poking fun at something someone says is also acceptable.
I hope that is the case with your recent posts, and you are prepared to suck back and review your position regarding the ill advised action of making stereotypical racist remarks. Unacceptable however is “race bashing” “language bashing” “skin colour bashing” and any other ethnic, religious or racial slur.
If you choose not to reel yourself in and keep YOUR unproductive thoughts about what anyone’s heritage has to do with anything (let alone this blog), I think that you will find that the Boy’s in the Bright White Sports Car may want to discuss the disadvantages of perpetuating hate.
We know that wasn’t your intention and while WJM isn’t my favorite dude this week, it’s only because of his PERSONAL pompous and bombastic arrogance. It has nothing to do with anybody’s skin colour or accents, etc…
Open forum doesn’t allow for hate. It’s where freedom of speech is lost and rightfully so because hate steals the right to liberty and security of person. Perhaps it’s time for a Constitutional review or maybe just a tolerance check… http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/index.html
Fred from CBS
Comment by Fred Harris — 3/9/2005 @ 10:44 pmRight on Freddy!
Comment by B. Scaplen — 3/10/2005 @ 12:22 pmWJM do you ever watch the news?
Comment by Robert — 3/10/2005 @ 1:12 pmWhat about the money the provincial Gov put into Lab yesterday and more to come,Williams could spend the 2 billion on Lab and you would still Bitch about it saying it wasn’t enough i suspect that you have spent the better part of your life shootin shit that nobody cares about.
Robert: “WJM do you ever watch the news?”
Do YOU? Do you read the papers? Because if you had…
“What about the money the provincial Gov put into Lab yesterday and more to come”
…you would know that the vast majority of the “money” announced yesterday was money that was announced years ago… and most of that, from federal funding sources, to boot.
Very little of it is actually new spending commitments; almost none of it comes from provincial government’s general revenues. Which is pretty much how it goes in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
See today’s Telegram.
“i suspect that you have spent the better part of your life shootin shit that nobody cares about.”
Who’s “nobody"?
Nobody in Newfoundland, maybe, but apathy towards all things to do with Labrador, other than extracting resources and revenue, is the usual state of affairs in Newfoundland.
Comment by WJM — 3/10/2005 @ 5:06 pmWJM,
“Nor, for that matter, does Newfoundland. Newfoundland just wants Labrador’s resource revenues. All the benefits of “ownership", with none of the obligations.”
Sorry to disappoint you buddy but this is the french way not the Newfoundland way.
It was the french that threaten to burn down every power pole when Newfoundland proposed to construct a power corridor down through quebec in order to transport the electricity from Upper Church.(barbarians) And it wasn’t signed over in good faith as you people like to say, it was legally stolen. That also is he french way!
Labrador could have benefited tremendously from that project but the french had to cry SEPARATION and threaten to break up this country if the feds aloud this to happened. So the all mighty Lester Pearson approached Joey Smallwood ans asked if Newfoundland could loan, yes loan the Upper Churchill to quebec. In good faith Smallwood oblige and that’s when the french moved in for the swindle of the century.
I say to the people of Labrador, it’s actions like these that played a part in the dispair of our great lands and our great people. I’m from western Newfoundland and I can asure you all that this region has gone through some very hard times in the past twenty years. We all have to stick together as one and understand why Newfoundland and labrador are poor as we are. Lets look to the west for the answer.
Comment by Frank_Hollahan (aka) FVH — 3/10/2005 @ 8:16 pmFH: “Sorry to disappoint you buddy but this is the french way not the Newfoundland way.”
Then Newfoundland must be very French.
Newfoundland has always wanted the benefits of ownership over Labrador’s resources, with none of the responsibility of providing Labrador with public services.
You see the same thing this week: Danny Williams promising lots of (federal) spending, while not committing to spending any provincial revenue, from resources like Voisey’s Bay or GWAC, in Labrador.
Typical Newfoundland economic colonialism.
“It was the french”
People from France?
“that threaten to burn down every power pole when Newfoundland proposed to construct a power corridor down through quebec in order to transport the electricity from Upper Church.”
When was this threat made?
“(barbarians) And it wasn’t signed over in good faith as you people like to say, it was legally stolen.”
No, it wasn’t. It was a perfectly legal document. Up until the 1970s, Quebec thought IT had gotten ripped off by the deal.
“Labrador could have benefited tremendously from that project but the french had to cry SEPARATION”
What was France going to separate from?
“So the all mighty Lester Pearson approached Joey Smallwood ans asked if Newfoundland could loan, yes loan the Upper Churchill to quebec.”
I dare you to support this allegation with facts.
“In good faith Smallwood oblige and that’s when the french moved in for the swindle of the century.”
People from France?
Comment by WJM — 3/11/2005 @ 11:35 amWJM
Please stick to calling Frank, Frank. Truly, I don’t want to get mixed up in somebody else’s bad choice of words and semantics for unfortunate comments. I pick what I say very carefully.
These handkerchief monograms don’t demonstrate the pride people have in backing up what they say with their name. If people want to remain anonymous, then they should. If they want to participate in heated discussion they should be prepared to stand up for what they believe in with their name.
Ain’t nuthin’ I’ve said that I’m ashamed about but I don’t wanna be confused with somebody who is being less careful about THEIR choice of words.
Thank you in advance for your understanding.
Fred from CBS
Comment by Fred Harris — 3/12/2005 @ 9:48 pmFred, I agree with you. Lets start this blog over with a clean slate. The topic we’re under is regarding the Lower Churchill hydro. Williams and his administration are full steam ahead with this project and one of their major hurdles will be dealing with the Quebec government. This is an area we all should be focusing on. It’s in the hands of the Canadian government and their lack of muscle to confront Quebec head on to exercise this provinces constitutional rights. But maybe Danny is correct by wanting to by-pass Quebec all together.
Comment by Frank Hollahan — 3/22/2005 @ 10:16 amThanks very much for continuing this campaign. I believe it is especially important to shine some light on the political hypocrisy that seems apparent here. Those individuals who are against this effort now were no doubt gleeful when the tables were turned against the Liberals. No wonder the public is ever cynical of politics.
Comment by Dale Kirby — 5/16/2005 @ 11:36 am