Santa's Giving Us Tonnes of Coal!

Wednesday, November 30, 2005 09:07 AM

At the Finning good news announcement yesterday, you could hear these words echoing in your mind “Government does not know how to run business and that’s why we sold BC Rail.”

Certainly much of what the government has to say is true.

Agriculture Minister Pat Bell says mines in the Tumbler Ridge area are set to produce three times as much coal as ever was produced at the community. So, from the point of view that government doesn’t know how to run a business you’re quite right Pat. CN obviously took a look and saw what was about to happen in the coal industry. As a matter of fact so was everyone else, (including the people of Tumbler Ridge) that is one of the main reasons they were saying, don’t sell the railway when the coal market was about to explode.

But then true to form, the Government bought high and sold low. So we now have CN ready to cash in big at the expense of the people of BC when the government wrote off the Tumbler line and then virtually gave it away.

If you folks in the Liberal Party have wondered why we fought so hard to keep the rail line in the hands of the people it was because, we could see the benefits of having a rail line that was making, oh say 200 to 300 million a year for the province.

Instead we have Hunter Harrison of CN making the cocktail circuit in the USA telling everyone what a good deal he made in the buying of the rail line and how BC Rail’s operations stand to make $300 million this year.

Yes Sir Pat, government doesn’t know how to run a business, but we should add one more dimension make an intelligent decision when a business should be sold.

As a foot note, I noticed Gerry Offet, from Initiatives Prince George at the Finning announcement. Now hold it, didn’t Finning say they were hiring 30 new people? Wait a minute, wasn’t that the reason why Deopker didn’t come to the city, you know couldn’t find any help so they had to go to Salmon Arm? Isn’t that what Offet gave for the reason, or is my memory failing me?

I’m Meisner, and that is one man’s opinion.

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Posted on Wednesday, November 30, 2005 09:07 AM in Views by Ben Meisner

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Comments

Posted by: owl on November 30 2005 9:50 AM

Hey Ben ... maybe Finning doesn't use welders ... They might be using chewing gum to assemble their products.. ;-)

Posted by: gypsy on November 30 2005 10:30 AM

Nope, Ben, your memory appears to be as sharp as ever.
Offet is one of the most adept spinners in the city-if not the best.
As I said before-he can talk for 10 minutes and not utter one sentence worth repeating, as he basically says nothing.
Yet, he somehow hangs in there, and now is going off to Italy at the taxpayers expense so he can return and feed us more of that famous crap he is so capable of spewing out.
When will the people in Prince George wise up and get rid of these useless money spenders on wasteful projects???
What would he have to do with Finning???
How does he manage to "hang in there?"
Musta caught somebody with their pants down somewhere along the line!!!!!

Posted by: ammonra on November 30 2005 10:38 AM

Do you honestly believe the Liberal government did not know what was about to happen? Bell himself has been touting his governments "wonderful" (according to him) effects on mining for a couple of years. They did know, and they sold BC Rail anyway. Their motivation was purely doctrinaire - Free Enterprise, Free Enterprise, Free Enterprise and damn the taxpayer!

Posted by: Chadermando on November 30 2005 6:39 PM

The people of this region are an independent people, but unfortunately get continually abused because we lack strategy and the will power to implement our own strategy.

Pat Bell and the BC liberals took full advantage of that in order to come to power. The problem was their strategy was a fifth column strategy designed for their multinational campaign contributors like CN Rail and not the citizens of BC much less the people who elected them. They took the strength of our individual ethics and applied it to their corporate philosophy in a way that was nothing less then an abuse of trust and the power they were entrusted with.

Lucky for the BC liberals one of the spin offs from globalization, which is completely beyond their control, is the growth in the consumptions of the raw resources found in BC, and thus economic good times that they were able to assume credit for in the short term.

IMO the need to be abused politically continues with the results of our latest civic elections.

Posted by: dow15000 on November 30 2005 11:00 PM

Ya right, Pat Bell and the Liberals knew the coal market was going to explode. Like the people of Tumbler Ridge did as well. Thats why they left in droves and houses sold for $25,000 and the mines closed. All a big conspiracy to pay off their multinational backers. Nice re-write of history.
Does anyone really think that any politicians are that clever to call the bottom of the coal market, and orchestrate this sale to payoff the boogyman multinational corporation that somehow controls our government? And then think, our own Ben Misner saw it all coming? Dream on, but keep posting the conspiracy theroies.

Posted by: Chadermando on December 1 2005 12:51 AM

Dow writes:

"Does anyone really think that any politicians are that clever to call the bottom of the coal market, and orchestrate this sale to payoff the boogyman multinational corporation that somehow controls our government?"

IMO if anyone was capable of it that would be Pat Bell minister of future mines development considering the time frames and the position in government.

Personally I don't agree with coincidence theory.